How to Get a Dealer License in Missouri: Cost & Requirements

Last updated: October 2, 2026

Missouri’s dealer license has a number that works in both directions: eight. Selling eight or more vehicles in a calendar year is evidence you are in the business — and once licensed, you must make at least eight sales a year to be eligible to renew. Add a $50,000 bond (or $100,000 if you deliver before title transfer), a six-inch sign, and an inspection that a sheriff is specifically not allowed to sign.

The Eight-Sale Rule Cuts Both Ways

Missouri’s definition of a motor vehicle dealer turns on commission or intent to profit, and RSMo 301.550 adds the evidentiary marker: “the sale of eight or more motor vehicles or trailers in any calendar year shall be required as evidence that such person is engaged in the motor vehicle business.”

What surprises new dealers is the flip side, printed on the application itself: motor vehicle dealers must make a minimum of eight sales per year to be eligible for renewal (six for boat, trailer, and powersport dealers). A license you barely use is a license you can lose.

What Missouri Actually Requires

• $50,000 corporate surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit — rising to $100,000 if you deliver vehicles to purchasers under an agreement that title transfers within 30 days.
• Established place of business: a permanent enclosed building or structure, owned or leased and actually occupied as a place of business, plus a display area or lot that is not a public street.
• Exterior sign with letters at least six inches in height.
• A working telephone number and an email address maintained for the entire registration year.
• Dealer seminar — used motor vehicle dealer applications must be accompanied by proof of completing a department-approved educational seminar within the last twelve months.
• Form 5748 inspection completed by an authorized law enforcement officer or designee — and note the exclusions below.
• Criminal records — every owner, partner, or principal officer needs a name-based record from the Missouri State Highway Patrol; out-of-state owners obtain one from their state of residence.
• Garage liability policy (manufacturers, auctions, and trailer dealers are exempt).
• Photograph of the place of business showing building, lot, and sign — and if the sign is temporary, the work order for the permanent one.

The Inspection Rule People Get Wrong

Form 5748 must be completed by an authorized law enforcement officer or designee. If your business sits in a first class county — Boone, Buchanan, Camden, Cape Girardeau, Cass, Christian, Clay, Cole, Franklin, Greene, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Platte, St. Charles, St. Francois, St. Louis, St. Louis City, or Taney — a city policeman employed in that same city may complete it. What Missouri states plainly is the negative: certifications may not be completed by a sheriff or marshal. Dealers selling only emergency vehicles are exempt from the inspection entirely.

What It Costs

Item	Cost	Notes
Surety bond or letter of credit	$50,000 penal sum	$100,000 if delivering before title transfer
First plate or certificate	$50	$10.50 each additional plate (RSMo 301.560)
Dealer seminar	Provider-set	Within 12 months of applying
Garage liability policy	Quoted to you	Copy filed with the application
Missouri LLC (Articles of Organization)	$50 online / $105 by mail	No annual report

The full fee list by license type is published in Missouri’s Dealer and Business Operating Manual. One number worth knowing separately: Missouri caps the administrative fee a dealer may charge a customer — $620.79 for the 2025 licensure year — and requires ten percent of any administrative fee collected to be remitted to the motor vehicle administration technology fund.

How to Get Licensed, In Order

1. Form the entity ($50 online) and note your Secretary of State registration number for the application.
2. Complete the dealer seminar if you are applying as a used motor vehicle dealer.
3. Set up the premises — enclosed building, display lot, six-inch sign, working phone and email.
4. Get criminal records for every owner, partner, and principal officer.
5. Arrange the Form 5748 inspection with a qualifying law enforcement officer — not the sheriff.
6. Apply online at mydmv.mo.gov with the bond, photographs, and garage liability policy. Since January 1, 2022 all licensure and renewals go through the online portal.

Do not buy inventory early. Missouri warns that an applicant may not buy or sell any vehicle until the application is approved — and if you buy one first, it must be titled in your own name with all taxes and fees paid. Receipt of the business certificate or the dealer plates is the only proof of approval.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many cars can I sell in Missouri without a dealer license?

Seven. Missouri statute 301.550 treats the sale of eight or more motor vehicles or trailers in any calendar year as evidence that you are engaged in the motor vehicle business. The same number cuts both ways: motor vehicle dealers must make a minimum of eight sales per year to be eligible to renew, and boat, trailer, and powersport dealers must make six.

How much is the Missouri dealer bond?

$50,000 as a corporate surety bond or an irrevocable letter of credit. It rises to $100,000 for dealers who deliver a motor vehicle or trailer to a purchaser under an agreement that the certificate of ownership will be transferred within 30 days.

Who has to inspect a Missouri dealership?

An authorized law enforcement officer or designee must complete Form 5748, the Inspection and Certification for Dealer, Auction, or Manufacturer Business License. In first class counties a city policeman employed in the same city may complete it. Certifications may not be completed by a sheriff or marshal. Dealers selling only emergency vehicles are exempt.

What are Missouri’s place of business requirements?

A permanent enclosed building or structure that you own or lease and actually occupy as a place of business, an exterior sign with letters at least six inches in height, and a display area or lot that is not a public street. You must also maintain a working telephone number and an email address for the entire registration year.

Taxes, registration, workers’ comp, and hiring are covered in our full guide to starting a business in Missouri.

Sources

Source	What It Covers
RSMo 301.560	$50,000 bond, plate/certificate fees, place of business, six-inch sign, phone and email, dealer seminar
RSMo 301.550	Dealer definition and the eight-vehicle evidentiary threshold
Missouri Form 4682 (rev. 08-2025)	$50,000/$100,000 bond election, eight-sale renewal minimum, Form 5748 inspection rules, required documents, online filing mandate
Missouri DOR — Dealers and Lienholders	Maximum dealer administrative fee, forms, and the operating manual

Comparing states? See our dealer license guides for every state we cover.