Land for car boot sale?

jesshall28

Hi everyone,
Im a young girl, very ambitious and always trying to come up with new ideas to make money and better myself but also generally do something great and useful.
As we have all heard of car boot sales all over the place.. i really want some advice on how to own my own land to host car boot sales for buyers and sellers alike.
Some car boots are in the middle of fields etc, and obviously people own that land and use it for car booters.
I want to run my own car boot (not become a seller) but actually own the land and spot car booters use.
I really dont know how to do it??????
Ive seen a car boot sale in basildon and on their website there is a couple who said they have been running the car boot sale for over 20 years.
I want to do that!!!
Buy land...
host the boot sales..
charge a car and van fee for use of the land etc...
and make some money this way..
I have NO CLUE on buying the land, planning permissions, advertising, how to get started, loans, the whole process etc.
PLEASE PLEASE HELP!
Anything will help!!!
Thanks guys
Jessica xxx

PasturesNew

The people who run boot sales might not be doing it full-time for an income. It might be a handy sideline that they can fit in/with/around their other activities. So be aware of that.

They might, for example:
- already own the land, had it for years, do other stuff with it and the boot money is handy pocket money
- not need the boot money as essential living money, but it's a nice handy amount when they make profits, but they can afford to carry the losses too
- rent the land only, for the duration of the car boot sale. To get to this point they might have tried several other venues in their early years and had a lot of "no" responses

That isn't to say you shouldn't try, I am just pointing out other aspects you should be aware of.

Land: all land has a basic use type. When you see land advertised for sale it will have names such as "pastureland", "arable land" etc. These names define the legal use to which the land can be put. Any attempt to change its classification will involve a solicitor and can be largely unsuccessful. The use of the land dictates the value it has, so you will need to be aware how much each type of land is worth in your area, so you aren't buying a posh bit of land, when you just needed a cheap bit.

However, car boot sales aren't permanent, but there is a raft of legislation covering them.

You will need planning permission, so you need to speak to the local council in the area/s you would intend looking for land, to find out their opinions/procedures. Depending on how many you'd be holding, and precisely where within the boundaries, planning regulations can vary.

You will need public liability insurance to cover the events.

The land itself will need managing. You can't just walk away from land, then turn up next time you want to use it - land is probably a bit like a tortoise ... it doesn't appear to move, but there are things you need to do to keep it alive and in tip top condition.

That's it off the top of my head...

Good luck!

PasturesNew

Just a thought, but in the meantime, why not try to organise some locally. Look around at where there might be an opportunity, say at a school, and try to host some on their grounds, splitting the profits 50:50, to give you a taste for the whole organisation/planning etc, advertising, so you can see it's for you.

Traffic control is a major issue. Parking, noise, clearing rubbish away afterwards (that'll cost you money)... if you are running car boot sales, then the rubbish might be called commercial waste and you'd have to pay to take it to the local tip even - all issues to look into.

If you can find a local field, then you don't need planning permission if you want to hold less than 14/year, so why not find a local field to give it a whirl on - fix 12 dates, say, for 2010 and see how it goes.

Don't see these ideas as things that aren't making you money - see them as free learning opportunities, to stop you losing/wasting money.

jesshall28

Thanks so much for this what would you recommend as my first action/ seek advice? where could i find this advice? as im aware i cant just buy a piece of land first and deal with everything after..
im just a bit confused as to where i start off first
thanks again x

PasturesNew

If it were me I'd start by plotting on a map where all existing car boot sales are, to try to identify where there's a gap. Then I'd visit them all, wander around, talk to the stall holders, find out if they're regulars or one-offs. Why did they choose this site. All a bit tricky as you're effectively doing market research to compete with the person running the one you're at, so you need a bit of stealth mode really

Get a feel for how many stallholders there are, why they're there, how far they've come.

Same for the people who have arrived. How many are there? Wonder if they go to loads or just this one... e.g. engage in conversation saying something like "I came here today looking for a .... do you go to car boots often? Do you know others open today?" Get a feel for if why people are going, if they traipse round them all, or if this is a one off for them. How far have they come?

Talk to the Council, find out about the rules/regs. Google your preferred areas, see if any planning permissions have been denied for car boots in your area - look at why they were refused, look at who was applying.

Get some quotes for public liability insurance, just to get a feel for how much that'd cost you.

Look through the local papers, spot car boot adverts. Start a notebook of who is advertising, where and how much it's costing them.

Look at the signage, crowd control at events. Where have they put the signs? How much did those signs cost them? Have they used straw bales to guide traffic across a field - how much are bales and where could you get them from, how would you get them to the field, how would you remove them, how much would that cost you? Is there any plastic tape marking out areas for parking etc. How are they fixed? How much would it cost you to do that?

How long would it take to put out the signs/mark of the areas etc?

You'll need "help" probably. How much help? Somebody to do the signs for you? Somebody directing traffic? Site clearance? How much will they cost you?

The above I'd see as basic research.

You then also need to look at legislation about what can/can't be sold from a car boot sale. What if somebody's selling booze? A table of knives? Air pistols? What are the laws? Is this allowed?

Don't t hink about buying any land until you know the answers above and have run 2-3 of your own on "borrowed" land.

tbs624

Car Boot Sales are classed as markets and different areas may have an ancient market right granted under a long ago charter. Some Councils will grant licences only to those holding car boot sales for charitable purposes so many timer per year some will grant an annual "land" licence with specific restrictions.They take into account what else is already running within their area.

The Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1982 allows for a 1K fine for boot sales run without appropriate consents. As PN says there is a plethora of legislation covering advertising, clearing up, what may or may not be sold, traffic flow, insurance etc

Your first step would be to talk to the local Council's Head of Markets or have a look on their website.

Good luck

googler

A plethora of good advice and interesting 'food for thought' crammed into a few posts. Good going, MSE'rs

rosie-lee

Damn I typed a really long post and just lost it.

Basically I just wanted to thank PasturesNew for a fantastic post.

I stumbled on this thread out of curiosity, we have started a small business and have a small piece of land, so felt compelled to read on.
What a remarkable brain you have PasturesNew. Your logical and informative advice has made me realise how much more research we could have done before taking the plunge.

Fingers crossed, early signs are promising but had I read your posts sooner, I could have been so much more sensible. I will ponder on your thorough and imaginative advice next time, if I survive this time!

Thank you very much.

Isn't there a most helpful post of the month thread somewhere??

Can any other poster or Mod please highlight this as one of the finest examples of a request for advice I have read.

Jessica, I wish you the best of luck.
Rosie

PasturesNew

rosie-lee wrote: »

Basically I just wanted to thank PasturesNew for a fantastic post.

I stumbled on this thread out of curiosity, we have started a small business and have a small piece of land, so felt compelled to read on.
What a remarkable brain you have PasturesNew. Your logical and informative advice has made me realise how much more research we could have done before taking the plunge.

Fingers crossed, early signs are promising but had I read your posts sooner, I could have been so much more sensible. I will ponder on your thorough and imaginative advice next time, if I survive this time!

Thank you very much.

Isn't there a most helpful post of the month thread somewhere??

Can any other poster or Mod please highlight this as one of the finest examples of a request for advice I have read.

Jessica, I wish you the best of luck.
Rosie

It was just the first batch of thoughts I had on the subject, I have no knowledge/experience as such, those are just what I'd jot down as my first thoughts on it. It is a huge subject really, reaching into things you wouldn't even think of in the first instance.

Thanks for enjoying it.

If you have a small piece of land, a business ... and a worry for survival, you could start your own thread that's specific to your requirements ... and see if I turn up on that one too

semivia22

jesshall28 wrote: »

Hi everyone,
Im a young girl, very ambitious and always trying to come up with new ideas to make money and better myself but also generally do something great and useful.
As we have all heard of car boot sales all over the place.. i really want some advice on how to own my own land to host car boot sales for buyers and sellers alike.
Some car boots are in the middle of fields etc, and obviously people own that land and use it for car booters.
I want to run my own car boot (not become a seller) but actually own the land and spot car booters use.
I really dont know how to do it??????
Ive seen a car boot sale in basildon and on their website there is a couple who said they have been running the car boot sale for over 20 years.
I want to do that!!!
Buy land...
host the boot sales..
charge a car and van fee for use of the land etc...
and make some money this way..
I have NO CLUE on buying the land, planning permissions, advertising, how to get started, loans, the whole process etc.
PLEASE PLEASE HELP!
Anything will help!!!
Thanks guys
Jessica xxx

I would love to know if you did this and whether it worked out?x