What sells well in car boot sales?

kiwigirl

Hi all

I have a lot of clutter which I'd like to make a pound or two on them (if possible). I have books which I have on amazon and greenm, I've tried them on ebay but only sold a handful of them so have stuck them on amazon again.

I will be moving within the next 3 months, and I want to get rid of as much as possible so I don't have to move the clutter with me. It may mean a bit towards a deposit or towards rent on a new place? :j

I've started selling a few things on ebay and so far so good. I've probably sold a bit more than 1 every 4/5 items, ranging from books, clothes, make up, car items, books; so not too bad I suppose for a newbie.

I'm intending to try and do my first ever car boot sale, but don't know what sells well in them. I have books, cuddly toys, magazines - sports / womens / health etc. clothes, shoes, car items - I'd like to know what sells well - don't say antiques my parents would kill me!

Any tips or ideas anyone?

freebie_junkie

all of the above! as long as its clean and in good order peopel will buy it! (and priced well- dotn attacth labels, make it up as you go along and let peopel barter)

try to get a clothes rail for your clothes as peopel dont really liek to rummage through these, and try to find teh original voxes for used elctrucals, crockery etc.

magazines really go well, price them at 20p each and theyll walk away!

finally, take lots of newspaper if selling breakables, lots of carriers (you sell more if you ahve them coz peopel know theyll be able to carry all they buy off you home!) and tonnes of small change, £1 coins and £5 notes as everyone brings a £20!

good luck!

italiastar

Anything !!!!

The oddest things I've ever seen were used loo seats and used loo brushes - don't know if they sold though. Don't expect high prices, in my view Ebay is better, but postage can prohibit this.

kiwigirl

Hi freebie junkie and italiastar and thanks for info.

Freebie junkie - won't bother with recycling papers for a few weeks then!

Italiastar - tried a lot of the things on ebay already some sell others don't.

Currently none of the clothing has sold and i've only tried the BNWT stuff and not asking too much for them either.

Saying that I did have bidding war the other day and I have another 3 similar items which I'm trying to sell too.... looked like that was a good seller, will try the others when I see if the 2nd chance item is being bought or not.

Parent away this weekend so have house to myself to explore the attic a bit - will see what I have in there and try and see some things on ebay first and if not try a car boot - will have a look around some sales first and see who's popular etc and then see how much a stall will be.

Am intending just to get as much as possible into back of car (lucky it's an estate), got a few things to sell via paper first, have looked on ebay and stereo's aren't going for much on them. A few of the books are uni books so probably more specialised than people want to delve into will stick them on amazon and if they're still there when I do venture out for CBS I can try them too.

I've heard about 1/2 bottles of sun cream were being sold nearby a few weeks ago!

JohalaReewi

I sold a broken clock for 50p (the buyer knew it was broken and didn't work) and a laundry basket with a hole in for £1. The basket was just being used to carry items to the boot sale and was going to the tip afterwards but someone wanted it anyway!! I am constantly amazed by what will sell at a car boot.

HKP_2

freebie_junkie wrote:

all of the above! as long as its clean and in good order peopel will buy it! (and priced well- dotn attacth labels, make it up as you go along and let peopel barter)

try to get a clothes rail for your clothes as peopel dont really liek to rummage through these, and try to find teh original voxes for used elctrucals, crockery etc.

magazines really go well, price them at 20p each and theyll walk away!

finally, take lots of newspaper if selling breakables, lots of carriers (you sell more if you ahve them coz peopel know theyll be able to carry all they buy off you home!) and tonnes of small change, £1 coins and £5 notes as everyone brings a £20!

good luck!

Thats good advice.

Be realistic about prices. At the end of the day you want to sell everything. Even if is sells fot 10p its money for nothing. Don't try holding out for unrealistic amounts of money. You'll end up taking it home.
Its really suprising how quickly 10p here 50p there adds up to £££££££'s:D

kiwigirl

Thanks for the info :beer: - am going to make the weekend a complete get rid of my clutter and be ruthless this time kind of weekend. So wish me luck. I must get a few drinks in the house then!

I agree that people will buy anything, I had some old Uni coursework and tried it on ebay and they all went no problems. Made a huge difference here though as the box I had them in took 1/2 the office up so I've got more space to move now! :j Just got to get rid of some of this other stuff I have here without the need for now

ms_london

I did a car boot with my mum and we made £100 - not bad for a couple of hours work!! Some of the clothes I bought back with me to try and sell on ebay as people wanted to pay pennies (and a lot of them hadnt been worn!!) - but, yes, people will buy anything!! Good luck!! xx

kiwigirl

Hi Ms London - I'm impressed with the debt free zone and enjoy your holidays.

Will try the t-shirts on ebay but have watched others that weren't selling very well so I'm not thinking I'm definately going to sell them on ebay and put them all on. Will give them a try though before I try the boot sale, but only 1 or 2 of selected ones for a 10 day auction and if it doesn't sell at least I've not put all of them on. Otherwise I intend to ask 3 t-shirts for £5 or similar.

iseethestrals

car boots aint bad, although i start getting bit annoyed when u say to someone 20p and they haggle ya down to 10! whats that all about?

Contains_Mild_Peril

iseethestrals wrote:

car boots aint bad, although i start getting bit annoyed when u say to someone 20p and they haggle ya down to 10! whats that all about?

I've actually done that if I'm really desperately skint, or occasionally just because it's near packing up time and it's something I genuinely believe is only worth 10p (e.g. the ubiquitous old Reader's Digest magazines), but in the latter case I wouldn't normally ask for the discount, I normally just make a face and put the item back down and the stallholder offers the discount.
I rarely haggle over amounts under 50p, but I'll often ask for (and get) things like three 50p items for £1, and the savings add up.
Kiwigirl, it sounds as though you have a suitable collection of stuff for a car boot sale. They're a good way to sell lots of low value items which cost too much to post to sell well on eBay. I think variety is the key: stalls selling mostly only one category of goods (there's usually at least one with nothing but baby stuff) are depending on the right customers coming along, but you should have something to appeal to a wide range.
P.S. freebie_junkie has a good point about clothes, and the advantages of a rail. If customers have to rummage as though at a jumble sale, those who even bother will usually expect stuff for jumble sale prices.