Dubai’s priciest license plate, P7, sold for $15 million in 2023. Yet the resale market has run largely on Instagram and independent brokers. A new app, Mazal, aims to change that by holding buyers’ funds in escrow until ownership is transferred, for a 5% fee. Its founders say plates worth $463 million have changed hands in three years, and that the market is growing by about 20% a year. License plates command huge sums in the Gulf, where every opportunity to signal status is welcomed — but proceeds from the government-run sales go to charity.
Mazal grades plates like gold — 18, 21, or 24 karat — with a top tier called mithali, Arabic for perfect. “The only question is whether you are a millionaire or a billionaire,” said Chairman Abdulla AlMeer in an interview with The National. AlMeer’s green Range Rover sports a $245,000 plate. His Lamborghini, tragically, has to make do with a $136,000 one.