We’re hoping to do another car boot sale next weekend and, for once, I feel like we’re actually organised.
The last time we did one, we’d packed the car, set everything up and were ready for a good morning’s selling when the heavens suddenly opened. Within what felt like minutes, everyone was scrambling to cover their tables and pack everything away before it got soaked. We ended up throwing everything back into bags, shoving them in the loft when we got home and promising ourselves we’d do another one “soon”.
That was… quite a while ago. 😂
Since then we’ve moved house, unpacked properly and somehow managed to accumulate even more things to sell.
One thing we realised quite quickly was that we’d need another paste table. I spotted one on Facebook Marketplace for £10 and arranged to collect it. When we got there, the seller mentioned he actually had three tables available for £25. We only needed one, but while we were chatting my partner spotted an old car on the driveway and asked about it.
It turned out the owner was preparing for The Rat Race, a charity drive from the UK to Benidorm in memory of his daughter, who had sadly passed away. He was clearing out his garage to help cover the fuel costs for the trip. We happened to have a bit of extra cash with us and decided we’d rather buy all three tables than just one. It wasn’t a huge gesture, but hopefully it helped him a little, and my partner was able to offer some advice on a repair he was making to the car while we were there.
So now we have four paste tables instead of two… which, to be fair, should make setting up a lot easier!
The move has also forced me to be much more ruthless with my wardrobe. In our old house my clothes were spread everywhere. Some were in drawers, some were packed away in suitcases and some were hidden in the loft. Now we have much more wardrobe space, everything is hanging together in one place for the first time in years and I honestly hadn’t realised how much I owned.
Seeing it all together made the decision surprisingly easy. I’ve kept the clothes I genuinely love and that make me feel good when I wear them. Everything else has gone into the car boot pile. That includes clothes that are now too big, clothes that finally fit again but I no longer like, and the “maybe one day” clothes that I’d been hanging onto for far too long.
While I was sorting through everything, I also came across an old gold ring that I hadn’t worn in a good five years. It had no sentimental value and I couldn’t imagine ever wearing it again, but I knew a car boot sale wasn’t the best place to sell it.
Instead, I weighed it and checked the current scrap value of 9ct gold. It was selling for just over £30 per gram at the time and my ring weighed 2g, so I got a quote online from a reputable gold-buying company, sent it away and a few days later £63 landed in my bank account.
It was a good reminder that not everything is best sold at a car boot sale. Gold, jewellery, collectibles, branded items and newer electronics are all worth researching first as you might make far more selling them elsewhere.
Our plan this time is simple – we’d much rather sell lots of things cheaply than spend the day trying to squeeze every last pound out of them. We’d rather come home with an emptier car than a fuller purse, so most things will be priced to sell. Anything left at the end, particularly clothes and shoes, will be heading straight to the charity shop.
With all that in mind, here’s how we’re preparing this time around.
Start collecting early
Don’t leave everything until the night before. We’ve been adding things to two dedicated places for weeks, which means we can see exactly what we have and avoid forgetting items hidden away in cupboards. We have a box in the dining room for smaller items and a growing pile in my office for everything else.
Be ruthless
Ask yourself whether you’d genuinely miss the item if it sold. If the answer is no, let it go. There’s no point paying to store things you don’t use.
I’ve found that moving house has actually made this much easier because seeing everything together really highlighted how much I owned. If I don’t love it, use it or feel good wearing it, it’s time for it to go.
Check whether anything is worth selling elsewhere
Before you throw everything into the car boot pile, spend ten minutes checking whether any items might be worth more elsewhere.
Gold jewellery was an obvious one for me, but branded clothing, designer handbags, newer electronics, collectibles and even certain toys can all fetch considerably more online than they ever would at a car boot sale.
Group similar items together (and make it look inviting)
People are much more likely to stop if your stall looks organised rather than like they’ve got to rummage through boxes to find anything.
We’re taking all of the costume jewellery that came with the vintage shop display cabinet we bought when it closed down. I’ve spent a bit of time cleaning it up, putting earrings onto little display cards and arranging everything neatly in jewellery trays rather than just tipping it all into a box. It doesn’t cost anything extra to present things nicely, but hopefully it’ll encourage more people to stop and have a browse.
We’ve also deliberately put together a few things that should catch the eye of any kids walking past our stall on the day. A few toys, books and bits and pieces for children might not make us a fortune, but if a child spots something they like there’s every chance they’ll persuade their grown up to stop at our stall for a look!
Then there’s our bargain basket. It’s full of unopened toiletries, makeup, beauty products and all those random little bits that aren’t worth much individually. They’ll all be 50p or £1 and I’m hoping they’ll become the sort of impulse buys that people add on when they’re already buying something else.
Price to sell
Most people go to a car boot sale looking for bargains. We’d rather sell ten things for £1 each than one thing for £10 and carry the other nine home again.
We’re not planning on individually pricing every single item, but we’ll have a rough idea of what we want for everything. The clothes will mostly be grouped together at the same price, which should make things much quicker for us and much easier for buyers.
Take plenty of change
It’s worth starting the day with a float of coins and small notes. The first customer always seems to hand over a £20 note!
We don’t usually carry too much cash so we’ll have to make an effort to get this in advance along with a little secure tub for our money which we hope will be full by the time we’re done.
Pack for the weather
After our last experience, we’ll definitely be taking bin bags, a waterproof sheet and something to quickly cover the tables if the weather decides to surprise us again.
We’ll also take plenty of carrier bags and newspaper so people can wrap more fragile purchases.
Take food and drinks
It’s an early start and usually quite a long morning, so we’ll be taking a flask of coffee, some cold drinks and a few snacks. It should stop us spending half our profits at the burger van!
Have a plan for what’s left
This is probably the biggest difference for us this time. We’ve already decided that anything we don’t sell will be donated rather than brought back home.
There’s no point moving clutter from the house to the loft and then back into the house again. We’d much rather someone else made use of it, whether that’s another car boot sale shopper or a local charity.
I’m actually really looking forward to it now. Hopefully the sun makes an appearance this time, we manage to clear a lot of clutter and maybe even make enough money for a nice little treat afterwards.
I’ll let you know how we get on next week, how much we make and whether all this preparation actually pays off. Fingers crossed the weather behaves itself this time!
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