Legal-Ease: Social media buy, sell, trade… need a license?

Before the internet and social media took over many aspects of business and interpersonal interaction, written publications were a primary method of formal marketing of goods and services for sale. Believe it or not, at one time, advertisement publications were some of the hottest selling written publications in the country, with readers sometimes traveling hours to get the most recently printed copies of magazines that advertised items for sale.

Now, with social media platforms available all over the internet, regular folks like you and me can find ourselves engaged in buying and selling items and services online. In fact, online “garage sale” sites are all the rage these days, as people seek out places to buy, sell or trade goods and services.

Most of the time, people can get away with sporadically buying or selling something without having a license to buy or sell that item. For instance, if I would ever sell my truck, I could sell my truck to someone (possibly introduced through social media) without a license. That sale of my truck is considered a “casual” sale.

The need for licenses increases as the quantities of items in a particular category that are bought and sold increases to become a regular (even if not full-time) business. This column does not include an exhaustive list of every license that is required for the various categories of “stuff” sold online. However, there are a few categories of items for which licenses are frequently required, and anyone advertising or selling more than handful of one category of goods should investigate whether a license is required.

Usually, anyone who makes casual sales of at least five new or used motor vehicles (cars, trucks, off-road vehicles with engines but not snowmobiles) in a 12-month-period needs to have a license. The licensing process includes requirements on minimum hours of being open for business as well as various other consumer protection requirements. Of course, anyone in the business of advertising, leasing or selling motor vehicles needs a license, even if fewer than five sale/leasing transactions occur in a given year.

Similarly, those who buy, sell or trade five or more mobile homes (also known as manufactured homes) within any year’s time must have a mobile home dealer’s license.

Every auctioneer, including those involved in the auctioning of construction equipment, need a license.

Notably, though, the marketing, selling or leasing of farm machinery (defined as “all machines and tools used in the production, harvesting and care of farm products”) does not require a license. But, farm machinery (in determining whether a license to sell is needed) that can have a motor vehicle license tag (commonly known as a license plate) are considered motor vehicles and not farm machinery.

Anyone who sells more than two or three items in any same or similar category in any couple-month time window is strongly advised to search online (relying only on government websites) or contact an attorney to confirm that those sales are not sales of items that require a license.

Lee R. Schroeder is an Ohio licensed attorney at Schroeder Law LLC in Putnam County. He limits his practice to business, real estate, estate planning and agriculture issues in northwest Ohio. He can be reached at [email protected] or at 419-659-2058. This article is not intended to serve as legal advice, and specific advice should be sought from the licensed attorney of your choice based upon the specific facts and circumstances that you face.