Private plate as an investment

[lxm]

Lets say I have £1.5k of premium bonds sitting doing nothing, and I plan for it to sit and do nothing for the distant future. I have seen a few private registration plates appear on the next DVLA auction, they are a single digit followed by 3 letters.

The reserve is low and similar over the past 6 years have sold for 500-1000. Does anyone have the slightest idea of re-sale value of a plate of this type in say 1-10 years time? If I paid £1300 for it, do you reckon I would recoup that cost and not loose anything if I were to sell it in 2-10 years?

I would rather have the plate, and for it to hold its value paid, than the funds sit in bonds.

[Freddy88FM]

Simple answer? Your guess is as good as anyone else's.

It's worth remembering that plates are not very liquid an asset and so don't often perform well when sold in a hurry- so don't buy it if you may need the money one month after advertising it! Obviously the longer you can leave it on the market to increase exposure the better.

As a general rule plates seem to increase in value over time and there doesn't seem to be any reason for this general trend to cease any time soon. If it's a plate with a fairly comment set of initials you're looking at then I'd say it's fairly safe.

If you want it, go for it is my advice. I did, and I love mine.

[lxm]

Thank you for the speedy reply!

As I stated, the funds would be sitting for the next year minimum anyway, and I'm in a position with income where I wouldn't be desperate to have access to the amount held in the plate.

'how long is a piece of string' came to mind!

I definitely would prefer a nice plate sitting on my car than £'s in bonds, you have just about affirmed my decision

[Freddy88FM]

Annoyingly you've perked my interest in the next DVLA auction and the next sequential plate to my current one is up for sale. Would look great on the kit car. Oh dear. Haha!

Anyway, go for it! It sounds like you'd already made your mind up anyway... get your plate and enjoy it.

[walm]

lxm said:

If I paid £1300 for it, do you reckon I would recoup that cost and not loose anything if I were to sell it in 2-10 years?

The transaction costs on stocks shares and premium bonds are fairly de minimus on a buy-and-hold strategy.
For plates - the DVLA tear you a new one.

You need to see pretty significant inflation in plate price once you take into account the actual cost of putting it on your car and moving it to someone else.

[Freddy88FM]

I'd assume he means £1300 total which would mean a hammer price around £1000 as below:

Hammmer Price: £1,000.00
VAT on Hammer Price @ 20%: £200.00
Buyer's Premium @ 8%: £80.00
VAT on Buyer's Premium @ 20%: £16.00
Total VAT @ 20%: £216.00
Assignment Fee (not VATable): £80.00
Total Amount Payable: £1,376.00

Ultimately premium bonds are a safer bet, sure. But if the OP can afford to lose it and wants the plate then I reckon risk it!

[bogie]

I would buy something you will use and forget about it. As above, so much depends on elapsed time, fashion, changes in plate formats, popularity

anything remotely decent and spelling something has already got an inflated price tag on it, then you are buying based on greater fool theory

Ive got 3 plates, 2 were pressies, another I bought later. They are just fun vehicle/nickname related 5 character plates that were £180 or £250 about 15 years ago. Ive been "offered" £1500 each for some, so they appear to have gone up from £180 to £1500, which is about 300% adjusted for inflation over 15 years

not bad at all really. I like them, but cant be arsed changing plates all the time, so I will keep them until I retire or downsize in vehicles....

so, are they better than other investments ? mmmm...depends, like most collectable things, buy something you use/like and if it goes up or even maintains value you have done well

[catfood12]

I've have a couple as a casual investment. Both rush sales. I'll be in profit for bot, just remember the cost of the transfer fee and £25 per year retention fee if you do just sit on them.

[Magic919]

Retention is £80 for ten years.

[sideways sid]

bogie said:

I would buy something you will use and forget about it. As above, so much depends on elapsed time, fashion, changes in plate formats, popularity

anything remotely decent and spelling something has already got an inflated price tag on it, then you are buying based on greater fool theory

Ive got 3 plates, 2 were pressies, another I bought later. They are just fun vehicle/nickname related 5 character plates that were £180 or £250 about 15 years ago. Ive been "offered" £1500 each for some, so they appear to have gone up from £180 to £1500, which is about 300% adjusted for inflation over 15 years

not bad at all really. I like them, but cant be arsed changing plates all the time, so I will keep them until I retire or downsize in vehicles....

so, are they better than other investments ? mmmm...depends, like most collectable things, buy something you use/like and if it goes up or even maintains value you have done well

Isn't there a charge to transfer when you change vehicle?
15 years might mean 5 transfers, which should probably be subtracted from the return.

[bogie]

sideways sid said:

bogie said:

I would buy something you will use and forget about it. As above, so much depends on elapsed time, fashion, changes in plate formats, popularity

anything remotely decent and spelling something has already got an inflated price tag on it, then you are buying based on greater fool theory

Ive got 3 plates, 2 were pressies, another I bought later. They are just fun vehicle/nickname related 5 character plates that were £180 or £250 about 15 years ago. Ive been "offered" £1500 each for some, so they appear to have gone up from £180 to £1500, which is about 300% adjusted for inflation over 15 years

not bad at all really. I like them, but cant be arsed changing plates all the time, so I will keep them until I retire or downsize in vehicles....

so, are they better than other investments ? mmmm...depends, like most collectable things, buy something you use/like and if it goes up or even maintains value you have done well

Isn't there a charge to transfer when you change vehicle?
15 years might mean 5 transfers, which should probably be subtracted from the return.

yeah...£80 each time ....Ive changed twice in 15 years. If you change you car every couple of years throwing away 50% depreciation each time, £80 is the last of your worries, you must be pretty rich anyway

[catfood12]

Magic919 said:

Retention is £80 for ten years.

Crikey ! So it is the Internet tells me too. I'll have to dig out the retention certs, as it was £25/year or £50 for two years to renew the retention. Really, it was. I've hung on to these plates for a long tome now....

[trowelhead]

lxm said:

I would rather have the plate, and for it to hold its value paid, than the funds sit in bonds.

OP - i just bought one similar to what you are looking at, Number followed by three digits. Always fancied one of these, i prefer them to the two number two digit plates.

Strangely, the letters are not my initials - and they don't mean anything to me. I just liked the look of the plate.

I wouldn't call it an investment, but as it is something i wanted to have that will likely rise a bit in value over time, then why not. Worst case is i lose a couple of hundred quid if i wanted to sell in a hurry.

However, surely principles of supply and demand mean these will hold / increase in value. There are only a set number of short plates in existence, and the new system means they wont be any more supply - but number of cars on road / population is generally increasing.

They really look well, very very pleased with mine

[walm]

trowelhead said:

OP - i just bought one similar to what you are looking at, Number followed by three digits. Always fancied one of these, i prefer them to the two number two digit plates.

I think the word "digit" does not mean what you think it means.

While you are correct that supply is limited, I am not sure demand is rising with any great pace.
The UK car parc (number of cars on the road) is very slow growth.
And disposable income is probably more of a swing factor, IMHO. Although right now that is growing fast.

[trowelhead]

walm said:

I think the word "digit" does not mean what you think it means.

Ok i mean letters

walm said:

While you are correct that supply is limited, I am not sure demand is rising with any great pace.
The UK car parc (number of cars on the road) is very slow growth.
And disposable income is probably more of a swing factor, IMHO. Although right now that is growing fast.

In theory - would the above not mean that a plate is a better investment than cash/premium bonds, which will lose value to QE/inflation in real terms.

Just coming up with some nice man maths for OP so he can go out and get his plate