Car boot
“The place you can get 2nd hand things people don’t need anymore or have out grown for a bargain price”
For me this was going to be a way of funding our trip and clearing out the house.
The first one I did on my own was only 30 minutes from our house in Bedford. I had attempted to do 2 before but on the morning they had been rained off.
I rolled up car filled to the brim at the time advertised to find that there were already people walking around. Paying my £8 to sell I parked up behind the car in front. Now you must have been to a car boot yourself and thought I will get there early so I can get my hands the best buys. Sadly the traders have already filtered the whole boot.
I hadn’t even got out my car to find 4 men at my window.
“Got any Lego, phones, jewellery or electrical goods”?
Once I got out my car and opened my boot 20 people came over and started pulling things out. I was a bit in shock and had no control over what they grabbed.
The sad thing is people actually stole stuff off me that day.
I did manage to sell a great chunk out of our things and learnt my lesson. Then next one I did, I only took out a box at a time from my side door and kept an eye on all the things I had.
It’s not all bad as I ended up doing 5 in total.
Shows how much stuff we had. I made over £500 for things laying in draws and old books, DVD’s and clothes.
People love clothes.
I looked at people on other stalls hanging them all up on rails. I just put ours into big boxes and let people rummage through. I always had people on my stall. Id say a trick if you want to do one yourself. Get some boxes and mix up lots of things. People will love to dig deep and take ages looking through to see if they can find a bargain.
People I met were interesting.
The Buyers
Two ladies would come over ask what some thing would cost.
To my reply “ its only a pound”.
Most of my things were as I needed to clear the garage.
Would you take 50p?
No sorry it’s just a pound.
Come on 50p!
No sorry
Then they would walk away and always come back an hour later ask again and always buy it for “A POUND” They would do it maybe 3 or 4 times a car boot sale. It would always make me laugh once they had walked away as I knew they would be back.
The sellers on the stalls next to me all had different stories.
A lovely lady in her late 60’s who had a stall with her male friend selling plants, baby cardigans and blankets she’d knitted. She enjoyed making them and from the money she made she would buy more wool to create more, which I found lovely.
A couple were moving house from Bedford to the coast of Devon. They remarried and had 7 children between them. They now owned a costume character company supplying to big production’s and aboard. Their house had become a dumping ground for things and needed to have a massive sort out before the move.
One guy owned a house clearance company and of a weekend would sell some of the things at the car boots. He said his friends and family would also give him things to sell. The only problem he had now was that the things he had kept to sell took over his house and now need someone to come clear his house!
Maybe this weekend you should have a look around your homes and see if you have enough things you really don’t need and fill your car. You can sell these items and turn them into cash to use for a day trip or an experience out with your family. Make memories, it’s a great feeling.
One thing I’ve learnt is even though I used to love my things around me, they are not that important. Memories are what make you who you are. Not the things you have in your house.
Just because you have a designer sofa doesn’t mean people will come sit on it, unless you enjoy the person you are sitting on it with. That comes with experiences and memories.
