Greenville, South Carolina: door-to-door solicitor permit

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages. The clerk questions below cover the gap.

• The answer: Yes — a peddler permit before anyone does business as a peddler (8-205), and the company needs a business license for each salesperson (8-199). A peddler includes anyone going house to house taking orders for goods for future delivery or for services to be performed in the future (8-199).
• Where it comes from: The revenue administrator takes the sworn application and issues the permit; the police department runs the background investigation (8-206, 8-212, 8-214).
• Fee: Not published in the code. The application fee and the permit fee, which depends on how long the rep will work, are set by council schedule (8-208, 8-210), and the city's Appendix A fee schedule has no peddler line. A surety bond in the currently required amount is also filed; a corporation may file one bond for all its reps (8-211).
• Hours you may knock: No peddling between one-half hour before sunset and 9:00 a.m. the following morning, and none at any time on Sundays, except by specific appointment with or invitation from the customer (8-204).
• What the rep carries: An identification card with the rep's name and photo and, where there is one, the sponsoring company's name, contact, phone number and business license number, shown to any person on request (8-217). A transient or non-resident business licensee also carries the business license on the person or in the vehicle (8-8(a)).
• What takes the time: A police background investigation, which the code says must be completed within 14 calendar days of receiving the application (8-212). The applicant presents a photo ID and lists convictions and the last five municipalities worked (8-206, 8-207). A permit runs no longer than 12 months (8-218).
• Code: Greenville Code of Ordinances, Chapter 8 — Businesses, Article V, Division 6, Subdivision I — Peddlers (8-199 to 8-219). Municode shows the code codified through Ordinance No. 2026-03, enacted February 9, 2026 (Supp. No. 22).
• Worth knowing: Reps of a sponsor company in good standing — a city business license for the preceding three or more consecutive years, no habitual complaints, no fees owed — are exempt from the peddler permit if the company certifies on a city form that it is responsible for them (8-199). No entering premises posted "No Peddlers Allowed" or "No Solicitations Allowed" (8-201).
• Read it yourself: Greenville Code of Ordinances, Chapter 8, Article V, Division 6 — Peddlers, Solicitors, Mobile Vendors, Transient Merchants, and Temporary or Seasonal Businesses · Greenville Code of Ordinances, Appendix A — Fee Schedule · Greenville Code of Ordinances, Chapter 8, Article I — Business License Tax · Greenville Code of Ordinances — landing page · checked 22 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• The peddler application fee and permit fee (8-208, 8-210), and the bond amount (8-211)
• What a sponsor company must file to be found in good standing so its reps are exempt from the peddler permit (8-199)
• Whether each salesperson's business license is a separate license tax or covered by the company's license

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________