Starting Up a Pik'n'Mix At a Car Boot Sale ... Thoughts, Suggestions ?

Gti_Sikh

I recieved my A Level results to day ... one word - 'Flopped!'
Pulled out with a U U D, i was kind of expecting it to be honest with you, and id been planning the followig for about 2 weeks now.

SO heres my idea and budgets.
Buy 30 - 40kg of sweets at a wholesalers, ive been quoted 250GBP for 40kg delivered. (Alll sorts of stuff, chews, mints, sours, oldschool etc etc etc )
Buy 10 - 15 lots of sweets jars ... quoted at 50GBP delivered
100 paper cups ... quoted 5GBP
I have a car and a 10ft aluminium table that i can sell off, and decorations to get the customers in, i also have a gazebo which will make the place look attractive.

Anyway, the sweets will cost me the equiilant of 33p per 50g's, i dont see why i cant retail for 1.25 - 1.50 per 50g cup. That means i make 5 times the amount i brought them for, which means ill make 1,000 - 1,200 after selling 40kgs. I dont think thats bad at all. Especially if i can get through 100 units (50 cups) per weekend.

There is a one off 300GBP cost ... if i sell the 40kgs, ill restock and make this a full time (weekend) job.

What are youre thought on this, do you think it will sell ?
Any ideas marketing wise ?
Any problems i might run into ?

Appreciate any feedback, and any suggestions.

Money_maker

Do the cups have lids? Some parents wont buy for small children if it's an unlidded cup.
How do you know the cups take 50g? Surely each sweet being an individual size and weight will not consistently weigh the same?
£1.25 - £1.50 for a 50g weight is not really good value. A cup will make it look smaller. Our boot fair sells sweets in the flattish lidded rectangular 'take away' style boxes but the draw back is that you can't pick and mix.

Unsure if you need any sort of licence/paperwork in selling foodstuffs - someone may be along who knows.

You will need insurance.

Just a few thoughts from a random peep.

jamespir

other thing you may ahve a problem with is the health and saftey brigade

wil you need a food hygeine certificate etc

pavlovs_dog

and you ought to declare yourself as self- employed to the tax office, and you'll have to complete your tax returns (or pay someone to do it for you).

it's quite a common thing at bootsales round here - have you checked out the competition?

Chell

I personally wouldn't buy pick and mix from a car boot sale but many people would. I'd be worried who had touched them and were they clean, were the sweets fresh or years old if they weren't in their original containers, etc.

*Sally*_2

I dont know where you are located but Hancocks is a very good place to buy stock.
http://www.hancocks.co.uk/depots.htm

I think if you round it up to £1 a bag or something you will sell a lot more. Id give the kids a £1 each, but £1.25-£1.50 is a big no no.

moneymakestheworldgoround

You obviously have to be careful of storage.

I went to local Wilkinsons to buy pick n mix. When I was scooping up choccie raisins I discovered a host of maggots in the bottom ! Turns out a bug thingy had landed in the container when someone had it open, and the end result was maggots !!!

Trading Standards said it was quite a common problem with pick n mix, and the issue is if a scoop had touched maggots, then been used in a different sweet, it may be contaminated.

Wilko had to ditch all the sweets, about 50 different types.

Still makes my flesh crawl now !

Chuzzle

Would just like to say my BIL has a pick n mix stall on a sunday market (seaside town) and makes an absolute killing. He uses paper bags of various sizes. All sweets are stored in lidded plastic tubs for ease of packing away and displaying, the plastic tubs are similar size to the old 5 litre ice cream tubs you used to get 20 odd years ago! Each tub is also lined with a plastic bag and there is a scoop in each tub to avoid hands touching the sweets. He has scales as well to weigh them out on and charges around 70p per 100g - not 100% on that tho cos we get family rates!! He gets his sweets wholesale from someone in Birmingham. Good luck and I wish you every success.

Gti_Sikh

Thanks for all the responces, never expected this many
Guess all those Money Saving Expert TV ads, paid off !

How do i know if they will fit in the cup ?
Ive oredered a load of sample cups, i brought some haribos starburts etc ... and stuffed them in one cup, end result was an average of 50 - 65 grams.

Pricing
I was thinking many car boot goers have change, so 20 shouldnt rewally be much ... ill start of with 1GBP and creep up to 1.20

Cup Issues
Ah yes these cups do come with lids, its like a coca cola cup that you get at Mcdonalds, but about 4'' high, lids are extra, but like 1.50 for 100 ... that shouldnt be a problem, HEY ill even put some selotape to the side of the cup and lid, so its like a flap

The 'Maggots' Issue
Ill have air tight seals on jars, if im required to do any pick n mixing, ill wear latex gloves i have x100 at home. I also have a H&S certificate, i went through a 3 day course whe i had a job last year.

Is There a Pik n mx at youre Booty already ?
Nope, thats the main reason i thought of opening one
Be the only supplier, youll get all the sales.

moneymakestheworldgoround

Sounds good !

I am glad you have precautions against the maggots :j I cannot describe just how much it affected me ! It was the most disgusting, unnecessary sight and I LOVE pick n mix but I cannot eat it anymore ! And I'm pregnant so I am having to ignore the cravings for sugary candy tasty treats! I'll have to get the kids to open lots of bags of sweets and we can pretend its a pick n mix in the lounge

Good luck

greyteam1959

You will NOT be able to sell the sweets in cups without weighing them out and declaring the weight.
You cannot sell things like that on a 'cupfull' basis...its against the law.
You will have to have a set of scales and weight the sweets.
The cost of the cups will be an awful lot more than some nice crisp paper bags.