What's specific to Atlanta

Atlanta does something none of the other cities covered here does: it has a section of city code written specifically about secondhand watches, and its definition of "secondhand" is wide enough to catch watches most dealers would call new old stock. The state-level material is in the Georgia guide.

There is no secondhand-dealer permit — and that is not good news

Atlanta imposes the full set of secondhand-dealer duties without ever issuing a licence for it. Chapter 122 Article II runs from § 122-26 to § 122-37, and then §§ 122-38 to 122-60 are simply reserved. There is no application, no fee, no renewal.

That means there is nothing to apply for and nothing to be refused — and also no moment at which anyone explains the rules to you. The duties attach from your first purchase.

The definition leaves no room to argue about watches. A secondhand dealer is anyone, other than a licensed junk dealer or pawnbroker, who buys, sells or acquires in trade used or secondhand jewelry of any kind, and the ordinance spells out "including watches and clocks."

The one-hour record book

This is the requirement most likely to catch a working dealer out. The record book entry is due "as soon as possible after the transaction is had, in no case more than one hour thereafter" (§ 122-28(a)).

Not end of day. Not before you close. One hour.

Each entry carries an accurate description of the property and the name, address, estimated age, weight and height of the person you bought from, plus the date and hour of the purchase. Every entry is numbered serially, and the watch itself gets a tag bearing that same serial number (§ 122-29). The book is open to the police at any time.

The daily report runs to 8:00 p.m., not midnight

Your daily written report to the Atlanta Police Department covers the 24 hours ending at 8:00 p.m. on the date of the report (§ 122-31). A watch bought at 9:00 p.m. falls into the next report, not that night's.

If you buy precious metals from the public — and a gold watch is goods made from precious metals — a second report applies under § 122-109. Same 8:00 p.m. window, but it must be typewritten and delivered or mailed before 10:00 a.m. the following day.

Two holding periods, and the case material decides which

• Secondhand goods generally — 15 days (§ 122-33).
• Anything containing precious metal — 30 days, excluding Sundays and legal holidays (§ 122-110).

A steel sports watch and a gold dress watch bought on the same afternoon come free on different dates. The precious-metals hold also requires the item to stay on the licensed premises or in a sealed vault off-premises, and forbids altering its original form, shape or condition while it runs.

A third clock can start independently: if an officer inspecting your stock has reasonable cause to believe an item is stolen, they segregate it, and you cannot dispose of, mutilate, melt or disfigure it for 15 days from the inspection (§ 122-32).

The watch section

Section 122-37 is the reason this guide exists. Its own state-law reference points at O.C.G.A. § 43-49-1 et seq., Georgia's statute chapter on used watches.

A watch is "secondhand" in Atlanta if any of three things is true. It — or its case, or its movement — was previously sold to or acquired by someone for use rather than resale. Or its case or movement serial numbers or identifying marks have been erased, defaced, removed, altered or covered. Or its movement is more than five years old and has been repaired by any person, including the vendor.

That third limb is the surprising one. Cleaning and oiling a movement does not count, and neither does recasing a movement in a new case. But a genuine repair to a movement over five years old makes the watch secondhand in Atlanta's eyes even if it has never been sold to anyone.

There is one way out, and it is narrow. A watch sold and then returned through exchange or for credit to the original vendor is not secondhand — but only if that vendor keeps a record of the purchaser's name, the date of the sale or transfer, and the serial number on the case and movement plus any other identifying mark, for five years, open to police inspection during business hours. No record, no exception.

Three duties follow:

• Tag it. A tag reading "secondhand," clearly written or printed, placed so the word is plainly visible at all times — on anything you sell, exchange, offer, expose, possess with intent to sell, or display with intent to sell.
• Invoice it. The invoice carries the word "secondhand" in bold letters larger than any other written matter on it, plus both parties' names and addresses, the date, the watch's name or maker, and the serial and identifying numbers on the case and on the movement. Where those have been erased or altered, the invoice must say so. Keep a duplicate five years, open to the police or city prosecutor.
• Say it in your advertising. Any advertisement or display must state clearly that the watch is secondhand.

That last one reaches your listings and your showcase, not just your paperwork.

What it costs

Nothing, to be a secondhand dealer. What you pay is the occupation tax certificate under Chapter 30: a $191.00 administrative fee for a certificate issued during 2026, rising to $215.00 from 2027, plus $50.00 on the first $10,000 of gross receipts, plus a per-$1,000 rate on everything above that set by your NAICS tax class — $0.81 to $2.88 per $1,000 in 2026, depending which class the chief financial officer puts you in — plus $25.00 for every employee beyond the first.

Certificates expire on 31 December and renewal with payment is due by 15 February. Which tax class a used-watch retailer falls into is set administratively rather than in the code, so it is worth confirming with the city rather than assuming.

If you end up needing the Precious Metals Dealer permit, that is $100.00 on application and $750.00 a year — and the process is not quick: the police report goes to the license review board within 20 days of filing, the board holds a public hearing, and the mayor then has 60 calendar days to grant, deny or remand. If the mayor does not act, the board's recommendation stands.

Whether you actually need that permit is genuinely unclear, and worth an attorney's read. Section 122-111(b) exempts "licensed pawnbrokers, scrap metal processors or secondhand dealers" from the permit division — but Atlanta does not licence secondhand dealers at all, so whether the word "licensed" carries across to them is unresolved on the text. What is not in doubt is that even an exempt dealer stays bound by the precious-metals records, the 10:00 a.m. report and the 30-day hold whenever they buy from the public.

The pawn line

If you offer buy-back arrangements you are on the other side of Chapter 122. Pawnbrokers are excluded from the secondhand-dealer definition entirely and get their own article: a $100.00 application and $750.00 annual licence, a 30-day hold on everything — including goods bought outright, not just pawned — and 1,000-foot separation from other pawnshops and from homes, schools, parks, libraries, churches, hospitals and child care, evidenced by a surveyor's plat.

Before you open

Atlanta spans Fulton and DeKalb counties, which matters twice. Your trade name is filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court of the county you are actually in, within 30 days of starting — $175 in Fulton. And while the sales tax rate happens to be 8.9% in both portions of the city, the two carry separate county codes.