Auction business - Apply for a permit
Would you like to auction off third-party movable property, third-party land or third-party rights on a commercial basis? You need a permit for this. You can find out more here.
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Basic information
If you wish to auction off third-party movable property, third-party land or third-party rights on a commercial basis, you require permission from the competent authority. Permission may (even retrospectively) be subject to conditions if this is necessary to protect the general public, the client or the bidders.
Permission is not required for
- Sales carried out in accordance with statutory regulations by stockbrokers or by publicly authorized brokers,
- auctions conducted by public authorities or by civil servants, or
- auctions to which only persons who wish to bid for goods of the type offered for their business operations are admitted as bidders.
You have a legal claim to the granting of the requested permit, provided there are no grounds for refusal (unreliability or disorderly financial circumstances).
The license can be granted to natural and legal persons. In the case of partnerships without their own legal personality (e.g. OHG, KG), a permit is required for each managing partner; this also applies to limited partners if they have management authority and are therefore to be regarded as traders. In the case of legal entities (e.g. GmbH, AG), the license is issued to the legal entity. The licensing requirements are generally based on the persons authorized to represent the company, whereby all persons authorized to represent the company must meet the relevant requirements.
The permit is personal, i.e. you cannot transfer a permit in your name to another person, nor can another person transfer a permit in their name to you.
Requirements
In order to be granted permission, you must:
- be personally reliable,
- have orderly financial circumstances.
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Procedure
- Once you have submitted the application and all the documents are complete, the competent authority will check whether you meet all the requirements.
- If you meet all the requirements, you will receive the permit.
- You may only start your activity once you have received the permit. At the same time as you start your activity, you must register your business with the office responsible for business registration.
- If you have any questions, please contact the responsible office.
More information
The auctioneer is prohibited from
- to bid for himself or through another person at his auctions or to purchase auctioned property entrusted to him,
- to allow relatives or his employees to bid at his auctions or to purchase auctioned property entrusted to him,
- to bid for another person at his auctions or to purchase auctioned goods entrusted to him, unless a written bid has been submitted by the other person,
- to auction movable items from the range of goods that he carries in his commercial business, unless this is customary,
- to auction items on which he has a lien or if they belong to the goods offered for sale in open sales outlets and which are unused or whose intended use consists in their consumption.
Violations of these prohibitions are punishable as an administrative offense. In addition, such violations may also lead to the revocation of the auctioneer's license if it can be inferred that the auctioneer is no longer reliable.
Retailers and manufacturers of goods are generally not permitted to auction their goods to the end consumer.
Anyone who auctions off third-party movable property, third-party land or third-party rights without the required permit or violates an enforceable condition is acting in breach of the regulations and may be subject to a fine
Legal remedy:
- Appeal
- Administrative court action
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Necessary Documents
- Identity card or passport (copy)
- Non-EU citizens: residence permit (copy)
- Proof of the legal form of the company:
- Registered office in Germany: for registered companies, a current extract from the register, otherwise the articles of association or articles of incorporation
- Registered office abroad: documents from this country proving the legal form.
- Personal reliability:
- Residence in Germany: Certificate of good conduct for submission to an authority, information from the central trade register for submission to authorities
- Residence abroad: Documents from your home country confirming your personal reliability to perform the desired service.
- Orderly financial situation:
- Extract from the debtor register of the central enforcement court
- Information from the insolvency court as to whether proceedings have been opened (so-called negative certificate)
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Competent Department
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5.02 Gewerbeangelegenheiten - Die Senatorin für Wirtschaft, Häfen und Transformation
- +49 421 361-0
- Katharinenklosterhof 3, 28195 Bremen
- gewerbe
@wht. bremen. de
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Fees / Costs
Please contact the responsible office.
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Deadlines & processing time
What deadlines must be paid attention to?
The permit must be granted before the start of operations, so it is necessary to submit the application in good time (several weeks before the intended start of operations).
If you have applied for a permit to operate as an auctioneer, the permit is deemed to have been granted if the authority has not made a decision on your application within 3 months of receiving the complete documentation.
You must also notify the office responsible for business registrations of the start of your activity.
How long does it take to process
Please contact the responsible office.
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Legal Bases
This page has been automatically translated by DeepL. We cannot guarantee that the translation is correct.
The official information in German is complete and correct. 12.05.2026