Archive for buy number plates
February 23, 2009 at 8:00 pm
· Filed under DVLA sealed bid auction, buy number plates, dvla auction, sell number plates
DVLA sealed bids auction - February 2009
9th feb – 27th Feb 2009 – 1074 number plates
For the second time in 6 months the DVLA have turned to a sealed bids auction with some 1000+ number plates on offer.
Having examined the lots it has to be said it’s a pretty unexciting line up of registration numbers on offer.
Of a handful of number plates which caught the eye of the Smashing Plates team :
JAS131R (JASBIR) & WAN13D (WANTED)
It has to be said some of the more exciting and valuable combinations of recent DVLA auctions are noticeably not present.
With the mediocre success of the last DVLA sealed bids auction we feel they should stick to the regular format.
Previous DVLA sealed bids auction
Previous DVLA sealed bids auction results
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December 2, 2008 at 11:15 pm
· Filed under Numberplates, advertise your number plate for free, buy number plates, number plate market, sell number plates, transfer number plates ·Tagged advertise, number, plates, sell
“Advertise your number plate for free”
When selling a personal number plate – there seem to be many number plate dealers and companies offering to sell your number plate on your behalf free of charge – is it an offer that’s too good to be true?
“Selling a number plate is like selling a house”
Number plate selling – via dealers – is similar to selling a house and enlisting the services of the estate agent. Both are professional companies and skilled at what they do – both will market and conlude the sale of your house / number plate and both will charge you hand
Why it’s never free
As nice as number plate dealers are - buying and selling number plates is their bread and butter income. As with all things that sound too good to be true this is no exception- but its worth explaining how they charge.
“As a seller you will pay no money to the number plate dealer – but this doesn’t mean free”
As a seller you will pay no money to the number plate dealer when you sell your numberplate – but this doesn’t mean free.
The dealer will add their commission to the asking price of your number plate. On the face of it this is great – much like a no-win no fee solicitor but if someone pays £5000 for your number plate and the dealer passes you £3500 then surely you have paid £1500 for their services?
The true cost
Using the above example – someone has paid £5000 for your number plate but you only received £3500. It makes sense that were you to have found and dealt with this person directly you would be £1500 richer.
“If you dealt directly you would have been £1500 richer”
Different number plate dealers charge differing percentages of commisson. When negotiating the number plate sale it’s worth remembering the number plate dealers’ first priority is a sale and the second priority is getting a good price. It has been known for some dealers – as with estate agents and any kind of broker- to apply pressure to close a sale for the sake of “doing the deal” and earning a commisson- albeit not as sizeable as it could have been.
Save money – DIY
“There is now a cost effective alternative”
There are two main hurdles for anyone wishing to buy and sell number plates –
knowledge of how to transfer number plates
finding the appropriate buyer / seller
Number plate dealers take car of both these areas and on this basis make a living but as with anything- from pay as you go mobile phones to low cost airlines there is now a more cost effective alternative.
Number plate classifieds website give buyers and sellers of number plates the choice and chance to find each other and deal directly- ultimately saving money.
Isn’t transferring number plates difficult?
The DVLA and government have made the DVLA number plate forms extremely straight forward and useful documents. They can still be daunting but they aren’t in the league of filing a tax return(!)
So long as the criteria are met – there is no real mystery or difficulty when transferring number plates – just need to “dot the i’s and cross the t’s”
Not sure? got questions?
check out these links or drop us an email – info@smashing-plates.com
Sell my number plate
sell number plates
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November 21, 2008 at 1:37 pm
· Filed under Numberplates, buy number plates, number plate history, number plates are an ego boost, sell number plates ·Tagged boost, buy, ego, number, plates, sell
Are number plates an ego boost?
Just found an interesting article in the Guardian which refers to a 2002 paper written by Professor Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick.
When exploring the value or number plates – professor oswald has attempted to formulise valuaing number plates whilst also assessing the criteria for their purchase
“number plates dont have a function apart from status”
Not strictly true- number plates are used to identify vehicles but certainly you are provided with a registration number FOC by the DVLA so to pay more for a number plate adds no additional function – whether a number plate is A123ABC or DAV1D – both will be used to recognise vehicle ownership on the DVLA’s systems.
“they don’t pay for funny words, the pay for their own name”
The findings revealed that number plates are somewhat narcissistic – first names, surnames and nicknames are more valued and popular than words although generally and number plate which reads as a word will have an increased value.
“number plates are like domain names”
Interestingly there is a close link between number plates and domain names – both are an expression of indiviuality and both can be memorable (and expensive) Professor Oswald recognises that domain names have an intrinsic function whereas number plates are much more about pure status.
The fact is we all buy number plates for a variety of different reasons – sometimes as a gift and sometimes as an ego boost. Number plates provide a great deal of fun and amusement for all those who enjoy them and they have spawned various clubs forums and blogs (like this one) - so it can’t all be that bad?
Read the full paper here
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November 12, 2008 at 8:50 am
· Filed under Numberplates, buy number plates, sell number plates, twr number plates, v12twr ·Tagged jaguar, number, plates, TWR, v12twr, xj220
V12TWR
I don’t know about you but I used to love the old Jaguar XJ220 TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing)
An enormous beast of a thing (as if the XJ220 wasn’t big enough already) and more often than not painted in Day-Glo yellow or green- hardly the discreet-mobile.
We took a trip down memory lane here in the office today when the number plate V12TWR was placed on the site
Now of course a V reg prefix number plate can’t be transferred to an XJ220 due to the DVLA rules on making vehicles appear newer – but Tom Walkinshaw racing (TWR) have moved to pastures new and now tune Holdens.
V12TWR may also be a long term number plate investment as many manufacturers have re-released models (think VW beetle and mini) – under the ownership of Tata; Jaguar may release a new generation supercar and what better private plate to add the finishing touch!
See also
XJ220 TWR
Walkinshaw performance
Jaguar number plates
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November 5, 2008 at 8:36 am
· Filed under DVLA sealed bid auction, Numberplates, buy number plates, dvla ·Tagged number, plates, dvla, sealed, bid, auction, result
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October 31, 2008 at 3:13 pm
· Filed under DVLA sealed bid auction, Numberplates, buy number plates, dvla, sell number plates ·Tagged number, plates, dvla, sealed, bids
The DVLA’s sealed bids auction has come to a close just an hour ago – and Monday 3rd November will reveal just how many of the 1500 DVLA number plates reached their reserve & were successfully sold.
The more cost effective DVLA sealed bids postal sale could herald a paradigm shift for the DVLA and could mean the beginning of the end for the tradional DVLA number plate auction
Some of the cherished number plates offered for sale include ANH4D, J51MMY and PAL45H – with reserves as low as £250 + fees.
The usual DVLA number plate auction format provides 1500 lots six times a year in a roadshow-esque environment – a move to sealed bids has shocked some industry insiders and others are sceptical that some of the bargains and opportunities provided by DVLA auctions may disappear.
The DVLA sealed bids auction could has brought 1500 personalised number plates to market and only time will tell if all 1500 number plates found a home.
DVLA sealed bid auction
what is the dvla sealed bids auction
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October 21, 2008 at 9:57 pm
· Filed under Numberplates, buy number plates ·Tagged buying number plates, car number plates, cherished registration numbers, christmas presents, gift ideas, private registrations, unusual gifts
With Christmas just around the corner – ok well almost- we find here at “Smashing Plates towers” that number plates remain an original gift out there on their own and as each Christmas rolls around we hear from many customers buying number plates for their beloved.
So why buy a personal number plate as a christmas present?
An affordable gift
Number plates bought direct from the DVLA (www.dvlaregistrations.co.uk) and NOT from a DVLA reseller can cost as little as £250 with nothing more to pay.
A lasting gift
Each private number plate also has it’s own little story- my first number plate was my 18th birthday present and everytime I walk to my car it makes me smile- even 7 years on(!)
An original gift
If you are lucky enough to find a decent number plate combination at a reasonable price (prefix number plates are still your best bet) then you can surprise your loved one with their nickname or a word on their very own Smashing Plate.
So this year dig deep and give it some thought and you’ll find personal number plates are the gifts that keep on giving
a word of caution numberplates aren’t for everyone so find out if a numberplate is his/her cup of tea before you go any further!
Personalised number plates make great gifts because they’re …
unique
lasting
memorable
different
affordable
Yes… affordable!
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October 19, 2008 at 9:20 pm
· Filed under buy number plates, sell number plates ·Tagged buy, ferrari, invest, number, plates, sell
The Ferrari California is shortly to be launched and as with the prospective launch of most new cars there are those forward thinking among us who see the chance to snag some great ferrari number plates.
The California- retractable a hard top is the natural progression from the 360 and 430 and sure not to disappoint.
We had a think here in the office about the perfect ferrari numberplates to compliment the new model -
The new series of F prefix number plates allow you to have F then any letter and CAL – F2CAL for example.
New style number plates allow for plates such as MY58CAL or MY58FER
For us some of the ultimate Ferrari reg plates relate not to the model but to Ferrari itself- RED 1 or RO550 being notable favourites.
Whatever the combinations- you can be sure the enterprising among us will be reselling the best combinations quicker than this thing cando 0-60
Ferrari number plates
Number plate investment
Naturally there is already a waiting list for the california…
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September 28, 2008 at 5:38 pm
· Filed under Numberplates, buy number plates, sell number plates ·Tagged buy, dealer, number, plates, private, reg, sell, smashing
plate websites the same?
There must be over 100 number plate dealer websites online as I type this- and yet – aren’t they all just the same? Some have large advertising budgets and can offer great exposure to potential number plate sellers.
Others are much smaller and have smaller budgets- and yet nearly all number plate websites have the same plates to offer- but how can this be?
Every number plate is a one off. Fact.
Surely there can be only one combination of each numberplate- and so how can one number plate appears of tens of websites and with varying asking prices?
Most number plate dealers are DVLA resellers
The first thing to consider is that most number plate dealers sell number plates on behalf of the DVLA – making them “DVLA resellers”
Where you can buy some number plates directly from the DVLA for £250 with nothing more to pay – some dealers advertise these plates at £250 PLUS vat and transfer fees – taking their cut this way.
What to do? Read our number plate rip off article and always double check www.dvlaregistrations.co.uk
Most number plate websites have similar stock.
As each number plate is a one off – most number plate dealers tend to have similar stock on offer; the only differing factor is the asking price as this is determined by the level of commission a particular dealer builds in to the asking price.
Same plates. Different prices.
Number plate dealers are like estate agents. Each advertises a number plate on behalf of the seller – in return for a percentage fee when there is a sale.
As each number plate dealer differs from the next some charge 2%, others 4% and others £500 or £1000.
With this in mind the asking price for a number plate can differ by hundreds of pounds from website to website.
There is another way..
Smashing Plates is the first number plate classifieds website in the UK – it’s not a number plate dealer and that means it has the following advantages:
Buy number plates directly from the seller
No dealer commission
No VAT
No hidden fees
Smashing Plates is NOT a DVLA reseller
Why advertise privately rather than through a dealer?
Using a number plate classifieds website means you have greater control over the asking price for your number plate – you save money by not having to pay dealer commissions.
Transferring number plates is not as difficult as some number plate dealers would have you believe – check out these links
Why sell a number plate privately
How to transfer a number plate
Interested? Read on..
For more information on Smashing Plates and how the way we buy and sell number plates in the UK is changing please visit www.smashing-plates.com.
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August 24, 2008 at 5:47 pm
· Filed under Numberplates, buy number plates, f prefix number plates, sell number plates ·Tagged number, prefix, plates, dvla, f, release
The launch of F number plates was announced a short while ago and the DVLA are keeping the asking prices for this new series of car registrations close to their chests
Alas a letter arrived at the office yesterday morning- announcing that F1 number plates will begin the pricing at £1299 all inclusive and F2 number plates will be £599 all inclusive.
It remains to be seen if these are the final prices and indeed some plates will be “individually priced” or witheld for a future DVLA auction.
Such is the anticipated demand for F prefix numberplates that the DVLA are restricting the number of purchases to one per phone call. Lines will be open from 8AM till 6PM – an extension of the usual DVLA operating hours.
It’s expected that once some of the juicer combinations have been purchased that they will be available as number plates for sale across the internet- with a premium added to the price.
F number plates will go on sale Tuesday 7th October.
Sell a number plate via Smashing Plates
Buy a number plate via Smashing Plates
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