The purpose of a resale licence is to allow a business to purchase products at wholesale prices, without tax, for the purpose of resale. The license is issued by the government (state, and/or city and county), in the area in which you do business.

Any wholesale items you purchase must be used for resale only—a license or permit cannot be used for personal use of wholesale products.

The various types of businesses that are generally required to obtain a resale license are commercial, home-based sales or repair-oriented businesses (that provide replacement parts). Strictly service related businesses do not require a sales permit.

In most cases, any small business owner can obtain a resale license by filling out the appropriate application at the applicable government office.  It’s a simple process and the clerks are there to assist.

If you’re incorporating or forming a partnership, then you, your accountant or lawyer should visit your local Secretary of State and the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) offices. There, you will register for taxes and be issued a license. The license will include your resale number for use in purchasing products from wholesalers.

The general rule of thumb is if you’re a retailer that:

• Provides taxable products and/or services
• Buy or sell wholesale
• Conduct an ebay resale business
• or any other online resale business

You will need a resale permit. Typically what you’re doing is buying items without tax, reselling them to your customers, who pay a sales tax, then using that collected tax to later pay the government.

Note: If you conduct sales from multiple locations, where the locations fall within separate state and/or county limits, you will need to obtain a separate license from each state and/or county offices.

Visit the government links page. Here we have provided links to help you in your quest to obtain resale and/or business licenses.