UK private plate marketplace
CarTrait is a safe marketplace for buying and selling private registrations. We use secure escrow-style payments, DVLA-guided transfers and plate verification to protect both buyers and sellers.
Buying on CarTrait is designed to feel like buying from a reputable dealer, not a random stranger on Facebook. Your money is held securely while the DVLA transfer happens.
Browse the marketplace or search for a specific registration. You can:
When the seller accepts your offer (or you use Buy now), the plate is reserved for you while you complete payment.
You pay using our Stripe-powered checkout – the same payment provider used by thousands of online businesses. Your card is charged, but the seller does not receive the money yet.
The transaction moves to “Payment received – awaiting seller DVLA steps” in our system.
We never ask you to send a bank transfer directly to the seller.
Depending on the plate, the seller will either:
Inside CarTrait the seller is guided through their steps. You can see which step they’re on, so you’re never left in the dark.
Once the seller has completed their steps, we’ll ask you to confirm:
If something doesn’t look right, you can flag it before we pay out the seller. Our team will pause the payout while we investigate.
When you confirm the transfer is complete, we mark the transaction as complete and release the funds (minus our platform fee) to the seller.
At that point the plate is officially yours and the listing is closed.
CarTrait is built to make selling a plate simple while still keeping you protected. Buyers pay us first – you never have to chase a stranger for money.
Once your listing is public & active, it appears in the marketplace and has its own dedicated SEO plate page.
To unlock full selling features and build buyer trust, you can verify ownership for each plate:
Once approved, that plate gets a Verified owner badge in the marketplace. Verified plates typically attract more interest and sell faster.
Buyers can send offers and messages directly from your listing. From your Account dashboard you can:
When you accept an offer (or a buyer clicks Buy now), the price is locked and the buyer is prompted to pay.
The buyer pays through our secure checkout. We confirm payment and mark the transaction as “Payment received – awaiting seller DVLA steps”.
You should never start the DVLA transfer or hand over a plate until CarTrait has confirmed payment.
We guide you through the correct process depending on how your plate is held:
We may ask you to confirm once your steps are done and upload proof if needed.
Once the buyer confirms they’ve received the plate or the DVLA records update, we mark the transaction as complete.
We then send your payout (the amount you chose when listing) to the bank details you’ve provided.
If there’s a disagreement, our team can pause payout and review the case. Because the money is with us, you’re not chasing people around for payment.
We keep pricing simple. Sellers set what they want to receive, buyers pay our small platform fee on top. Funds are held safely while the DVLA transfer happens.
Sellers choose the amount they want to receive. Our platform fee (for example 5%) is added on top and paid by the buyer.
Example:
Our fee is only charged when a transaction successfully completes checkout. Browsing, listing plates, receiving offers and messaging are all free.
If a sale cannot be completed (for example, the DVLA rejects a transfer or the seller cannot supply the plate), the transaction can be cancelled and the buyer refunded via Stripe.
At no point do we hand the money to the seller before the buyer has had a chance to confirm the transfer.
We’re not DVLA and we don’t pretend to be – we sit on top of the official process and add structure, transparency and a safe place for money while the transfer happens.
In the rare case that something isn’t right – for example, a transfer can’t be completed or one party stops responding – our team can pause payouts and review the case.
Because the money is with us (not sent directly between buyer and seller), there’s time to resolve issues fairly.
Have a question before you commit? Email support@cartrait.uk and we’ll walk you through your situation.