[cramsnik]

I'm looking at picking up a private plate for my car, there appears to be dozens of dealers online, some of which advertise the same number plate with slight variations in price.

Do any of you have any experience of buying through anyone other than DVLA, any do's or dont's? Whilst the plate in question isn't mega money it's not an insignificant sum and I'm keen not to get stung.

TIA

[MrManor]

Not for absolutely ages but I remember at the time playing them off against each other like you used to do with insurance before the comparison sites.

One I was looking at recently was for sale with DVLA and the likes of reg transfers but cheaper by a couple of hundred quid from another broker.

[davyk31]

Just make sure DVLA aren’t selling it as they can often be cheaper than the dealers who are advertising the plates and then buy it from the DVLA if someone buys it from them. Bought a plate recently for my daughter which she saw on a dealers site, quick check on DVLA and they were selling it for £250 less

[un1eash]

I've been looking for a plate for my partner and nearly all the dealers are just selling plates that are on the DVLA website for cheaper. I don't get how they're allowed to sell via places like eBay when they don't actually own the plate.

[cramsnik]

Thanks for the tips this far, the plate I'm
Looking at definitely isn't available from DVLA. As mentioned, several dealers list it and the cheap seat is around £130 cheaper all in than the next lowest.

[MrManor]

Originally Posted by cramsnik

Thanks for the tips this far, the plate I'm
Looking at definitely isn't available from DVLA. As mentioned, several dealers list it and the cheap seat is around £130 cheaper all in than the next lowest.

They all have different fees though.

[isleaiw1]

Its always negotiable too, they generally dont own the plate but are selling it for commission for the plate owner who is probably only getting 50% of the fee....

So haggle hard!

[Rbrown]

Originally Posted by un1eash

I've been looking for a plate for my partner and nearly all the dealers are just selling plates that are on the DVLA website for cheaper. I don't get how they're allowed to sell via places like eBay when they don't actually own the plate.

Totally agree!!!

One dealer has actually got my plate for sale when it's on my car!!!

They phoned me a while ago to offer me a price for it. Very strange way to do business!!!!

[Abzynthe]

A lot of the dealers are just brokering the deal for individual sellers.
There's a site selling my wife's number plate. No idea how they are going to sell it if someone buys it as we aren't selling it.

[cramsnik]

Originally Posted by Abzynthe

A lot of the dealers are just brokering the deal for individual sellers.
There's a site selling my wife's number plate. No idea how they are going to sell it if someone buys it as we aren't selling it.

This is what really intrigue's me, I really cba to run around chasing people that operate like this. I've made a couple of enquires as to actual availability and to see if there's any movement available on price.

[SuperHamz]

I've found that once you go through the shopping basket process, a lot of these independent sellers are more expensive than DVLA directly - they don't often include VAT or the £80 transfer fee in the advertised price.

For example, for the plate I'm after here are the prices (incl VAT and transfer fee):

£499.00 - DVLA (includes VAT and transfer fee)
£534.80 - CarReg (advertised as £379)
£545.60 - Plates4Less (advertised as £388)
£558.80 - Regtransfers (advertised as £399)
£574.42 - SwiftReg (advertised as £412)
£606.80 - NationalRegs (advertised as £439)

Unless the plate isn't available on DVLA, I can't see why anyone would opt for any of the other sites.

[R0B]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

Its always negotiable too, they generally dont own the plate but are selling it for commission for the plate owner who is probably only getting 50% of the fee....

So haggle hard!

This is true. One of my sales guys used to work at an aforementioned company and when myself and some friends clubbed together to buy a friend / client a gift, he was spot on in terms of what discount we'd get - around 30%.