Plate Base

Data sources

Where Plate Base gets its numbers

Every valuation, comparable and price band on Plate Base is traceable back to a source. This page explains where the underlying data comes from and how often it's refreshed.

Primary sources

  • DVLA Personalised Registrations — the official UK register of assignable and retained plates.
  • DVLA auction catalogues and results — hammer prices from official DVLA sales.
  • gov.uk — statutory fees, transfer rules and eligibility criteria.

Marketplace and dealer data

We run a daily scan of the major UK private plate marketplaces and dealer stock pages. Listings are normalised, decoded via the Visual Plate Recognition engine, and stored in our plate_market_data table. Only listings with a real asking price feed the valuation engine.

Historical sales

We maintain a set of publicly recorded historical plate sales — auction results, press-reported private transactions, and known trophy transfers — for benchmark purposes.

Refresh cadence

  • Live marketplace scan — nightly at 03:00 UK time.
  • Iconic and prestige anchors — reviewed quarterly.
  • DVLA fee tables — reviewed on each fee change.

What we don't use

We do not use unattributed “average price” aggregators, and we do not treat wishful asking prices as sales. Every model output includes the sample size and the source mix so nothing is hidden behind a single headline number.