Car boot sale advice - updated 2013

Stinley

mark88man wrote: »

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

I've been buying at boot sales for about 4 years. recently we picked up an xbox live and 12 games, (10 working, 2 duds) for £5!! So it's worth asking anyone with games to sell how much. I have heard people asking for £2-£3 but I think my sale is quite cheap (Ayr Race Course on Sundays). I also got some games on Ebay and Amazon which were £3-£6. Make sure you check your disks before buying of course and don't pay too much anyway as one of the ones I got looked ok but didn't work. Saying that - for £5, I didn't even check the discs... For the latest players the discs will be more expensive - buying an older model xbox or PS2 for example can save you loads of money and for us newbie gamers, it doesn't make much difference - it's all an improvement on Space Invaders and Pac Man

We've been down to the boot sale the last couple of weeks but just turned around straight away as there was just 4-5 stalls of traders (it's a mixed boot sale/traders market). I'm going to wait till the snow has gone and it's a nice sunny day before I expect the boot sellers to be out again. Usually there are more buyers than sellers on the sunny winter days so you can do quite well.

CarBootMan

I have setup a free to use car boot sales forum.

The aim is to create a directory of all the really good well attended and regular
car boot sales in the UK.:D

Anyone can register for free.

Am I allowed to provide the URL ?

John_Pierpoint

Not until you have been a regular contributing member to this forum for some time.
The system will not allow you to post the full URL at the moment and even if you write it out in long hand the spam police (including me) would be on your case.
Surely several others have tried and failed to get an accurate reliable guide to car boot sales.
The problem seems to be that they never get kept up to the minute. I used to think that was because the interweb had not penetrated to the level of the organisers of boot sales but I now think there are two teasons why they don't want to have their "business" too clearly defined:
1. I think the local authority is meant to take action against you if the "market" operates on more than 14 days per year - but hell who wants to get up at 06:00 on a Sunday to gather evidence and argue about last week's was on uncle George's field and this week it is on the neighbouring field belonging to auntie Mable? The other "killjoys" are the local police who have to tread a narrow line between locals complaining about traffic jams at the weekend even though they are not as bad as the same time on a Monday.
2. They say that HMRC tax curry houses by using the bottle of larger purchased as the unit of turnover.
I expect uncle George and auntie Mable really don't want the hassle of being turned over by HMRC and HMRC are not that keen to count cars at 06:00 on a Sunday morning and dispute which field they used.?

All that is before we start counting the number of vans with "Peckham House Clearance" (a purely imaginary firm;)) written on the side.

That said if the people who administer this site can be persuaded that what you are trying to do is "pro bono publico" in the dog latin that lawers use, meaning "we have offered this free in the public interest"; then they might allow you to promote the site in a factual way.
This is an example from 2008
http://www.buspassheaven.co.uk/

CarBootMan

Ok thats fair enough I understand about spam.

Hopefully my site will work as its a forum split into every region in the UK anybody can advertise or review and rate there favourite car boot sales.

So far I have just over 500 members.

Most of the work is done by either organisers who want the publicity or avid car booters who want to help out and add details.:D

If anyone does want the address of the Directory please feel free to send me a private message.

Thanks for the quick response.

John_Pierpoint

If you can send me the link by spelling it out in a PM, I'll have a look at it and see if it potentially fills a need:rather than being an annoying time waster like a pop-up would be, then I'll post the link for you.
(and we can both risk being accused of spamming:D)

CarBootMan

Please feel free to send a bit of feedback on anything you think needs changing or adding.

I am new to creating forums.:)

Thanks for the intrest

Dozy_Dormouse

Hi there

There will be an indoor car boot sale on Sunday, 7 March 2010 at Linktown Action Centre, Ramsay Rd, Kirkcaldy, KY1 1UL from 1000 - 1200 hrs (seller access from 0910 hrs). £5.00 a table for sellers, free for buyers!

Proceeds from tables to Saut Burgh Highland Dancers.

Please email [EMAIL="cathcoutts@hotmail.co.uk"]cathcoutts@hotmail.co.uk[/EMAIL] if interested.

So far tables include snowboarding equipment and maternity/baby/toddler items.

C

John_Pierpoint

CarBootMan wrote: »

Please feel free to send a bit of feedback on anything you think needs changing or adding.

I am new to creating forums.:)

Thanks for the intrest

Well here is CarBootMan's embryo site:

www.carbootsaledirectory.co.uk

I'm not sure what it would be able to offer that is not already available at

http://www.carbootjunction.co.uk/

or

http://www.carbootcalendar.com/links.php

or

http://www.carboot.com/boot_sale_items/search_detail.php?param=MjY1m

or

http://www.carbootsrus.com/members/bootMembers2.php?section=surrey

or

http://www.carbootsales.org/did_you_know.html

or

http://www.yourbooty.co.uk/Surrey-car-boot-sales.html

The main problem with internet information still seems to be lack of statistics and advanced reliable information.

But as running a boot sale is by its nature a bit of a "shady" business, that is not surprising.

CarBootMan

It is new and needs more listings adding.

If there is anyone who can provide car boot sale locations and photo's please feel free to either register and add them or just message me with the details and i will add them for you.

With the current economic climate I expect 2010 will be a bumper year for car boot sales.:o

Also if anyone has any suggestions or ideas for the site I am open to any recommendations.

Thanks again and Happy Booting in 2010 :j

I-Owe-You

I check these websites regularly but unfortunately none seem to be updated often so I am never sure if the info is out of date.

For this reason I tend to just have to depend on my local newspaper, but it would be fab if there was a site dedicated to car booting that was updated on a more frequent basis ...of course the onus also relies on organisers notifying these sites of changes to their bootys!