Philadelphia County Liquor Licenses for Sale

Types of Philadelphia County Liquor Licenses

With Philadelphia County’s growing population of approximately 1.59 million residents and the sheer amount of tourists that venture to the area to see the rich Pennsylvania history, it’s essential that any business trying to get a piece of the competitive pie has a proper liquor license in Philadelphia County to serve alcohol legally. The county seat also happens to be the largest city, Philadelphia, lending its name to the county. Known for the famous Liberty Bell, The Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, Longwood Gardens, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia County is a thriving county in Southeastern Pennsylvania with many events and attractions drawing crowds all year long. 

If you want to sell or serve alcohol at your Philadelphia County business, we offer online Philadelphia County liquor license auctions for the following permit types:

• Type R: Permits restaurants, bars, and taverns to serve both food and liquor -- beer, wine, and spirits -- for consumption on-premises, as well as unopened liquor “to go” for consumption off-premises in Philadelphia County.
• Type E: Permits any eating establishment such as a corner store or a delicatessen to sell and serve beer for consumption on-premises, as well as beer “to go” for consumption off-premises in Philadelphia County PA.
• Type D: Permits distributors to sell beer for off-premises consumption. All beer sales have to be in their original containers in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

Each Pennsylvania liquor license grants the holder the right to sell in a specific Pennsylvania county, such as Philadelphia. Liquor licenses are not transferable between counties. They are, however, transferable between owners, which means you can legally buy or sell any Philadelphia County alcohol license.

How to Buy a Philadelphia County Liquor License

To obtain an alcohol license in Philadelphia County, you may choose one of the following four routes based on your alcohol permit needs. 

1. Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB): Receive an alcohol license in Philadelphia County directly from the Bureau of Licensing. All new applicants must apply to the PLCB.
2. Person-to-Person Philadelphia County Liquor License Transfer: This type of transfer applies to the owner of the liquor license, not the place of business. The ownership of the Philadelphia County alcohol permit changes hands.
3. Place-to-Place Philadelphia County Alcohol License Transfer: The owner of a liquor license in Philadelphia County can apply to transfer the liquor license to another business location. The owner stays the same.
4. Person-to-Person and Place-to-Place Philadelphia County Liquor License Transfer: Both the ownership and the business location are transferred to the applicant. Ownership and place of business changes.

Using any of the transfer options listed above for a Philadelphia County liquor license allows you to use a liquor license broker like Liquor License Auctioneers to purchase a Philadelphia County alcohol license from the open market. 

With the limited number of available liquor licenses in Philadelphia County at any given time, obtaining an alcohol permit from the PLCB may not be feasible. When there is a lack of alcohol licenses, you will have to wait for someone to sell a liquor license to you in one of the aforementioned types of Philadelphia alcohol license transfers. 

We are the only online auction platform for Philadelphia County liquor licenses, and we’ve got many years of experience in the industry. In these years, we’ve developed many respectable relationships with both business proprietors and lawyers who also specialize in this sector. These network connections grant us opportunities to provide select Philadelphia alcohol licenses exclusively on our bidding platform, meaning no other liquor license brokerage can auction or sell these liquor licenses in Philadelphia County. We are able to price our Philadelphia liquor licenses fairly at auction because of the lack of competition for these select alcohol permits. If you are seeking a specific type of alcohol license for Philadelphia County because of the type of industry your business is in, let us know. We'll be able to use our skills to locate the Philadelphia County liquor license you need. 

At Liquor License Auctioneers, we have the expertise and ability to help facilitate the eight-step process of gaining a Philadelphia County liquor license. 

1. Secure the location: Decide where you will be either leasing, renting, or purchasing a business location to sell or serve alcohol to customers.
2. Select your liquor license: Determine how you will purchase your specific type of Philadelphia alcohol license that is appropriate for your business, and either purchase from the PLCB or one of the other ways using a liquor license broker such as Liquor License Auctioneers.
3. Open your attorney trust account: All monetary transactions, including the cost to cover the sale of the Philadelphia County alcohol license, should be held in an attorney trust account, ideally set up with an attorney handling the transfer.
4. Survey the location: Hire an inspector or our alcohol license brokers at Liquor License Auctioneers to conduct a proper inspection of your place of business.
5. Complete your PLCB Application: In order to fulfill the requirements for your PLCB Application, you must complete all original documents with your signature and date them. Once completed, these Philadelphia County liquor license application forms should be reviewed and approved during an interview with a PLCB Investigator.
6. Post a Public Notice of Application: After you’ve gone through the application process for receiving a Philadelphia alcohol license, the PLCB Bureau of Licensing will send a Public Notice of Application for a Philadelphia County liquor license which you are to post near the entrance of your establishment for 30 days. In some cases, you may have to leave the notice up longer until the PLCB notifies you as to their decision on approving you for a Philadelphia County alcohol license.
7. Submit to investigation: One more inspection of your business must be done by the PLCB to make sure your establishment is conducive to selling alcohol safely and legally. You will be approved to receive the liquor license in Philadelphia County if everything goes well.
8. Receive the liquor license: Assuming you followed all of the previous seven steps and your PLCB Application and inspection were approved, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) will send you the official Philadelphia County liquor license in the mail. Once you physically receive the Philadelphia alcohol license, it must be posted at your business, and alcohol sales can commence.
    

There is no set amount of time the process for securing a Philadelphia County alcohol license will take, but closely following the eight steps will accelerate the process and meet the guidelines set by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) Bureau of Licensing. To ensure that you don’t miss any other requirements, see if your local municipal government has any further regulations for businesses trying to purchase a liquor license in Philadelphia County. Sometimes, there are additional rules or other stipulations to acquiring a liquor license in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Knowing what these additional stipulations are can save you time in the process of receiving your Philadelphia County alcohol license so that you can start selling alcohol to your customers.

Just like many other counties in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County has no lack of competition for businesses seeking Philadelphia County liquor licenses. Since 2012, we’ve been the premier alcohol license auction platform for Philadelphia liquor licenses by providing these alcohol permits at ethical prices to our clientele. We encourage you to check our bidding platform frequently as it updates in real-time with any new Philadelphia County liquor license auctions as they are available. We pride ourselves on providing exceptional service to our customers, so please let us know how we can assist you. We have the tools to track down a specific type of Philadelphia liquor license. See what alcohol licenses in Philadelphia County are available for auction now, and start bidding.