Car boot sale advice - updated 2013

soolin

I packed the car this morning and then the heavens just opened. The car boot was a few miles ago and I had arranged to meet my son and his gf there so I decided to set off and see if rain cleared. It was still raining when I got there but my son persuaded me to give it a go anyway, and i'm pleased I did. As soon as we parked the rian stopped and the sun came out.

The rain had put a lot of sellers off but the buyers were there in force and I took more money today than I have in a long while.

At the end though I got bored and packed up early, and gave a couple of carrier bags full of stuff to two elderly couples that were browsing. The only things they didn't want were the books and clothes (I never do well with them) and I put those in the charity bins at the supermarket on the way back. In the end i bought home two small boxes of items that I will take to the next one.

chrisc58

Hi all,

I am thinking of doing a car boot, I know the idea is to get rid of unwanted things that you don't need and could be of use to someone else. However, I am thinking of buying a joblot from eBay and selling at a car boot. Will this work and what are your views on this idea? also is this already being done at the momemnt and how well are people doing?

Thanks!
Chris

candygirl

Car booters selling clothes , please ,please put your clothes on a rail, as I CBA bending down to look at them, and I suspect many other peeps feel the same:D:D

Mischa8

Bit of advice I've gleaned from my brother and his fiance who've done boot sales and me with them.

1. For some reason electrical items (whether they be broken or not) always seem to sell well, printers, breadmakers etc and the like.

2. Don't expect to make a lot of money on items like clothes, especially well worn clothes.

3. Other people's ideas of 'worn' and 'sale-able' can vary A LOT from yours! And some people sell reams of say Primark stuff and some people sell a mixture of more upmarket brands.

4. Haggle, don't accept the first offer, if a buyer really wants the item they will return.

5. Give discounts if buying anything in bulk but not TOO MUCH of a discount.

6. Bring flask of tea, fruit, sandwiches, snacks as the mark-up on these items is quite high if bought whilst at boot sale.

7. Definitely have at least 2 people - to man the stall and to watch out for thieves but also when taking a break.

8. I know this sounds really silly but remember sun-tan lotion and/or hot weather clothes - recently we were at a sale just outside Brighton when it suddenly and unexpectedly got really warm - didn't have sun cream and got burned and ended up changing into some unsold summer clothes as we were boiling!

9. CHANGE - remember to take change in terms of money and also either a bum-bag or small bag to keep it in.

10. If you have a nice car for sale - e.g. convertible or other, especially if you're driving it down there - then use the opportunity to try to sell it!

11. A rail for clothes for me is ESSENTIAL. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen clothes laid out on the floor - when spaced out well that's ok but when they're jumbled together it's such a pain to sift through them.

12. Try Freecycle etc for rails for free.

Finally - good luck and have fun - also - you may have to do quite a few boot sales to sell ALL your stuff (like I say, takes time to adjust to what sells where etc) but my brother made about £1,500 over a summer last year in total doing quite a few boot sales.

Mischa8

candygirl wrote: »

Car booters selling clothes , please ,please put your clothes on a rail, as I CBA bending down to look at them, and I suspect many other peeps feel the same:D:D

Oh, LOL. I was going to say the same about bending down to look at them!!! It is sooooo much easier to look through a rail and also to display clothes there!

soolin

chrisc58 wrote: »

Hi all,

I am thinking of doing a car boot, I know the idea is to get rid of unwanted things that you don't need and could be of use to someone else. However, I am thinking of buying a joblot from eBay and selling at a car boot. Will this work and what are your views on this idea? also is this already being done at the momemnt and how well are people doing?

Thanks!
Chris

There are a number of traders sellign brand new 'cheapie' things that I suspect are job lots from ebay at my car boot. They don't really seem to do very well really as they just can't get the turn over.

lovebargainshatewaste

Just back from our local boot sale, and we made approx £100 again! It's a learning curve, and here are a couple of more tips:

Do a couple of boot sales before buying in bulk. Basically to see what people are interested in. I find that at each sale I've done (3 so far this year), people buy very different things. There's no rhyme or reason as to what's guaranteed to sell.

Bring whatever spare carrier bags you have. People will ask for them.

Start the price higher than you want for the item. It gives the buyer the satisfaction of haggling the price. If you're doing several boot sales, don't go too low in price when people haggle. You'll have the opportunity to sell it for your desired price another time.

If you have a rail for clothing, bring a couple of bricks and some bungee-cord to steady it in the wind (we struggled a bit today, but tied the rail to the car with a dog lead).

Don't forget to have a sense of humour about the whole thing. There will be quiet periods where you will get bored and fed up, but persevere.

Oh, and brightly coloured items attracts potential customers, so try to place such items in strategic places on your pitch.

Good luck! It's all seems worth it when the car is lighter on the way home and you're counting up the money.

Mischa8

lovebargainshatewaste wrote: »

Just back from our local boot sale, and we made approx £100 again! It's a learning curve, and here are a couple of more tips:

Do a couple of boot sales before buying in bulk. Basically to see what people are interested in. I find that at each sale I've done (3 so far this year), people buy very different things. There's no rhyme or reason as to what's guaranteed to sell.

Bring whatever spare carrier bags you have. People will ask for them.

Start the price higher than you want for the item. It gives the buyer the satisfaction of haggling the price. If you're doing several boot sales, don't go too low in price when people haggle. You'll have the opportunity to sell it for your desired price another time.

If you have a rail for clothing, bring a couple of bricks and some bungee-cord to steady it in the wind (we struggled a bit today, but tied the rail to the car with a dog lead).

Don't forget to have a sense of humour about the whole thing. There will be quiet periods where you will get bored and fed up, but persevere.

Oh, and brightly coloured items attracts potential customers, so try to place such items in strategic places on your pitch.

Good luck! It's all seems worth it when the car is lighter on the way home and you're counting up the money.

I really agree with you to do a few boot sales to guarantee what will sell but also who will be there and what they will pay. really works.

Mischa8

Have done quite a few car boots - Wimbledon, Selhurst Park, Sayers Farm (near Brighton), Battersea Boot etc.

As you all know they vary from place to place.

Big hits at Sayers Farm - well for me anyway were:-

* Fruit and veg stall (mostly fruit) - reasonably priced and great if you've run out of fruit you've taken for the day!

* Good ranges of quality/unusual footwear or named brands eg Top Shop.

What I'd like to see:-

* More craft stalls - if you're really into craft and/or sewing and want projects then this would be an excellent money-spinner, for me anyway.

* Decent job lots of mens t-shirts/clothing.

* Nice home made/*Borough Market* style pies/cakes etc. Battersea Boot has these.

* Really unusual home-made craft stuff like jars etc - I'd pay a premium for these and travel if I knew this was being sold.

What I can't understand is being sold there:-

* Tools etc - maybe these are a real go-er but I couldn't see much being sold so why?!

I can understand why there's stuff for the kids - eg bouncy castle, sweets etc but the sweets not exactly the healthiest option.

I can also foresee and I think this would be a great idea as we're supposed to be having a long hot summer - if more stalls sold stuff like sun-tan lotion, hats, sun-block as if you're out all day and forgot (like we did!) the lotion and get burned it isn't funny!

Can't think of anything else for now!

blossomhill_2

I went along as a punter today and saw something I'd seen before - an arzy customer rowing with stallholder who was puzzled how the whole thing had kicked off - once the customer had gone they realised the stallholder's bag had gone too

These rows are often staged and while all eyes are on the fracas, light-fingers are at work, so please beware

I have seen it at the races too, so watch out if you are going to the Derby