Personal Number Plates Auction - Results for February 2011

The first auction of personal number plates for 2011 took place in Manchester earlier this month.

Highest prices:

12 O - £49,000
5 OOO - £17,700
1 TWA - £14,000
81 M - £13,000
1 HNC - £12,200
1 LWT - £12,100
KHA 1N - £12,000
1 FJK - £11,400
110 RSE - £10,500
89 S - £10,200
DHE 51G - £10,100
83 N - £9,300
ETH 5N - £9,000
97 J - £9,000
F458 FER - £8,600

Prices shown are hammer prices and do not include buyer's premium, v.a.t. or the DVLA transfer fee.

In total 1500 registrations were offered for sale over a three day period. 118 registrations remained unsold after failing to get a bid and may be re-offered for sale at some stage in the future. 388 registrations were sold at the reserve price or opening bid price.

There were definitely bargains to be had especially if you happened to be in the bidding hall. At several stages during the three days of the auction technical problems prevented the online bidders being able to take part in the auction. At Simply Registrations we were actively buying for stock and missed out on several personalised registrations due to the internet bidding problems.

We were eager to buy 97 ST for stock having previously done very well with two-digit ST registrations. 97 ST sold for a hammer price of £3,300 which happens to be the lowest price for a two-digit ST registration for over five years. If the internet bidders had been able to participate I am sure that price would have been much higher.

Some of the selling prices at auction highlighted how compeitively priced our own stock registrations are. The personalised registration 96 SG sold for a hammer price of £7,000 which equates to £9,110 including v.a.t. and auction fees. At Simply Registrations we have the private number plate 97 SG available at £7,800 plus v.a.t. which equates to £8,880. It may be time to review some of the prices of our stock registrations bearing in mind that similar combinations are making more money at auction than we are asking in the retail market.

There is not long to wait until the next auction of personalised number plates which will take place at Rudding Park, Harrogate during March 2011. Rudding Park is a fantastic venue for the auction and is a favourite of many of the number plate dealers.