Chesapeake door-to-door vendor bonds.
From $100.
Chesapeake licenses itinerant merchants — including door-to-door sellers — under City Code § 18-133. In place of the standard ownership affidavit, the assessing official (the Commissioner of the Revenue) may issue the license against a bond equal to the license tax the merchant owes for the year. Pricing is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum.
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How much does a Chesapeake door-to-door vendor bond cost?
1% of the bond amount, from $100. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
No underwriting queue for the standard itinerant merchant bond — enter your amount, pay, and file with the Commissioner of the Revenue. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your business details, the bond amount equal to your license tax, and the effective date — that is the application.
Issued
No credit check up to $25,000, and most applicants are approved and issued as soon as they pay.
File with the Commissioner of the Revenue
Submit the executed bond with your Chesapeake itinerant merchant license application. Wet-ink originals mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
Chesapeake City Code § 18-132 taxes peddlers and itinerant merchants who sell door to door or from temporary premises — $50 a year for food, plants, or flowers, and $500 a year for other goods, unless they fall under one of the section's exemptions. City Code § 18-133 normally requires an itinerant merchant to file an owner's affidavit proving the length of their lease or tenancy before a license issues.
As an alternative to that affidavit, § 18-133 lets the assessing official (the Commissioner of the Revenue) issue a regular merchant's license against a bond or security equal to the specific tax the applicant would owe for a full year. The bond pays the city that amount if the office later finds evidence the applicant only ever intended a temporary or transient business in Chesapeake.
It's a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the City of Chesapeake (the obligee). It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. Enter the amount equal to your license tax and your premium is priced from a $100 minimum, with no credit check up to $25,000 on the application.
You need this bond if you're
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
File with the Commissioner of the Revenue. Submit the executed bond with your Chesapeake itinerant merchant license application. Wet-ink originals mailed on request.
What sets the price
The premium is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
No credit check up to $25,000. Above that, the carrier may run a soft pull, which never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual underwriting fields. No credit check up to $25,000, and your price — from a $100 minimum — is set at application.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Virginia bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Finish your Chesapeake itinerant merchant license today.
Pricing from $100, no credit check up to $25,000. Enter your license-tax amount and file the same day.