3.2 Statutory Exemptions

Statutory Exemptions

Section 10-1 is both the license-necessity command and the exemption catalog. Read every exemption narrowly. If the fact pattern does not match the statute as written, the person needs an IDFPR auctioneer license. Rule 1440.100 restates several exemptions and adds administrative limiters; it does not replace 10-1, and it has not been rewritten to recodify the January 1, 2026 estate-sale subsections 10-1(e) and 10-1(f) (those are in Section 3.3).

10-1(a)(1) — Charitable not-for-profit; individual receives no compensation

Exempt: an auction conducted solely by or for a not-for-profit organization for charitable purposes in which the individual receives no compensation. Rule 1440.100(a) restates the same idea.

The trap is compensation, not the charity's mission. Rule 1440.10 defines compensation as valuable consideration given in exchange for an activity or service, including commissions, fees, referral fees, bonuses, prizes, merchandise, finder fees, performance of services, coupons or gift certificates, discounts, rebates, a chance to win a raffle, a retainer, or a salary. A $200 mileage check, a $50 restaurant voucher, a "volunteer" gift card, or a percentage of the paddle-raise kills 10-1(a)(1). The fact that every hammer-price dollar goes to the church does not save a paid caller. An unlicensed neighbor who donates the calling with zero benefit can fit; a professional who invoices a flat fee cannot.

10-1(a)(2) — Auction by the owner; Rule 1440.100(b) dealer limiter

Exempt: an auction conducted by the owner of the property, real or personal. This is the "selling your own stuff" rule. It is not a license to run a consignment business and call yourself the owner because you briefly held the goods.

Rule 1440.100(b) adds the exam-critical limiter: the rightful-owner exemption does not apply to persons or entities who as a normal course of business sell or lease property at auction. A Peoria antiques dealer who buys estates, titles the goods into inventory, and runs weekly "owner" auctions is in the ordinary course of an auction business. Title on sale day does not manufacture an exemption. A family selling the farm's surplus equipment one Saturday is the intended owner case — unless that family is actually a dealer.

10-1(a)(3) — Real-property auction by a Real Estate License Act licensee

Exempt: an auction for the sale or lease of real property conducted by a licensee under the Real Estate License Act, or its successor Acts, in accordance with the terms of that Act. Rule 1440.100(c) names a valid broker or salesperson license under the Real Estate License Act of 2000.

Two boundaries: (1) the exemption is real property only — a RELA broker cannot use it to cry a personal-property machinery or household auction; (2) the auction must be conducted in accordance with RELA. This is an Auction License Act off-ramp for real-estate licensees selling or leasing realty at auction, not a blanket "brokers may auction anything."

10-1(a)(4) — Packers and Stockyards / Livestock Auction Market Law

Exempt: an auction conducted by a business registered as a market agency under the federal Packers and Stockyards Act (7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or under the Illinois Livestock Auction Market Law. Rule 1440.100(d) adds that the business employs licensed livestock auctioneers. A backyard cattle dispersal is not a registered market agency. Do not confuse this agricultural-market exemption with a general farm-personal-property auction, which still needs an auctioneer license unless another 10-1 box fits.

10-1(a)(5) and (a)(6) — Government official duties

Exempt: an auction conducted by an agent, officer, or employee of a federal agency in the conduct of official duties ((a)(5)), or by an agent, officer, or employee of State government or any political subdivision performing official duties ((a)(6)). Rule 1440.100 does not restate these two. The limiter is official duties. A county highway employee who moonlights on Saturdays crying paid farm sales is not performing official duties. A federal GSA officer disposing of surplus in the course of the job is.

10-1(b) — SOS vehicle dealer / vehicle auctioneer; not open to the public

Section 10-1(b) is not "any car lot may run a public auto auction." Nothing in the Act applies to a new or used vehicle dealer or a vehicle auctioneer licensed by the Secretary of State, or to any employee of the licensee who is a resident of Illinois, while that employee is acting in the regular scope of employment, while conducting an auction that is not open to the public, provided that only new or used vehicle dealers, rebuilders, automotive parts recyclers, or scrap processors licensed by the Secretary of State or licensed by another state or jurisdiction may buy, or to sales by or through the licensee. Out-of-state salvage vehicle buyers licensed in another state or jurisdiction may also buy.

Rule 1440.100(e) restates the SOS dealer / Illinois-resident employee / sales-by-or-through-the-licensee idea in shorter form. On the exam, use the statute's conditions: not open to the public; buyer pool limited to the listed license classes (plus out-of-state salvage buyers). A Saturday sale advertised to retail consumers is outside 10-1(b).

10-1(c) — Under 18, under $250, direct supervision

Section 10-1(c) and Rule 1440.100(f) are the same three-part test. Nothing in the Act prohibits a person under the age of 18 from selling property under $250 in value while under the direct supervision of a licensed auctioneer. All three must be true. A 17-year-old selling a $3,000 ATV is not exempt. An unsupervised 16-year-old selling $40 lots is not exempt. An 18-year-old (no longer under 18) selling $40 lots is not in (c) at all.

10-1(d) — Internet auction listing service (defined in 5-10)

Section 10-1(d) — not 1440.100 — provides that nothing in the Act applies to a person providing an Internet auction listing service as defined in Section 5-10. That definition is a website or other interactive computer service designed to let users offer personal property or services for sale or lease through an online bid submission process, and that does not examine the property, set the price, prepare the description, or in any way utilize the services of a natural person as an auctioneer.

If the operator writes the catalog, sets a starting price, inspects lots, or puts a natural person on the microphone or webcast, 10-1(d) is gone. P.A. 104-145 also added an online auction definition in 5-10: an auction or auction service conducted by an auctioneer via a website, application, or similar media. A licensed (or required-to-be-licensed) online auction is not a listing service.

Decision table: statute versus rule

Walk a fact pattern down the table. Match every statutory condition. If any condition fails, the exemption fails, and 10-1(a) requires a license.