DVLA Plate Auctions

[Calculator]

There is a plate coming up for auction soon that I'd like to own. Does anyone have any tips for bidding in the online auctions or are there any pitfalls to be aware of?

I assume there are lots of traders bidding who will have strict limits on what they'll pay?

[speciald]

Following because there is one I am interested in starting soon.

[200Plus Club]

I've bought in the past, just remember there are fairly hefty fees plus the £80 regular fee go add onto the hammer price. Adds a few hundreds of pounds to what you'll pay generally if bidding a couple of grand.
Easy enough to bid

[fooman]

Can you see what past auctions went for to get a feel for prices?

[sjg]

If it's likely to go for more than £1000 then you need to lodge a deposit with them, 10% of your spending limit.

No point in hanging on until the last minute, any bids extend the auction end time.

Prices are all plus VAT, then 3% buyers premium (then VAT on that) and the £80 assignment fee. So a £2000 final price would have £400 of VAT, £72 of buyers premium and £80 fee = £2552.

[Calculator]

I was trying to understand the bid extensions - can this extend indefinitely in 30mins portions if people keep bidding?

Does it just go straight to your max bid? Or just move you above the second place bidder? So if my max bid was £100 but the second bidder was at £50, would I pay £51 or £100?

[Maxus]

I bid on a plate in the last auction.

Registered
Lodged a 10% of my max bid deposit
Started placing bids
End time extended by 30 minutes 4 or 5 times
The other bidder was willing to pay more than me so i bowed out and it ended
Deposit was returned a few days later

All very easy. Prices vary considerably. Some go surprisingly cheaply but others (like mine ) get expensive as 2 people want it and keep placing just one more bid

[Geertsen]

fooman said:

Can you see what past auctions went for to get a feel for prices?

https://dvlaregistrations.dvla.gov.uk/search/previous-auction-registrations.html

[GMac1]

The pitfalls are the extended time & having to watch the auction which can soak up too much of your time. If 2 people want to bid in increments of £100 then the extended time can roll on for hours until one gives up. Your deposit needs to be paid upfront, it’s returned a few days after auction finishes if unsuccessful. Personally having bought from dvla auction, I’d say place the very max bid at the start and just let it run, don’t sit and watch it all day. It’s too easy to get caught at the end by saying I’ll just go another £100. This is where you can end up in a bidding war and pay way more than you wanted.

[timrud]

DVLA auctions tend to go for a lot more than you think they will, very rare to grab a bargain these days.

Best bet is just set the maximum you are able to spend and if you win, you win.

[speciald]

timrud said:

DVLA auctions tend to go for a lot more than you think they will, very rare to grab a bargain these days.

Best bet is just set the maximum you are able to spend and if you win, you win.

This is what I did with the plate I was interested in, got outbid later the same day. It ends tomorrow so will see what it eventually goes for.