Do You Need to Register as a Second-Hand Dealer in Victoria?

Quick summary Second-hand dealer registration in Victoria applies to anyone who carries on the business of buying, selling, exchanging or otherwise dealing in second-hand goods, unless an exemption applies. Furniture is not on Consumer Affairs Victoria's list of goods exempt from the whole Act. A separate furniture exemption covers identification requirements only. If you regularly buy furniture to resell, check your position before you carry on.

Selling a sofa you no longer need is not the same as buying sofas every week to resell. Victoria's second-hand dealer rules are aimed at the second activity, and the line between the two is where most of the confusion sits.

This guide covers second-hand dealer registration in Victoria for furniture sellers: who counts as a dealer, what the exemptions actually say, and what to do if you are somewhere in between. It is general information, not legal advice. Consumer Affairs Victoria itself says to seek independent legal advice if you are unsure whether you must register.

Who Counts as a Second-Hand Dealer in Victoria?

According to Consumer Affairs Victoria, a second-hand dealer is any person or company who carries on the business of buying, selling, exchanging or otherwise dealing in second-hand goods. That applies regardless of where the goods are bought, and whether the business also sells new goods. Second-hand goods are goods that have been worn or otherwise used.

The same page states that you must be registered to trade as a second-hand dealer in Victoria, unless you are exempt.

Consumer Affairs Victoria's regulation page splits the oversight three ways. The Business Licensing Authority registers dealers and keeps the public register. Victoria Police enforces the laws that apply to second-hand dealers, including allegations about unregistered dealers. Consumer Affairs Victoria handles consumer complaints.

Two details matter for furniture sellers:

• The test is "carries on the business". It is not about a single sale.
• The definition covers "otherwise dealing", not only buying and selling, so exchanging and trading pieces counts too.

Do You Need a Licence to Resell Furniture in Victoria?

Victoria calls it registration rather than a licence, but the practical question is the same. If you are carrying on a business of buying second-hand furniture and reselling it, the starting position is that you must be registered unless an exemption applies.

The Consumer Affairs Victoria page does not give a number of sales, a dollar threshold or a minimum frequency that turns a seller into a dealer. That is our reading of the gap, not a rule: the more regular, planned and profit-driven your buying becomes, the more it looks like a business. Occasionally selling something you owned and used yourself is a different thing from sourcing pieces to resell.

If you are weighing up flipping as a side income, our guide to furniture flipping in Melbourne covers how to buy, restore and resell. This post deals with the registration question that sits alongside it.

Is Second-Hand Furniture Exempt From Dealer Registration in Victoria?

This is the point that is easy to get wrong. The exemptions page does mention furniture, but only in one place, and it is not an exemption from registration.

On that page, the list of goods exempt from the whole Act covers low-value categories such as clothing and footwear, most domestic whitegoods, books and magazines, factory seconds and salvaged building materials. Furniture is not on that list.

Furniture appears under a different heading: goods exempt from identification requirements. The page says that if you buy individual items of listed second-hand furniture for $100 or less, you are exempt from the identification requirements in section 19(1) of the Act. The furniture types it names include tables, bedframes, sofas, shelving units and wardrobes. For those items you do not need to refuse the goods if a seller does not provide identification, and you do not need to record identification details if none is provided.

In plain terms:

• Exempt from identification (items of $100 or less): the record-keeping step of checking a seller's ID.
• Not exempt from registration: the requirement to be registered if you carry on the business.

The first does not cancel the second. The identification exemption only makes sense for someone already operating as a dealer.

Who Is Exempt From Second-Hand Dealer Registration in Victoria?

The exemptions page lists people and businesses that do not have to register as second-hand dealers. In summary, you do not have to register if you:

• carry on business exclusively for or on behalf of a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic organisation
• carry on business at an antique fair conducted exclusively for or on behalf of such an organisation
• are a licensed motor car trader who only trades in second-hand cars and car parts
• are a licensed firearms dealer
• are an auctioneer who acquired the goods solely for an auction
• are conducting a fundraising appeal under the Fundraising Act 1998
• trade in goods subject to a hire purchase agreement or bailment

The page also says that a business that conducts a rental business and sells goods second-hand because they became used in that business is exempt from the whole Act, and that regulations exempt financial institutions and certain other businesses in limited circumstances.

Exempt goods are a separate list. Dealing in clothing, kitchenware, most whitegoods, books, salvaged building materials and the other listed categories does not require compliance with the Act. One catch on the kitchenware line: you must still be registered to trade in electrical or electronic appliances.

That page was last updated on 13 October 2023, so check it for changes before you rely on it.

Selling Your Own Furniture vs Reselling for Profit

Most people reading this are not planning to open a shop. Here is a practical way to sort the common situations. It is our own framing of the definition above, not an official test.

• Clearing out your own home. Selling furniture you bought for yourself and no longer need is not buying to resell. This covers downsizing, moving, upgrading or finishing a renovation.
• Clearing a family estate. Selling the furniture of someone who has died is normally a one-off sale of items you inherited, not a trading activity.
• Buying to resell, occasionally. Picking up the odd piece you plan to restore and sell sits closer to the line. This is where independent advice earns its cost.
• Buying to resell, regularly. Sourcing stock every week, restoring it and selling for profit looks like carrying on a business of dealing in second-hand goods.
• Running a vintage shop or stall. This is clearly dealing, unless an exemption such as the charity one applies.

If you are on the buying side of the equation, you can browse secondhand furniture across Melbourne for your own home without any of this applying.

Your tax position is a separate question from registration. The ATO has its own tests for when selling is a business, which we cover in do you pay tax when you sell secondhand furniture in Australia. Passing one test does not answer the other.

How to Register as a Second-Hand Dealer in Victoria

If you do need to register, Consumer Affairs Victoria sets out the process. You apply through myCAV, and the Business Licensing Authority assesses the application.

• Fees: according to the fees and forms page, the 2026-27 application fee is $371.30, paid at application and non-refundable. Each year after that, lodging the annual statement costs $131.30.
• Identity and checks: you must prove your identity, and the Authority runs criminal history checks. Associates, such as company directors and partners, are considered too.
• Eligibility: some circumstances make you automatically ineligible, such as current bankruptcy, and others require permission from the Authority, such as certain recent convictions or cancelled registrations.
• Timing: you must not trade as a second-hand dealer until the Authority grants the registration.
• Afterwards: registration is not transferable and continues unless it is surrendered, suspended or cancelled. Dealers must also lodge an annual statement and pay the annual fee through myCAV in the six weeks leading up to the registration anniversary. Consumer Affairs Victoria says that a late lodgement brings a late notice and late fee, and that registration is automatically cancelled if nothing arrives within 21 days. Your details appear on the public register.

Other Rules That May Still Apply

Registration is one layer. A few others are worth knowing about.

Seven-day retention. Consumer Affairs Victoria says dealers must hold goods for at least seven days, in the form in which they were received, before offering them for sale or otherwise disposing of them. On that wording, a flipper should not assume they can restore or modify stock during the holding period. The rule exists to help police track stolen goods. The exemptions page lists exemptions to that rule, including scrap metal, copper, certain vehicles and goods bought from a dealer who has already held them for seven days. Furniture is not among them. A registered dealer should confirm how the rule applies to their stock.

Electrical items. Lamps, powered desks and other electrical furniture raise their own supply rules, separate from registration.

Even if you are exempt. Consumer Affairs Victoria notes that an exempt person may still have to comply with other laws that apply to dealing in second-hand goods.

A Simple Way to Check Where You Stand

Before you buy your next piece to resell, run through these questions:

• Am I buying this specifically to resell it, or did I own and use it?
• Is this a one-off, or am I planning to repeat it regularly?
• Do I treat this as an income source, and do I keep records like a business?
• Does any exemption on the Consumer Affairs Victoria list apply to me?

If your answers lean towards regular buying for resale and no exemption applies, contact Consumer Affairs Victoria or get independent legal advice before you continue.

Sell Your Furniture in Melbourne With Zirkly

If you are clearing out your own furniture, you are not the person these rules are written for, and selling locally is the simplest way to give a piece a second life. List your furniture on Zirkly and connect with Melbourne buyers looking for secondhand pieces.