Cherished Number Plates
The Cherished Number Plates market is colossal with new companies popping up all the time claiming to be the cheapest and have the largest database in the UK. That’s great if you want to buy a new registration as you’d assume it would lead to competiveness but what if you are the owner of cherished number plates and want to sell?
Well the first thing you should do is check that you can actually sell the cherished registrations you own. You can’t assume that just because you own the numbers you can sell them. There are many vehicles which are not permitted to take park in the Cherished Transfer Scheme, some milk floats and tractors for example, so if any of your cherished number plates are on such vehicles you can’t sell them as there is no way of moving them from the vehicles to a buyer’s possession. If the number is not on a vehicle but held on a Retention Document (V778) or Certificate of Entitlement (V750) you need to make sure that the expiry date has not expired and that you are named as the Grantee (V778) or Purchaser (V750), otherwise you cannot sign the document to make changes.
Secondly, decide on your asking price. A difficult task if you don’t know much about cherished number plates but don’t worry as most reputable cherished number dealers will give you a free quotation. They might need a little bit of info to clarify you are the owner but shouldn’t charge a fee. It is probably wise to get at least three quotes just to work out an average price.
Finally, you are ready to sell. You have a choice here, you can advertise privately in the car magazines (some Sunday newspapers also have a cherished number plates section) or you can return to the dealers who you approached for quotes. This is probably the easiest option as it means they will handle all the paperwork when the number sells but bear in mind that whether they charge a flat fee or commission you won’t get all the revenue gained from the sale.