UK Private Number Plates Blog | Personalised Number Plates News

Which Registrations Dealer Sells Private Number Plates at the Lowest Price?

If you have a quick look at several of our competitors’ websites right now you will see a handful of cherished registration dealers claiming to sell the lowest price private number plates in the industry. Statements such as; ‘we will not be beaten on price’, or ‘we offer a price promise guarantee’ and even ‘we are cheaper than the DVLA’ are there to encourage you to stop searching and to make your purchase there and then.

The simple fact is; one private number plate company cannot always be the lowest on price for every single registration that they are advertising for sale. In a bid to make the situation a little more transparent for any potential number plate buyers out there, I am going to explain how to obtain the private number plates you desire at best possible price.

To start off you need to understand the makeup of the different types of registrations that are generally being offered for sale on most dealer websites, including the Simply Registrations website.

Stock registrations are owned by the dealer or company and are part of their own portfolio. The dealer bought the registration outright and owns the rights to it.

As an example; Simply Registrations owns the rights to the registration mark 9 SLD. If you were to go via another company to buy the private number plate 9 SLD, they would first have to buy it from us. For this reason no other dealer can supply this particular registration mark at a lower price than Simply Registrations.

Registrations belonging to other number plate dealers are circulated in the trade. Every month we receive stock lists from registrations companies that we work alongside for mutual benefit. As an example; the registration mark 8858 AC is currently listed on the Simply Registrations website. 8858 AC is a stock registration belonging to The Private Plate Company. Whilst we would like to be able to transfer 8858 AC to your car and give you the best possible deal, the truth is you could buy it direct from The Private Plate Company and save yourself a bit of money.

Registrations belonging to trade-only suppliers are also circulated amongst selected private number plate dealers. Some trade-only suppliers have hundreds of registrations which they are looking to sell. They are not interested in dealing with the retail client, maintaining a website or answering telephone calls on a daily basis. They prefer to offer their stock exclusively to registered number plate dealers and accept that the selling dealer will make a sales commission.

As an example; the personalised registration 93 JM is for sale on the Simply Registrations website. It belongs to a trade supplier who sends a list of registrations out to several cherished number plate dealers. You will find 93 JM listed on at least ten other websites and it may even be included in newspaper and motoring magazine advertisements. Even though we do not own the rights to the private number plate 93 JM we can supply and transfer it to your car and we will not be beaten on price.

How can we make such a claim? Simple, we have possibly the lowest overheads in the industry and therefore do not need to put a huge sales commission onto the base price being asked by the trade supplier. Other companies with low overheads may just be able to match our price, but they certainly can’t beat it and we are confident that the service you receive will make you glad you chose to deal with Simply Registrations.

Government stock or DVLA Personalised Registrations are re-sold by lots of number plate dealers. When buying a DVLA registration it is not just the purchase price that you need to be aware of, you also should consider future administration fees. As an example; you may find a registration for £300 which is supplied to you on a Certificate of Entitlement by a reseller of DVLA registrations. If you have secured that registration for your son or daughter who is not yet old enough to drive, you may choose to hold it on a certificate for a number of years.

Every year the certificate needs to be renewed with DVLA at a cost of £25. You have to ask the company who you bought the registration from to renew it with DVLA on your behalf. They are likely to charge you an administration fee for this service which, depending on the dealer you chose to buy from, can vary from as little as £25 or as much as £80 on top on the DVLA £25 fee. A certificate may have to be renewed for ten years which could translate to £500 or £1050 in administration fees depending on who you bought it from.

To summarise, the same company cannot be the cheapest supplier of all registrations. If you are buying a registration which is part of a dealer’s stock portfolio, you need to go direct to that dealer to get the best possible price. At Simply Registrations when you enquire about any of the private number plates we are offering for sale, we will always be open with you and let you know if the registration is our stock, or whether we are selling it on behalf of a client or a third party. We aim to provide you with the lowest price private number plates whenever we can, but we are honest enough to admit that we won’t be the cheapest every time.

Personalised Number Plate - YAN 6S - resembles YANGS

I have just been looking back at the registrations that have featured in the personalised number plates for sale section of the blog. The first registration we featured was ALD 387 back in July 2010. In total we have given exposure to twenty-four of our stock registrations and twelve of those have now sold. It seems lady luck is being kind to Simply Registrations and hopefully our good fortune will continue.

Today we feature a personalised number plate which is an almost perfect resemblance of the Chinese name Yangs. Many affluent members of the Chinese community living in Britain are proud of their business achievements. It is not unusual to see top of the range Mercedes Benz and Rolls Royce cars driving around the Chinatown district of London with exclusive private number plates on display. The number 8 is a favourite of Chinese motorists and is considered to be lucky.

Whilst this particular registration does not contain the number 8, I feel certain it would look fantastic on any car belonging to the Yang family. Whilst YAN 6S may not convey luck, it definitely has a prestigious look about it.

The personalised number plate YAN 6S is available to buy direct from Simply Registrations at £2,200 plus vat. We can arrange a fast transfer onto your car as this registration is held on a DVLA Certificate of Entitlement. Call James today on 0113 288 7553 to secure the rights to this exclusive registration.

Is it Fair to Say All Number Plate Dealers are Crooks?

I have thought very carefully before publishing this latest blog post. It is not necessarily a good idea to draw attention to the bad practices which sometimes take place within the industry that you are involved in. The thinking is that by highlighting the wrongdoings, you make people apprehensive towards buying your product or service. Consumers tend to become suspicious of an industry, just because of the actions of one or two ‘bad apples’.

However, I feel it is only right to give a response following some recent allegations of dodgy dealings within the private number plates industry. A couple of National tabloid newspapers have named and shamed two particular number plate dealers who, it is alleged, have taken money from customers, but failed to supply the personalised registrations paid for. I am not going to defend the companies involved. If what has been written is true then these individual companies deserve to have their reputations tarnished. What I strongly object to is the suggestion that all private number plate dealers are crooks and that this type of bad behaviour is normal amongst cherished number plate companies.

The people who are suggesting that the industry is crooked are readers who have published comments online in response to the original newspaper article. Unless you have dealt with every single company within an industry you are not in a position to make a general accusation. I can think of lots of other professions and industries which have received bad press over the years. It does not mean you should judge the whole industry just because of the actions of one or two individuals or companies.

There are several personalised number plate companies who are striving to promote fairness in the cherished numbers industry. A small group of dealers got together a few years ago and set up an organisation, one of the objectives being to offer consumers confidence, guidance and above all else, a fair deal. Members of this personalised number dealers organisation strive to ensure that every client is 100% satisfied and receives a truly professional service. Please note that the two companies accused of scamming their customers are not members of this organisation and probably never will be.

The purpose of this blog post is not to name the members of this trustworthy organisation, it is to point out that not every company involved in the buying and selling of private number plates chooses to operate in a dishonest way. It is not fair to say all number plate dealers are crooks just as it is not right to say that all accountants are bent, or that all builders are cowboys. Yes there are some rogue traders out there, but let us not forget that there are also some very honest and trustworthy businesspeople providing very high standards of service, some of whom happen to be private number plate dealers.

Personalised Number Plate - RUB 88N for Ruben

In today’s post we are featuring the personalised registration RUB 88N which does not follow the usual format of our stock number plates. The majority of the registrations owned by Simply Registrations are dateless number plates. This means they can go onto any age of vehicle. RUB 88N is a suffix-style registration which dates back from 1974.

The fact that this is a suffix-style registration shouldn’t cause problems for anyone who is interested in buying RUB 88N. The DVLA rules state that you cannot use a registration to make a car or vehicle appear newer than it actually is. In other words if your vehicle was manufactured and first registered in June 2005, you are prevnted from being able to transfer the registration JJ11 MMY to it, as you would be giving the impression that your car was registered in 2011.

If the private number plate RUB 88N was going to be used to make your car seem newer, then you would have to own a vehicle which was nearly forty years old. So whilst RUB 88N isn’t a dateless registration, we do not feel we are excluding anyone from displaying these particular personalised number plates on their car.

So what is the story behind this particular registration? A regular client was looking forward to the birth of his son having decided on the name Ruben. The registration RUB 88N was available to buy and he decided to snap it up well in advance of his son being able to drive. He got an unusual surprise when his wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl a couple of months later (who they decided to call Sadie). As a result the personalised number plate RUB 88N is being offered for sale as it is surplus to requirements. Sadie already has a brother and two sisters which apparently is quite enough.

The personalised registration RUB 88N is available to purchase direct from Simply Registrations on a first come first served basis. It is very sensibly priced at £1,400 plus the £80 transfer fee and is held on a DVLA Certificate of Entitlement for fast transfer. Call James on 0113 288 7553 if there is a Ruben in your family.

Do Private Number Plates Make Good Gifts?

It is often said that we subconsciously give gifts that we would like to receive. Whilst this statement may be true, it does not necessarily mean that our loved ones are going to enjoy receiving the same gifts that we secretly desire.

My many years of buying and selling private number plates has taught me that the majority of female car owners in Great Britain will not be hoping for a shiny set of personalised number plates to unwrap on Christmas morning. Experience tells me that shoes, handbags and perfume are the gifts most ladies would prefer to receive.

You may think I am shooting myself in the foot by making such a statement, but I do not feel I have anything to lose by letting you in on this industry secret. Most of the excited husbands and boyfriends that I speak to will go ahead and buy personalised number plates for their respective wives and girlfriends anyway. They confidently reassure me by saying something along the lines of “My wife is different, she will be really pleased, I promise you”.

I first became aware of the fact that most ladies do not get excited about car number plates when I went along to a local Chamber of Commerce networking event and got chatting to a local businesswoman. After I introduced myself this particular lady told me her husband had bought her a personalised registration with her initials on for a ‘special’ birthday. She said it was probably the worst present she had ever received. Lots of other ladies have shared similar stories with me over the years.

This knowledge is also backed up by my own experiences of dealing with gentlemen who are on the verge of buying private number plates for themselves. The transaction is discussed in great detail and all the finer points are agreed. The potential client then states he is just going to run it by his wife before paying a deposit. At this point my heart sinks, as I know that if he bothers to ring back he will tell me that his wife would rather spend the money on a new fitted kitchen, a new bathroom or even a boob job. Unfortunately most ladies do not get excited about personalised number plates.

So to answer the question; do private number plates make good gifts? I suppose it depends who you are buying them for. If you choose wisely and buy at the right price you may end up with a great investment. If you are buying for the special lady in your life then all the logical reasons in the world are not going to convince her that it is a fantastic gift to receive. My advice would be to forget the number plates and go with the shoes or handbag option.

If the reason you are thinking about buying private number plates is because you secretly want them for your own car, then please go ahead and treat yourself. We have a fantastic selection of personalised registrations for sale at Simply Registrations to suit all budgets. My only request is that you don’t ask your wife what she thinks, before making your purchase.

Merry Christmas!

Personalised Number Plate - 8 LMS

The personalised number plate 8 LMS has created quite a lot of interest since it was bought in for the Simply Registrations stock portfolio. It seems everyone who is interested has their own number plate to sell first. We have had several part-exchange offers but for one reason or another it has never got to the completion stage.

Private number plate 8 LMS

The original LMS registrations were allocated to vehicles registered in Stirling, Scotland. LMS 1 was issued in 1958 and is still in existence today; currently registered to a Honda CRV.

Both 8 LMS & 9 LMS are being offered for sale on the open market. This presents an ideal opportunity to anyone with these initials to have a consecutive pair of private number plates. Being a very popular set of initials our advice would be to act quickly if you have an interest in these particular registrations.

The personalised number plate 8 LMS is available direct from Simply Registrations on a first come, first served basis. As it belongs to our stock portfolio we promise you will not find 8 LMS cheaper anywhere else.

Call James today on 0113 288 7553 and find out just how quickly we could have these shiny new number plates displayed on your vehicle. Naturally this personalised registration is available for same-day transfer if required.

Displaying Your Car Number Plates Correctly

Having invested wisely in your new personalised number plates, the last thing you want to do is have your registration confiscated. Who, you may be wondering, can confiscate your personalised registration? The Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA); the keepers of records for drivers and vehicles in Great Britain will take your personalised registration away from you if you fail to display it in accordance with the law.

The 2001 Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations in the United Kingdom clearly states the rules for the correct way to display car registration plates. This law indicates the geometric requirements for the characteristics of the numbers and letters. Most of the information contained within the regulations is commonly known. Indeed, if you buy your number plates from a DVLA regulated supplier you will not have any concerns.

All regulated number plate suppliers risk being on the receiving end of a huge financial penalty if they do not comply with the rules. Most worrying of all is that the supplier risks losing their authority to issue road legal number plates, which equates to a loss of revenue and could mean the end of their business and livelihood.

Here are some of the basic rules surrounding the legal display of car number plates. The characters (the letters and numbers) on the number plate should be coloured black on a white background for the number plate at the front of the vehicle. The background must be yellow at the rear. Number plates should be clear and readable. There must also be no alterations, rearrangements, and misrepresentations on the car registration plate. The most common form of altering a number plate involves the placing of fixing bolts where they do not belong to make a letter look like a number and vice versa.

The money you have invested in personalised number plates is wasted if your car registration is confiscated. Follow the rules, buy from a DVLA regulated supplier and your new asset should appreciate steadily over time.

Personalised Number Plate - 7 EJD

Welcome to the latest entry in our profile of the registrations owned in our stock portfolio at Simply Registrations. Today we are featuring the personalised number plate 7 EJD.

The original EJD registrations were issued in 1951 to vehicles registered in West Ham, London. That makes any original EJD registration (with the letters appearing before the numbers) sixty years old.

Historically, registrations starting with the letter ‘E’ haven’t achieved as high prices when compared to similar registrations starting with the letters ‘M’ or ‘S’. In more recent times however, some names beginning with the letter ‘E’ have started to appear on the popular registered names lists. Ethan, Ella, Evie and Edward are a few good examples.

It isn’t unheard of for parents or grandparents to secure personalised registrations as future gifts for their children or grandchildren. A DVLA document can be held indefinitely providing the annual £25 administration fee is paid to DVLA to extend the entitlement to the registration. So rather than looking for the car owner with the initials EJD, we may be marketing 7 EJD to the parents of Ethan J Davies, or the grandparents of Evie J Dixon.

The personalised number plate 7 EJD is available to buy direct from Simply Registrations on a first come, first served basis. It is owned by Simply Registrations so we can guarantee you will not find it advertised at a better price anywhere else. Buy 7 EJD for £4,600 plus v.a.t. and the DVLA transfer fee today by calling 0113 288 7553 and speaking to James.

New Office Address & Telephone Number for Simply Registrations

May I take this opportunity to apologise to you if you have unsuccessfully tried to contact Simply Registrations over the past couple of weeks. There are times in our lives when a combination of events results in things not quite going to plan. The previous fourteen days definitely threw up a few challenges. We have moved house and as I work from home that means a new office address and telephone number for Simply Registrations.

Our new home is less than a mile away from where we used to live, but significantly we are now covered by the Leeds telephone exchange, rather than the Wakefield exchange. This means a new telephone number for Simply Registrations – 0113 288 7553.

The plan was that anyone dialling the old number would hear a recorded message advising them of our new telephone number. Unfortunately our telecoms provider (BT) messed things up in a big way and the old telephone number was unexpectedly disconnected before the new line was active. I won’t go into the problems caused by not having a telephone line or internet connection, but as I am sure you can imagine it really has been a challenging couple of weeks.

The good news is things are now back to normal and we are open for business. We are working through the SimplyRegistrations.co.uk website to remove any references to the old address and telephone number. If you did ring over the past couple of weeks and were greeted by an unobtainable tone, I am genuinely sorry. We have always promised a professional and efficient number plate buying experience which extends to being able to contact us by telephone. I trusted BT with our house moving order and have learned from my mistake.

We still have a fantastic selection of quality registrations for sale at very competitive prices. As I have learned recently not everything comes down to price; sometimes the level of service is much more important. I am certain you will not find a better service anywhere else when it comes to acquiring a personalised number plate. You can speak to me direct on 0113 288 7553 to discuss any of the private number plates we are offering for sale.
James Saperia, Director – Simply Registrations Ltd.

Personalised Number Plate - 6 JLT

The personalised number plate 6 JLT was only recently acquired for the Simply Registrations stock portfolio and is already attracting a fair amount of interest.

This is the second time we have been fortunate enough to get our hands on a single-digit JLT registration.

A couple of years ago we had 4 JLT in stock but only for a very short amount of time. It was quickly snapped up by an eager buyer and is now proudly displayed on a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S convertible.

The original JLT registrations were assigned to vehicles registered in London from 1947. By original we are referring to the registrations which started JLT and were followed by a series of numbers. The reverse issue JLT registrations are periodically released for sale at auction.

As far as we can tell 6 JLT is the only single-digit JLT registration currently available on the open market. Being a very popular set of initials our advice would be to act quickly if you have an interest in this particular registration.

UPDATE: Please note the registration 6 JLT is now sold.

Call James today on 0113 288 7553 and find out just how quickly we could have these shiny new number plates fitted to your vehicle. Naturally this registration is available for same-day transfer if required.

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