People ask whether Georgia has one license for a retail used car lot and a different license for a wholesaler. The current statute uses one category. This page was checked in November 2026 against that statute, the established-place-of-business rule, and the Board's April 2024 application. It is general information, not legal advice. Read the sections linked below, and confirm your own facts with the Board, before you buy a bond or lease a space. The full license path is in the Georgia dealer license guide.
One license covers the wholesaler
O.C.G.A. § 43-47-2(17)(A) says a motor vehicle wholesaler shall be deemed a used motor vehicle dealer for purposes of the chapter. The same paragraph says that about a motor vehicle broker. O.C.G.A. § 43-47-7(a) makes it unlawful to operate as a used motor vehicle dealer without a license from the Board.
The published code defines a wholesaler in § 43-47-2(19) as a person who sells or distributes used motor vehicles to motor vehicle dealers in this state, has a sales representative in this state, or controls any person who offers for sale, sells, or distributes any used motor vehicles to motor vehicle dealers in this state. That sentence is printed in the code compilations at Justia and FindLaw.
The April 2024 application is titled as an application for a used motor vehicle dealer license. It includes a checkbox for a motor vehicle broker, as defined in O.C.G.A. § 43-47-2(8). It does not include a separate wholesale-license checkbox. The how-to guide sends a new used motor vehicle dealer applicant through that one application. If someone offers you a different "wholesale only" form, ask the Board whether that form exists before you use it.
Wholesale or retail, the packet is still the used motor vehicle dealer application, and the Board still decides it. See current office and consulting prices on our pricing page; state and provider fees are separate. Board-ready means ready as the Georgia licensing board defines an established place of business.
Retail sale and sale to another dealer
O.C.G.A. § 43-47-2(16) defines a used motor vehicle, or used car, to include a vehicle that is the subject of a retail sale to a consumer for that person's own use, or of a resale to another licensed dealer. Selling to the public and selling to other dealers are both inside that definition. The chapter does not, in the sections cited here, create a lighter retail license or a lighter wholesale license.
A retail lot that displays vehicles has to show that display area. Rule 681-3-.02 requires photos of the complete facility, the sign, and the entire display area. The April 2024 zoning certification has a line for an open lot and a maximum number of vehicles the zoning official fills in, and a line for a dealer who is not allowed to store or display vehicles.
The office still applies
O.C.G.A. § 43-47-8(a)(1) says an applicant for the license must maintain an established place of business. Because a wholesaler is deemed a used motor vehicle dealer, that requirement is part of the license the wholesaler is seeking. Rule 681-6-.01 is the Board's rule for that place: a permanent building where the required records are kept and sales are negotiated, a working landline in the trade name, and a permanent sign. The office and inspection guide is the checklist.
Rule 681-6-.01(b) has an exception for the vehicle display area, and it is written for a used car broker who will not display an inventory of vehicles for sale. A wholesaler is not, by the definitions above, the same thing as a broker. A broker, under § 43-47-2(8), negotiates a sale on behalf of another for a commission or with intent to profit. Do not mark the broker box, and do not skip the display-area rules, unless that definition fits and the Board agrees. Ask before you rely on the broker exception.
An open lot has its own limit. For new applicants since January 1, 2007, only one dealer may be licensed to operate an open lot on a plat of property as the county tax assessor defines that plat. That sentence is in Rule 681-6-.01(b). It is not a wholesale exemption.
The bond and the class are the same packet
The bond amount conflict is the same one every used motor vehicle dealer applicant has to resolve: $50,000 in the statute effective July 1, 2026, and $35,000 still printed in Rule 681-3-.01 and the April 2024 form. Each licensed location needs its own bond. Read the surety bond guide before you order one.
The pre-licensing seminar in Rule 681-11-.01 applies to applicants for a new used motor vehicle dealer license. A wholesaler who needs that license needs the seminar proof, unless the Board confirms that the exam alternative in the statute is available. The seminar guide covers the hours, the topics, and the provider list.
Questions people ask
Does Georgia issue a separate wholesale dealer license?
The statute treats a motor vehicle wholesaler as a used motor vehicle dealer. The Board's April 2024 packet is one application for a used motor vehicle dealer license. It has a checkbox for a motor vehicle broker. It does not have a separate wholesale-license checkbox. Confirm with the Board if you are told a different form is required.
What is a wholesaler under Georgia dealer law?
O.C.G.A. section 43-47-2(19) defines a wholesaler as a person who sells or distributes used motor vehicles to motor vehicle dealers in Georgia, has a sales representative in Georgia, or controls a person who offers, sells, or distributes used motor vehicles to dealers in Georgia.
Does a Georgia wholesaler need an established place of business?
A wholesaler is deemed a used motor vehicle dealer, and a person who wants that license must show an established place of business. Read Rule 681-6-.01 for the building, landline, and sign. The display-area exception in that rule is written for a used car broker who will not display inventory. Ask the Board before you treat a wholesale operation as a broker.
What is the difference between a retail sale and a sale to another dealer?
O.C.G.A. section 43-47-2(16) describes a used motor vehicle as one that is the subject of a retail sale to a consumer for that person's own use, or of a resale to another licensed dealer. Both kinds of sale sit inside the used motor vehicle dealer chapter. The license in section 43-47-7 is still required to operate as a used motor vehicle dealer.
Sources
- O.C.G.A. § 43-47-2, dealer, wholesaler, broker, and used motor vehicle definitions, as published for the code.
- The same section as published by FindLaw, including the wholesaler sentence in paragraph (19).
- O.C.G.A. § 43-47-7, the license requirement.
- O.C.G.A. § 43-47-8, the established place of business and the rest of the application.
- Chapter 681-6, the office rule and the broker display-area exception.
- Chapter 681-11, the pre-licensing seminar for a new license.
- Used Motor Vehicle Dealer application, revised April 2024, including the broker checkbox.
- How-to guide: Used Motor Vehicle Dealers.
Get help with any of these tasks
AutoDealerGA is owned and operated by Omni Consultants, LLC. AutoDealerGA can help with any of these tasks during the process. That includes deciding whether the file is wholesale, retail, or a broker, then the office, the bond, the seminar, and the one used motor vehicle dealer application.
If you want the place of business and the packet handled together, see our current office and consulting prices. Board-ready means ready as the Georgia licensing board defines an established place of business. It does not mean the Board has approved a license.
We prepare filings. We do not guarantee Board approval. We do not approve zoning. For a suite leased through the AutoDealerGA platform, Omni Consultants, LLC provides zoning documentation for that suite. The local zoning authority decides zoning. The Board decides whether to issue the license.
The office is at 4780 Highway 5 Suite A, Douglasville, GA 30135. Call 404-313-2723 or email help@autodealerga.com.