"Where in the US do second-hand booksellers need a license?" According to the Institute of Justice (the nonprofit which seems to the primary source here) -- Lo

"Where in the US do second-hand booksellers need a license?" According to the Institute of Justice (the nonprofit which seems to the primary source here) -- Los Angeles: http://www.ij.org/citystudies/la http://www.ij.org/citystudies/la "Even in this age of Amazon.com and impersonal warehouse bookstores, many people still appreciate the intimacy and service of a local and independent used bookshop. Unfortunately, they are a dying breed, and Los Angeles is doing everything in its power to make them extinct. Used bookshops—or “secondhand book dealers,” as they are referred to in the municipal code—are among the 53 categories of business that require a police permit. [109]" "In addition to complying with the general police permit regulations—e.g., submitting to fingerprinting, paying the applicable permit fee ($263), etc.—they must comply with occupation-specific regulations that create administrative nightmares for purveyors of used paperbacks. [110] For example, every time a used bookshop purchases or receives books in exchange, it is required to “ascertain that the person selling or exchang[ing]” the books “has a... legal right to do so,” then execute a consecutively numbered bill of sale for the purchase or exchange. [...] The Police Commission, in turn, has its own set of rules governing used bookshops. Amazingly, they require that bookshops thumbprint every person from whom they receive a book and file a daily report with the Police Department describing all books taken in that day. They also require used bookshops to hold books for at least 30 days before selling them. [112] Apparently on an ad hoc basis, these requirements are waived for some shops. [113]"