This question is always a difficult one to answer. It is asked by almost everyone who approaches Simply Registrations with a number plate they wish to sell. Whilst there are definitely some influential factors such as price and desirability, until a buyer is prepared to part with their hard-earned money and commit to the purchase, you just never know.
Many years of buying and selling private number plates has taught me this business can make you look foolish. As an example; I bought the registration BEN 962 many years ago expecting to sell it fairly quickly for a modest profit. It sold in December 2012 for a modest profit; however I had it in stock for over seven years. In contrast, less than three weeks ago I purchased the registrations 79 SD & SHC 7 expecting to have them in stock for the average length of time which tends to be two to three years. 79 SD sold within days of me buying it and we have just taken a part-payment against SHC 7.
The Influence Factors
The asking price is likely to have some impact on how long a personalised plate takes to sell, but it doesn’t always just come down to price. We currently have 9 JSE in stock at £3,200 plus v.a.t. and transfer fees. To my knowledge it is the lowest priced single-digit JSE plate on the market. However that doesn’t necessarily mean that 9 JSE will sell before 5 JSE or JSE 7 which are also for sale, albeit with higher asking prices. If Jason S Edwards is looking for a cherished registration and he was born on the 5th of March, it is likely that 5 JSE would be his first choice.
The desirability of the registration should also have some bearing on how quickly it sells, or doesn’t sell as the case may be. The initials AJB or SMC are much more popular than combinations such as VGR or HBN. But if Helen B Nelson has just bought herself a brand new car and is eager to get a private plate for it, you may just get lucky if you have an HBN registration that you are looking to sell.
Spreading the Word
As the saying goes; you could be selling ten pound notes for £5, but if no one knows about it you won’t sell many. If you want to stand a good chance of selling your number plate you’ve got to let potential buyers know that it is for sale. We promote the simplyregistrations.co.uk website at every opportunity and advertise regularly in selected motoring publications such as What Car? and Top Marques Magazines. We also circulate our entire stock of personalised registrations amongst the trade which often results in other trusted dealers selling our stock via their websites or advertisements.
Common sense suggests that a registration which can be found on dealer websites, in adverts within car magazines and maybe even listed on Ebay will stand a better chance of selling than one which is photographed and carefully placed inside a newsagent’s window.
My fifteen years of buying and selling private number plates suggests you should allow at least two, or maybe even three years to sell a personalised registration. There will always be external forces at work which may help or hinder the sale of your plate, whilst price and desirability could also influence timescales. If you have a registration that you are considering selling, you may find this guide useful which provides further details on how to sell a private number plate.
Auto Trader has become a household name since its advent in the mid 70s; for anyone looking to buy or sell a car, the standard approach would be to place an ad in the iconic magazine, or buy a copy and flick through the thousands of adverts in the hunt for your new motor. This popular publication was truly the lifeblood of the car industry, both for dealers and private sellers. However, as life moves evermore towards digital media, it’s with much sadness that we have learned of the imminent closure of the print version of this well-known and much-loved magazine.
Falling circulation and revenue
Many years ago, Auto Trader was a veritable tome, nearing phonebook proportions and jam packed full of new and used cars for sale. Its advertising revenue was immense, and it seemed that it was an institution that would always be there. However, since the launch of the Auto Trader website, circulation volumes of the print magazine have fallen rapidly, with the money generated through its ads almost halving in recent years. This led to a decision from its publisher, The Trader Media Group, to say goodbye to the hard-copy version and focus its efforts solely on the website.
While this may come as a surprise to many, we’ve done our own investigating – talking to various motor traders who would always have the latest copy of the magazine sat on their desks, we found that it was no longer part of the office furniture – making it little wonder that the publishing group have decided to call it a day.
Technology is the new trading space
As many businesses are finding, modern technology is changing the way consumers access the products they want to buy. With people surfing online via multiple devices, and with smartphones and tablets becoming more commonplace than ever before, it’s really no surprise that online visitors to the Auto Trader website have risen by 11% in just one year. During this time, the number of its visitors using a mobile device has grown from 1.1 million to 2.3 million – showing the influence that technology is having on purchasing habits.
If you had asked anybody 10 or 15 years ago whether they envisaged this giant of car advertising closing down, no one would have believed it possible. But the online version has eclipsed the value of the print edition, and this much more accessible and immediate version now boasts 11 million unique visitors per month. The website offers a much more intuitive search function and easy listing tools, adding to its appeal for those who want to buy or sell cars more efficiently.
So, while we’re sorry to see the print magazine come to an end, from a business perspective, we can see why it makes perfect sense. Farewell Auto Trader, thanks for the memories!
The Department for Transport (DfT) announced this week that Simon Tse, Chief Executive of DVLA is leaving. Mr Tse is moving on after five years at DVLA to take up the position of Contracted Customer Services Director with the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP). The change is expected to take place at the end of March 2013.
In an open letter to Stakeholders, Mr Tse said: “I’m really looking forward to the challenges at DWP, though I have to say the decision to move on was a difficult one. I am immensely proud of all we have achieved at DVLA in the five years I have been here, and am convinced that the Agency is in a great place to face the future.”
The Department for Transport has begun the process of identifying a successor.
The unfortunate passing of a South Yorkshire woman has led to solicitors searching for a buyer for her unique personalised registration plate. With multiple UK charities standing to benefit from the proceeds, the hunt is now underway to find someone who wishes purchase this unique piece of motoring history.
Death is never happy affair, but sometimes a bizarre twist of fate can lead worthwhile charitable causes to benefit from someone’s demise. A firm of solicitors recently landed the task of distributing funds left by a deceased British lady, with the majority of her £400,000 estate being left to charities working across the UK.
With several unusual items needing to find a new home in order to release collateral from the lady’s belongings, antiques specialist Vivienne Milburn and registrations expert James Saperia have been asked to locate new owners for certain valuables – with an exclusive personalised number plate being one of the more distinctive effects.
The registration in question is ‘VKY 1’ – the ultimate registration for any female motorist by the name of Vicky or Victoria. With the sale price set at £12,500 this is a unique opportunity to purchase an exclusive registration at an attractive price. James Saperia, MD of Simply Registrations says: “We’re delighted to have been asked to assist with the marketing of this prestigious personalised registration, especially with the proceeds of the sale being donated to a selection of good causes.”
The registration was originally issued in 1961, and the charities that stand to benefit from the proceeds include the PDSA, Dogs Trust, Cats Protection, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice in Sheffield, Yorkshire Cancer Research, Redwings Horse Sanctuary in Norwich and the Mayflower Sanctuary in Doncaster. In addition to these organisations, proceeds of the estate will also be distributed to the Born Free Foundation, famous for its work with wildlife around the world.
Those in the know recognise that personalised registrations can be a real investment and offer a fantastic return in the future too. Quentin Wilson, one of Britain’s best-known motoring authorities has been quoted as saying: “If you choose your number wisely, it will honestly be better than money in the bank.”
If you’re interested in becoming the new owner of the VKY 1 registration, you can contact Simply Registrations by telephone on 0113 288 7553 or enquire via the website at: http://www.simplyregistrations.co.uk
Please note; VKY 1 has now been purchased by Simply Registrations from the solicitor acting on behalf of the deceased lady. This was to enable the estate to be wound up and the funds distributed to the charitable beneficiaries. Whilst Simply Registrations supports various charities, the proceeds from the future sale of VKY1 will not be donated to any of the aforementioned beneficiaries.
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Notes to editors:
Images available on request – browse at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamessaperia/
Contact James Saperia for further information
Contact email: james@simplyregistrations.co.uk
Contact telephone number: 0113 288 7553
Website: http://www.simplyregistrations.co.uk/
9 SMJ continues the profiles of personalised number plates for sale from our stock.
The SMJ combination was originally issued in Luton, Bedfordshire. SMJ 1 was issued in 1957 and the numerical sequence continued all the way through to SMJ 999. Incidentally SMJ 1 is currently being advertised for sale at a cool £35,000.
This personalised number plate would be great for Simon M Jordan or Sarah M Jones. Many people prefer just their first and last initials when choosing a personalised plate, however the SJ combination is so popular so you will seldom find a two-digit SJ number plate being offered for sale at less than ten thousand pounds. For this reason it is sometimes worth including your middle initial when searching for a personalised registration to get a more affordable range of options.
The personalised registration 9 SMJ is available direct from Simply Registrations on a first come, first served basis at £5,600 plus v.a.t. & the DVLA transfer fee of £80.
Call James today on 0113 288 7553 if you feel 9 SMJ may be exactly what is required to add the finishing touch to your car. We are here seven days a week, ready and waiting to talk to you about any of the private number plates featured on the simplyregistrations.co.uk website.
I haven’t previously felt the need to publicise the fact that we buy private number plates for stock. In the early days of Simply Registrations we used to receive more enquiries from people selling personalised registrations than those wanting to buy them. However, we are currently eager for some good stock and want to make it known.
We are interested in hearing about any dateless (pre-1963) registrations such as:
165 DAN, SAM 572, 17 AJS, JJC 780.
We are keen buyers of short, dateless registrations with as few characters as possible. Please get in touch straight away if you have a private plate that you are looking to sell similar to:
CJ 7, 16 JH, 7 MG, 3 SDA, RB 17.
When I mention buying plates for stock, people sometimes confuse it with selling registrations on a commission basis. Buying for stock means you receive payment straight away. We are using our company money to pay you (usually within a matter of days) for a registration you own the rights to. We are not offering to advertise your personalised registration in the hope of finding a buyer at some stage in the future.
We have a very strict buying policy at Simply Registrations. We don’t buy prefix registrations such as: A15 GDT, B7 GUM, S7 RHS.
We also don’t buy current-style registrations similar to: RO13 UST, WE51 ONE, FR11 NGE.
If you have a prefix or current-style plate you may want to read this blog post advising how to sell a private number plate.
Get in touch using which ever method suits you best; contact Simply Registrations.
Big brother is watching – are you at risk of being ‘named and shamed’ using your registration plate as identification?
As modern technology becomes ever more sophisticated, many people are now feeling that ‘Big Brother’ is closing in. First we had CCTV recording our every move, then Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras (ANPR) and now motorists have another arch enemy in the shape of that well-known car enthusiast, Jeremy Clarkson. Never known for his lack of opinions or shy and retiring ways, the Top Gear presenter has now taken to tweeting the registration plate details of bad drivers on the roads of Britain – but is he right to publicly declare both your bad driving habits and your unique car number plate?
Registration details are by their very nature in the public domain, used to put an individual identification stamp on every car on the road – but how would you feel if you checked your Twitter account one day to see that this well-known figure had declared you a terrible driver to all of his followers? Admitting to getting instant satisfaction from shaming drivers who commit a driving faux pas around him, Clarkson takes to the popular social media platform, Twitter, to point out their mistakes and publish the make of car and its number plate – often alongside his own pearls of wisdom on how their driving could be improved.
Some examples of his tweets include:
“Are you in Roehampton driving a yellow van reg M******? Oh dear, you’re not very good at it are you.”
“Silver Lexus P***** on the A3 this morning. Drop back from the car in front and you won’t have to brake every three seconds.”
 Outing stupid drivers – or an unfair declaration of an innocent mistake?
According to Clarkson, this is the perfect way of outing stupid drivers while avoiding libel laws, something he admits that he can’t do in his magazine column – but does he really have the right to target individuals in this way? Clarkson feels that humiliating these drivers will make them think twice about their poor performance behind the wheel, especially when it could be dangerous to other road users. However, it also means that over 995,000 people who follow him on Twitter will know that you’ve irritated this defiant TV personality so much that he felt the need to vent his grievance publicly.
From a legal point of view, everybody is entitled to express an opinion online even if it also includes details of your registration – but it certainly won’t stop the drivers that he targets feeling pretty fed up at having been outed! This off-road rage also comes at a time where motorists whose cars are fitted with dash-cams are also taking it upon themselves to upload video footage of bad driving onto YouTube.
Do you agree with Clarkson?
The Internet has seen the world become a much smaller place and with the possibility of having your poor driving habits highlighted across the World Wide Web, could this actually act as some kind of deterrent to those who take unnecessary risks with their own and other drivers lives? Where do you stand on this latest development? How would you feel if a video or tweet was published, pulling you up on your driving performance? Is this a case of Big Brother going one step too far? Or is it a reasonable reaction to being tailgated or pressured on the road? Also, if you own a personalised registration plate, does this make you feel more vulnerable, due to you being more easily recognised through this kind of defamation?
We’d love to know your thoughts on this story – please leave a comment!
A consultation launched by the government is looking at how improvements can be made to the way motoring services are delivered. Removing the need for unnecessary paperwork is included within the report, which mentions the possibility of abolishing the paper tax disc.
At present motorists are required by law to display a valid tax disc on most road-going vehicles. The proposal to abolish the paper disc does not mean road tax is going to be scrapped altogether; motorists will continue to pay their road fund licence, but the necessity to display a paper disc may be removed.
 Tax Disc
This latest consultation continues the trend of updating the products and services provided by government organisations with a view to embracing technological advances. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras situated by the roadside, on motorways and fitted to police cars can detect if a vehicle is fully road legal. The camera reads the registration from the number plate and compares it against various databases to make sure road fund licence (car tax), insurance and MOT are all valid and in place.
The plans have provoked a mixed response with some suggesting it may encourage drivers to avoid paying their car tax. In rural areas where APNR cameras are not as common, some believe many motorists will be able to avoid detection by sticking to local roads. Other have said that car tax should be done away with completely as British motorists already pay enough tax at the forecourt when buying petrol or diesel. One rider claimed not to have displayed a tax disc on his motorbike for nearly ten years. He, like many motorbike owners, was fed up of having his paper disc stolen so he continues to pay road fund duty but chooses not to attach the disc to his bike.
The changes could also have implications for the Post Office following the recent award of a £450m contract for the supply of tax discs at the counter. The seven year contract was seen as vital for keeping Post Offices open, but yesterday’s announcement may give members of the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters cause for concern.
One of the other suggestions within the consultation is the proposal that the paper counterpart of the UK driving licence could also be made obsolete. The entire consultation document can be found by clicking on the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/motoring-services-strategy
Please add your own comments and tell us what you think of the plans to kill off the paper tax disc. You may also want to read this recent article which highlights the possibility of the insurance check being removed when a vehicle is taxed.
As the DVLA confirms that all cars registered between 1st March and 31st August 2013 will carry a 13 series number plate, the motor industry waits anxiously to see if superstition will slow sales.
It’s no secret that the number 13 is shrouded in a reputation of bad luck; but as car number plates bearing the inauspicious number are released on pre-order, prior to the official launch in March, car dealers question the potential effects that this could have on sales for the subsequent six months.
There has been plenty of speculation recently as to whether or not the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) would offer drivers the opportunity to substitute 13 registrations for a possible 62 plate alternative, but a recent announcement confirmed that number plates would follow the conventional format, regardless of the superstition surrounding this particular number.
So what’s the big problem? Will buyers really hold off from purchasing a new car purely because of a number on their registration plate? As is always the case with any contentious issue, it will come down to personal preference – but it is true that some buyers may prefer to wait until the next release in September 2013, giving them a 63 registration instead.
James Saperia from personalised number plate company Simply Registrations says: “While some people might avoid the 13 number plates, for others the number 13 could be just what they’ve been waiting for. Lots of options are opened up with combinations such as AL13 ERT, RO13 ERT and SU13 ARU all becoming available.”
So is the DVLA being audacious in ignoring the concerns of the motoring trade, or are the fears of a drop in sales unfounded? James comments: “Motorists who religiously change their cars every three years will have been looking forward to their upgrade and may choose go ahead regardless of the number on their registration plate, while others who may not be superstitious themselves could be concerned with resale values of cars carrying a 13 number plate. They may decide to hold off for 6 months before buying that new car in order to protect their investment. Then, of course, there are buyers who genuinely feel that the number 13 will bring them bad luck.”
Whether or not people decide to shun this number and refrain from buying new cars remains to be seen, but opinions remain divided as to the reasons behind DVLA’s decision. The cynics feel it may have been a calculated move to encourage motorists to buy a personalised registration, to get rid of the number 13 on their car’s registration plate – especially because DVLA recently reduced the price of its most affordable selections to £250 ahead of the 13 registrations launch. Others understand it to simply be a case of following form and retaining consistency. Wherever you stand on the argument, let’s hope for the car retailers’ sakes that sense will reign over superstition.
If you are planning on buying a car after the new registration comes into effect, attractive combinations of 13 registrations will be available to buy from the 4th of December 2012.
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Notes to editors:
Contact James Saperia for further information
Contact email: james@simplyregistrations.co.uk
Contact telephone number: 0113 288 7553
Website: http://www.simplyregistrations.co.uk/
The Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) today warned motorists to be on their guard following the theft of hundreds of blank personalised registration documents. The incident occurred at DVLA’s stationery supplier on the 20th of November and is being investigated by Northumbria Police.
Nine hundred blank V750 Certificate of Entitlement forms were stolen. The V750 is issued by DVLA to the purchaser of a personalised registration. In the wrong hands the certificates could be used to obtain false number plates, or more worryingly sold on to unsuspecting buyers who may believe they are buying the rights to a valuable private number plate. With the lowest price DVLA registration costing £250 a large-scale fraud could net the criminals a minimum of £225,000. The stolen V750’s have the serial numbers 5930101 to 5931000 but may have been altered to avoid detection.
The easiest way to make sure a Certificate of Entitlement is genuine is to use the ‘check validity’ feature via the DVLA Personalised Registrations website. To get access to the tool you must first register for an online account. After you have logged in, click on ‘check certificate validity’ and enter the registration and certificate number from the V750 you are considering buying. Obviously this would need to be done before paying for the actual document. If the person you are buying from is not out to con you, they should happily allow you to see a copy of the V750 in advance.
The V750 Certificates weren’t the only items to be taken as part of the theft. Two thousand blank counterpart driving licences (D740) were also stolen at the same time. The D740 Counterparts are the documents that accompany the Photo Card Licence. DVLA has contacted vehicle hire companies to make them aware of the theft. Read the official announcement from DVLA.
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