New to car boots... advice needed!

helliesin

My sister and I have decided that we are going to do a car boot sale next saturday and we have no idea what to expect! Neither of us have ever done one before. Our mum did one about 15 years ago and came back with horror stories of people climbing in the boot of her car before she had even started unloading and offering her 20p for her best lladro ornaments :eek: :rotfl:

I was just wondering if anyone can give us any tips, advice, ideas etc?

We will be selling (all in immaculate condition):
childrens toys (0-5 years mainly)
lots of childrens books
childrens clothes (in good condition and mainy from gap, next etc)
cuddly toys?
household stuff (all modern and in good condition)
possibly an immaculate silver cross pramette/travel system
baby's cots (if it doesn't sell on netmums)
baby equipment (walkers, chairs ets)
some adult clothes (all from topshop etc)

all of the stuff is immaculate and not outdated of anything.

- will these things sell at a car boot sale?
- do you price things up, or just let people make offers?
- what sort of prices should we go for if pricing up?
- how long do car boot sales go on for?
- can we go in a (very) small van or does it have to be cars?
- do cuddly toys sell- all disney etc? was thinking of washing them all and putting them down low for children to see....
- if it rains should we wait for a week with good weather or just go anyway?

Sorry for so many questions, I am just determined to get it right and shift as much of this stuff as possible.... and make as much money as we can of course!

Thanks MSE-ers!

Pembroke

Try to go in a car, you don't say what area you're in but round here (West Wales) a van is charged at double the price of a car and a trailer can also attract a premium at some sales.

To avoid the vultures, park in the place directed, setup your table, then lock the car and go and have a coffee, or at least don't start setting up straight away, let others come in behind you then they will get bothered while you set yourself up. Also try to have one tray of cheap stuff to put out first.

If you have loads of clothes a hanging rail of some sort may be a good idea. Keep small / valuable things away form the edge of the stall. If you're going to put stuff on the ground make sure that you have a black bag under them just to stop any residual moisture in the ground seeping in and ruining things.

Up to you whether you price stuff or not but if you have loads of stuff it's easy to get confused and quote one price to someone then another price to them again if they come back. Price a little high this gives room for you to drop the price and make the item appear a bargain and still get the price you want. If you quote a price to someone, don't say anything else until they respond.

Ideally you should go to the boot fair you want to sell at as a buyer / looker first then you can get a feel for what sells and for how much.

Most of my local sales are morning or afternoon, you need to find out the start time from the organisers and also what time they recommend sellers turn up. With some sales it can be quite early to get a good pitch. There's loads of thoughts on what makes a good pitch, I tend to go near an entrance if possible, also try to avoid areas where people might queue up like for the ice cream van.

If it's raining I wouldn't bother, if it looks like rain our local organisers collect their fee really quickly and don't give refunds so watch your local weather forecast the night before. Take a float of change if you can and also a notebook to record your sales.

If you need any advice on the day talk to your adjacent sellers most are friendly.

durham_girl

For clothes I would stick with a single price for most items. If I'm looking through things I hate it when everything's priced differently as I have to keep asking the seller how much each thing is, then if I have a few things it can be difficult to remember how much they said. If I'm not in the mood I don't even bother looking through if that's the case. If everything's the same price I'm more likely to come away with more things.

cestlavie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/527459

Giggles_Fairy

I love doing bootsales. I did one quite successful on the first BH weekend at a very large popular boot sale (I usually only do local).

First thing is the get your table out first shut your boot and make sure it is set up properly. This then provides abit of a barrier between buyers and your boot! People will be coming up to you asking if you have x, y and z. If you do have it but know its packed away just say so and tell them to come back in abit. If people do get abit enthusiastic and start going for your boot tell them politely that you dont want anyone to come behind the table and if they wait a few minutes you will be getting the items out.

I tend to box my items up with similar things. So I always put shoes together, bags together, clothes together, dvds together, then a box of misc items. This worked wonderfully for me in May as a woman wanted bags specifically so I just got the box out and she went through it and got what she wanted (infact these items had dissappeared with 20 mins of me getting the box out!).

I price up some items and some not. I usually price up bags and shoes individually. Im glad I did in May as, like I said above, these items were highly sort after and no sooner had I got the box out that people were choosing what they wanted and all was gone in 20mins. Had I have not priced these up I would have been totally flustered attempting to tell each person the price!

As durham_girl said, as a buyer I sometimes dont want to be asking individually prices for everything! So fors books (£1 hardback, 50p others or 3 for £1), clothes (usually 50p rail or box and then another rail with more expensive items on which I usually price individually), DVDs (usually £1 singles, £3 boxsets), belts (50p each) etc I will charge a general amount. I think this encourages a buyer to look too as if I see a rail of clothes and know all are 50p I will be more likely to have a search through! If you are going to do set prices make sure you do an A4 sized poster so people can see this from a distance.

Dont forget to pack a little survival pack. Sissors, paper, felt tip (to write any signs with!), sandwiches (you dont want to spend all your money at the burger van! We didnt even really have time to go in May even if we wanted to!), drinks, sweets/cakes/biscuits, plus a change tin with a float in. You will also need a fastened pocked/shoulder bag to store the notes/majority of your money as its not unknown for there to be unhonest people at car boot sales!

For misc items I usually lay these on the table and just tell prices when people ask for them. If you have some bigger/sentimental/high quality items then have a price in mind for these which would be your bare minimum and make sure the other person you are with knows that too. This would be the price that you would rather take it home for rather than sell. This would just prevent you from feeling 'cheated' or agonising over a sale in hindsight.

The main thing to remember is that people come to a car boot to get a bargain. They dont want to be spending £30 on something that cost £35 brand new. For alot of things, like clothes, shoes, books, bric a brac if someone offers you 1.50 when you say £2 its best just to take it! Ultimately its stuff you dont want anyway so you wont miss it. For higher price items (like your pram) set your price slightly higher than what you want as people usually WILL barter, this is the fun of bootsales! Dont let anyone take advantage of you, if you dont want to sell for a price then dont. In the spirit of haggling its also best to offer someone abit of a discount if they buy more than one thing. So if someone was looking at, say three of your child toys which were all £4 each you could say or you can have all three for £10.

Timing wise, you need to contact the organisers and ask what the best time for sellers to arrive is. I have only ever been to morning car boots. The local ones start at 8 and its hometime approx 12noon, but the massive one I went to the sellers arrive between 7 and 8 and we left at 1 (partner was happy with his earnings and wanted to go hahaha) but to be honest we probably could have done another hour as we were one of the earliest to leave and there were still lots of buyers walking around. The best thing would be to go to the boot sale before and get a feeling for what people sell, prices, timings etc.

If its raining I wouldnt really bother. It puts buyers off as well as other sellers. A dry day is best and if its sunny thats even better!

I love car booting, its fun and you get rid of stuff you dont want and make some money on the side Dont be scared just go with the flow and Im sure you will have a great time If you have any more questions you are welcome to DM me

Giggles_Fairy

Oh and

teddys dont usually sell in my experience, altho if they are disney you stand a much better chance.

Vans are usually charged more than a car so if possible take a car. If you haveanyone whom is going to come down and see you you could always get them to bring a box or binbag with them. My Dad didnt come till 10 when I did one and he brought a bag with him for me (Just clothes) and they still sold when I put them out. I couldnt fit them in anyway so they were a bonus.