Going out to buy a license plate is considered more of a hassle in America, whereas in Dubai, it’s one of the most important things you can do as a car owner. The Dubai license plate market is insane and is the home of the worlds most expensive license plates.

Owning certain license plates means the world to your reputation in Dubai. Typically, each license plate has 5 randomized digits. But drivers can select which digits are on their car, with certain numbers being more expensive than others. The most expensive license plates range from the number 1 to number 10. Ten to 99 are the second most expensive, and certain combinations, like 11, 22, 11111 and other repeating numbers fetch a high amount as well. Some owners even like to match the number of their license plate to their car. Example: Ferrari 458 with the plate “458.”

If your license plate costs less than your car, you aren’t doing anything for your reputation. The numbers “5” and”7″ sold for nearly 10 times the amount of the car they are attached to (both were sold to the same millionaire who has them on Rolls-Royces). The world’s most expensive plate was sold to Saeed Abdul Ghafour Khouri. The number? 1. The cost? $14.3 million. Compare that to the price of the number 5 license plate, which sold for $6.8 million.

The plates are auctioned off at the Emirates Auction, where they aim to “make an expensive car without a prestigious license plate worth nothing.”At these auctions, they are not only buying a status symbol, but they are also investing in an object that will only appreciate in value. The head of Emirates Auction, Abdulla al Mannaie, says that the plates have more than a 20 percent annual return in value. It’s strange to think that the price of the luxury car will decrease, while the price of the piece of metal attached to it will increase.

Most of you are probably reading this right now thinking how ludicrous it all is. However, you should know that all of the proceeds from each auction go to charity.

(Sources: ABC, CNN)