Strict new rules on resale shops threaten local assets; Goodbye, Half-Price Books?

From the TERRIBLE MUNICIPAL IDEAS Department:

The new code being adopted by cities around the state is based on a state law that already requires pawn shops and businesses that buy metals and jewelry to take and keep information on sellers and items. The code expands the requirements by including businesses that haven't needed to report transactions in the past and by mandating that the businesses install software from the Northeastern Wisconsin Property Reporting System and input seller identification and detailed merchandise descriptions each day. Businesses must photograph sellers and items, and they must keep the items for a set period of time - 10 to 30 days in most cities that have adopted the ordinances - before reselling them. Desch of Half-Price Books said it would be impossible to comply with that provision because of the storage space it would require.

Is this what the new hyper-surveillance state is coming to?

Moms come into New to You Kids in Greenfield every week to sell their babies' outgrown rompers to the small resale shop. But the business says it will have to close if it has to comply with a new city ordinance requiring it to take each mom's picture and send that, along with detailed descriptions of the items she sells, to a police database every day.

The Greenfield ordinance also imposes transaction fees on resale stores that could amount to tens of thousands of dollars annually - a big burden for small retailers.

"It's horrendous. This will put us out of business if we have to adhere to it," said New to You Kids owner Robert Reinhardt.

Half-Price Books, a national resale chain that has a store a few doors down from Reinhardt's in the Greenfield Fashion Center, will consider getting out of its lease, district manager Joe Desch said.

Half-Price also is thinking about filing a lawsuit against Greenfield on First Amendment grounds, because the new ordinance, which takes effect next summer, will require the bookstore to send police a daily list of customers who sell books to them, with identification and titles sold.

But Greenfield Police Detective Chuck Fletcher has news for resale operators who think they can escape the reporting requirements by moving to another town: There soon may to no place to run, no place to hide.

"You may be able to jump over to Greendale or West Allis, but guess what," said Fletcher, noting that with more cities adopting stricter ordinances, retailers may have trouble finding a place without restrictions.

 

Read the rest at: Greenfield and other cities impose strict new rules on resale shops - JSOnline

Comments

[Fred Keller]

Great piece, John, I had no idea these ridiculous ordinances even existed, and worse, were gaining momentum.

This caveat has to be my favorite, “Businesses must photograph sellers (WHAT?...No fingerprinting?) and items, and they must keep the items for a set period of time - 10 to 30 days in most cities that have adopted the ordinances - before reselling them.” In other words the store owners pay for their merchandise but can’t offer it for sale for a prescribed period of time decided upon by the the local government. BRILLIANT!

How about putting the burden back on local government where it belongs, and require the second-hand merchandise seller (not the business owner), to jump through the hoops directly with the local police department, who can issue an "OK to purchase" note for the business.