Car boot sale advice - updated 2013

blossomhill_2

Good idea Mischa! :T

What I'd like to see:-

* More perennial/biennial plants grown from seed by stallholders - one packet of say 100 seeds ... keep 20 yourself for your own garden, sell the rest for 50p each. Plant now for bienniels such as wallflower, canterbury bells, forgetmenots, foxgloves

Daisymaisy

blossomhill wrote: »

Good idea Mischa! :T

What I'd like to see:-

* More perennial/biennial plants grown from seed by stallholders - one packet of say 100 seeds ... keep 20 yourself for your own garden, sell the rest for 50p each. Plant now for bienniels such as wallflower, canterbury bells, forgetmenots, foxgloves

Mmm now there's an idea! I've grown lots of toms, peppers, chillis, beans etc from seed that I will hopefully be booting next Sunday. I'm in SE London and don't really want to travel very far with a car full of plants so can anyone recommend a car boot that would be suitable for my main commodity? I'll have some other random items but it will be mainly plants.

lovebargainshatewaste

Mischa, you'll have to come along to the next boot sale I'm doing - you can get first dibs at all my craft stuff

Daisymaisy, quite a few people at my local boots sale bought plants and stuff. It might be too far south for you though, as it's half-way to Brighton from your area. Pm me if you need more details.

Daisymaisy

lovebargainshatewaste wrote: »

Mischa, you'll have to come along to the next boot sale I'm doing - you can get first dibs at all my craft stuff

Daisymaisy, quite a few people at my local boots sale bought plants and stuff. It might be too far south for you though, as it's half-way to Brighton from your area. Pm me if you need more details.

Thanks for the info Lovebargainshatewaste but I'm hoping for something a bit more local with the cost of petrol these days

annie-c

My experience is that people go to boot sales to buy stuff at knock down prices. So home grown plants that are significantly cheaper than retail price sell really well. DIY/Garden tools also sell really well and are a handy way to keep men (who often don't want to be there) happily browsing, while the rest of the family looks at the other stuff...

However, I've never seen craft stall or 'posh home made pies' sales do well because most buyers tend not to be in the market for that. One lady I spoke to was upset that she was getting offers of £1 for her home made aprons, when they had cost more than that to make. Also, to sell food you need registration and most boot fairs won't allow sellers to compete with the legitimate refreshment vans that have paid to be there.

Greenqueen_2

Well, I`m well and truly P....d off. Having been made redundant at xmas and JSA no longer paying out (for technical reasons) I decided I needed to make some money somehow. A sort out of "stuff" from the loft was called for. Spent 2 hours preparing and 4 hours standing around to sell only enough "stuff" to fill a large carrier bag. After paying the cost of the table space, my profit was £1.70!!!!!! That was probably the value of petrol I used getting there.

flipper_2010

Which bootsale was this, just so people know to avoid selling there if its a rubbish one.

Thanks

Greenqueen_2

Lancashire. Not a regular one. It was in a local eatery--only £5 for a table (thank goodness). The problem seemed to be that it just was not advertised well enough. No signs on the road etc. There were about 20 customers all morning who only found us because they were coming in to eat anyway!

soolin

Greenqueen wrote: »

Well, I`m well and truly P....d off. Having been made redundant at xmas and JSA no longer paying out (for technical reasons) I decided I needed to make some money somehow. A sort out of "stuff" from the loft was called for. Spent 2 hours preparing and 4 hours standing around to sell only enough "stuff" to fill a large carrier bag. After paying the cost of the table space, my profit was £1.70!!!!!! That was probably the value of petrol I used getting there.

I had an even worse experience last year. I went along to support a new charity car boot, paid my £10 pitch fee and after 4 hours and taken a grand total of £2.50.

It actually put me off doing car boots for months but I started up again this year at a newish one and the buyers seem to like my stuff so I will stick with it and not be tempted to change venue.

Mischa8

annie-c wrote: »

My experience is that people go to boot sales to buy stuff at knock down prices. So home grown plants that are significantly cheaper than retail price sell really well. DIY/Garden tools also sell really well and are a handy way to keep men (who often don't want to be there) happily browsing, while the rest of the family looks at the other stuff...

However, I've never seen craft stall or 'posh home made pies' sales do well because most buyers tend not to be in the market for that. One lady I spoke to was upset that she was getting offers of £1 for her home made aprons, when they had cost more than that to make. Also, to sell food you need registration and most boot fairs won't allow sellers to compete with the legitimate refreshment vans that have paid to be there.

Like I said before Annie - it depends where you go - the posher punter laps these type of stuff up - whether they're there for bargains too or not! Why do you think Borough Market (foodie market) does so well?? And Farmers Markets generally. You should come to the posh boot sale in Bath and also the Battersea Car Boot because craft/artisan food and craft materials really does go down well, having said that, it has to be good. eg not just what people *think* is good. and there is a difference.

I have no idea how registration works at Battersea Boot or competitiveness with other food stalls - but all depends when and where you go. I just think people have woken up to the fact it's not all about fizzy drinks and hamburgers and are offering something else to eat - see my comment about the fruit/veg stall being something I liked at Sayers Farm.