DVLA Personal Regs: " We will NOT negotiate on price!
Discussion
Anyone else found the DVLA totally inflexible on their pricing of personalised plates. They seem to have developed an attitude that even the most normal of normal plates is now priced at £799. I bought one a couple of years back - it means something to me but doesn't really spell anything and it was only £250 so i thought what the hell.
A second family car is available to put the next number on - i.e it is one digit away from what I already have and again it spells nothing in particular yet they want the aforementioned £799 for it - a £549 hike on the other numbers price.
I wrote to them to ask the reasoning behind this and twice I have received the same standard email not addressing my comments at all but saying that is the market price, we think it is fair and we will not negotiate.
I KNOW that the number will remain unsold as it is of zero interest to anyone. You would have thought that they would rather have a few hundred in the coffers than nothing. In a way they are failing in their duty to raise money by being totally inflexible.
Anyone got the Chief Executive's email address??? Though that would probably be a total waste of time too!
A second family car is available to put the next number on - i.e it is one digit away from what I already have and again it spells nothing in particular yet they want the aforementioned £799 for it - a £549 hike on the other numbers price.
I wrote to them to ask the reasoning behind this and twice I have received the same standard email not addressing my comments at all but saying that is the market price, we think it is fair and we will not negotiate.
I KNOW that the number will remain unsold as it is of zero interest to anyone. You would have thought that they would rather have a few hundred in the coffers than nothing. In a way they are failing in their duty to raise money by being totally inflexible.
Anyone got the Chief Executive's email address??? Though that would probably be a total waste of time too!
elanfan said:
You would have thought that they would rather have a few hundred in the coffers than nothing. In a way they are failing in their duty to raise money...
Why would a government department care about raising money legitimately when they can just tax us more if things get tight?They may have done research and found that net profit from plates is higher by selling less at over 3 times the price.
Or/and that most people who buy these things strongly want them and will pay the higher price.
You wrote to them, they now know that you're serious and therefore more likely to pay asking price, so why would they reduce it?
They also know you have a very similar number, so more likely to desire this one, so why reduce the price?
They may not want to start a reputation as someone who discounts and can be haggled with. Common strategy for making goods appear to be "premium" and more desirable.
Charging more for "normal" plates means they can charge even more for more significant combinations without there being a ridiculous looking price gap.
For a market to be competitive, there must be more than a single buyer or seller. In this case there is only a single seller of new ones, it has a monopoly, and is a government entity so it's even worse.
Do these plates for sale appear on a balance sheet somewhere? If they do, the DVLA may prefer to have higher value of unsold assets on it, rather than actually raise money from sales.
The chief executive most likely doesn't give a s
t about what you think, his own department, or government coffers.
Any extra money that the DVLA raises does not mean extra budget for the DVLA next year. No incentive.
I agree with you though, those are just my thoughts wearing my cynical bd hat.
Or/and that most people who buy these things strongly want them and will pay the higher price.
You wrote to them, they now know that you're serious and therefore more likely to pay asking price, so why would they reduce it?
They also know you have a very similar number, so more likely to desire this one, so why reduce the price?
They may not want to start a reputation as someone who discounts and can be haggled with. Common strategy for making goods appear to be "premium" and more desirable.
Charging more for "normal" plates means they can charge even more for more significant combinations without there being a ridiculous looking price gap.
For a market to be competitive, there must be more than a single buyer or seller. In this case there is only a single seller of new ones, it has a monopoly, and is a government entity so it's even worse.
Do these plates for sale appear on a balance sheet somewhere? If they do, the DVLA may prefer to have higher value of unsold assets on it, rather than actually raise money from sales.
The chief executive most likely doesn't give a s
t about what you think, his own department, or government coffers.Any extra money that the DVLA raises does not mean extra budget for the DVLA next year. No incentive.
I agree with you though, those are just my thoughts wearing my cynical b
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