It’s that time of year.

The doorbell rings. It’s a stranger, perhaps a teenager with a rehearsed speech saying he’s trying to stay out of trouble and build self-esteem by traveling the country with a youth-development program. Before long, he’s trying to sell you magazine subscriptions.

The pitch was too much for Denise Severn to resist this week when a couple of the young solicitors landed at her front door.

She wound up ordering two magazines.

“How can you turn away someone that’s trying to better himself?” she asked.

The wandering peddlers selling books, candy, miracle-cleaning products — you name it — proliferate on the streets of Lawrence during the summer months, city officials say.

So what’s the best way to handle this situation and avoid being scammed? Give in to guilt and write a check? Call the police? Slam the door?

City officials suggest one solution: Ask to see the person’s soliciting license.

The city-issued license, which includes the person’s photo, name, license number and company, is required for anyone who sells door-to-door in Lawrence. Vendors who don’t apply, as two out-of-towners discovered this week, could end up in jail.

To get the license, vendors must pay $25 and file a description of their business, their Kansas sales tax number and other information with the City Clerk’s Office. They can have the license revoked if they commit fraud or misrepresentation, disturb the peace, or conduct business in a way that’s “a menace to the health, safety or general welfare” of the city.

City of Lawrence solicitor/peddler license Solicitor/peddler license application (.pdf)

One purpose of the licenses is to protect consumers by tracking who’s selling what.

“That’s what the community needs to know: that they can ask for that ID card,” said Diane Trybom, deputy city clerk.

Tuesday evening, Lawrence police arrested two out-of-state teenagers for selling magazines door-to-door without a license near 27th Street and Inverness Court.

Police responded to the 2700 block of Coneflower Court after a resident reported the teens were being aggressive in their sales techniques, said Sgt. Mike Pattrick, a police spokesman.

He said the solicitors, an 18-year-old woman from Houston, and a 19-year-old woman from Columbus, Ohio, were with a company called “Supreme Community Services Inc.”

According to jail records, the women each posted $100 bond and are due back in municipal court June 16.