It has been said that another man’s junk is another man’s treasure. To this day I wonder why people buy some of the junk they do at different places, especially at car boot sales. Still, ours is not to reason why but to take advantage of the situation to make money at car boot sales. There are two ways you can make money: one is to become a seller and wonder why someone would buy broken items from you just because the price was right, and two is to buy stock that you can sell privately on Amazon and eBay. I will cover the two ways in this article.
BECOME A SELLER
People who sell items from their car boot are known as Car Booters. They usually sell items from home after a clear out. Some actually buy stock from various places in bulk to get a good price. As a seller (or booter) with items to sell – all you need is a car, a fold away table, a few carrier bags and some coins for customers who want change. Car Boot Sales are usually advertised in the local newspapers – and even on the Internet if you search for terms like “Car Boot Sales Manchester”.
There is no need to book a pitch for your car, just turn up. There will be people there who will show you where to park your car and set up your table. There is a fee for the pitch which will be taken from you sometime during the morning. At most places you would be there from around 7am to 1pm unless you decide to leave early.
How you present yourself and your stock is most important. Take some time to organize your stock nicely on your table as you want to catch the attention of passing customers. It is a good idea to have boxes filled with general bric-a-brac that customers can rummage through as many of them love to do so as a kind of lucky dip. It is important to have a good variety of items on display so the customer has a lot of choice.
Booters don’t generally put prices on their stock. The general idea is the customer asks the price and you reply with your first offer. The reason for this is because customers like to haggle over the price. For this reason you should decide how much you are willing to let the item go and still make a profit. If it’s an item you’ve been unable to sell after a few boot sales then you can let it go as cheaply as possible.
Remember that not all customers are going to be pleasant. You will get people who are cheeky and offer you next to nothing. Politely refuse their offers and explain to them that you are not able to let the item go for less than your lowest price. They soon give up and go leaving you to sell that item to a more generous customer.
BECOME A BUYER
Car Boot Sales are popular places to visit in the summer. buy brics money The excitement of walking down an aisle of cars displaying untold treasures in the hope of picking up that special something. Most sellers (or car booters) are selling items after a clear out at home and they are willing to let it go for a ridiculously low price just so they don’t have to take it home again. Things like movies can be picked up for 50p and ornaments for 20p, even retro computers and games have been picked up for a bargain price. You can buy practically anything on a car boot sale, things that have been stored in attics for years collecting dust that could be valuable to a collector.
If you are buying to sell privately then the first thing you need to do is browse places like Amazon and eBay and see what sort of items you should be selling. Get an idea of the items and the prices they go for and set yourself a limit to how much you are willing to pay for something. It is a good idea to make a list of things you are looking for with your top price which you obviously want to be as low as possible.
When dealing with the casual car booter remember that many of them want to get rid of as much as possible, especially as it’s costing them around £10-£15 for the pitch. Ask questions like: “Will you give me a good price for these books if I take ten?” If the books were a pound each you could offer eight pounds for ten of them. There is a good chance they will agree because they are making eight pounds all at once, which they may not have made that day if they had sold them separately.
