LATEST: UAE car plates average $1.7 million, far outpacing car prices, BuyAnyCar data shows
License plates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are, on average, more valuable than the cars they’re attached to, with the average license plate worth about $1.7 million, according to data from BuyAnyCar.
The average price of a car in Dubai, by comparison, is about $18,000, says founder and CEO of BuyAnyCar and SellAnyCar Saygin Yalcin. Arabian business. UAE number plates, he added, have become high-value commodities in their own right, driven by the need to register low and unique numbers.
“This is important and interesting globally,” Yalcin said. “There are very few markets in the world where the number plate is more important than the car itself. In the UAE, that is clearly the case.”
The details come as BuyAnyCar and sister platform SellAnyCar launch what they describe as the world’s first instant license plate buying service, offering customers a guaranteed offer to buy any UAE license plate within 30 minutes.
The new service builds on BuyAnyCar’s quick number estimation tool, which was launched last year and is now embedded in its app. Since its launch, the tool has been used more than 4 million times, the company says, giving you one of the largest sets of price plates in the region.
When the measurement tool was first launched in November last year, BuyAnyCar said it was processing about 50,000 license plate checks a day, far exceeding internal expectations and underscoring the latent demand in a market that has previously lacked transparency and funding.
“We saw a problem in the numbers market,” Yalcin said earlier. “People were sitting in numbers, but there was no liquid.”
Premium license plate business
Based on the data collected through the app, Dubai accounts for 55 percent of the UAE’s number rating, followed by Abu Dhabi with 20 percent. Ajman represents about 6 percent, with the rest spread across Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain.
SellAnyCar.com, which has been operating car buying services in the UAE for over a decade, now allows customers to sell both their car and license plate in one visit. Customers can get a free car value, a free plate value and guaranteed discounts for both within 30 minutes at any SellAnyCar branch.
BuyAnyCar also introduced an auction-style marketplace that allows users to sell any plate directly through the app, while continuing to offer free instant estimates so owners can check the value of their plate before deciding to sell.
The company pitched the platform as a hedge against car depreciation, noting that while cars generally lose value over time, premium number plates in the UAE have historically appreciated, in some cases too much.
“You may lose the value of your car,” Yalcin said. “But you can get more with your number plate.”
In addition, the BuyAnyCar app now provides historical vehicle transaction data, giving dealers visibility into past prices for similar vehicles – a level of price transparency previously associated with the real estate market.
The UAE license plate market has long attracted global attention, with premium plates regularly fetching seven and eight figures at auction, reinforcing its role as an alternative to automotive accessories.
