Guide - How do I sell my number plate?

Can I sell it?

First of all, before looking at how to sell your number plate, we need to establish whether or not, under the current regulations, you are able to sell the number plate.

To be able to sell your number plate, it needs to be either;

* On a Vehicle which must be registered in your name, or
* On either a Certificate of Entitlement (V750), or Certificate of Retention (V778), and you must be named as the Purchaser, or Grantee.

You should then check your paperwork, to make sure that the words "non transferrable" do not appear anywhere, on any of your documents, if they do, then unfortunately you will be unable sell your number plate, as you cannot conduct a transfer.

How much is it worth?

Ok, so now you have established that you can sell your number plate, you are now faced with the tricky part, setting the asking price. As you have probably realised by now, putting a monetary value on a number plate can be very tricky, and it is crucial, as it can mean the difference between your plate selling, and remaining unsold for a while. Please refer to our valuations guide for tips on valuing your registration yourself, or alternatively, for just £9.99 we will do the hard work and provide an honest, independent number plate valuation, with a valuation certificate to prove it!

Where should I advertise it?

There are generally two options, either to go through a dealer, or to try and sell your plates privately.

Advertising your number plate through a dealer can be a good option to generate interest in your number plate, and it it usually won't cost you anything upfront. However, beware that this option can prove costly in the long run, as they tend to take a large percentage, (on average, roughly 30%, but some sellers have reported percentages as high as 60%!) of your number plates selling price, as their commission. That's anywhere between £30, and £60 of every £100 of the money from the sale of YOUR number plate, being swallowed up by dealer commission! You also lose control of your registrations selling price, as the dealers commission needs to be incorporated, and they usually take charge of this.

Selling your number plates privately gives you full control over things, you set the asking price, you communicate directly with buyers, and you keep 100% of the selling price. The question is, where can you sell privately? Well, some people choose eBay, however their fees can end up being almost as much as going through a dealer, as they charge listing fees to list your plate on their site, relisting fees if it doesn't sell within the auction time, and then a 'Final Value Fee' of approx. 10% of the selling price when it does sell. They are also not a dedicated number plate website, so their search facility is very limited, making it difficult for buyers to find your plate.

It is for these reasons that we created Plate-Trader; to offer an alternative to number plate dealers or auction websites that demand a percentage of the money from the sale of your registration plate. We provide low-cost number plate advertisements, where you only pay a small one off advertising fee to list your plate, and you then deal direct with buyers, meaning you keep 100% of your number plates selling price. To find out more information, visit our sell your number plate page.

Completing the sale

Once you have listed your plate, and found a buyer, you now need to complete the sale.

For the protection of both parties, we recommend a secure form of payment, such as PayPal, a bankers draft, a bank transfer, or even collection in person.

With the payment completed, you now need to actually complete the registration transfer, which will be a different process depending on whether the number plate is on a vehicle, or a certificate. We have put together guides for both situations, which you can access by following the links below.

How do I transfer a number plate from one vehicle to another?
How do I assign a number plate, from a certificate, onto a car?

If the number plate you have sold was on a vehicle, your vehicle will now be assigned with a registration of the same year, which MAY be the original number plate that the car was registered with, however, unfortunately, this is not guaranteed.