Free number plate valuation
If you have a registration you would like to sell, please fill in your details below.
We will provide a valuation for the private number plate you wish to sell. That figure will represent the price that we estimate we should be able to return to you from the sale of your number. If you decide that you want to try to sell at a different price then you can change the amount from your user-friendly account dashboard.
Click below to receive your free valuation.
Request a valuationHow we value private number plates
Private number plates are a very unusual product, and we don't mean just because each one is unique.
Personal plate enthusiasts come from all walks of life: a gardener is as likely as a doctor to own a private registration. While one person may pay a few hundred pounds for a great initials registration number the next person may pay tens of thousands for their name on a plate. There is no 'typical' and one size most certainly does not fit all.
So, when Regtransfers gives a free valuation, or someone puts their private number up for sale, where does the price come from?
Precedence
As with anything, the real value of an item is what someone is prepared to pay for it. Back when it first became possible to buy and sell car registrations, that would have been the only measure of value, as there was no pool of previous sales to consult for reference. As more transactions took place, it became possible to look back and see what had been paid for similar numbers. This factor is still a major part of any valuation.
Scarcity
Competition and scarcity also affect the value of a private number plate. This is especially true of name number plates. For any given name there are only a limited number of representations available on number plates, and an even smaller number of really good versions. This really pushes up the price when the name is a popular one. When you have a lot of people wanting a 'Sue'' or a 'Smith'' number then the seller can take advantage of the high demand and limited supply to write a hefty price tag.
Quality
For words and names, the clarity and quality of the representation are also key. There may be three, four or more renderings of a name available but only one or two are going to be good enough to stand out as instantly recognisable.
Numbers
The numerical characters on a plate are very important and are factors in both the scarcity and the quality mentioned above. Low numbers are very popular - especially the number 1 when it appears as the only digit. For example, a registration that has one, two or three initials and just the number 1 is likely to command a high price as it would be considered to be top quality as well as unique. There may be several plates with those initials, but only one with the single number 1. Number 1 plates of this type are also likely to be amongst the earliest issued and therefore the oldest registrations to be found.
History and association
With certain number plates, age can also play a part. Owners of vintage and veteran cars are often eager to find period-correct registrations, maybe with additional personalisation such as their initials. Very old registrations from the early days of the registration scheme, at the beginning of the 20th century, are very sought-after.
In some cases, the history of a registration number may influence its value. The archetypal example of this would be the number A 1. Even though, contrary to popular belief, it was not the first registration issued in Britain, it is still iconic and historic. Should it come up for sale the price is likely to be one of the highest ever seen in this country, if not the highest.
Some registrations have a strong link with specific former owners too. MB 1 was famously owned by the entertainer Max Bygraves, while the late Paul Daniels's MAG 1C is surely one of the most well-known plates in the UK. There are fans who may be impressed by such a link and so may deem these and similar numbers to be particularly desirable.
Fashion and trend
One of the more fluid factors affecting value is a change in public consciousness: news items, hot topics, buzzwords and slang, trends in popular culture, big sporting events etc… All these and more can raise the profiles and desirability of certain number plates: sometimes briefly and sometimes permanently.
At the time of writing, one trend currently making its presence known in the private registrations sales charts and auction results is the growing popularity of crypto and alternative currencies. Concepts such as Bitcoin and altcoins, and the more recent non-fungible token, have convenient abbreviations that translate well to number plates. Combinations featuring BTC, NFT, ETH, DOT and many others are enjoying a boost in popularity and value thanks to their association with these monetary alternatives.
Setting the right price
As you can probably see, the factors influencing the value of a private registration are many and varied. A good valuation requires experience and awareness of both past performance of different kinds of plates and a thorough understanding of current trends. It requires a knowledge of the relative popularity of names and words and the capability to deduce demand from that information.
These are just a few of the reasons to get an expert assessment of a number before putting it up for sale. They are also the reasons that Regtransfers does not just return a computer-generated result when someone asks how much we can sell their private plate for. There may be a short wait before we quote the figure you request, but that is because the number is worked out by experienced, human experts.
What is your private number plate worth?
In the end, probably the most important aspect in establishing the price of a private registration is matching the right buyer to the right number. A number that may seem fairly ordinary to one person may be perfect for another. It may be because of a name, initials, a hobby or profession or the model of car that will display the plate. There are so many different factors appealing to so many different people that for just about every plate there is a right buyer somewhere. Find that buyer and the sale is as good as settled.
Perhaps you've considered selling your registration number, and perhaps you haven't. Either way, an expert valuation from Regtransfers costs nothing and is completely without obligation. Request yours today with the form on this page: you could be pleasantly surprised.