Car-boots in the rain?

Reef1234

All this recent rain has taken its toll on our local car boot with only a hand full of car booters daring to risk the weather on a sunday. Likewise, the number of people turning up for the car boot is also diminished. However, I have noticed that the few car booters that do turn up all seem to have a crowd of buyers searching through their stuff. Was wondering if the rain could actually increase sales as there's less choice for buyers so they're more likely to properly look at your stuff and buy something. Or is this just wishful thinking?

Lukadeh

I go to car boots quite regularly to buy stuff and on days when the weather isn't great I end up buying things that I normally wouldn't purely because there isn't much else to buy/look at.

soolin

Last year I did one when the weather was appalling, they wouldn't refund my pitch fee so I stuck it out with only a few bits out on display and I did quite well . However I would never do it again, I had loads of stuff stolen as I was covering things, leaving my boot open trying to quickly store things again- it was a nightmare.

Zoe_Price

soolin wrote: »

Last year I did one when the weather was appalling, they wouldn't refund my pitch fee so I stuck it out with only a few bits out on display and I did quite well . However I would never do it again, I had loads of stuff stolen as I was covering things, leaving my boot open trying to quickly store things again- it was a nightmare.

I get why so much stuff is stolen at car boots. It sometimes takes ages to get the attention of a car booter in order to buy something, if I had no morals I suspect I could just wonder off with stuff without anyone knowing.That's why its good to do a car boot with a few friends or family helping, the more eyes the better.
One advantage of the rain that I've found is if you know its going to rain around a set time and you want to buy something. Wait till the heavens open up and quickly make a low offer on what you want. They're more likely to except the offer due to a combination of being rushed to get their stuff back in the car and/or wanting to cover their entry fee

soolin

Zoe_Price wrote: »

I get why so much stuff is stolen at car boots. It sometimes takes ages to get the attention of a car booter in order to buy something, if I had no morals I suspect I could just wonder off with stuff without anyone knowing.That's why its good to do a car boot with a few friends or family helping, the more eyes the better
fee

I cannot believe anyone would use the excuse 'I couldn't get the attention of the car owner 'to steal something!

I usually go to the car boots on my own and wait in the car until my son and DIL arrive then the three of us work together. I always get stuff stolen though, thieves are good at what they do and also rely on the fact that people are embarrassed to tackle them if caught. I have seen quite well dressed women pick up half a dozen bits, offer me a price and then negotiate a slightly lower price if they leave One or two of the objects, then whilst I get their correct change they just put the lot in their bag.

I've had a woman take a teddy from my stall give it to their baby and walk away, then when I've chased her and asked her to pay she has absolutely ignored me and looked as though I am some sort of nutter- I usually do let those go, they must have nasty horrid miserable little lives whilst I have A great life, so if they want to steal a 20p teddy then let them, I pity them.

I've also had blatant thieves wait for me to click my boot open and tell me I've dropped a book or something and then help the,selves to stuff while I look down.

i_love_freestuff

Carboots in the rain are hellish. The buyers are mostly traders who want things for pennies. Trying to keep everything dry is a nightmare. I suppose it really depends on what you're selling but I would never do anyone if it was raining.

As for the stealing side it happens at every carboot I have every been to. Sad really as things are never expensive in the first place but then again i am a great believer in karma.

Zoe_Price

soolin wrote: »

I cannot believe anyone would use the excuse 'I couldn't get the attention of the car owner 'to steal something!

Sorry, I think I worded that wrong, wasn't condoning it, just meant you need to keep your eyes on ur stuff as an actual thief could steal ur stuff quite easily if you're not paying attention.

porto_bello

I hate carboots - they always have the feel of the wandering zombie dregs of a broken society of desperados, after a nuclear strike!

OH always says it's just me, so I've drawn their attention to the experiences above... "See! It's not just me!.. Carboots are horrid!"

Crowqueen

Unfortunately the ones I see on TV with a load of antiques and bric-a-brac to browse through are not the ones that are particularly local!

greenstreetprince

haven't been to a car boot since they did away with the famous old hackney market...boy i miss that...

Elvisia

My mum and I have tried a few times to have car boots sales, and every time it has rained. It was so bad at one point I swear it was raining UP my trousers, and the only umbrella we had was a Chinese parasol made of paper that I thought would be alright for a light rain shower - as soon as the rain started I ended up pretty swiftly with a paper hat. Mum has a great patter though when it's raining, and always says things are a bit extra because of the water on them rather than reducing the price for the things being soggy. I do though find the real hard buyers come out in the rain, I guess they do it for money and don't care about the weather. They always went for my box of jewellery, I only had really rubbish stuff in there from crackers and stuff so they were unlikely to come across any diamonds I'd be selling for a penny. Next time I'll get a job lot of costume jewellery and say "grandmamma left that to me, I don't think it's worth much, we didn't get the stuff valued when she left her mansion".