wwp8

has anyone ever bought/sold numberplates as an investment

if so how do you do it/work?

was it worth it?

Spoon

Done it on and off for years if somebody wanted to sell a plate at the right money.

It's only the same as buying and selling anything though. You buy for less than you sell for.

The term investment doesn't relate to buying and selling either unless you mean buying 1 or more now then selling them in several years time.

Trading in plates is really buying and selling.

Lets face it, there isn't a lot to get right if you buy something now and resell it in 20 years time for a profit, is there?

I have plates that I bought years ago and are worth a fair bit now according to figures splashed all over the number plate dealers sites. The thing is though, how many actually achieve these daft advertised prices?

They are only worth what somebody else is prepared to pay and often the market might be very small.

wwp8

whats the procedure if buying straight from dvla?

Paul_M

Ordinary plates, i.e. the ones that follow the standard format with a year identifier can be bought straight from the website, usually at reasonable all-inclusive prices. The more interesting plates, such as dateless ones with a single number and two letters, usually go to auction. Details will be on their website.

The latter type of plate tend to be much more expensive, and on top of the price the auction fetches you have to add VAT, auctioneer's premium, and the £80 transfer fee. So that plate that "sold" for £10k suddenly costs about £12.5k to actually get it onto a car .

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

my plate would sell for shed loads (prolly to drug dealer) if it went privately ,but i have only been offered £5000 by a trader.
one day i will sell, but its a matter of waiting for the right opportunity ATM

Spoon

I've never considered any of the plates available from the DVLA worth buying. The few that are decent would have either been bought by well connected dealers or go to auction.

Apart from that you'd just phone them up and buy on retention and hold the certificate paying £25 a year until you decide to sell.

Spoon

Number plate traders offer more than you'd get privately unless they were willing to buy it from you outright for that figure, which I doubt. They have a knowledge of the market and add their large commission.

Your plate with the legality issues isn't worth more than the acrylic it's on really if I remember it correctly.

wwp8

any other good sources if not from dvla,

hmmm never thought of that

Spoon

Unfortunately that is like asking to share somebodys living. Divulging sources and suppliers to potential competitors in any field is financial suicide.

Likewise advertising the fact you like that plate might mean the difference between buying it or being offered it later from somebody who has bought it with you in mind.

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

nothing illegal about mine 'cept i have a space at the end not after the 1

tis very desirable

Wish

iTrader: (2)

Ive got a couple of plates that I bought as an investment. 2 yrs later and someone offered me £10k for one of them. But now its like part of the family and couldnt bring myself to sell it.

LOL ..... So much for an investment.

Spoon

Huh???
What about the space between your ears?

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

i cant get a fixed penalty for that

Spoon

No but you could probably get out of a fixed penalty using the gap between ...................

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

you lost me now

Spoon

Hey that's my line surely?

Can I have my watch back please?

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

i am pre-op