Penn Delivers, a student-created alcohol delivery service, will no longer be transporting liquor by 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 29.
The business was established by College senior Alex Ball, a former Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer, around 3 weeks ago.
With every delivery, Ball charged a $5 flat rate per order and an additional $2 per item.
Ball said the decision to stop delivering alcohol was “most definitely by choice.” He added it was “mostly because of difficulties in the licensing process.”
Ball approached the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to speak with an attorney about the legal implications of his business. He was notified that he would likely need to procure a transportation license — which costs roughly $700. For Ball, the price was too high and “it wouldn’t be worth the effort to pursue.”
Ball was referred to the legal team at PLCB. He said he emailed them about the issue but did not receive a reply in over a week and assumes they will not be getting back to him.
“I decided it didn’t appear likely that I would be able to work out a business model that wouldn’t require an expensive license,” Ball said.
PLCB spokesperson Stacey Witalec said anyone wishing to procure a liquor license must make an application to the board.
Witalec said counties in Pennsylvania have a certain quota for liquor licenses depending on the census. Currently, Philadelphia County has eight registered transportation licenses — one of which is inactive.
Ball doesn’t believe he ever acted illegally with his business.
“I don’t think it was illegal,” he said. “I wanted to work within the boundaries of the law. I wanted to make sure the business model was legitimate,” he said.
Ball made visual checks of identifications to affirm that his customers were at least 21-years-old. He did not use black lights or scanners.
Despite the termination of his service, Ball is glad he pursued it while he did.
“It was very successful,” he said. “It was definitely worth the time and effort for me.”
Spanning from his first delivery on Feb. 1 to his most recent on Feb. 24, Ball made 25 deliveries and accumulated a profit of roughly $300.
Ball’s plans to keep his business alive delivering groceries and convenience store goods. The delivery fees have been reduced by 50 percent.
This article has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Alex Ball’s last name.
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