How to Sell a Personalised Number Plate

LilyMunro

Hello,

I am looking to sell a personalised number plate that is currently on my husband's car (we are also selling the car, but heard it is better to sell them separately?)

The plate is C2 YUL

Anyway, I am looking for some advice on the best way to sell the plate and how I would go about it.

Also, what do I need to do re paperwork etc with the DVLA in order to sell the plate? Do I need to pay anything?

Thanks in advance guys.

Richard53

Get the plate 'on retention' before you think of selling the car. This involves filling in a form and paying a cheque to have a certificate showing your right to display the plate. DVLA will then send you a form to get age-related plates made up which you put on the car before sale. If you sell the car with the cherished number on, you have no right to claim it back.
Cost of retention is £80 from memory, plus £30 per year you keep it retained (open to correction here).

As for selling the cherished number, you can go through a trader like Newreg.com, who might buy it outright or offer to sell it for you, or you can put it on Gumtree or eBay. Plates with single numbers like yours seem to go for between £100 and £400, but often it is a matter of finding the exact person who wants just that plate, and wants it now. A trader can obviously reach more people, but you won't get much for the plate.

forgotmyname

As above put the plate on rentention. As a buyer i do not want to come and view a car that you then need to swap the plates on. I want the car then or in a few days time when i swap my insurance over.

Iceweasel

I agree - get the plate on retention first.

You need a form V317 - available on line here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-to-transfer-or-retain-a-vehicle-registration-number

You will probably be issued with an age related plate for the Toyota as part of the process.

It'll likely be the original number it had before the cherished plate was put on.

Richard53

In reply to your first question (is it better to sell them separately?) the answer is definitely yes. A lot of cars are advertised with 'personal plate valued at £xxx', but I totally ignore that as the plate is likely to mean nothing to me, and might even put me off. Bear in mind that unless a plate has a universal appeal (such as S1LLY or even N1GEL - in which case they will be very expensive) the market for a specific letter combination is likely to be very narrow indeed. If you can manage to find Yul Brynner and he's in the market for a British car this week, you might get some money for it, but otherwise it adds absolutely nothing to the value.


If you can sell the plate separately and get more than about £100 for it to cover the costs of retention, you would be better off doing that. Ebay is popular, or you could try the big cherished plate traders to buy outright or sell on commission. Don't expect millions, though.

OddballJamie

You might have some luck selling it on the Citroen forums.

Richard53

OddballJamie wrote: »

You might have some luck selling it on the Citroen forums.

Good spot. Perhaps a bald man with a C2.