Beating The Pinch - Carbootsales

September 2, 2008 – 8:09 pm

As we are definitely beginning to feel the pinch from massive price rises in petrol, fuel and groceries I was reading that many people who would once have taken unwanted goods to a charity shop or chuck out are now thinking twice and looking at how they came make some profit from their unwanted goods, which isn’t a bad thing in my option I have been doing it for years!

There are a number of different places that you can get cash for your unwanted items, one of the oldest and still the best are car boot sales.

Apparently not only have the number of car boot sales grown by 20% since this time last year, but the number of attendees has also sharply risen which could be down to the effects of the ‘credit crunch’.

Personally I have been to many a car boot sale both to buy and sell, the last time I did one I made around £100 after I paid my fee for the car stall space, which isn’t a bad profit for a days work.
If you have a bit of the Dellboy in you then carboot sales can be great places to pick up a bargain to sell on, personally I have got some cracking items in the past which I have then went on to sell on Ebay for a marked up price.

So what are my top tips to running a good car boot sale stall?

* Car boot sales can be very cut throat, one of the main secrets to making as much profit as possible is getting there early – when I did it I was there for 5am and I was getting one of the last decent spots.
* Make sure that your pitch is in one of the main thoroughfares which will get the most visitors. If you are stuck at the back of the car boot sale you will have no chance of maximising your sales, I would suggest that if you haven’t been before to check the car boot sale out the week before you go to find the best spots.
* Take a folding table with you to display your wares on and make it neat, there is nothing worse than a messy stall.
* Some people mark prices on all their items before hand, I didn’t bother, whatever you choose to do people expect to haggle so make sure you start with your prices high, you will be expected to haggle.
And finally don’t spend all your profit buying from other peoples stalls!
* If you don’t know where your nearest car boot sale is check your local paper which will usually have them listed or check out carbootjunction.com which lists regular sales up and down the UK.

If you want to chat about car boot sales or want to learn about lots of other money making ideas then visit the friendly forum.