Number Plate as an investment?
Discussion
PH5121 said:
I don't think number plates are a particularly good investment, buy it if it means some thing to you. Don't buy it thinking you will make a vast profit.
I know what you mean,but one of the best investments i'v made and i have turned down a vast profit on two occasions...!!!Edited by PH5121 on Monday 16th March 11:11
Back in early 2011 I bought an '11' plate on the DVLA release date that was very car and model specific. It was only £380 so I gambled that I could make money in time. Worst case scenario I was sure I'd break even or be quite happy to have the plate on my own car, even though it wouldn't suit it, and then one day someone would spot it and buy it.
Fast forward to January this year and I have finally sold it. Took alot longer than I expected and I had to sell it through a reg plate dealer so they took their cut but I received a cheque for £1400 a few weeks ago. So I made nearly a grand -ish profit. No where near what I hoped to get back in 2011 but the unexpected windfall was nice for something I had forgotten about and almost written off - which makes the Breitling that is now on my wrist a bargain according to my man maths, it was virtually free!
Would I do it again? Maybe, but only if I didnt mind too much loosing the money or waiting years to see a profit, if at all. I would have been happy to own the plate anyway so I didnt mind if it sold, but I wouldn't tie up too much money in a plate. Also my plate was for a very niche car that doesn't sell in high numbers, so therefore the market is obviously small, you are waiting for one buyer of a rare car that wants a private plate for that specific model - could be a long wait!
A colleague at work bought an Aerial Atom related 11 plate at the same time and his hasn't sold it or had any interest - hardly a high volume selling car so it could be a while!
I bought at auction back in the mid-2000s a plate that spelt my first name and initial (not my user name) perfectly, I outbid regtransfers for it and paid £3.5k for it. i have no plans to ever sell it but last year turned down £14k cash for it - sometimes I think I should have sold it but I wasn't desperate for the money so I kept it. But I may wait years for another similar offer.
My neighbour spotted a stunning plate on the DVLA website a few years ago, paid £400 ish and now has it up for a 5 figure sum, but it hasn't sold as far as I know, so until it does it is still a £400 plate (though I'd happily give her alot more for it as it looks great).
There is money to be made, but you could be waiting years to make modest returns like me, so only invest what you can afford to loose would be my advise as it's a gamble.
Fast forward to January this year and I have finally sold it. Took alot longer than I expected and I had to sell it through a reg plate dealer so they took their cut but I received a cheque for £1400 a few weeks ago. So I made nearly a grand -ish profit. No where near what I hoped to get back in 2011 but the unexpected windfall was nice for something I had forgotten about and almost written off - which makes the Breitling that is now on my wrist a bargain according to my man maths, it was virtually free!
Would I do it again? Maybe, but only if I didnt mind too much loosing the money or waiting years to see a profit, if at all. I would have been happy to own the plate anyway so I didnt mind if it sold, but I wouldn't tie up too much money in a plate. Also my plate was for a very niche car that doesn't sell in high numbers, so therefore the market is obviously small, you are waiting for one buyer of a rare car that wants a private plate for that specific model - could be a long wait!
A colleague at work bought an Aerial Atom related 11 plate at the same time and his hasn't sold it or had any interest - hardly a high volume selling car so it could be a while!
I bought at auction back in the mid-2000s a plate that spelt my first name and initial (not my user name) perfectly, I outbid regtransfers for it and paid £3.5k for it. i have no plans to ever sell it but last year turned down £14k cash for it - sometimes I think I should have sold it but I wasn't desperate for the money so I kept it. But I may wait years for another similar offer.
My neighbour spotted a stunning plate on the DVLA website a few years ago, paid £400 ish and now has it up for a 5 figure sum, but it hasn't sold as far as I know, so until it does it is still a £400 plate (though I'd happily give her alot more for it as it looks great).
There is money to be made, but you could be waiting years to make modest returns like me, so only invest what you can afford to loose would be my advise as it's a gamble.
rejn said:
I bought 73DN from a DVLA auction for around £2600 (I assumed I couldn't lost money on it at that price) - and have had it for sale with regtransfers for years now without a sniff of interest.
I just went to http://www.regtransfers.co.uk/I searched for 73 DN and it says it's not available. 48 DN is £5195 though.
I've got a friend that regularly dips his toe in the speculative number plate market, some he wins on, some he loses on, for a car related one it all boils down what the car is, how popular it is and the income band of the owners. 
His latest punt is on R40 OVW, which with a little chav move becomes R400 VW which will sit quite nicely on the upcoming R400 Golf and the VW fan boys like things like this so he's hoping to sell at a profit, but it's a long game and remember to get on top of the retention certificate's or the DVLA end up getting the plate back.
His latest punt is on R40 OVW, which with a little chav move becomes R400 VW which will sit quite nicely on the upcoming R400 Golf and the VW fan boys like things like this so he's hoping to sell at a profit, but it's a long game and remember to get on top of the retention certificate's or the DVLA end up getting the plate back.
V8forweekends said:
I just went to http://www.regtransfers.co.uk/
I searched for 73 DN and it says it's not available. 48 DN is £5195 though.
ok - thanks for lettting me know - I just called them and they'd taken it off as I hadn't been in touch to renew it recently - it's back up for sale with them now.I searched for 73 DN and it says it's not available. 48 DN is £5195 though.
If you're interested, feel free to pm me directly. I'll stick it up for sale on PH classifieds too.
MiltonBaines said:
Back in early 2011 I bought an '11' plate on the DVLA release date that was very car and model specific. It was only £380 so I gambled that I could make money in time. Worst case scenario I was sure I'd break even or be quite happy to have the plate on my own car, even though it wouldn't suit it, and then one day someone would spot it and buy it.
Fast forward to January this year and I have finally sold it. Took alot longer than I expected and I had to sell it through a reg plate dealer so they took their cut but I received a cheque for £1400 a few weeks ago. So I made nearly a grand -ish profit. No where near what I hoped to get back in 2011 but the unexpected windfall was nice for something I had forgotten about and almost written off - which makes the Breitling that is now on my wrist a bargain according to my man maths, it was virtually free!
Would I do it again? Maybe, but only if I didnt mind too much loosing the money or waiting years to see a profit, if at all. I would have been happy to own the plate anyway so I didnt mind if it sold, but I wouldn't tie up too much money in a plate. Also my plate was for a very niche car that doesn't sell in high numbers, so therefore the market is obviously small, you are waiting for one buyer of a rare car that wants a private plate for that specific model - could be a long wait!
A colleague at work bought an Aerial Atom related 11 plate at the same time and his hasn't sold it or had any interest - hardly a high volume selling car so it could be a while!
I bought at auction back in the mid-2000s a plate that spelt my first name and initial (not my user name) perfectly, I outbid regtransfers for it and paid £3.5k for it. i have no plans to ever sell it but last year turned down £14k cash for it - sometimes I think I should have sold it but I wasn't desperate for the money so I kept it. But I may wait years for another similar offer.
My neighbour spotted a stunning plate on the DVLA website a few years ago, paid £400 ish and now has it up for a 5 figure sum, but it hasn't sold as far as I know, so until it does it is still a £400 plate (though I'd happily give her alot more for it as it looks great).
There is money to be made, but you could be waiting years to make modest returns like me, so only invest what you can afford to loose would be my advise as it's a gamble.
Which reg plate dealer did you use, if you don't mind me asking?Fast forward to January this year and I have finally sold it. Took alot longer than I expected and I had to sell it through a reg plate dealer so they took their cut but I received a cheque for £1400 a few weeks ago. So I made nearly a grand -ish profit. No where near what I hoped to get back in 2011 but the unexpected windfall was nice for something I had forgotten about and almost written off - which makes the Breitling that is now on my wrist a bargain according to my man maths, it was virtually free!
Would I do it again? Maybe, but only if I didnt mind too much loosing the money or waiting years to see a profit, if at all. I would have been happy to own the plate anyway so I didnt mind if it sold, but I wouldn't tie up too much money in a plate. Also my plate was for a very niche car that doesn't sell in high numbers, so therefore the market is obviously small, you are waiting for one buyer of a rare car that wants a private plate for that specific model - could be a long wait!
A colleague at work bought an Aerial Atom related 11 plate at the same time and his hasn't sold it or had any interest - hardly a high volume selling car so it could be a while!
I bought at auction back in the mid-2000s a plate that spelt my first name and initial (not my user name) perfectly, I outbid regtransfers for it and paid £3.5k for it. i have no plans to ever sell it but last year turned down £14k cash for it - sometimes I think I should have sold it but I wasn't desperate for the money so I kept it. But I may wait years for another similar offer.
My neighbour spotted a stunning plate on the DVLA website a few years ago, paid £400 ish and now has it up for a 5 figure sum, but it hasn't sold as far as I know, so until it does it is still a £400 plate (though I'd happily give her alot more for it as it looks great).
There is money to be made, but you could be waiting years to make modest returns like me, so only invest what you can afford to loose would be my advise as it's a gamble.
There's no reason why not...
I put in effort to get a "15" plate the day they were released (December 2014) and persevered through the usual unavailability of the site, no one answering the phone line etc. Managed to get the plate I wanted and paid £399 for it.
Just had it valued by some of the major resellers and they're offering £3k. Pretty good return on investment to me.
To bring a bit of reality; one offer of £3k, one offer of £2k, and one offer of £100.....just goes to show it helps to shop around!
I put in effort to get a "15" plate the day they were released (December 2014) and persevered through the usual unavailability of the site, no one answering the phone line etc. Managed to get the plate I wanted and paid £399 for it.
Just had it valued by some of the major resellers and they're offering £3k. Pretty good return on investment to me.
To bring a bit of reality; one offer of £3k, one offer of £2k, and one offer of £100.....just goes to show it helps to shop around!
arun1uk said:
There's no reason why not...
I put in effort to get a "15" plate the day they were released (December 2014) and persevered through the usual unavailability of the site, no one answering the phone line etc. Managed to get the plate I wanted and paid £399 for it.
Just had it valued by some of the major resellers and they're offering £3k. Pretty good return on investment to me.
To bring a bit of reality; one offer of £3k, one offer of £2k, and one offer of £100.....just goes to show it helps to shop around!
Are those offers to buy it outright or just what they say they will list it for?I put in effort to get a "15" plate the day they were released (December 2014) and persevered through the usual unavailability of the site, no one answering the phone line etc. Managed to get the plate I wanted and paid £399 for it.
Just had it valued by some of the major resellers and they're offering £3k. Pretty good return on investment to me.
To bring a bit of reality; one offer of £3k, one offer of £2k, and one offer of £100.....just goes to show it helps to shop around!
I bought a plate advertised privately on PH about 3.5 years ago (3 numbers + 1 letter) which I have been given a valuation from regtransfers at over twice (net) what I paid if they sold it for me.
I bought the plate as it fits in with 2 other plates I have, but thought it was a good buy at the price I paid but I wouldn't have risked a few grand if I hadn't fancied the plate.
If it could be put on the classic whose model it depicts it would be very happy days.
Never buy a plate that I had no use for as an investment. As can be seen they are not a liquid investment in any sense of the word and are not cost free as a rule.
We have 4 private plates - two of them specific to us as individuals, one person and car specific and one car specific. None are ever likely to be for sale, and, with the exception of one plate, I doubt that they are worth what was paid for them. That isn't an issue though as they were bought for us not for others. The odd plate out, and which is likely worth a about £1k-£1.5k, is only that as there is a very large company which appears to own ever other number from 2-20 with the same prefix and three letters as mine. Sadly for them it would cost a lot more than they would be willing to pay to prise it out of my hands!
We have 4 private plates - two of them specific to us as individuals, one person and car specific and one car specific. None are ever likely to be for sale, and, with the exception of one plate, I doubt that they are worth what was paid for them. That isn't an issue though as they were bought for us not for others. The odd plate out, and which is likely worth a about £1k-£1.5k, is only that as there is a very large company which appears to own ever other number from 2-20 with the same prefix and three letters as mine. Sadly for them it would cost a lot more than they would be willing to pay to prise it out of my hands!
MuZiZZle said:
jdw1234 said:
RegTransfer outbid me on a plate at a DVLA auction. They have confirmed to me they own it and have repeatedly contacted me since the auction about buying it from them.
I won't buy it out of principle.
They have now been trying to sell it for over 9 years.
I like you!I won't buy it out of principle.
They have now been trying to sell it for over 9 years.
k), in which case you've not only paid less than you would have, even if you don't adjust for inflation, but you've also made them drop a loss. You could even do it on the 10 year anniversary of being outbid!jdw1234 said:
RegTransfer outbid me on a plate at a DVLA auction. They have confirmed to me they own it and have repeatedly contacted me since the auction about buying it from them.
I won't buy it out of principle.
They have now been trying to sell it for over 9 years.
I know that feeling - I think they're nudging 11 years trying to sell the plate I missed out on. It's being sold for £24,995 + VAT, it sold for just short of £4k (inc. VAT and fees) at auction in 2003.I won't buy it out of principle.
They have now been trying to sell it for over 9 years.
FunkyChucker said:
Is it true that from last week retention fees have been scrapped?
linky
Also is this chap having a laugh?
Looks true! linky
Also is this chap having a laugh?
Edited by FunkyChucker on Monday 16th March 21:17
https://www.gov.uk/personalised-vehicle-registrati...
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