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Sell number plates

Sell your private registrations online. Get your FREE valuation from the UK's leading specialists and see what your number plate is worth.

Get a free valuation

Get a free, no obligation valuation. This will give you an indication of the current market value of your number. The price we quote will be based upon our experience of the marketplace..

We buy registrations

We will usually only purchase good, dateless numbers for stock. Occasionally, however, we may also buy really good prefix, suffix or current style numbers if they closely resemble words or names.

The Regtransfers Auction

Listing your number for sale is as easy as registering for the auction and entering a few details about your registration. You will receive a free valuation if we haven't already provided one.

How to sell a private number plate

There are three main ways to sell your private plate, and Regtransfers can help you with all of them.

  • You can advertise your number for sale with us.

    By advertising with us, people searching for private plates may see your number in our search results. It may also be advertised in other places.

  • You can list your number for sale in our auction.

    Listing in our auction can be a quicker way to sell. The auction environment instils a sense of urgency in buyers and can save months of negotiation. It's safe and secure and overseen by us.

  • You may be able to sell your number to us for our stock. We will consider buying dateless registrations and registrations bearing excellent representations of names or words. We will not usually be interested in buying current style numbers or those with a date code as a prefix or suffix letter.

You may find that you have a few questions…

You can sell any registration that is eligible for transfer. A personalised number plate is just a car registration like any other. It is considered a private, personal or cherished number when someone decides it suits them and buys it. What might seem like an ordinary registration number to most of us may contain a prospective buyers initials and birthdate.

We will do our best to help you sell any number you want to sell.

It's best to enlist the help of professionals like Regtransfers. We can give you an idea of your registration's value and make sure prospective buyers have a chance to see it.

To maximise chances of a faster sale, get a free valuation and set your price at a realistic level. As we mentioned above, listing your number plate in our auction for a fixed duration can speed up the sale of your plate. People watching the auction know that the listing will end and so they are more likely to act quickly.

The quickest way to sell your number plate is to offer it to us for our stock. We won't buy all types of plates, and the price we offer for a stock purchase may be a little lower than you could expect from advertising or auctioning your plate; however, if speed is the most important factor it could be the way to go.

To many people's surprise, DVLA does not buy back private registrations. That's understandable, as it would increase their administrative load hugely and their main role is to issue registrations - not to buy and sell them. But, as we have seen above, there are still plenty of ways for you to sell.

If you have a private number plate you'd like to sell, we can help you where DVLA can't. Simply follow this free valuation link to get the process started. There is no obligation and it would give you an idea of how much you could expect to make from selling your number.

For more information, click below.

A private number plate on a retention document is easy to sell. There are no particular complicating factors so, if everything is done properly, it is safe and simple to sell a retained number. If you sell your number with Regtransfers, we will take care of the formal process so you don't need to worry about administrative details.

There are a number of potential risks involved when changing ownership of a registration on certificate. For that reason, we don't encourage people to take the DIY approach, but to use a specialist company to complete a secure sale.

When you sell a number plate with Regtransfers, you retain control of the process. Whenever someone makes an offer to buy your registration, it is up to you whether or not you accept that offer. We do not make the decision for you. That means you must consider a few things when you try to achieve the best result.

What is most important to you, a quick sale or getting the highest price you can?

  • Are you prepared to lower your price to sell quickly?
  • Are you prepared to reject offers below your asking price, even if it means selling may take months or years?

Have you set a realistic price to begin with?

  • Does your price allow room for negotiating or haggling?
  • Is your price so high that it will scare off prospective buyers?

We will always be happy to offer advice and explain anything you don't understand.

Why sell with Regtransfers?

We spend over £40,000 a week advertising on the internet and in the top-selling national newspapers and magazines. Our ads generate over a million page views and over 5,000 direct telephone enquiries every week from potential buyers searching for registrations like yours. Our website traffic is highly targeted and qualified. If you are selling your number plate through Regtransfers, every one of our visitors is a potential purchaser who will be able to view your registration online.

Our large sales team is made up of some of the most experienced people in the industry. Some of them have been with Regtransfers for more than 15 years. They, along with our equally experienced admin team, know how to deal with just about any situation that might arise. We can take care of the whole transaction for you and deal with all paperwork and any difficult details that might crop up.

Our valuations will take into account the prices paid for similar numbers in the past and the size and nature of the potential market. The more people that may be interested in your number, the better the chances of achieving a higher sale price.

You are not obliged to adopt our valuation price as your asking price when selling your number. Setting a lower price may achieve a quicker sale, while a higher price may delay or even reduce the likelihood of sale.

About Regtransfers

Private plates for all

We are Regtransfers, the UK's largest independent private number plates specialist. The company was established in 1982 and our headquarters are in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. We are registered with the DVLA as a supplier of both personalised registrations and acrylic number plates. We buy and sell private registrations for our own stock and on behalf of clients throughout the UK.

Read more about us

Featured in

  • Autocar
  • Autotrader
  • Car Magazine
  • Classic And Sports Car Magazine
  • Country Life magazine
  • Daily Mail
  • Daily Telegraph
  • Easyjet
  • Google
  • Sunday Times
  • Top Gear Magazine

Our accreditations

Your online safety is very important to us. We use the highest levels of encryption to protect your sensitive data. Our PCI compliance ensures that every transaction made online or over the phone is secure.

  • Members of the Federation of Small Business
  • Members Institute of Registration Agents and Dealers
  • Members of the Retail Motor Industry Federation
  • Secured by Thawte
  • PCI certified
  • Cyber Essentials certified

Learn more about how we're proudly paranoid about cyber security.

Reviews

We value customer satisfaction above all else, so we are very proud to have served over a million satisfied customers in our 40 years of business.

Number plate selling FAQs

Yes. However, please bear in mind that our valuation is based upon the experience of hundreds of thousands of personalised number plate transfers and represents the price that we believe your registration mark can realistically achieve. If you insist on a price that is much higher than what we believe to be the true market value, then we may decline to advertise the registration mark on your behalf, as there would be little chance of success.

It depends on how we are supplying the number plate to the person buying it. If the person buying your number plate is having it transferred onto their vehicle then you will be paid when DVLA says that the number plate transfer has been completed. If the person buying your number plate is having it transferred onto a certificate then you will be paid when we receive the new certificate from DVLA correctly showing the purchaser as the nominee. We are able to pay you via bank transfer (BACS) or cheque, whichever you prefer. If you choose to get paid via BACS it will take 3 working days for the payment to reach your account.

If the licence for the donor vehicle has expired or been refunded no more than 12 months prior to the date of application and a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) has been made, it may still be possible to transfer the mark. In order for a vehicle to qualify for this concession, there must be no break between the expiry/refund date of the licence disc and the commencement of SORN.

No. Your vehicle will be automatically issued with an appropriate, age related replacement number plate. There is no charge to you for the standard replacement number plate although you will have to get a set of acrylic plates made up to put on your vehicle.

You tell us the price you require for the sale of your number plate. When advertising your number plate for sale we will add a margin for our service. The price paid by the purchaser will cover both your required price and our profit margin. You receive the full amount agreed and do not have to pay us any additional commission.

Got additional questions? Get them answered with our full frequently asked questions page.

Need to contact us?

Getting in contact with us couldn't be easier. We are open 9 am to 9 pm, 7 days a week so you can call us anytime on 01582 967777. Alternatively, you can contact us through our social media channels or with our contact form.

Social media

Social Media

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. Our social media channels offer yet another way to contact us.

contact by phone

Phone

Our lines are open for you between 9 am and 9 pm, 7 days a week. Our highly trained staff are ready to guide you through the process of buying or selling your own private number plate.

contact form

Contact form

Our contact form is a convenient way to get in touch. You can simply fill out the form and we will have the relevant information we need to assist you.

The role of DVLA

Car registrations and number plates, including personalised number plates, in the UK, are the responsibility of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, usually known as the DVLA. It issues new registrations twice a year and also maintains the central database that records details of all vehicles licensed to drive on UK roads, along with their keeper and registration information.

Regtransfers works closely with DVLA to complete registration transfers as quickly and efficiently as possible. Regtransfers is a DVLA-registered supplier of personal car registrations and number plates and is listed on the DVLA Registrations website. All number plates supplied by Regtransfers comply with DVLA's prescribed standards and regulations.

DVLA administers all UK registration transfers and issues updated registration documents when the registration number of a car is changed, or when a registration is removed from a vehicle and placed on a retention document in accordance with the DVLA Retention Scheme.

DVLA is a registered trade mark of the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency. Regtransfers is not affiliated with the DVLA or DVLA Personalised Registrations. Regtransfers is a recognised reseller of unissued Government stock.

Number plate regulations

When a car is on the road, it is an offence to display number plates bearing any number other than the vehicle's officially recorded registration number. If you purchase a private registration, learn how to transfer private plates before displaying the new number.

All registration number plates displayed on UK vehicles must comply with the official number plate regulations. DVLA oversees enforcement of number plates display regulations and maintains a register of approved manufacturers and retailers of vehicle number plates.

Regtransfers is not part of, and is not formally affiliated with DVLA.

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