One of the most popular number plate questions we get asked is:
“How come I sometimes see the same registration number being offered for sale by two or three different companies?”
A slight variation of the question relates to the same number plate being included on several number plate dealers’ websites. There are two possible explanations.
Let us use one of our own stock registrations as an example. The private number plate 9 MSC is owned by Simply Registrations. We are currently offering 9 MSC for sale at £8,800 plus VAT and transfer fees.
If you have a look around you will also see 9 MSC is listed on other number plate dealers’ websites and probably in a few newspaper adverts as well. This is because we send out a list containing all of all the registrations we own, to the majority of the other number plate dealers. The other dealers have an opportunity to sell the registration and earn a sales commission.
If you are interested in buying the number plate 9 MSC, your aim is to find out which dealer actually owns the registration. This way you can buy your personalised number plate at the lowest possible price and deal direct with the owner.
Some people are surprised to learn that number plate dealers buy and sell amongst one another. Competition is still fierce within the industry, however we are quite a civilised bunch and sometimes it makes sense for all parties concerned (especially the client) for us to work together.
There is another scenario which also results in several number plate dealers offering the same number plate for sale. This is when the registration is owned by a private individual.
Let’s take Phoebe Nicholson an example. Phoebe owns the number plate 80 PN but will be changing her name to Phoebe Smith when she marries in a few weeks time. Phoebe asks several number plate dealers to find a buyer for her number plate.
The number plate dealers will offer 80 PN for sale on their websites and some may include it in their newspaper or magazine advertisements. This is why you may see 80 PN being offered for sale by more than one dealer and quite often at varying prices.
It is a bit like offering your house for sale, but rather than approaching just one estate agent, you ask several estate agents to market your house in an attempt to find a buyer. Each agent will have an opinion on what your house is worth and will offer it for sale based upon their valuation.
Incidentally if you have an interest in either 9 MSC or 80 PN call James on 0113 288 7553. At the time of writing, both of these private number plates are part of our stock so we guarantee you will not find them at a better price anywhere else.
Who Owns the Most Expensive Personalised Number Plates?
If you were asked the question, who do you think owns the most expensive personalised number plates, you probably wouldn’t think of your local council. So you may be surprised to learn that some regional governments and authorities own unique personalised number plates worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. In the current economic climate politicians are coming under increasing pressure to dispose of their valuable assets to put the money to better use. This has resulted in some councils being urged to consider selling the valuable number plates that are often proudly displayed on the mayoral car.
At this point you may be thinking why did some councils decide to spend huge amounts of public funds on personalised number plates in the first place? The answer is; they didn’t. Back in the year 1903 when number plates were introduced, it was the job of the local licensing authorities to issue registrations to vehicles. Each authority was given a letter combination for the geographical area. Naturally the first registration to be issued was the number one which was often reserved for the mayoral car.
To use an example; the City of Leeds was allocated the letter ‘U’. The very first registration to be issued was U 1 in 1904. It was retained by the City of Leeds for the Lord Mayor’s car and is still being used for that purpose today.
So in many cases it is purely by accident that the council happens to own a very unique and valuable number plate. We have already mentioned Leeds Council and the registration U 1. Here are a few other valuable number plates and their respective council owners.
NH 1 is displayed on the Mayoral car of Northampton. Southend Council has HJ 1 and EG 1 is used by Peterborough Council.
A few years ago Essex County Council decided to cash in on their valuable F 1 number plate. Some of the proceeds were used to provide advanced driver training for young people. The Council did however decide to buy a replacement personalised registration spending a few thousand pounds on ECC 1 for the Mayor’s Jaguar.
So should all councils follow the lead of Essex County Council and sell their prized possessions? One council leader defended his authority’s decision to keep their treasured registration number. He pointed out that it would only knock £4 off the average council tax bill for one year if the suggested sale price of £400,000 for NH 1 was achieved.
At Simply Registrations we don’t blame the councils for keeping their valuable number plates. If the Mayor wants to ride around in a chauffeur driven car proudly displaying a fantastic number plate that is fine by us. If the very best personalised number plates continue to appreciate in value, as they have for the past few years, we will soon have councils owning cherished registrations worth in excess of £1million.
DVLA Personalised Registrations Telesales Lines to Close
The DVLA has announced the closure of its telesales operation. The move follows the fall in demand for the telephone based sales service since the introduction of the online purchasing facility.
Up until the end of this week if you want to buy a DVLA personalised registration you can call the sales line and speak to an advisor. The advisor can assist you in completing your purchase, take payment by card, or hold a registration until your payment by cheque arrives. Starting from Monday 1st November you will only be able to buy direct from DVLA using the online purchasing method. The payment by cheque facility will also be discontinued.
If you prefer to speak to a human being when buying a DVLA registration, several of the independent number plate dealers will be happy to help. Most independent number plate dealers offer DVLA personalised registrations for sale and some will even handle the transfer for you. The handling of the transfer is something that the DVLA has never offered. DVLA simply posts out the V750 Certificate of Entitlement to the purchaser.
Naturally you will pay a small premium for the added service offered by the independent number plate dealer. Your decision comes down to what level of service you require. You can buy online, direct from the DVLA Personalised Registrations website and get the best possible price. Or you can use the services of one of the Cherished Number Dealers, speak to a friendly sales advisor and have the paperwork handled on your behalf.
Why Does The Same Number Plate Show Up in Different Adverts?
One of the most popular number plate questions we get asked is:
“How come I sometimes see the same registration number being offered for sale by two or three different companies?”
A slight variation of the question relates to the same number plate being included on several number plate dealers’ websites. There are two possible explanations.
Let us use one of our own stock registrations as an example. The private number plate 9 MSC is owned by Simply Registrations. We are currently offering 9 MSC for sale at £8,800 plus VAT and transfer fees.
If you have a look around you will also see 9 MSC is listed on other number plate dealers’ websites and probably in a few newspaper adverts as well. This is because we send out a list containing all of all the registrations we own, to the majority of the other number plate dealers. The other dealers have an opportunity to sell the registration and earn a sales commission.
If you are interested in buying the number plate 9 MSC, your aim is to find out which dealer actually owns the registration. This way you can buy your personalised number plate at the lowest possible price and deal direct with the owner.
Some people are surprised to learn that number plate dealers buy and sell amongst one another. Competition is still fierce within the industry, however we are quite a civilised bunch and sometimes it makes sense for all parties concerned (especially the client) for us to work together.
There is another scenario which also results in several number plate dealers offering the same number plate for sale. This is when the registration is owned by a private individual.
Let’s take Phoebe Nicholson an example. Phoebe owns the number plate 80 PN but will be changing her name to Phoebe Smith when she marries in a few weeks time. Phoebe asks several number plate dealers to find a buyer for her number plate.
The number plate dealers will offer 80 PN for sale on their websites and some may include it in their newspaper or magazine advertisements. This is why you may see 80 PN being offered for sale by more than one dealer and quite often at varying prices.
It is a bit like offering your house for sale, but rather than approaching just one estate agent, you ask several estate agents to market your house in an attempt to find a buyer. Each agent will have an opinion on what your house is worth and will offer it for sale based upon their valuation.
Incidentally if you have an interest in either 9 MSC or 80 PN call James on 0113 288 7553. At the time of writing, both of these private number plates are part of our stock so we guarantee you will not find them at a better price anywhere else.
Number Plates Spotting is Alive & Well
As a number plate dealer I haven’t always been made to feel welcome in some car related forums. I am almost as passionate about cars as I am about private number plates, but certain owners’ clubs forums seem to take a dislike to my profession. I saw one comment which likened number plate dealers to estate agents and solicitors referring to us as ‘necessary evils’.
Then I was pointed in the direction of the Piston Heads website. I had heard of Piston Heads, but just thought of it as a posh alternative to the Auto Trader website. I remember by brother buying his BMW M3 from a seller on Piston Heads. He explained it to me as the place where enthusiasts who have taken good care of their cars offer them for sale.
I discovered there is a lot more to the Piston Heads website than I originally thought. As a result I have become addicted to the forums section. The threads which (according to my wife) I am spending far too much time reading and contributing to include; ‘Spotted! Real Rubbish Chav Number Plates’, ‘Real Good Number Plates’ and one of my favourites; ‘The BAD PARKING Thread’.
The ‘Real Good Number Plates’ thread features photos and comments about attractive number plates that have been spotted on cars up and down the country. There does however seem to be a bit of confusion as to what constitutes a ‘good’ number plate and what qualifies a plate to be classed as ‘chavtastic’.
One of the most pleasing aspects for me is that number plate dealers are most certainly welcome. The good news is we do not seem to be treated differently to anyone else. I am tempted to upgrade my trusty Nokia 6310 mobile phone and buy a new mobile phone with photo taking capabilities. Then I too can join in with the photographing of cars and their number plates and better contribute to the forums. I am pleased to report that number plates spotting is alive and well!
Ugly Number Plates
We have had a busy few weeks here at Simply Registrations. We are receiving a steady level of enquiries and several of our stock personalised registrations have left the portfolio recently. We recently found new owners for the registrations 997 EMY, 10 SDM, 9 MGM, 9 JBT and just today have completed the transfer of 82 RF onto a rather nice Jaguar XJR for a local gentleman.
One of my tasks whilst at the DVLA Local Office in Leeds today was to dispose of a personalised number plate. The owner recently bought a car, a 2007 Vauxhall Astra and wanted to display a standard registration mark rather than the registration J15 SMY that it came with. We are constantly helping motorists transform the appearance of their vehicles through the addition of a personalised registration plate. It isn’t every day someone contacts us as asks “can you get me a normal number plate?”.
Just in case anyone else is faced with a similar predicament, I will explain the procedure involved. The Astra obviously belonged to someone previously who liked the registration J15 SMY. It may have been bought direct from the DVLA for around £250. For whatever reason, whoever owned the cherished number plate J15 SMY decided to let it go with the car, rather than transfer it to their next vehicle.
The new owner of the Vauxhall Astra did not particularly like J15 SMY on his car as it had no personal relevance to him. In this scenario it is possible to request a replacement registration number which is appropriate for the age of the vehicle. In the case of the Astra the owner wanted a 2007 standard issue registration number.
To request a replacement registration number, you should send the V5C Registration Certificate (log book) to DVLA, Swansea. Enclose a covering letter requesting an age-related registration and acknowledge you are giving up all rights to the current personalised registration. If everything is approved you will receive a replacement V5C (showing your new registration) by post from DVLA Swansea. Remember to notify your motor insurer, tracker provider and recovery organisation whenever you change number plates.
Our Vauxhall Astra owner was delighted at the prospect of removing the ‘ugly’ number plates from his car and replacing them with a ‘proper’ registration number. It is not what we originally set out to do when Simply Registrations opened for business, but if it is what the customer wants we are always happy to help out.