Sales of personalised registration numbers without owning it

[Jimmy No Hands]

Noticed a lot of eBay 'plate' sellers with listings for a variety of personalised registration numbers. It appears certain sellers just re-list registration numbers that the DVLA still own on (see https://dvlaregistrations.dvla.gov.uk/) and then just add another £150 + on top. I assume when a listing sells they simply buy the DVLA listing and assign it to the buyer. Obviously, anyone savvy would just buy the plate directly for £250, as they're available to anyone.

So, genius middle-manning to make a cheeky £150, or not entirely legal?

Edited by Jimmy No Hands on Friday 9th September 16:37

[Yellow Lizud]

Jimmy No Hands said:

Noticed a lot of eBay 'plate' sellers with listings for a variety of personalised registration numbers. It appears certain sellers just re-list registration numbers that the DVLA still own on (see https://dvlaregistrations.dvla.gov.uk/) and then just add another £150 + on top. I assume when a listing sells they simply buy the DVLA listing and assign it to the buyer.

So, genius middle-manning to make a cheeky £150, or not entirely legal?

Another tax on stupidity.

If people are so stupid to buy off ebay rather than directly from DVLA (assuming we are talking about the exact same reg) then they deserved to be 'fined' £150

[The Rotrex Kid]

I'd say legal. You don't even own the plate if you buy it, you just have the right to assign it.

Seems like a great middle man tactic if you have the time and patience.

[Jimmy No Hands]

Yellow Lizud said:

Another tax on stupidity.

If people are so stupid to buy off ebay rather than directly from DVLA (assuming we are talking about the exact same reg) then they deserved to be 'fined' £150

I agree, I was more inclined to list them all myself and undercut them all by £80.

On a serious note, I was more curious about the legalities of selling something you don't own. Some of these sellers have thousands of sales, seemingly doing nothing more than some listings, filling in some details in an online form and letting the DVLA do the rest. Drop shipping for registration numbers.

[drmike37]

It's only like the sites that offer to do your passport/driving licence/car tax for you, and charge a fee for it.
If you're stupid enough to fall for it.....

[48k]

Jimmy No Hands said:

On a serious note, I was more curious about the legalities of selling something you don't own.

Share traders have done this for decades, it's called shorting.

[Toaster Pilot]

Pretty much all plate resellers do this, if you look on any of their websites you’ll find unissued plates for sale that you can buy direct from DVLA sold at a markup.

[sixor8]

It has completely cluttered up the registration area of eBay. I've bought and sold a couple of plates on there and IME at least 50% of the ones for 'sale' are cheaper direct from DVLA.

[Jimmy No Hands]

Seems like a potential nightmare. Buyer pays through eBay, seller sends retention doc from DVLA. Buyer claims they never received it, gets refund. The model clearly works as there's several high profile sellers, just feels like it could have some serious pitfalls!