Car boot sale advice - updated 2013

Mischa

Thanks for all the comments above, there's some really valuable advice here! I've only done one car boot sale a couple of weeks ago and in desperation to get rid of the stuff I put everything down to 20p, which created a frenzy! I had nothing of high value though so don't feel as though I missed out particularly because it was stuff that I would have happily binned! I made a £69 profit which I am putting towards my next credit card bill! :-)

dawnie1972

I'm on the beds/cambs/northants border - what's the best car boot to go to - i need to raise some cash (have spent over £300 at vets this month) - have got loads of stuff off freecycle (have told the people donating it that i will be car booting it) mostly boxed games etc.

yennie

Has anyone done a car boot sale at Battersea Tech College?? I've been trying to get a pitch there for the past few weeks now but it seems impossible and is always booked up!

You basically have to call up from Monday for the following Sunday, leave a message on their voicemail service (you never actually get to speak to anyone as the phone just rings for a while and goes to voicemail) and they contact you and let you know whether you have successfully booked a pitch or not. Of all the times I had left them a message, I always get a text to say that the car boot sale is fully booked!

Crestfallen

Hi folks, I haven't read every post but hopefully some of these are new :j :

Advice for sellers:

• Get plenty of change in pound coins, silver and copper. Whatever you think you need, double it.
• Prioritise your stock, don't give junk pride of place.
• Always arrange electronic media in boxes with either the spines upwards (CDs, DVDs, games) or with enough room for buyers to flick through them. (LPs). Put them on the tabletop where the buyers can get access and actually read the titles - putting them on the floor is an excellent way to make people walk straight past. It's amazing how often sellers totally fail to do this and miss out on sales.
• Folk go to car boots with the expectation of buying things at car boot prices; sell your collectibles on Amazon/Ebay etc.
• Double-check that your DVDs etc. are actually in their cases, I frequently pick up and inspect things like that and the discs are missing or wrong!
• A very large percentage of so-called boot sellers are actually dealers who're there every week and charge silly money for rubbish. Price at least some of your items to show buyers that you're a genuine car booter trying to get rid of unwanted items.
• Don't expect to sell everything, or even a large amount of your items - most of it will be going back home with you unless you've got a stall full of DVDs which you start giving away.
• Make sure you have appropriate clothing for unexpected changes in temperature, particularly for if it starts to get chilly - you're standing in one place while everyone else is walking up and down, you will feel it!
• Be friendly and factual, but don't be in-your-face or try to be clever. Have a chat if someone wants one, and pass on any information that's requested of you without laying it on thick. Don't try and palm off specific items on people or yell "bargains here" or anything silly like they do on TV. Buyers aren't idiots and don't like to be treated as such.
• Make sure it's actually worth having a car boot. Your pitch will cost you several pounds and you'll only sell a fraction of your stuff - is it worth going? It's shocking how many sellers turn up and have absolutely nothing worth selling, or a few carrier bags full of stuff in total, don't be one of them.

Advice for buyers:

• Them burgers from vans aren't exactly quality meat, if you do succumb (as I always do :beer:) make sure you ask for a well-cooked one.
• Make a walk of it rather than a day of it; know what it is you're looking for rather than inspecting everything and keep walking, step back from the stalls if there's room so you can walk quickly while avoiding the throng. Not only does this make it less of a chore, you won't be so tempted to buy rubbish.
• The flipside is that some sellers are hopeless and will hide their most interesting stuff under unwashed and moth eaten cuddly toys, do glance inside cardboard boxes, make sure there's not treasure under the tables etc.
• Don't be put off by a lack of labels, even if the stall looks expensive, or the stallholders are definitely dealers, they might not be or the item in question might still be reasonably priced. I'm very guilty of this and have been surprised on a number of occasions when I did take the time to ask.
• Always check inside boxes, whether it's a contraption or board game, electronic media or whatever. The most honest seller on the boot sale might have forgotten to put everything inside the box. CD/DVD type media can be scratched to heck.
• The "get in early or don't go" mantra isn't bulletproof and in my humble opinion is wrong. Unless you get to most of the stalls before the dealers then the early bargain rush has already passed you by. Since a lot of dealers slip the organisers a fiver to get in before anyone else is allowed inside, or are already installed in the bootsale as sellers (the enemy within!), that isn't going to happen, no matter how early you start queueing to get in. These are the vultures everyone's talking about, how are you going to get in there first when they're climbing into other sellers' cars? See the next bit for an alternative.

Go late, just once to experiment. Once you've gotten rid of the mental itch that screams "get in first, everything'll be gone :mad:" boot sales are suddenly a lot more fun and a lot less of a chore:

• Earlybirds and dealers cannot and do not buy everything at a bootsale worth buying, which is the main reason everyone busts a gut to go early. I have bought so many cheap collectibles after countless buyers have passed them by it's not true, often from dealers themselves.
• Have a lay-in. What Sunday morning trauma?
• No sitting in a car queue, no standing in a queue to get on the field.
• Genuine boot sellers and dealers alike are much more likely to accept less money for their goods, those having clear-outs leap on anyone who looks like they might have 50p in their pocket.
• It's hardly a rare occurence for sellers to charge silly money and not sell anything, so towards the end the prices can finally go down. All the early buyers effectively didn't have access to these stalls, but late arrivals do.
• Fresh food sellers are likely to start selling stuff cheap, particularly any greengrocers, fancy a carrier bag full of fruit for a few quid? This is ideal for all you cooks out there, desserts and preserves for pennies. Bakery stalls are the same, even burger vans might want shot of their excess bread buns for a pittance.
• Because so many buyers have come and gone, the aisles are a lot clearer so you can zip up and down and get a good look at what's on offer. You've virtually got the field to yourself and can be done and gone in a fraction of the time. That's after you didn't drag yourself out of bed at an ungodly hour.
• The atmosphere's a lot more relaxed since the manic air of bargain-hunting has evaporated, the dealers let their hair down and you can have a chat. The clear-out brigade get out their flasks and either try to flog you stuff for nothing or leave you alone to browse in peace. It's just a more pleasant way of doing a boot sale.
• For larger boot sales in particular, you can wait a few minutes and let the main swell of traffic go, leaving you to have a more relaxing drive home. One of our favourite summer boot-sales is bedlam as soon as the early-finishing sellers start leaving - buyers and sellers busting a gut to run down anyone on foot and get out of there as fast as possible.

BrixhamLulu

I definitly agree with pricing stuff before you go, if not people bypass. Seeing nice low prices attracts people.
I am guilty of it myself, seeing something I really like and thinking no it must be too expensive. Last time over a blue prom dress. After passing it about 3 times going to and fro, I finally asked the price, and was very suprised (and delighted) when the lady said "£1"!!!!!!!!!

as for finding local boot sales, thats always a good question! I only know about my local ones because I get the bus past the fields where they take place and see the signs up outside (yes this is a rural area!). Theres nothing online or in the papers that I have ever found. I have seen one of the bigger ones advertised at the tourist info centre, thats all.

Mistymaid

Just passing through, but you can buy a magazine called the Car Boot Calendar, although I think it might have changed its name a bit now. I'll search out a copy and post the details later if I can find it.

Mistymaid

Did a google and although it shows carbootcalendar.com the actual mag is now called The Car Boot and Fairs Calendar.

t-bone123

I would recommend the following websites for car boot advice and locations;

Car Boot Junction - According to their website they have 1584 car boot listed in their directory, so your local is likely to be on there!

Your Booty - Covers England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic or Ireland and also lists art and craft events etc. Probably of the two main directories.

Everything Car Boot - Doesn't list actual car boots, but has some useful advice, especially for new buyers and sellers. Worth a look I think.

Not sure if this has been covered but at this time of year its essential to call the organisers to make sure their car boot is still on.

The directory admin at YB and CBJ seem to update regularly but they rely on organisers to let them know dates etc, and many seem to forget to do this!

A bloke I know managed to go to not one, but two car boots that had finished for the year last weekend!

dontlookatme

Hi Everyone this is my first post on MSE. My friend and I are doing our first carboot on Sunday at the Dewsbury Rams ground in Yorkshire, does anyone know if it's decent? I'm a little worried as it's very late in the year and the weather is FREEZING!!

We have a HUGE collection of CDs and Vinyl records to sell. Most of these have never been played and are in mint condition (we're DJs so tend to hoard lots of stuff that never gets played!). What do you think is a reasonable price for this sort of stuff? Most of the CDs are albums (some are those double ones-kind of "Best of R&B" types) and quite current - for example we have Whitney Houston's new album, Gwen Stefani, Chris Brown, etc. Some of the stuff is also quite specialist - my friend has a large collection of R&B and Hip-Hop material. What dya reckon?
Also we have LOADS of singles....was thinking of doing a "5 for a pound" type deal on these as we literally have hundreds...any advice would be highly appreciated!!
Thanks!

mark55man

so what do people think about buying computer games on line. is it risky (dud - scratched or fake??)

just got the kids an xbox for christmas and looking to get a few "good old favorites" tyoe games. ebay looks a bit expensive - nearly shop prices. what should I expect

thanks for the thread - have got a lot of clutter to get rid off but will probably wait until March/April for better weather (!!) before we start