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

paulwf

The Business Link courses have some excellent advice on pricing and profit. I can't find the info on their website so I'll do my best to summarise there.

Lets assume we sell a bag of sweets for £1 of which 20p is profit. If we put the price up by 20p we double the profit so can make the same overall profit with half the customers. Conversely if we drop the price by just 10p we have to sell twice as many to make the same profit.

The figures depend on the profit percentage, the BL workbook has a chart in it. Essentially you can put prices up a reasonable amount and even if you lose a few customers you'll still be ahead. On the other hand if you drop prices just a little you'll soon need to attract a lot of extra customers. Obviously there is a tipping point so research the market but set prices as high as you can and do try and get greedy with profit!

badmumof1

Evie82 wrote: »

We have a local car boot sale and there is a stall which sells sweets. Instead of pic and mix, they have pre bagged up sweets into sealable sandwhich bags, from an assortment of different sweets to a bag full of one type.
Each bag sells for 50p and the contents are pretty good, they seem happy and make a profit i assume as they come weekly. I wouldnt want to do a "pic and mix" as such for my kids, i would rather grab a bag and go, but thats my preference.
Best of luck, as others have said, have a trial run with some stock and see how popular it is.

That is exactly what we do :beer:
I think the problem of this inital outlay is that the cost of wholesale is not correct wholesale prices. I see many online sweet store offering 'wholesale' prices which are infact very very much overpriced

Gti_Sikh

mervyn11 wrote: »

@mervyn - could i just state, 'anything over 50g that fits in the cup will be 1GBP' ?
I suppose you could but the cost of the cups is far too much over the cost of a paper bag.
I think I would give your local Trading Standards a ring ( if you can find a pnone number for them NOT Consumer Direct ) because the last thing you need is a problem at the outset of your venture however small.

Thats true, i was looking at getting some 4'' x 4'' paper bags, but for the life of me i cant find them anywhere
They are all 5'' x 7'' ... at this rate ill have to rob burger king and steal their small fries paper bags !

If you know of any one, ebay, websites etc etc ... drop me a link ... Thx

Gti_Sikh

rosalie-lavender wrote: »

One thing you need to keep an eye on sadly is theft. My husband had a business selling at craft markets and theft was an issue that the traders had to watch out for. Get yourself some kind of money belt that goes round your waist. Keep your takings on your person not loose on the stall or if a large amount lock some of it up in your car.

Your excess stock that is not on the stall also needs to be kept out of sight or locked in your car.

Good luck.

Yep, deffinatly, i have a belt/change holder sort of thing. Car will be parked behind the stall, and ill keep her locked.

screamer

I am a grown adult with a sweet tooth and NEVER in a million years will I pay £1.20 to £1.50 for an 8th of an ounce. In fact, I won't pay that for a quarter.

Are you out of your mind mate? Honestly, pick n mix in the shops aren't even that expensive.

50 grams of sweets for £1.50 is a complete rip off! No thanks!!

blue_haddock

As screamer says 50g for over a pound is very expensive - the pic n mix in wilkinsons is 64p per 100g. Even the expensive one that sets up from time to time in the local shopping centre is only £1.39 per 100g

There is no way i'd pay that kind of money for sweets at a car boot - especially when there are often market stalls selling seconds or close dated brand names dirt cheap.

greyteam1959

Gti_Sikh wrote: »

Thats true, i was looking at getting some 4'' x 4'' paper bags, but for the life of me i cant find them anywhere
They are all 5'' x 7'' ... at this rate ill have to rob burger king and steal their small fries paper bags !

If you know of any one, ebay, websites etc etc ... drop me a link ... Thx

You need to be into somewhere like this.....
http://www.booker.co.uk/
or this....
http://www.batleys.co.uk/
You will get a look at the prices of the sweets etc as well

greyteam1959

Have a look here as well
http://www.stockleyssweets.co.uk/

vikki_louise

Did you decide to go for it in the end?

borders_dude

vikki_louise wrote: »

Did you decide to go for it in the end?

I often wonder about the outcomes after a thread has come and gone.

I do wish more people would report back so to speak.