The Doorstep Playbook

Door-to-Door Permit Rules in South Carolina: 3 Cities Checked

So far 3 cities in South Carolina have been checked. Each one links to its own card, which cites the ordinance and shows the date it was checked.

Charleston

  • Permit: Yes. Anyone peddling in the city -- defined to include taking orders for goods or for services to be performed in the future -- must hold a peddler's permit, and each rep working for a company must individually obtain their own permit (§ 17-107(1)).
  • Fee: The code sets no fixed dollar figure. "The fees, if any, for a peddler's permit... shall be set by city council" (§ 17-103), and the revenue collections director separately determines the annual business license fee from the applicant's anticipated volume of sales (§ 17-107(3)).
  • Hours you may knock: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. -- peddling is unlawful "between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m." (§ 17-94(1)).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Columbia

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes. The city's business license code has its own NAICS classification for "Peddlers, Solicitors, Canvassers, Door-To-Door Sales," so a company selling door-to-door must hold a business license under that classification (ch. 11, art.
  • Fee: Under the "Regular activities" tier of NAICS 454390 (Peddlers, Solicitors, Canvassers, Door-To-Door Sales), the minimum on the first $2,000 of gross receipts is $50.00, plus $3.00 per $1,000 (or fraction) over $2,000 -- non-resident rates apply since a door-to-door company has no permanent location in the city (§ 11-32, Schedule item 9.41).
  • Hours you may knock: Not published. No clock-time restriction on door-to-door canvassing was found in the Peddlers and Solicitors article; a separate late-night vending rule exists but applies only to franchised sidewalk carts, a different category (§ 11-259).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

North Charleston

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes. The city's business license code has its own NAICS classification for "Peddlers, Solicitors, Canvassers, Door-To-Door Sales," so a company doing this kind of selling must hold a business license under that classification (§ 10.5-40, item 9.4).
  • Fee: Under the "Regular activities" tier of NAICS 454390 (Peddlers, Solicitors, Canvassers, Door-To-Door Sales), the minimum on the first $2,000.00 of gross receipts is $55.00, plus $1.60 per $1,000.00 (or fraction) over $2,000.00 -- and non-resident rates apply since a door-to-door company has no permanent location in the city (§ 10.5-40, item 9.4).
  • Hours you may knock: Not published. No clock-time restriction on door-to-door canvassing hours was found in the business license chapter, the offenses chapter, or the streets/sidewalks chapter.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Back to the Permit Lookup

City not on this list? The City Clerk Call Sheet has the eight questions to ask any city.