Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Hawkers and Peddlers

A hawker is an individual who sells wares by carrying them through the streets. The person's ordinary methods of attracting attention include addressing the public, using placards, labels, and signs, or displaying merchandise in a public place. A peddler is defined as a retail dealer who brings goods from place to place, exhibiting them for sale. The terms are frequently defined in state statutes or city ordinances and are often used interchangeably.

An individual is ordinarily considered to be a peddler in the legal sense if he or she does not have a fixed place of conducting business, but regularly carries the goods for sale with himself or herself. The wares must be offered for immediate sale and delivery and must be sold to customers as opposed to dealers who sell such wares. The goods may be bartered rather than sold for cash.

A single act of selling is generally insufficient to make the...