Punter from Edinburgh earlier on, said he'd bought three HC plates in Edinburgh @ £40k each, claimed they're 'worth nothing' now.
I said couldn't believe they were worth nothing, and asked him how much they were actually going for. He said £10k. Still don't believe they're worth as little as that to be honest, but obviously dropped a good bit in value. Sure I heard they peaked at £50k maybe 15 years ago?
Suspect he bought the plates as some kind of investment - wouldn't be surprised if he didn't drive at all. Was up with some pals for a golf weekend, and wouldn't be surprised if he was just in his 30s, but certainly not what you'd call old.
He blamed it all on Uber. Suspect that's only part of the answer though - probably a longer-term thing due to growth of and fare competition from PH generally, and I think plates in general fell catastrophically during the big financial crash (whenever that was), and never really recovered fully again.
Certainly no Uber or PH threat here in East Fife, but work has gradually declined over the years. Plates have never been worth more than a couple of grand, but someone said recently they'd been increasing in value a bit to maybe £4/5k, so it's a bit of a mystery why that might be.
But there's very few change hands, and it's not as if they're advertised in the local press or on eBay, so who knows precisely what they're worth.
But at least I know that even if Uber do arrive here, the plate doesn't have a huge amount to fall
And at least I didn't pay for it
