Quota liquor licenses (on-sale general 47/48, off-sale general 21) trade for $50k–$400k in tight California counties because the state caps how many exist. When one is surrendered, suspended or revoked it becomes buyable inventory. LiquorDesk distills CA ABC's weekly export into a per-county distress count and alerts buyers & brokers the week each one drops.
1,255 distressed and 3,074 in-transfer quota licenses across California right now. Source export updated Wed, 27 Aug 2025 12:00:36 GM.
Need a license rather than a distressed one to buy? See how to get a liquor license, by state — cost, steps, timeline, quota vs non-quota, and the official board source for 20 states.
Surrendered + suspended + revocation-pending on-sale/off-sale general licenses, by county, live from CA ABC.
+ 34 more counties — full directory JSON.
A status change = a quota license that left ACTIVE since the prior ABC export. feed JSON · agents: x402 / /mcp.
| Type | What it is | Quota? | Resale market |
|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | On-Sale General (restaurant) | Yes | $50k–$400k |
| 48 | On-Sale General (public premises / bar) | Yes | $50k–$400k |
| 21 | Off-Sale General (liquor store) | Yes | $50k–$400k |
| 41 | On-Sale Beer & Wine (restaurant) | No | n/a (issued on demand) |
| 20 | Off-Sale Beer & Wine | No | n/a (issued on demand) |
Only quota types (47/48/21) trade for real money. A surrender on a quota license in a full county is a genuine market event — that's what we watch.
The full statewide distressed-license feed is agent-payable per call (keyless USDC on Base). Discovery: /.well-known/x402 · /llms.txt · MCP at /mcp. Free preview + one free per-county summary tool included.