First ever car boot sale - advice needed?

angelflower_2

hey Lincroft...I've done way better than that. I often come away from bootsales with only about 25% of my stock - if that. For the 5 hours in boot sale, i usually make around £200 - £250 which is much better than the £3 per hour you quoted.

I think sometimes the newbies have more success as they tend to have 'fresh' and wanted items perhaps? I always seem to be next to a stall who hardly sell a thing but it really is complete tat they try to get rid of.

chardonnay_2

remember you are selling your unwanted clutter ie - junk / rubbish. so try not to be too attached to your items and ask realistic prices just because you paid x amount doesn't mean someone will want to pay a lot for it. basically anything you sell is profit to you! good luck

savingholmes

I earn a good wage - don't want more taxable income so this is a way to earn money from clutter already have. Also trying to declutter myself - I traditionally swing between being a hoarder and being ultra-generous. If I think someone needs something more than me I am happy to give it away, otherwise I keep it a) just in case I need it, b) in case a friend needs it or c) I spent too much on it and giving it away is a way of owning up to that and therefore sometimes avoided.:o

Also I'm trying to motivate myself not to buy this stuff in the first place, I'm hoping that this will reduce my shopping habit!:rolleyes:

lincroft1710

Angelflower - pleased to hear someone making good money from boot sales. Having been a buyer for about 20 yrs plus and knowing other sellers, my unsold figures were based on observation and personal experience. But last 3 sales I did resulted in about £60 net each time between OH and me. Have had some incredible bargains though.

Savinghomes - yes, know the problem - about hoarding that is. Buying on eBAy has now replaced my trips to boot sales - save on petrol, spend on postage. I go through phases, keep it, dispose, no - keep! no don't really need it. Found Freecycle excellent for disposing of valueless (IMO) items, too big or not worthwhile bootselling or didn't want/unable to take to tip. Surprising what you regard as junk, other people delighted with -well it is FREE.

jenjade

take loads of change and loads of carrier bags also i take a waterproof sheet incase it rains let us know how it goes good luck

got-it-spend-it

I love car booting. I reckon we've usually sold 75% of the stuff we've taken each time. It is amazing what people will buy.

Definitely take carrier bags and lots of change. I personally wouldn't want to do a car boot on my own, so if you can rope someone in to go with you then do. Also we always take a flask and snacks, otherwise trips for to the tea van eat into your profit.

savingholmes

Well it was boiling out there - got sun burnt! Made about £40 after £7 entry fee which is enough for son to go to concert (he loved it and was really helpful) and for us to buy a wedding present for someone next week:rolleyes: . I don't think I'd ever do it again though - but at least next time someone tells me I should just car boot it - I can tell them from experience rather than theory why not.... :cool:

I think it was worthwhile as a kind of - don't buy lots of "bargain" 'cos the reason they are bargains is they are not worth anything - but not from a cash raising perspective. Also son learned not to just expect us to give him handouts and was prepared to earn his money and part with his possessions to achieve a goal. He would happily do it again but then he got nearly half of the spoils!:D

I spent hours pricing up things individually and in the end just put up cardboard signs saying how much items were in the box. I had zero interest in our video or DVD collection, some slight interest in computer games but only one £1.50 sale on that. I sold about 4 books for £4, £2, and 2x 50p! Some cosmetic jewellery sold and some pretty kids clothes (but not a lot). If I did it again I would not bother taking small items and just try and sell bigger ones.

The people to my left made about £80 and the people to my right about £30. The people to my left though were selling Bikes for £3 and things like that...

I did pick up a pretty crystal vase for £2 (oops but what a bargain).....

I've not given up on selling some of the items. In BuySell I've seen people put adverts for certain size of clothes for £10 a bag... might give that a try. Still plan to sell TV hope to get £50 and dressing table hope to get £30. Didn't take either of those with me as no room. I have a shelving unit someone might pay £5 for.... I intend to list them altogether in one advert... I'll let you know once I've advertised them what I get for them....

The books, there is a second hand book dealer near here who also buys books, so I'm planning probably next weekend now to see if he will buy 4 or 5 crates of books from me! I'll keep you posted on that too!

hypno06

It is £40 more than you had when you set out this morning, so fab news!

I have done boot sales where I have made less than £20 and some where I have made more than £200......but the way I see it is that even though I HATE doing them, it is money I need, and a way of getting rid of a bit more "stuff" (although however much "stuff" I get rid of, I seem to have just as much clutter surrounding me!).

Hope DS enjoys the concert

savingholmes

Thanks you're right we are £40 better off.... :j My wallpaper paste table collapsed within 10 mins of me putting my stuff on it.... :eek: luckily nothing breakable was on it... I do think that made it a bit harder though as I then only had 1 small table left and lots of crates and people had to bend down to look at the stuff... A lot of people seemed to lack that ability!

I just picked up kids from party, she has made £80 but at a different boot sale... the location I would have picked as being on a better road... so again it may be partly the location.... perhaps I shouldn't completely give up. I do think though that it was mostly a waste of time take videos, dvds, computer games and books... I would need to rethink what I took.

I didn't bother to scout out a recent boot sale before going to one as I just wanted to get started so that may not have helped.

newz

I'm thinking of doing one an a couple of weeks time. I've only ever done one before but remember feeling really intimidated by people as we pulled up they even opened the car doors to look at the stuff. Any ideas how to stop them without actually being rude?