If you think the only people buying license plates on eBay are collectors, think again.
License plates are the ultimate crossover item, and in addition to their tremendous profit margin, that's why they are such a great item to sell.
You generally find five types of individuals purchasing this highly-sought-after automobile collectible.
The buying groups include: 1.
Collectors 2.
Classic Car Owners 3.
Interior Designers or Decorators 4.
Artists 5.
Individuals Seeking Nostalgic Pieces.
Choose your slice of the pie for some easy profits.
Collectors make up the largest percentage of auto tag buyers, and they are often willing to spend big bucks for even rusty old bent up license plates if that particular plate helps them complete their collection.
Collectors tend to specialize in a particular type of plate or seek to fulfill a complete set of plates from a particular year.
Their collections can be anything from wacky vanity plates to certain number and letter sequences like "666" or "XXX".
Hang around the license plate hobby long enough and you'll come across all the variations.
Another group of potential customers willing to spend lots of money are owners of restored classic cars.
Did you know that there are some states who allow owners of classic cars to register old license plates for use on their classic vehicles as long as the year on the plate matches the year in which the vehicle was built? The states allow classic car owners to do this are referred to as Y.
O.
M.
(Year of Manufacture) states.
Now, can you imagine how much the owner of a restored 1957 Chevy would pay to get a 1957 tag for his prized vehicle? I think you get picture - $$$.
Three figures is not out of the question.
Next up in the list of buyers are interior designers and decorators.
Have you ever been in a restaurant or bar that had license plates covering the walls? Chances are those little pieces of metal were purchased on eBay or from someone like me who sells on eBay.
I personally have supplied the license plates that hang on the walls of a number of restaurants, including one inside a major casino in Reno, Nevada.
These types of clients are great because it takes a lot of plates to cover an entire wall, and quite often decorators are not as concerned about condition or price.
Artists are one of my favorite groups of buyers because they are readily willing to buy all of my virtually unsellable stock.
When you purchase bulk lots, like I often do, there are always a number of scratched and bent up plates that most people would deem unacceptable.
I'm happy to get those plates because I know I can always sell them to an artist for a buck or two.
In fact, artists seek out inexpensive damaged license plates for the purpose of cutting them up and bending them into all sorts of artwork items such as maps, lamps, signs, weather vanes and anything else imaginable.
So this is why I never throw out my damaged plates.
Finally, amongst the universe that makes up license plate buyers, we have the person who is simply buying the plate for nostalgic reasons.
Hard to believe, but a lot of people do this.
We have the woman who buys a common Hawaii Rainbow tag as a memory of her Hawaiian honeymoon vacation.
There's the successful businessman who purchased from me an Iowa mobile home plate to remind himself of his humble beginnings.
And there's the man who had to have a 1951 Indiana plate issued in Sullivan County because that's place and year he was born.
There are a million reasons why people buy license plates.
I sell them on eBay and in my online store for one main reason - they provide a great source of easy profits.