Boot Sale

Hermia

My advice would be to take lots of friends with you. I did a few boot sales and decided never again as SOOO much stuff got nicked. I had a box of costume jewellery on the stall and someone just grabbed it and ran and a lot of other stuff went missing. I even found someone who went round the back of the stall and was trying to get into my car! I found the only way to do it was to have a least 3 people so there is always someone free to watch what is going on whilst the others are dealing with the money etc. I also found the bleeding hearts people hard to deal with. I had a few people coming up to the stall and asking for loads of money off because they had recently been left by their husband/were ill/had some other tragedy befall them etc. If you live in a nicer area than me you might not need to worry about this, but it's a good idea to have a think about how you may deal with different situations.

squeaky

Hi, all

This thread seems to have slowed down rather so I'm going to move it across to the Ebay and other actions board to see if we can get you more replies.

Best of luck.

bleugh

take LOTS of change (everyone will try to pay with tens and twenties!) and LOTS of carrier bags, and a few binbags
take a nice flask of tea, some seats and some food.

alibob30

Just wanted to thank everyone that replied. You've all been really helpful. I think that i'm going to suss a couple of sales out first and then hopefully do my own car boot sale.

Contains_Mild_Peril

bleugh wrote:

take LOTS of change (everyone will try to pay with tens and twenties!) and LOTS of carrier bags, and a few binbags
take a nice flask of tea, some seats and some food.

I'd also recommend "not for sale" stickers to stop people trying to buy your seat and flask!
Hermia, I haven't had a big problem with theft on the few occasions I've sold at boot sales, but I know it can be dodgy if the sale is in a rough area.
I once did one fairly close to my home (for practical reasons, since I don't actually have a car), and when I was packing up at the end, 3 kids from my street decided to get some entertainment from taking the !!!!!! and trying to attack my stuff (they broke my table), and they circled me on their bikes so that no matter which way I turned, there was always at least one behind me, which was very intimidating. Eventually, my son (then about 8) asked the security guard from the adjacent supermarket if he could come over. He kindly obliged, and the little runts hastily left when they saw him coming.

Cerbera_2

Hi alibob,

I posted something similiar a few months ago and got some very helpful replies
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=85756
Mine was a disaster, but I think it was what I was selling :rolleyes:

Good luck!!!

Amba_Gambla

get there early enough, and don't let the sniffers start to help you unpack - be in control - they'll try and help you unpack and be sniffing around in all your stuff - when you're ready to start selling, you're ready, don't be forced into selling stuff str8 away...

Also if you do get sniffers interested in something, you can probably hike up the price a bit too!!!

TheDink

I think it depends on where you are in terms of what sells and what doesn't.

We did a couple of boot sales in the south east - tried to sell some clothes, put them up on a rail etc. Sold virtually nothing!

Wind got up, rail blew over and snapped...left clothes in piles on a tarpaulin or in a cardboard box. Sold some bits as people seemed to prefer rummaging through!

I'm now in Devon - haven't tried selling yet but have been to look round a couple of sales and clothes, books etc seem to sell really well, whereas they didn't where I was before, where most of the stalls seemed to be traders.

Top tips - if you use a rail, tie it to something to stop it blowing over. Take something to cover up the stall with if it starts to rain. If it's cold, stand on a flattened cardboard box to keep your feet a warmer.

lynnemcf

Clothes seem to sell really well in my area (Redcar). I do suggest you have some kind of labelling giving an idea of the size, as I tend to look at the stallholder to gauge the size of the clothes on sale. If you are tiny and have large stuff, a sign will be of great benefit.

Make sure you are well surrounded by other stallholders, I find I sell my more expensive items to people selling near me.

In my area, the prices are generally 50p for videos, £2 for DVDs, 20p for books (even good condition ones), 50p for kids clothes, £1 for adult clothes and shoes, up to £1 for toys and games (even the very best condition ones). DIY stuff sells really well! DH sold a load of wooden poles (that fabric had been wrapped around) for £1 each. Someone bought ten! We couldnt even work out what people would be using them for. We also sold cans of paint and rusty gardening equipment that the previous occupant left behind.