Buying GuideBuyer Beware - Tricks of the Personalised Number Plate Trade Exposed

As a trusted supplier of personalised registration marks with over 20 years of experience, we have built our reputation with consistently high quality customer service.

We are currently rated 5* Excellent on TrustPilot, with 96% of our customers affirming excellent service. You can visit our TrustPilot page to see our customer reviews:

uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.plates4less.co.uk

Unfortunately, some companies are not as honest as we strive to be. Extensive market research has uncovered some nasty surprises, which honest clients have fallen victim to whilst buying or selling personalised registration marks.

Supply problems with deliberately slow refunds of your money … More (click to reveal)

Some companies will happily take your money before checking to see if a registration mark is available. This leads to disappointment and when refunds are offered it can take quite a long while for your money to be returned, meaning you may be unable to purchase an alternative from elsewhere in the meantime. Some agents basically lock you into their slow refund procedure and prevent you from buying elsewhere, hoping you will give-in and buy something else from them instead.

Our promise: At Plates 4 Less, we always check to make sure a pre-owned registration mark is available before we take any payment and we request proof from the seller, to avoid any disappointment. If we have to make a refund because a seller has let us down then that refund is made immediately. Our list of available registrations is updated several times throughout each and every day, to ensure the most accurate information possible is available to our customers.

Suitability problems preventing transfer and use of your new registration … More (click to reveal)

Many registrations include an ‘age identifier’ and there are strict government transfer rules regarding their suitability for certain vehicles, i.e. you cannot make a vehicle appear newer than it is by transferring a younger registration mark to it. You also cannot put a private plate on a tractor or a Q plated kit car for example.

Some companies are not interested in telling you about these rules. They are only interested in selling you whatever you ask for, whatever the consequences- there is no legal obligation for them to tell you, so they simply don’t bother.

Our promise: At Plates 4 Less we have many safeguards in place to ensure the registration you choose is right for you. Our website includes a special ‘age-checking tool’ to help you see which registrations are suitable and when you have selected a registration you like, our online pages immediately inform you which vehicles are allowed to carry the mark. Our sales team will also always advise you of these rules should you be placing an order by telephone, as we only want our customers to be fully informed and confident that they have made the right choice.

Confusing Prices, is the price you see the price that you pay? … More (click to reveal)

A personalised UK registration mark can only be purchased by paying for the following 3 components at the time of purchase:-

  1. The cost of the ‘Rights to display’ the private registration mark (Usually the most expensive part of the purchase).
  2. The government transfer fee (also known as ‘assignment fee’ and presently £80).
  3. Value added tax.

Our promise: We will always provide a full breakdown of costs and as soon as you have made a search and see the results, we give you the choice to see either the starting prices (as per our competitors), or the prices including all compulsory government fees, so you can save time and stay within your budget.

Some agents take advantage of the buyers’ lack of knowledge or understanding of the Government’s processes and the law, to make more money. They use a variety of ruses or tactics such as:

A. Very low starting prices hiding compulsory extras and hidden delivery charges … More (click to reveal)

Some companies force you to buy add–ons such as a pair of plastic (acrylic) number plates when all you want is the rights to a private registration mark. This increases the very low starting price and you wont find this out until you reach the checkout, where you will also find out about their additional delivery charges!

Our promise: At Plates 4 Less our acrylic number plates are an optional extra (unless you choose to pay by finance, when they are included so that you reach our finance threshold amount.) We won’t charge extra for delivery, unless you specifically ask us to use the Royal Mail Special Delivery service.

B. Unnecessary fees, before and after you buy! … More (click to reveal)

1. Non-refundable ‘Finance application or administration fees’ … More (click to reveal)

Some companies will offer finance to help you afford a registration mark, but will charge you a fee simply for applying. In most cases this fee is non-refundable if your application is turned down and can cost you up to a whopping £60, for nothing!

Our promise: We do not charge for finance applications at Plates 4 Less, regardless of the result. These fees are completely unnecessary and a nice little earner for the firms who do charge them as everyone pays them and no one gets them back!

2. Replacement fees for Government certificates … More (click to reveal)

Some dealers may charge you to replace a lost certificate or to order a new one that reflects a change of nominee name. Fees are typically around £25 a time.

Our promise: If you lose your Government certificate we can normally order you a replacement at no cost. Similarly, we will change a named ‘nominee’ on such a certificate for no charge.

3. Costly after sales support … More (click to reveal)

Some firms offer little or no after-sales support, which can often lead to confusion when it comes to transferring your new registration mark to a vehicle. Some even use premium rate telephone lines to charge you for support.

Our promise: It is important to be able to discuss the transfer process with an expert to ensure an accurate and legal transfer, especially as errors can be costly and time consuming. At Plates 4 Less we are always happy to help our customers, and our completely free of charge after-sales support is available Monday to Friday, 08.30-18.00, with contact request options available 24/7. We also have a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions section on our website.

C. False advertising by deliberate misrepresentation of a number plate … More (click to reveal)

You will often see tempting pictures showing number plates with incorrect spacing, wrong typeface, or screw caps in certain positions, to make the registration mark spell a word or name and thus seem more attractive. The law says you must always display legally correct number plates on your vehicle if it is used on the public highway and failure to do so means you risk a £1000 fine and confiscation of your cherished registration mark.

Our promise: The images we use to illustrate registration marks for sale will always display legally spaced and legally represented registration marks, appropriate for use on the United Kingdom highways. Certain browsers may sometimes alter the appearance of our images but we will never deliberately make registration marks more attractive to buyers by miss spacing or misrepresentation.

D. Giving you less money and control, when you sell your registration … More (click to reveal)

Beware of companies who give you a low valuation and don’t disclose how much they add to that figure for themselves. Obviously vat and transfer fees must be accounted for, but be wary of those who make a low valuation, only to then advertise your registration for a much higher asking price. Bear in mind that registrations with higher asking prices usually take longer to sell. Be sure to find out how much a company will add to your asking price in profit or commission so you can ensure the total price is competitive and you get as much from your sale as possible.

Our promise: At Plates 4 Less, you control your asking price and you can always see the final price of your registration as advertised on our site (with vat and transfer fees) before you publish it for sale with us. We don’t take any commission from your agreed selling figure. The buyer pays our sales administration fees, which we keep as low as possible to encourage sales. We won’t bother you with unreasonable offers from buyers and we always ensure the buyer is serious about making a purchase before we contact you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Whether you are purchasing for yourself, or as a gift for someone else, you are able to secure this private number plate today and transfer it to a vehicle of your choice when you are ready.

We have two transfer options available for you to choose between. You’ll see them when you enter the checkout by clicking “Buy It Now” or you can preview them by clicking “Learn More About My Order Options”.

If you select the 'Do-It-Yourself' transfer service, the Government Certificate and full instructions will be sent by post to you, normally within 5-10 days. You will need to liaise with the DVLA to complete the transfer.

Alternatively, if you select the 'Done-For-You' transfer option, we will liaise with the DVLA to transfer your private number plate to the vehicle when you are ready, saving you the time and hassle. All you will need to do is submit the V5C Registration Certificate details to us, either digitally (using our online portal) or by sending us the document in the pre-paid envelope we will provide. We will email you as soon as the number plates can be displayed on the vehicle.

Please note- While 70-90% of transfer applications can be processed digitally, if you opt for our DFY service and your application does not go through digitally, we will personally hand deliver your documents to the DVLA here in Swansea to by-pass their postal sorting office to ensure a quick and secure transfer process.

Yes, low rate finance is available for this registration. We offer finance with 0% deposit and it will not delay your transfer.

Simply select 'Pay By Finance' during the checkout or you can view the finance illustration by clicking the 'Learn More About My Order Options' button on the Purchase Options page.

Registration marks make perfect gifts and we offer a number of services designed to help you surprise that special person.

Place your order in the details of the person who is paying for the registration mark and give us the lucky recipient's name later in the checkout stage.

The keeper of the vehicle will become the owner of the plate once the transfer is complete. All correspondence from ourselves will be sent in plain packaging. Number plates and presentation certificates can be easily wrapped to give as a gift on the special day!

If you are buying for Christmas read our Christmas Buying Guide

We have two transfer options available for you to choose between. You’ll see them when you enter the checkout by clicking “Buy It Now” or you can preview them by clicking “Learn More About My Order Options”.

Confident? Then choose the DIY option and we'll send you your 10 year V750 Certificate of Entitlement with self-assignment instructions to complete the transfer whenever you're ready.

No-hassle quiet-lifer? Choose DFY and you can relax with peace of mind that your transfer will be taken care of by our experts, whenever you're ready! We can also liaise with your vehicle dealers and assist with moving your other registrations, if required.

Yes! Previously unissued registration marks are valid for 10 years while on a certificate so you can buy now and transfer whenever you are ready in the future. Regardless of which transfer option you choose, you can still opt to delay the transfer.

Yes, we are DVLA Registered Number Plate Suppliers (#3166) and only supply the best quality, road legal number plates. We offer standard flat and “4D Standout” style plates as well as a range of flags and shapes to suit your vehicle.

By purchasing your number plates through us you will only need to supply us with proof of identification since we will already have your proof of entitlement (you will need to supply this to any other number plate seller).

You can include replacement number plates on your order, just enter our checkout by selecting “Buy It Now” or you can preview the plates and available options by clicking “Learn More About My Order Options”.

Please beware that many online sellers of replacement number plates are not registered with DVLA and supply illegal number plates. By placing an order with one of these sellers, your personal & vehicle information may be at risk.

Whenever possible, we negotiate a great deal for our customers. Our Previously Unissued registration marks are already at Rock Bottom Prices offering fantastic value with our industry - leading service.

Understanding that price is a big factor in the decision-making process, we remain very price-conscious, checking daily to ensure that you get more, at the lowest possible price. Super-fussy and ruthlessly efficient, we are always cutting costs and raising quality, to give you the best possible value, in the whole marketplace!

'You cannot make a vehicle look newer than it actually is' This is THE most important rule regarding personalised registrations! Most registration marks have a coded 'age identifier' letter or number, which dictates whether or not they can legally go onto your vehicle. Use our age- check tool by selecting the date your vehicle was first registered (shown on your V5) from a drop-down menu, and registrations which are suitable will be shown by way of a green tick or a red cross

Pay with VISA, Mastercard, bank transfer or cheque. Spread your payments with finance. Finance doesn't delay the arrival of your new registration mark and number plates, only the payments.

We don't offer an exchange or part-exchange service. However, we do offer a free sellers' service if you no longer wish to keep your cherished registration mark. We currently have a list of buyers waiting on registration numbers, if your registration meets one of our buyers criteria or there is interest in your registration, we will contact you. For more information on selling through us, please click here.

Do you really like this registration? Great news! You can secure this registration now and delay transferring to a vehicle until you're ready. There's only one of each registration available.

There's no need to retain your existing registration mark before you transfer your new personalised number plate onto your vehicle. When your new private plate has been transferred onto your vehicle, the DVLA will keep the existing (usually age related) registration number to one side until you are ready to take your personalised number plate off your vehicle in the future. At that point, the previous registration number will be placed back onto your vehicle.

However, if you currently have a private plate on your vehicle, you will need to retain this off your vehicle before completing the transfer if you wish to use it on another vehicle in the duration that it bears another registration mark.

Private number plates are good for advertising, and they can disguise the age of your vehicle(s). They’re distinctive, memorable, and when chosen wisely can make good investments.

We will send you a VAT invoice/receipt for your purchase. In some legitimate circumstances, business related number plates can be a company asset that's a tax deductible expense. If you are unsure, please discuss your plan with your accountant.

Check out our Plates4Business Hub here for more information.

If you have a question that we have not answered, please click here to request a callback (opens in new window) or call us on 01792 477316.