Delaware surf tag No. 1 sells for $26,000 at auction
Jim Weller did the most Delaware thing imaginable Saturday.
The Lincoln businessman ponied up $26,000 to secure Delaware surf fishing tag No. 1. His was the final bid in a fast-paced and lively auction during the "Boooo-B-Que by the Sea" barbecue competition at Delaware Seashore State Park near Bethany Beach.
But the 58-year-old – who doesn't even fish – says he likely won't be keeping the tag very long.
"I strictly buy them to resell," Weller said. "This is strictly an entrepreneurial project here."
The owner of Weller's Utility Trailers in Bridgeville, Weller also runs a side business called Delaware Low Digit Surf Tags, where he flips the numbered plates used to access surf fishing beaches in the First State.
"I have about 20 or 30 low-digit tags that I keep in the stack," said Weller, who broadcast his bids on Facebook Live. "I don't even display them."
Weller said he doesn't have a buyer for the No. 1 plate just yet. But soon after the auction ended, he already was chasing down a nibble on the No. 11 plate he also bought Saturday for the relatively low price of $2,700.
The ability of shrewd investors like Weller to turn a profit on the secondary market was created in 2015 when the General Assembly passed a bill to authorize both the low-digit surf tags and the annual auction where they are sold. Previously, surf tag buyers got non-numbered tags for the front of their vehicles, granting them access to state parks and permission to drive on designated beaches.
After a couple of live auctions and a few more exclusively online, DNREC has sold a total of 92 surf tags, raising more than $317,000 for Delaware State Parks and surf fishing beach access areas. Surf tag No. 2 sold for $20,500 at the inaugural live auction last year in what was supposed to be an undercard for the No.1 tag sold at this year's.
David Small, secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, admitted he was a little disappointed the No. 1 tag failed to fetch the $50,000 sale price many had expected before Saturday.
"It's a little lower than I would have thought," he said. "But it's still $26,000 more than we would have had without the legislation."
Weller says he also was surprised by the price he paid, well under the $35,000 ceiling he set for himself.
"I think somebody was asleep at the wheel," he said. "Or else I'm a fool – one or the other."
Weller wasn't the only Delawarean who dropped a few thousand dollars on surf tags this weekend.
A total of 14 were sold at Saturday's auction, raising nearly $75,000.
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Rich King, the man behind the popular Delaware Surf Fishing website, came in second in the bidding for the No. 1 tag. But the Millsboro resident consoled himself by paying $5,000 for the No. 5 plate that Weller gave up after landing the big fish.
"I was bidding on behalf of a friend who wants to remain anonymous," King said. "But I told him that tomorrow, I'm going to put the No. 5 on my vehicle. I'm going to drive it around for at least a day."
Only Delawareans were allowed to bid on plates with numbers below 200. But the lowest numbers didn't bring nearly the price as name-your-number auctions for plates within a given range. The No. 400, for instance, brought the lowest price of the day at $1,500, while a pair of four-digit plates sold for $3,350 each.
Bill Brode, of Harrington, bought the four-digit surf tag that opened the for auction for $3,600. The No. 6209 also came with a license plate bearing the same number – a deal too good to pass up in Delaware.
The state has been mad for low-digit plates since 1909 when a limited number of black tags with white numbers were first issued. When the plate frenzy reached its apex before the Great Depression, retired Wilmington developer Anthony Fusco paid $182,500 for the No. 9 license plate.
Brode already has a No. 3051 plate on the back of his pickup, but said he plans to turn in a plate on another vehicle to make way for his new purchase. Just don't ask him to explain the fascination.
"People think we're crazy," he said. "I don't know what it is. When you drive up and down the road people just see that low tag. I guess it just makes you feel good."
Contact business reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.