Private plates as an investment
We do not give investment advice and we make no promise about future value. Some private plates have risen and some have not. Choose one because you want it.
What follows is the short version. The long version is the evidence: two studies of publicly evidenced achieved prices, one for prefix private plates and one for current-style private plates. The first of them also tracks thirteen registration marks that sold twice, which is the only way to answer whether these things go up from evidence rather than from belief. Three of the thirteen did not beat inflation.
What tends to matter
- How short it is. One letter and one number is scarcer than three and three.
- How cleanly it reads. A private plate that spells a word or a name without needing to be squinted at is worth more than one that nearly does.
- Whether it is dateless. No age restriction means every buyer is a possible buyer.
- How many people want that word. A common first name has more buyers than a surname.
What it costs to hold
A private plate on a certificate has to be renewed before the certificate expires. Let it lapse and it goes back.
Selling
We will value what you hold and find it a buyer. There is no obligation in asking what it is worth.
Sell a private plate is where to ask what yours is worth, and the score is a place to start. Transfers and retention explains what holding one costs, and the prefix value study shows what has actually sold.
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