Do You Need a Secondhand Dealer License (Kobutsusho) to Sell Goods Bought Abroad in Japan? Importing Yourself vs. Buying Imports in Japan

Plenty of people want to sell character goods or other items they bought on trips or from suppliers abroad through Japanese flea-market apps or online shops. A question that often comes up is whether they need a kobutsusho license, the permit for dealing in secondhand goods.

Drawing on the text of the Secondhand Articles Dealer Act (古物営業法) and the Q&A published by the Aichi Prefectural Police, this guide sorts out when a license is required and when it is not. For your own specific situation, please check with the police station that covers your place of business.

What counts as "used goods" under the Act

The Act aims to prevent crimes such as theft and help victims recover their property by stopping the trade in stolen goods and making them quicker to find. For that reason, it puts the trade in secondhand goods, where an item's origins can be hard to trace, under a licensing system.

Article 2 defines used goods as items that have been used once, items that have not been used but have been traded for use, and either of these with some minor repair or cleaning. In other words, even an unused, brand-new item counts legally as used goods once someone has bought it, for example in a shop, in order to use it.

When a license is needed and when it is not

The Aichi police Q&A says that if you are only selling things you used yourself, or things you bought for your own use but never used, no license is needed. It adds, however, that if you actually bought used goods in order to resell them, you need a license.

On buying abroad, the Q&A says that a seller who only sells goods they personally bought in another country and imported into Japan does not need a license. In contrast, buying goods that another business imported, from within Japan, and reselling them requires a license, because stolen goods from within Japan could be mixed in.

The table is a short summary of the Q&A. The key dividing line is that goods "bought abroad" are treated differently depending on whether you bought them there and brought them in yourself, or obtained them from an importer or another person in Japan. If your case is unclear, the safest course is to ask the police rather than decide on your own.

Operating without a license

Article 31 of the Act provides that anyone who operates a secondhand goods business without the license required by Article 3, among others, is subject to imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to one million yen. Not knowing is no defense, so check before you start whether the way you source goods requires a license.

Where to apply, and an example fee

According to the Aichi police Q&A, the license is issued by the Public Safety Commission of the prefecture where your main place of business is located. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's page says applications go to the crime prevention section of the police station covering your main place of business, and gives the fee as 19,000 yen. Outside Tokyo, please check the guidance of your own prefectural police.

Selling used goods on Mercari Shops

Mercari Shops' guidance says that selling used goods (kobutsu) such as secondhand clothes, books, CDs or DVDs that you have sourced requires a kobutsusho license. It explains that having the license is not enough: you must upload an image of it and enter the required details when opening the shop, when changing shop information and when listing items that need the license, and without doing so you cannot sell those items.

Even where no kobutsusho license is needed, other rules still apply. For example, we covered import notification under the Food Sanitation Act and the Child PSC mark for toys sourced abroad in an earlier article.

Selling toys bought abroad in Japan: Food Sanitation Act import notification, the Child PSC mark and the ST mark

This guide is a general explanation based on public information that could be checked as of October 20, 2026, and is not a legal opinion on any individual case. To confirm whether you actually need a license, please contact the community safety or crime prevention section of the police station that covers your place of business.

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