Car boot sale advice - updated 2013

soolin

dotdotdot wrote: »

Just a quick question to all you seasoned sellers....is it worth taking a box load of videos....Disney kids/James Bond/Nature/etc....do not want to lug a box along which is not going to sell! TIA.

Unless you've got plenty of free room then I wouldn't bother.

dotdotdot

Thanks Soolin....do you think a Charity shop would take them?

JesaRose

Most charity shops don't take them now unfortunately as people don't want to buy them and they would have to pay to put them into landfill. Some of the small ones still will though. Worth ringing a couple rather than lugging your box over just in case

Rachel021967

I haven't been to many car boot sales but what is the average size of a pitch?

soolin

Rachel021967 wrote: »

I haven't been to many car boot sales but what is the average size of a pitch?

Some places ar emore generous than others. The one I use puts cars in end to end (rather than side by side) and allows about 2 full car lengths. Some people with people carrier type cars carry two paste tables and a couple of rails as well as tarpualins for items on the ground.

I went to another that put cars in side by side and were strict about one table only. It is alway sbest to go as a buyer to your intended pitch beforehand just to see what sort of stuff sells and how people are laid out.

Rachel021967

Thanks Soolin. This one I'm going to puts them end to end. I'll take the tables with me anyway.

Rachel021967

Well I'm no longer a virgin. We only made £20 profit but we enjoyed ourselves. Our mistakes were to expect most people to haggle and therefore priced accordingly. Consequently the high prices put off some customers. Also next time we will sort out some more toys to sell as these seemed popular. We also learnt to arrange our books so they were easy to browse through.
Things we did well, we got there early so other store holders were busy setting out there own stall. The late comers got "mugged" but we were left in relative peace. Maybe do it again as we need to get rid of stuff.

Taadaa

I would definitely recommend going to a boot sale as a buyer. We did one on the August Bank Holiday on a whim having seen a road side sign for a mammouth bootsale, which turned out to be no more than 30 cars. We barely made the entrance fee back and ended up taking alot of stuff to the charity shop afterwards as I didn't have the heart to take it back home again.

tenmah

I did a car boot sale yesterday on my own! I took over £50 and as I was selling most of my stuff for 50p it wasn't a bad mornings work. Despite misgivings, having read things on here, I found that books sold well. I sold them for 50p each or three for a pound and they went very well.

Everything I had on the table, I decided to sell for 50p. (Bigger stuff on the floor sold for more). Although I wanted to make money, the most important thing to me was to get rid of the stuff as we are moving, and I found it worked very well.

A lot of people were just walking past but when they heard me say anything was 50p, they came back for a look. That happened time and time again and I think it helped that they didn't have to ask a price, they knew what it was and were willing to pay it. I only had one person ask 'would I take 30p' and I agreed because that particular item had been given to me, so anything would be a profit!

I very nearly sold out of everything. I have done them before but have never got rid of so much stuff. I have felt before when repacking the car to come home that it felt like I hadn't got rid of much but yesterday I could really tell the difference as I packed up.

Also being on my own meant I couldn't walk round and spend any money either!

Shatnorry

Hi everyone I am new here but I want to pick your brains as I am having my first ever car boot sale next week.

Are these prices ok for selling:

HB Books £1 each
PB books 70p each
CDs £1
DVDs £1
Baby Clothes 50p each??

Too much or not enough?
Any help appreciated.