Car booties

In my youth my mum would go to Dutch auctions, fun to watch mostly the women always trying to get something for the least amount the could.
 
Blackjack Davy said:
The trick was to spot the householders decluttering they had much better stuff and generally had no idea of value, than the professional traders who did and generally sold tat all the good stuff all having been flogged off elsewhere and probably for more money
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I don’t think professional traders are as bad as they used to be, mainly cos most people with any sense would google what they are selling to see what they can get for it on vinted/ebay now a days. And that eBay now managing the handling/shipping fee stops them from using that as a mark up too.

I used to go to one when the pro traders would rush around all the stores and get what they can cheap and one retro gaming store owner would take a gang of kids so that they can blitz the market and buy any retro gaming items.

I tend not to barter prices.. do the advantage that I get from buying from car boots rather than just eBay or vinted is that I can see the item, rather than just relying on photos.
 
A friend of the wife's did do several car boots as a seller but gave up because people just want to pay peanuts for items that were clearly worth more, she said she would rather just give the stuff to charity.(this was a few years back)
 
Went to loads as a kid, did a couple about 10 years ago selling.

Realise I have neither the time, inclination nor patience to deal with some **** haggling over a 50p hardback book. Like going into charity shops for a mooch but rarely buy anything aside from books on WW2.
 
tonys said:
A friend of the wife's did do several car boots as a seller but gave up because people just want to pay peanuts for items that were clearly worth more, she said she would rather just give the stuff to charity.(this was a few years back)
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Yea.. I’m not one to barter.. if I don’t like the price; I just leave it.

Shame some people over price their items knowing people like to hustle.

I rarely sell anything, cba to deal with the “people”, I would just box stuff up and give it to charity.
 
slinxy said:
Yea.. I’m not one to barter.. if I don’t like the price; I just leave it.

Shame some people over price their items knowing people like to hustle.

I rarely sell anything, cba to deal with the “people”, I would just box stuff up and give it to charity.
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My son has cleared loads of stuff through Ebay.
Same goes for my daughter but she's more vinted or facebook
 
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Done a couple and it's not for me tbh.

I enjoy visiting those little gem seaside towns that have old money and dotty Annes running the cat/dog/donkey charity shops, that haven't a clue that £4 glass is worth £500 :)

For me the boot sales are like Ebay now being full of dealers, stealers and chancers.
 
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slinxy said:
with a pound entry fee
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This irks me so much these days. Charging for people to come in and spend money.

Could you imagine the carnage if Tesco or Asda started to do the same?


ristac said:
Last time I went to one must have been 15 years ago, back then I felt they were being ruined by the dealers
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Or certain types with vans full of stolen tools....

slinxy said:
I don’t think professional traders are as bad as they used to be, mainly cos most people with any sense would google what they are selling to see what they can get for it on vinted/ebay now a days. And that eBay now managing the handling/shipping fee stops them from using that as a mark up too.

I used to go to one when the pro traders would rush around all the stores and get what they can cheap and one retro gaming store owner would take a gang of kids so that they can blitz the market and buy any retro gaming items.

I tend not to barter prices.. do the advantage that I get from buying from car boots rather than just eBay or vinted is that I can see the item, rather than just relying on photos.
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Sis-in-law helps run a car boot for a cricket club. They've had problems with this in the past. Usually there'd be pro-traders getting there extremely early to get in first then mithering people as they were setting up so now ALL traders have to sign a contract to get a pitch stating that no trading starts until the time the 'doors' open to limit it.

tonys said:
A friend of the wife's did do several car boots as a seller but gave up because people just want to pay peanuts for items that were clearly worth more, she said she would rather just give the stuff to charity.(this was a few years back)
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There is a flip side to that though and I've seen it a lot in the last couple of 'seasons'. The "I know what I got" types that in reality don't have a clue and have just way overpriced things then complain the car boot location is crap because no-one buys owt and they end up going home with it all.
 
I thought about making a thread on this last season. I'm of the opinion they've gone downhill, but that could lightly just be my area. My theory is that tat and general goods is/ are worth less than they once were. Yeah cost of living etc, but from what i can see majority of people still have cash to burn.

Now people appear to be uninterested in the car boot vibe and socialising with strangers about random goods. Setting up your car boot is very time consuming and doesn't net any real money for your time, and my local is asking £7 per car. Younger people are less lightly to settle for tatty kitchen goods and furniture when they can get credit i feel. The quality of traders goods seems a bit poor vs online with prices taken into account, you want how much? Online gets you a warranty, and cheaper delivery than my petrol and entry fee. Also as mentioned some people are seemingly happy to take their stuff home instead of clearing it.

Just seems like a downward trend to another tradition to disappearing. Or perhaps rose tinted glasses.

I was keen to shift some stuff this year as my sister was again too. Whilst i'll go help her sell, i'm not going to bother my own car, i'll save my crap for the next tip run. £7 entry, yeah no ta.
 
Yea I go pretty much every week, sometimes twice a week. Mainly for retro gaming stuff, and pc hardware games. Spend about £300 everytime, built up relationships with regular sellers who save me stuff.

Sell off what I don’t want to recoup my money and keep the bits I want.

Like this week picked up Pokémon emerald for gba and some big box pc games for next to nothing (inc discworld ii for pc)

I usually trade in a lot of junk to cex which I then buy ps1 games to add to my growing collection of ps1 games. Just doing a Pokemon boxed collection for GB which is almost complete, and a good point given the recent gba pick up, gonna start on the gba collection.

It’s not easy doing retro stuff at Carboot’s, it’s literally a battle. So many people you wouldn’t expect, old white ladies asking for gaming stuff, older Asian men who barely speak English asking for gaming stuff so you have to get lucky a lot or be willing to battle it out at some Carboot’s.
 
The_Arbiter said:
I thought about making a thread on this last season. I'm of the opinion they've gone downhill, but that could lightly just be my area. My theory is that tat and general goods is/ are worth less than they once were. Yeah cost of living etc, but from what i can see majority of people still have cash to burn.

Now people appear to be uninterested in the car boot vibe and socialising with strangers about random goods. Setting up your car boot is very time consuming and doesn't net any real money for your time, and my local is asking £7 per car. Younger people are less lightly to settle for tatty kitchen goods and furniture when they can get credit i feel. The quality of traders goods seems a bit poor vs online with prices taken into account, you want how much? Online gets you a warranty, and cheaper delivery than my petrol and entry fee. Also as mentioned some people are seemingly happy to take their stuff home instead of clearing it.

Just seems like a downward trend to another tradition to disappearing. Or perhaps rose tinted glasses.

I was keen to shift some stuff this year as my sister was again too. Whilst i'll go help her sell, i'm not going to bother my own car, i'll save my crap for the next tip run. £7 entry, yeah no ta.
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The whole premise of being a boomer is interesting tho. The fact you had to channel surf, the fact you like to browse stuff. This generation just doesn't "get it". Why go browsing for stuff you "might" want when you can just get what you do want by searching Marketplace/eBay/Gumtree/CEX. CEX was way ahead of its time tbh.
 
Problem with car boots is that you can just search for anything on your phone there and then. In the old days you would buy something like a Pokemon Gameboy cartridge and not know if it was worth anything until you got home and could research it. Nowadays you can just find out instantly, and this is what everyone does so the good deals are gone far too quick and what's left is a sea of rubbish that nobody wants. It's very rare to find a good deal at a car booty nowadays.

It used to be a bit magic back in the day, but that's long gone sadly.
 
My daughter has done a few craft fairs as she started doing macrame to earn a bit extra, to be honest it really isn't worth it for the few extra pounds she's got from it .
 
never really understood why they have to start so early. Youd think they could start at say 9:30 for a few hours rather than 6am. There was one advertised the other day with a start time of 5:30am!
 
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