Car boot sale advice - updated 2013

John_Pierpoint

It can very much depend on which boot sale and where in the country.
It is probably only in London where one can find a boot sale where one discusses d mummy and daddy helping junior buy the £400,000 house one is trying to sell one moment; and the next talking pidgin English to a recent immigrant with virtually nothing.

Don't forget there are people, who if they died tomorrow would be worth less than nothing; if they have no job they should be getting pretty desperate and so trying to pay nothing for everything.

It always amazes me how "the shopping experience" is perceived as boosting the value of the merchandise.

Was the sun shining?

hampsterpoo

Did another boot sale yesterday , a lazybones one, got rid of the Playmobile ( see earlier posts) .we had a think about what we wanted to get and did we really want to bring it home AGAIN , so some people got the bargains they wanted.

We shifted loads of stuff , so are going to have another go hopefully in a couple of weeks ( due to work).Hoping that the weathers better as yet again it was very windy.

Does anyone know if sky boxes are worth taking?
Jigsaws ?
Old Vogue Magazines?
Old annuals , blue peter
Gardening Mags
Gardening books.

Thanks in advance.

MERFE

How did the lego sell? £1.50 a bag sounds fine to me as its character bits not just plain lego, plus its a pocket money price. I was about to look up the playmobile sets you had and see if they were worth me putting away for Christmas but they're gone now. I never buy new jigsaws anymore, always get them from facebay or car boot sales for a fraction of the brand new shop price and they've always had all the pieces but because people worry about them not having all the pieces I don't think they sell very well. I've no idea about the others sorry

I think I'm very lucky my local car boot is in a seaside area with a lot of tourists who have money to spend so you get the odd person that only wants to pay 50p for anything but someone else always comes along willing to pay a decent price.

hazel24

I've been a lurker for ages but only recently joined, this thread is fantastic!
We had a car boot sale yesterday at Erroll near Perth. and shifted loads of stuff, most if it for decent prices of around 50p-£3 each.
We were struggling to sell as new condition paperbacks for 10p and hardbacks for 50p. A few people picked up my brand new french connection top I was wanting £3 for and looked positively offended when I told them the price! The migrants were all pretty rude too, offering 20p when you asked for £2 and not taking no for an answer haha.
Same goes for topshop jeans, I had one woman who was searching desperatly for a mark or hole on them to get them cheaper... bloody chancers! You would think you were trying to force them to buy the stuff or something.

Overall we made about £150 and my little brother made about £40 from his toys and PS2 games which I thought was pretty decent, that's some money for the Florida fund at least
Anyone who is in the area should go to Errol, it is a great carboot with free parking and always seems to be busy even in the colder months.

MrsCautious

I went to my first car boot on Sunday and was grateful for advice here about realistic prices to expect, I sold mainly M&S and House of Fraser ladies' clothes, all in excellent condition and in my mind thought £2 an item would be good, there was no chance of that, 50p per item had to do, I can't say I wasn't forewarned! I sold teddies and other toys for £1 or 50p, some books at 50p and some at £1. My CD selection went down like a lead balloon, at 50p each, I sold a DVD for £2 and possibly 3 more at £1, a watch went for £2. I packed up at midday and made £62 after costs, I think I could have possibly made more by being more selective about what I took and displaying it better. I had selected better stuff for eBay.

I put some stuff back in the car early on as people just weren't spending money, on the up side I sold the wicker baskets I had my stuff in.

While I can see why you could think of the buyers as chancers, my impression was very much that they were really very tight on money and I was happy to sell a well loved teddy for £1 to a mum so her family could get some enjoyment out of it. I found clothes being bought at 50p out of evident necessity a little unsettling to be honest.

I mistakenly thought this would be a place for people mooching for fun and it wasn't that at all, it was people who very much looked like they needed stuff and had to get it as cheap as possible, I was naive and don't mind admitting I found it a little upsetting in some ways. Not too upset to go back and sell more stuff though.

Just thought I'd post as there may be people under the same misunderstanding as me, good luck all xx

hampsterpoo

MERFE wrote: »

How did the lego sell? £1.50 a bag sounds fine to me as its character bits not just plain lego, plus its a pocket money price.

We let the lego packs go early in one lot worked out about 80p a bag , ebay they werent selling for 99p , so it was worthit to us to get rid.

mazz1953

hampsterpoo wrote: »

Did another boot sale yesterday , a lazybones one, got rid of the Playmobile ( see earlier posts) .we had a think about what we wanted to get and did we really want to bring it home AGAIN , so some people got the bargains they wanted.

We shifted loads of stuff , so are going to have another go hopefully in a couple of weeks ( due to work).Hoping that the weathers better as yet again it was very windy.

Does anyone know if sky boxes are worth taking?
Jigsaws ?
Old Vogue Magazines?
Old annuals , blue peter
Gardening Mags
Gardening books.

Thanks in advance.

Fashion magazines such as Vogue tend to sell very well on Ebay, depending on who is on the cover and the age of the magazine. I would suggest trying them on Ebay first before taking them to the car boot.

Best wishes
mazz1953

hampsterpoo

mazz1953 wrote: »

Fashion magazines such as Vogue tend to sell very well on Ebay, depending on who is on the cover and the age of the magazine. I would suggest trying them on Ebay first before taking them to the car boot.

Best wishes
mazz1953

Thanks well try that first

graduate2012

hazel24 wrote: »

I've been a lurker for ages but only recently joined, this thread is fantastic!
We had a car boot sale yesterday at Erroll near Perth. and shifted loads of stuff, most if it for decent prices of around 50p-£3 each.
We were struggling to sell as new condition paperbacks for 10p and hardbacks for 50p. A few people picked up my brand new french connection top I was wanting £3 for and looked positively offended when I told them the price! The migrants were all pretty rude too, offering 20p when you asked for £2 and not taking no for an answer haha.
Same goes for topshop jeans, I had one woman who was searching desperatly for a mark or hole on them to get them cheaper... bloody chancers! You would think you were trying to force them to buy the stuff or something.

Overall we made about £150 and my little brother made about £40 from his toys and PS2 games which I thought was pretty decent, that's some money for the Florida fund at least
Anyone who is in the area should go to Errol, it is a great carboot with free parking and always seems to be busy even in the colder months.

If an item of clothing is more than a pound or so, I will inspect the garment a lot more, as I would be losing more if it were stained when I got home, I don't do it to try and get it cheaper, it is because it's more risky at a higher price, so I want to make sure I know whether it is or isn't stained etc.

ChellyD86

hampsterpoo wrote: »

Did another boot sale yesterday , a lazybones one, got rid of the Playmobile ( see earlier posts) .we had a think about what we wanted to get and did we really want to bring it home AGAIN , so some people got the bargains they wanted.

We shifted loads of stuff , so are going to have another go hopefully in a couple of weeks ( due to work).Hoping that the weathers better as yet again it was very windy.

Does anyone know if sky boxes are worth taking?
Jigsaws ?
Old Vogue Magazines?
Old annuals , blue peter
Gardening Mags
Gardening books.

Thanks in advance.

Hi All,

I would like to know if sky boxes are worth taking as well. I am doing a car boot sale on Sunday, it'll only be my third but have enjoyed the ones I have done so far. Been reading all your tips as well which is helping.

I'll be taking clothes, some PS3/PS2/PC games, jewellery and bits and bobs. Was thinking of taking a sky box which I have but wasn't sure if it would be worthwhile or how much to sell for??