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NUMBER PLATES
Do any of you guys do Number plates?
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45 Replies
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Yeap, I do number-plates. Standard Road Legal, Customized, Showplates, Wedding Car number plates. I do all my plates using vinyl.
/Declan.
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do you find its a good business to be in?
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we do mostly plates taking over from our vinyl side really
so yes we think its a good buisness to be invtec dec u really do show plates in vinyl cut decals much easier to print em mate
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I have applied with DVLA for the licence, just waiting for that to come through. I came across a supplier that rents the machinery, the whole kit for £50 a quarter. So really it’s costing nowt to set it up. I agree its better to print them. I am hoping this overtakes the signs as this looks like it could be easy money.
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Karl,
Is it really that cheap per quarter? Are there any other costs involved, apart from stock costs of course, here please? -
Hi Andrew,
Yes mate. You have to pay a one off fee to DVLA of £40 per site that will produce the plates. I recieved yesterday 1 Brother laser printer, 1 PC, 1 roller, plus a full stock. the stock came with an invoice of £250 odd quid, but that is for the stock only. The deal is that you buy all your consumables from these guys and they supply the kit for £50 a quarter. there is a cheaper system for £25 a quarter, but you can only do standard plates with this. The £50 deal lets you do any plate. As of yet I have not seen any other strings attached. You also get the first month free as a trial. -
That sounds like a good deal, unless of course their stock is over-priced. If you don’t mind Karl, who are your suppliers as I am sure I and many others may find them of interest.
Cheers
Lee
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Hi Lee,
Sandhurst Autoprint. The guy I deal with is Jon Nixon. 07979 506656. He is the area manager for Nottingham and Derby. Give him a buzz.
They can also set you up with storage and they also train you on the ins and outs. I have got to say I have never come across a cheaper business to set up in and I am quite excited about getting it moving. It costs around £1.70 to do one standard plate. I time myself making one and it is very easy to make one in under a minute. -
Thanks for that Karl, I’ll give them a call next week.
Lee
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I have just rang Jon, and told him many of you are interested. You can ring him now if you want. Let me know how you go on.
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IVE JUST GIVE HIM A BELL HE SOUNDS OK!
HE,S COMING OVER TO GIVE ME A MONTHS TRIAL
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Jolly Good!
When you see their brochure you’ll be gobsmacked at what they can do for you! -
quote KARL WILLIAMS:I have just rang Jon, and told him many of you are interested. You can ring him now if you want. Let me know how you go on.
Ooops, should had read this earlier, never mind I’ll give him a call Monday.
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don’t want to sound negative, but the numberplate market is very competitive, most dealerships and repair shops make their own in house,
car parts shops as well all make LEGAL plates, so you are left with the "show plate" market, most of which are sold at shows and boot sales, so unless you have a customer base to sell to, even £50 a quarter + stock, may work out expensive. I heard recently that one of the bigger suppliers on the net just went into receivership/bankruptcyPeter
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i have to agree with peter on this
i am a dlva reg numberplate maker but i now don’t see the point in making plates any more , don’t get me wrong but as peter said there’s are many suppliers on the netwe have a m.o.t workshop under our shop and they ask me to make there plates which i have done for some time but knowing they can buy them from a motor factors for £6.23 i don’t see the point me doing them after you have taken the materials and time off wheres the money
there is always someone willing to pay me £25-30 a set for number plates that would end with me behind bars or a heavy fine its not worth it
any deviation from the Charles wright font is one rule break let alone logos etc etc
rich
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if u mean paul and automarque yes they did taken over by tennants i beleive.
karl wat is printer model they sent u [1 Brother laser printer] i assume ur useing this to print out the plates if so the model number would make very interesting research as up to now theres not been a good colour laser printer capable we all use oki led printers assuming urs is colour as u say u can do show plates with it which generally involve colour.
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My printer is black only. Brother HL-50. As for the last 2 comments I find them very negative. I’m a believer in moving forward. The response we have had here just by putting a banner up has been great. If I had listened to everyone’s negative views years ago about the sign game I wouldn’t have started. If you market the product right, and with the minimal start up costs, where is the risk? Firms go bust every day but it doesn’t stop others starting up and and make millions. And as for Peters comments about car boot traders doing them this is illegal. Your DVLA licence number only lets you make and sell plates from one fixed address. Selling on a market will land you with a fine or prison, as stated by the DVLA this week.
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Karl. I was just stating my opinion on the number plate market, that’s what you asked for in your post is it not?
The car booters sell "show plates" and I haven’t heard of any prosecutions yet, its only an offense to sell a plate that is a number plate for a vehicle, if the size or font is not as specified, then by definition it is not a number plate, that’s how the car booters get away with it, or so I have been told.
Within a mile of me, 4 or 5 motor factors sell number plates and deliver them to dealers and transport companies, along with he other parts they supply, so I have no intention of trying to compete.I just cant see anyone making a great deal out of legal plates.
I wish you luck with your venture,
Peter
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Hi
there are different avenues for selling No.Plates as there are for signs, competing with the companies who sell to dealers/garages is like working for nothing. However there are people & companies who want to buy legal plates & are not interested in people selling show plates. I supply plates but mainly as a foot in the door for signage sometimes it works sometimes it don’t. I have a garage customer who as a motor factors 2 doors away who’s plates are £4 cheaper than mine the difference i could put the customers logo on to the plate in color but the factors could do the name only. So the customer buys plates from me, advertises my business by leaving my sign company cards in his reception so i win always. Another customer pays £6.50 and thinks that too much so i don’t bother to try. I charge £16.00 retail to Joe public on plates but don’t chase the work. I have an oki system so if its not working making plates its doing other things – design print offs, business cards, key rings etc, but i would prefer running my Soljet or Summa which will be earning me more for my time than making plates will.Karl whats the cost of the Toner, fuser etc on your system this as to be taken into account in your cost per plate.
Kev
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i can see what your saying
Kevin if your a number plate supplier and you put another name or logo on the plate whats the point i was under the impression this was to stop cloning of cars and it was your details that dvla wanted on the bottom of the plate along with post code so they could come back to you for the paper work I may have got this wrong then and i will put what details my customer would like ( dave the boy racer in my vauxhall nova sri)
on another point any logo other that the euro symbol is not allowed and any plate even produced stating its a show plate is not allowed as it represents a number plate and therefor could be used as one
Karl as for negative mate I’m all for you mate just my experience i did not say it was not a good idea just saying you can get plates every where even halfords do them i wish you all the best and i hope after a few months after all the messers that want dodgey fonts and shadows and gostings put on there plates you still feel the same
sorry to the point kevin do you put other details on your plates other than your details
thanks richrich happy days
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Hi Rich
I supply trade who are registered with DVLA but don’t want to make plates themselves, this means i can legally supply plates with their details with my company name initials small tagged onto the BS number as the original maker. If i supply Joe public then i display my details either small & discreet or as a banner across the base. The logos i put with company names are small & tag onto the name banner at the bottom of the plate. Most plates made do not correspond completely with the regulations which actually ask for a company name & postcode only but eveyone puts phone numbers etc on as well.
Rich all my plates meet DVLA regulations as much as everyone elses do.Kev
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thanks mate i did wonder for a min but you have made that clear mate thanks for that
i think my point is when i first went in to printing plates i spent more time telling new customers no we are not allowed to move that letter over or change the font or make an 8 look like a b and so on and so on
and i have to admit to using a pc60 and one print mistake will cost you the job
so now i dont push the plates as by the time i have typed the numbers in a template ,loaded the vinyl , sent the job to print and cut and applied to reflective and applied the acrylic top part it the pc 60 printed it fine the first time i would sooner give the £8.00 a miss
i would think that the printers which are now supplied just ready to print plates is the correct way to go so for all that have or are going to have a go at it i do hope it works
and please let me know how things go thanks rich -
i see u all are from uk to irish and english flags here comenting
as im a scottish flag i do not have to adone to the dvla rules as much and in this case we just sell show plates wether there legal looking or pure boy racer types
any 1 else here scotish doing plates comment on there thoughts .
as fo rmarket traders we are we do well we also do well in shop monday to saturday and for 20 quid a pair at a cost of around 6 a pair and 20 mins manufacture if that i think theres a nice proffit in it and to touch wood no police have been to us and the customers who do get stopped seem to come back tell us they were stopped and can we make more slightly diffweerent nowing they will be probly be stopped again
they certainly dont hold us responsible and we always say there not for road use even the legal looking 1s they all display a sticker on back as well saying not for road use .any mate u go for it and see what happens only way to get to no really
if u need any designs let me know -
The only firm around here that do plates are a large motor dealer and Halfords. They both charge around £20 per plate. Like I said in a earlier post, I have not even got my DVLA licence yet, But today with the banner up on a sunday I have had 9 orders already. 9 pairs @ £25 a pair = £225.
I am lucky in the sense that my shop is in a very busy location 7 days a week and my overheads are low. Peter, I just think the negative veiw may put some people off the idea. I just don’t believe in the Phrase "too much competition." If you market a product correctly and wisely you can’t go wrong.
The toner used is £85, and should, if i’m correct print at least 2000 plates.
My HP laserprinter prints around 3500 to 4000 a4 sheets of paper, so I would pressume this would be about right.
I did also ask if anyone who did plates thought it was a good line to be in, and from your response I don’t think it was the voice of experience. Sorry if this offends you, but I think maybe you should ring the supplier of the kit and find out the kind of money you can make. -
sounds good mate 9 sets of plate s on a Sunday and your doing it the right way at that money
just make sure you keep all the details
log book and driving license etc etc i don’t do enough but i think these is a book you can buy just for recording detail like this
i take it you work 7 days a week???
good luck mate
rich -
Hi Richard,
The software supplied keeps a record of all the details on a data base, so all the paper work is kept to a minimum. I photocopy proof of i.d and their logbook. -
There is a motor factor in the unit opposite me that supplies plates made up for around £6.00 a pair. I reckon I should use him as a trade supplier and re-sell them on at £25 a pair – trouble is, no one will buy them from me at that price 😕
In my eleven years of experience I’ve never considered the manufacture of number plates to be a profitable business. As Peter has already said, there is too much competition and all the big garages make their own "in house".
If I were you Karl, I would stick to wrapping vans at £3800 a go 😀
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well thats a good idea mate and another time saver
there was a guy on here that posted he had a strange visit from an inspector a few weeks after getting his dlva reg number asking for records etc etc
i would like to know how things go mate
thanks rich -
£3800 sounds very good did i miss something
rich -
The DVLA do send inspectors around quite frequently so i’ve heard. So yes I agree with you on this.
Phil is refering to a recent topic on vehicle wrapping. I managed to get £3800 for a van wrap on a LWB sprinter. -
Go for it karl. if you have the orders without a lisence, fine, I believe you also subbed out the sprinter as well. if you can make a good profit without the experience or kit, well done that man. I have yet to find people who are willing to pay over the odds for anything, let alone number plates.
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Peter, read the threads mate.
The fitting on the sprinter is being fitted by one of our guys who started recently. This wasn’t farmed out but was printed by us.
The plates aren’t being farmed out either. We have the kit ourselves.
These plates are going out on tuesday by which time the licence will be here. What thread have you been reading?????????? -
whatever Karl, if you are making money that’s all that matters,
do what you must, I was just giving my opinion, the arguments are really irrelevant, as you already have the answers to your own questions.Good luck with the plates
Peter
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I was asking those who had experience. You also haven’t read the previous threads either. I have asked if the others think in their opinion do well. One has said their plate making has overtaken their sign making.
I have replied and stated Today has been a good day for trading for us.mod-edit
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I don’t know the ins and outs of number plate making but I do know someone who does this for a living. He did do signs now and again but gave the signs up to concentrate on plates alone. He’s very well off ……… perhaps he’s just lucky. He has had no hassle from DVLA whatsoever .. none, zilch. He even has the local Traffic Cops come in and buy their ‘camera safe’ plates (which he made me for mine 😀 ).
Anyway, that said, my best pal who has an MOT station also makes them …….. and makes nothing ……….. so it’s pot luck in my opinion. Depends on your location and clientele, an area full of boy racers and your laughing. In other words the money is in the non legal plates. -
Hi Marcella,
I had a guy come into the shop about a fortnight ago and he was telling me about a friend of his who started doing plates about 30 years ago. His friend has retired early after a long career doing plates and making a considerable amount of money. This is what started me thinking about plate manufacture. The motordealer we do signs for has asked us to do their plates for them when their guy is off, so hopefully this chap will be off quite alot! -
dvla is active on numberplate suppliers been there done that had my hand slapped i can assure you all that the making of plates will only get more tightly controlled so make a shilling while you can.
the making of legal plates correctly managed is fine but one show type plate is all it can take to have your sign making equipment confiscated because that’s what you used to make it. if you read all the bumf that is what they can do.people are getting away with it so they think but they are just biding there time collecting evidence
i am a miserable git i know.
i am still registered but not considering full legal equipment cos local factors doing at £3 a plate and all the mot stations have there own systems.
chris
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quote KARL WILLIAMS:he was telling me about a friend of his who started doing plates about 30 years ago. His friend has retired early after a long career doing plates and making a considerable amount of moneyI have two problems with that Karl.
The first concerns the accuracy of the information. There’s lots of people around here that think I’m making a million pounds a year. I’m sure that some of them go around telling people that they know this sign guy who is making a fortune. If so, they will be sadly wrong.
Secondly, because there might have been money in number plates thirty years ago doesn’t mean that there is today. There are a lot more people making them today and that has eroded margins in a similar way to digital print which fifteen years ago cost me £11 per square foot to buy in and today I can but it for £20 per metre. That’s about one fifth of the price.
Finally, I think you should edit your comments to Peter.
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Hi John,
I agree on the 30 year thing, less competition then. People think I’m a millionaire but obviously they are mistaken.
As for comments to peter, as I said he should read the threads. No one has mentioned anything about subbing work out.
This thread has had very informative replies and are appreciated. But I think he needs to read the previous threads before making comments on them. I just think his opinion shows a very negative approach. -
You asked for opinions, Peter gave his. Just because it wasn’t what you wanted to hear is no justification for comments like
quote KARL WILLIAMS:I believe this is written in english?For the record, I agree with Peter. Apart from the fact that I don’t believe there’s much money in number plates I don’t want the type of customer they would bring through my doors.
I also don’t understand why you are interested. If you can sell full wraps for three and a half grand why would you want to piddle about with something that will be marginal at best?
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John,
That is like saying because one product makes money why sell other products that don’t make as much profit. We have many products. Some sell well, some don’t. Just because we are making a decent profit on 1 van wrap doesn’t mean we will stop selling magnetics or site boards.
I wouldn’t call making £22 on a set of plates piddling about for a couple of minutes work. Would you? -
quote John Childs:You asked for opinions, Peter gave his. Just because it wasn’t what you wanted to hear is no justification for comments likequote KARL WILLIAMS:I believe this is written in english?For the record, I agree with Peter. Apart from the fact that I don’t believe there’s much money in number plates I don’t want the type of customer they would bring through my doors.
I also don’t understand why you are interested. If you can sell full wraps for three and a half grand why would you want to piddle about with something that will be marginal at best?
:appl: I agree as well, well put John. Peter may be a pain in the @rse sometimes 😀 😀 😀 however, he always put’s over a justified point, not always one we may agree with, but if we’re not prepared to accept someone elses views, then we shouldn’t ask for them!
My view….. I wouldn’t get out of bed for £225 on a Sunday 😀
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quote Chris Dowd:My view….. I wouldn’t get out of bed for £225 on a Sunday 😀
We mustn’t forget that not everybody is in the same position and that to a one man band sole trader, who hasn’t done much work all week, £225 may be important, but I agree with you.
£225 less a contribution to the equipment cost, less materials, less 40% tax that Gordon Brown will want, less NHI, less heat and light, less all the ancillary cost in running a business. That doesn’t leave enough to tempt me out of bed on a Sunday after a hard week either.
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I agree too, Peter is a long time user of these boards and has taken the time to help me and many others, those comments arent justified Karl.
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I think you will find many people will get out of their beds for £225 on a sunday. Plus the shop is open 7 days a week. And regarding peters comments on subbing out he is incorrect in his statements.
I appreciate his comments but why such a negative attitude?
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