Car boot sale advice - updated 2013

baby_brain

hi charlie,
im over in surrey so fairly far from you am doing dorking i think at the mo

loveabargain13

I did my once a year bootsale yesterday! I don't want to ever see 4.55am alarm for a while....babybrain how did you get on?

I sold nearly all my clothes, jewellery, perfume and cosmetics, my digital camera didn't sell though, that was the most expensive thing on my stall! What is left shall be donated to charity, making sure its all decent otherwise Mary Portas won't be happy

angiebee

I would like to go to chester rugby club(Chester, Cheshire) carboot this sunday as a seller but only details I can get is that it opens at 10am for sellers and buyers alike. I would like to know how early you need to be there as I am sure there will be a queue = has anyone ever visited this one? I'd be very grateful for any advice.

scarlet74

"we both felt like it was taken over by immigration who couldnt speak simple english.

people was opening our doors...
buyers was pressuring us...
when we was packing up...
They was even encouraging their children..."


See where I'm going with this...?

cats!

Hi Guys,

I'm thinking about doing my first ever boot fair at Tripes farm (Orpington) this Sunday. Any tips or advice gladly received!

Thanks in advance.

Cats!

John_Pierpoint

scarlet74 wrote: »

"we both felt like it was taken over by immigration who couldnt speak simple english.

people was opening our doors...
buyers was pressuring us...
when we was packing up...
They was even encouraging their children..."


See where I'm going with this...?

My most memorable customers were three nurses from the Philipines, they had managed to get an unfurnished flat and were trying to furnish it for next to nothing.
They were on a mission and no sooner had they wheeled something home than they were back for more - brilliant way to clear a house. They still had the old fashioned skills with sewing machine & paint pot and were not at all put off by things that looked old.

Even a thunderstorm did not dampen their spirits.

tired_mum

In a bit of a quandry not sure which one to do as stevensons has boot sale and camping ,boats and caravan sale on monday and some people are saying that Dunton is full of traders and too many sellers so has anyone done either of these lately or done stevensons farm on a bank hol?

standingupformyself

I didn't get the time to go booting over the weekend, which is a shame as the weather was good and being a 3 day weekend, I imagine I have missed all sorts of bargains.

I have the week off work this week, and there is one at Hayling Island tomorrow (Tuesday) does anyone here ever go to that one during the week, is it any good? and as sellers would have been out all weekend, will it be worth it I wonder?

John_Pierpoint

Over the end of May bank holiday, I ventured North to visit my sister and took the last of our late Uncle's house clearance junk ("Valuable Heirlooms") with me and we "booted" them over the weekend.

The possessions of the late Mr Dog had to stay in the car on Saturday; because of the rain.
Sunday was looking good with "isolated drizzle showers" forecast; so we went to Hemswell: A former RAF airfield on the top of something that is called a hill in Lincolnshire. The buildings have been given over to other uses, including "Antiques" dealers; leaving a big old hanger building and the grassy field marked out with gravel roads and white lines, to be used by the Sunday boot sale. It is 33% commercial 33% semi commercial 33% local booters and a steady flow of buyers after the initial "dealers". Very civilised, no hassle with stuff being ripped out of your car. £8 a decent sized pre marked out pitch.

Arriving at 06:30 by 12:00 we were 60 GBP into profit.

Then the heavens opened: Gusting wind from the North and lashing hail.
The gravel roads were streaming with water and my "new" retail style hanging rail got blown over; as we struggled to limit the damage.

Spent the afternoon, back home in the garden drying out remaining stock.

Monday was a disappointment - the sale was only about a quarter of the activity of the previous day (The pitch fee was down to £5) We only showed a profit of about £30 - but at least we got shot of the last of the "heirlooms" - some stuff has been taken to the charity shop and some special clothes have gone to the dress agency. (50/50 share).

Someone suggested Long Bennington as a better bet on a bank holiday Monday?

Lessons learned: Sort the stock by value: "Nothing over £x.xx on this table" "3 items for 50p on the car bonnet (table)" etc.

Unpacked items sell better and faster than rummaged items.

Even with a heavy hanging rail, always take pegs and/or bags of sand to hold it down in the wind. (If you have two such rails they can be taped together to prop each other up!). Old broken white plastic coated vertical airer racks can be taped together to make extra display space for textiles and they hold up reasonably well in the wind too.

Off now to make some running repairs to one of the paste tables!

http://www.hemswellmarket.co.uk/howtoget.htm

http://www.qype.co.uk/place/147135-Hemswell-Antiques-and-Car-Boot-Market-Rasen#

http://www.longbennington.info/diaryEntry.php?EventID=891&date=2010-05-31

I blame that volcano in Iceland for the weather - the car has been left with grey dust all over it.:D

Money_maker

Looking to do a boot sale in the next few weeks. I used to do them years ago - most weeks for a couple of years before I moved on to something else.

Anyway, the junk (sorry, valuables) are piled high so will give it a go. My question is that I still have some new wrapped and/or labelled clothing from my stint on ebay a few years ago. Can I sell these as a private seller or will I be 'in trouble'? Have never sold new stuff like this at a boot sale before and its probably only 2-3 dozen pieces of this and that.

Any ideas?