Category: News

It’s great that 2020 is finished, but passing into 2021 won’t be like flipping the “normal” switch back to its usual setting. Ontplates.com didn’t have a super year, but it was by no means a record low. Still, we have absorbed additional shipping costs from rate increases and postal pick-up fees. Our web hosting bill rose substantially last year. Our usual sources of paint are not presently available to us. We’ve been able to source more of the same type, but from a more expensive supplier. Our profit margin is already small; but in 2020 it was smaller still.

Ontplates.com presents itself as a smooth operator from the outside, but it’s important to realize that it is a small, independent, Ontario-based business. It takes substantial time and effort to offer our goods for sale. Ontplates.com is a sole proprietorship with no additional employees. The guy who restores the plates is the same guy who rebuilt this web site. It keeps the overhead low, which was helpful in riding out the year 2020.

2021 marks the twentieth year that the Year of Manufacture program has been available to classic car owners in Ontario. 2021 will also be our eighteenth year in business. It’s essentially a labour of love that pays for itself, with a bit left over after taxes.

We’re in no trouble, but you can still help this small business thrive in a few different ways:

• Follow us on Facebook and Twitter so you can promote our services to your fellow classic car owners (see bottom of this page).
• If you have a counter in your shop for clients to take business cards, we’ll gladly send you some. We also have glossy 8 ½ x 11 mini-posters.
• If you have plates to sell, contact us. Our business is only as strong as the raw materials that we restore.
• If you have a classic car and are thinking about plates, ask us some questions. Just like you, we don’t like aggressive sales pitches. We educate first, and allow people to make up their own minds.
• If you’re a past customer, send us a fresh picture of your vehicle wearing its plates. We may ask your permission to Tweet it or include it on our Client Vehicles page.
• If you’re not a car owner, and you simply enjoy licence plates, check out The Back Bumper.

Happy New Year!

Canada Post has announced via news release that it is experiencing very high volumes of mail, with a fraction of the regular staff available to process it. As a result, some of our shipments are running 1-3 weeks behind the regular level of service. All shipments of licence plates are tracked and insured. We do have several customers whose shipments are impacted, and we are watching closely. No shipments have been lost so far.

Ontplates.com has been shipping approximately every second weekday. We use Expedited service, which is picked up from our home office in a safe, contactless manner. Your 6-month guarantee period will begin on the day your plates are shipped. Tracking numbers are automatically provided when shipping labels are created, and you can monitor the progress of your package once it ships. Normal Expedited service provides delivery within 1 to 3 business days, depending on your location within Ontario.

We appreciate your business and look forward to serving new or returning clients. Thank you for your patience during this time.

UPDATE, JANUARY 18: Phew! It took two weeks, but we rebuilt the site. The design is a bit simpler and cleaner, but everything that matters is right where you’d expect it to be. Time to get back to business!

ORIGINAL POST, JANUARY 3: When any business runs a web site, there are certain things in the background that need to be updated. We were forced to update our version of PHP, which is the programming language that our web servers use. Unfortunately, this update broke our site’s theme (the set of instructions that generated all of our pages for display on your screen).

The only way to save the site was to abandon the previous theme and start from scratch. We are not happy about this, since it’s bad for a web-based business to have its pants down in public. But there are a couple of silver linings:

1 – All our stock listings are still intact– we just have to figure out how to make them reappear.
2 – None of this affects our previous sales records, since all Ontplates.com purchases are processed manually without incorporating them into our site design.

Suffice it to say that we’re more concerned with getting our site running properly again than selling plates. Fortunately, it’s January: The paint shop was already shut for the winter, and we hardly sell any plates at this time of year, anyway. So if you’re looking for a set of plates for your classic vehicle, we’re closed for now. Check back in a few days. As we bail the proverbial water out of the proverbial basement, more of the site’s features will become available. And hopefully, we can make it look as cool as last time.

Living in Ottawa, I don’t get down to southwestern Ontario that often. But the stars aligned, and I was able to attend the 2019 Bothwell car show. It was the first time I’d been able to attend since 2011. It’s a lot bigger than I remember! By mid-day, the organizers announced the registration figure for classic cars had hit 1400.

I hoped that I might see some previous Ontplates.com clients with their YOM licence plates on display, and I wasn’t disappointed! I recognized client plates that I had sold over ten years ago, plus one set of plates that I sold a mere three months ago! It’s always a treat to see vehicles decked out in vintage plates.

The Ontario YOM program is admittedly cumbersome– the client has to send the plates to Kingston, wait to get them back, and then head over to their local ServiceOntario counter. The fees aren’t cheap. But really, owning and maintaining a classic vehicle isn’t cheap, either. I spell out the fees and tasks to be done to each potential customer, and sometimes, the $251.65 MTO fee is a barrier. I accept that point of view, and I never push back. But how much do they spend on brakes? Or a crate engine? How much on aftermarket chrome? On upholstery? On a custom paint job? The cost of the YOM program is a drop in the bucket, all things considered.

While it’s great to see YOM plates at a car show, I see many regular car and truck plates as well. “AW-27046” on a peeling white Ontario plate does nothing for that ‘59 stepside pickup. I leave a business card in such vehicles if I can slip one through the side window without touching anything. Maybe one of those cards brought you to this site? If so, check out our inventory and see if YOM licence plates can help complete your classic!

Ontplates.com looks to buy whole collections, small batches, or even pairs at a time. Of course, some of what we buy will serve as raw materials that will eventually be restored and used to re-stock the business.

But that’s not all we’re looking for. The business is hungry for more, but so am I.

My name is Jon Upton. I’m the guy who runs the business, takes all the pictures, and types all these posts. I’ve been avidly collecting Ontario licence plates since 1984. Along the way, I’ve added to my collection, done research on plate issuance, started a hobby web site called The Back Bumper (over 20 years online), volunteered for the ALPCA in various capacities, and learned to restore Ontario plates.

I’m very interested in hearing from you if you have Ontario plates to sell, whether they’re rare and treasured, or just rusty pairs that could have new life breathed into them.

The entire goal of this business, from the get-go, has been to make my plate-collecting hobby self-funding. It’s working! I can make fair offers and competitive bids for your plates. I’ll pay for your shipping costs, and I often travel through Ontario to pick up large quantities of plates.

If you have one, some, or many Ontario plates available, click here to use my contact form, and we’ll see what’s what. Pictures say a thousand words. A wide-angle group shot is best, with the faces of all plates visible, and not overlapping or hidden from view. I need to know the year, type and condition in order to assess them. Even if I don’t buy them, you’ll come away with a fair appraisal from an experienced collector.

I look forward to adding more tin to my collection! Contact me today!