Have you ever been in a trunk? If you can’t resist a big garage sale and the hand lettered ‘Garage Sale’ signs have you hitting the brakes and out of your way in no time, then a British car boot sale should be your best bet. .
In the UK, people rarely set up yard or yard sales in front of their own houses. In some communities, doing so may even be against local statutes on blocking sidewalks.
Instead, they have giant gatherings where people who have had a clearing or need to raise some cash bring their unwanted products to sell. Some pop up almost spontaneously, to raise money for a school project or a church, perhaps, while others are regularly scheduled events where hundreds of vendors show up. They combine the qualities of flea markets, trades, and garage sales on steroids. If your thing is looking for treasure in the middle of other people’s trash, you will love spending a day at a good trunk sale.
What is the difference between a trunk sale and a flea market?
The British call the trunk of a car a trunk and that is where the name for trunks is from. Unlike flea markets, which are generally populated by professional merchants selling antiques and collectibles, the idea behind selling car boots is that ordinary people pay a small fee, usually £ 7 to £ 15 , for a plot large enough for one car. A higher fee is charged for bringing a van for sale. Then they can spend the day selling what they have been able to pack. People often bring folding tables to display their products, but originally the items were sold directly from the trunk of a car; sometimes they still are.
In general, professional traders and traders are discouraged from attending trunk sales. Some organizations even host separate flea markets for professional traders on different days than their trunk sales. But in practice, professional traders show up to buy. competing with you for the good things. Similarly, some trunk sales prohibit the sale of new products.
What can you buy in a trunk?
Expect almost the same type of goods that you would see at a garage sale:
- old books, DVDs, CDs and, if you’re lucky, old vinyl
- tableware, cutlery
- used and vintage clothing and hats
- costume jewelry
- porcelain vases and ornaments
- gardening tools and implements
- textiles: tablecloths, blankets, small embroidery
- Small furniture: chairs, occasional tables, small dressers.
- Collectibles and some antiques.
Car boots are particularly good for the types of collectibles that are treasures to some and junk to others – old vinyl records, magazines, and comic books, for example. If it’s the kind of thing your Gran could pull out of the attic without appreciating its value, you can ( and we emphasize that you could ) find it at a car boot sale.
How to find treasure at a UK car boot sale
Get there very early. As soon as the doors open, antique dealers and collectors show up at auto boot sales, looking for things they can resell for a profit. If they see a promising car being unloaded, they will be there, buying the best things before the seller has unpacked their goods.
If you want a chance to find something special, you must beat them at their game. Get there early and don’t be shy about searching through still packed boxes with still loaded car boots. Just be prepared to have your head cut off if you are too aggressive. Don’t be shy about negotiating either. No one expects you to pay the first sale price or the marked price without a bit of haggling. The best prices can be obtained at the end of the day when the sellers are packing to leave.
And one more tip: If you see something you absolutely can’t live without, try to come to an agreement right away. Otherwise, prepare to lose it because it probably won’t be there when you return for a second look.
Five things to keep in mind
Trunk sales are not regulated. Sellers do not charge or collect sales tax and things change hands in a fairly informal way. For that reason, you should be aware of:
- Counterfeits and Counterfeits : Those that were never used or never used branded products (“It was a Christmas present that didn’t fit”) could be counterfeits. The unopened DVD of a popular movie, at a fraction of the usual price, could be an illegal copy, shot at the cinema and dubbed into Croatian or it could be blank. Trunk sales are known places to unload counterfeit goods.
- Stolen Items – If the jewelry looks like real gold or real gemstones and is going for a song, why is it being sold at a car boot sale rather than at an antique fair or legitimate dealer? Those elaborate silver candlesticks that are heavy enough to be real silver can be hollow filled with lead or stolen. Use your common sense. If it looks and feels too good to be legit, it probably is.
- Sharp merchants Like poker and billiards, car boots have their wolves in sheep’s clothing. You think you’ve found a valuable Royal Crown Derby figurine and the sweet housewife selling it has no idea of its value. That is why she is willing to get rid of him for almost pennies. “It was just part of some cartons full of garbage in my grandmother’s attic,” he assures you. Just a dust collector as far as she’s concerned. Do not fool yourself. You probably have two dozen knockoffs, the exact same thing, in the trunk of your car, waiting for more fools like you to roam around.
- Broken items Check plugs and wiring. Bring some batteries so you can see if the products you are considering really work. If a music box has a wind-up mechanism, charge it up and see if it works. If not, adjust your bid accordingly.
- Pickpockets and quick-change artists All that money changing hands in small amounts is sure to be a temptation. Put your money in a safe place and keep your hand within reach of your purse. Be careful, too, of “the hand is faster than the eye” with men when giving or taking change. Bring money in small denominations and bring coins so you can pay in exact change whenever possible.
Some Recommended Trunk Sales
There are hundreds, probably thousands, of trunk sales across the UK, so we can’t pretend this is a complete list of the best. However, here are some trunk sales that meet our buyers’ tests of success – they are big enough to spend all day browsing and we’ve managed to find real and still treasured bargains:
- Ford Airfield Car Boot – Massive sales every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday throughout the year. The site (on a former naval airbase between Arundel and Littlehampton on the A27 in West Sussex) opens for sellers (and early buyers at 7:30 am Thursday and 8:30 am Sunday). New goods or weapons (including knives) are not allowed and food vendors are by appointment of management. Thursday sellers pay £ 8 per car and £ 15 per van or car with trailer; for Saturday sellers it is £ 10 per car and £ 20 per car / trailer combo and for Sunday sellers it is £ 6 and £ 12. There are no books or plants for sale on Sundays and new products are not allowed. . Find them.
- Tetsworth Car Boots – Another large market (actually a cluster of several markets) east of Oxford near the M40. In addition to car boot sales, this meeting has a separate area for an antiques market and another for new merchandise clearance sales. Held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (7 a.m. to 10 a.m. for vendor setups) on select Sundays, May through June and July (weather permitting) at Tetsworth Fields. For sellers the fee is £ 10 for cars and small vans, £ 14 for large vans. Buyers enter for free. The first scheduled boot sale in 2018 was on May 20, with four more planned through Sunday, July 8. The best way to know when to go is by visiting the website. Find them.
If you get tired of starting the car, designer discount stores are about 20 minutes down the M40 in Bicester Village.
- “The Big One”, Basildon Essex is officially the sale of Nevendon boots . By 2018, it had been running Stevenson’s Farm for over 28 years and is often featured on television shows. It is open on Sundays and public holidays from late spring to fall, weather and field conditions permitting. This is for very early birds. It opens to both buyers and sellers at 6:30 am Cars cost £ 8, transit vans £ 10 and vans with ‘plus’ trailers. It’s more of a guessing game because they say on their website that they don’t reply to emails. So if you are a seller with a trailer, you just have to guess. Parking and entry are free for buyers. Find them.
- Brighton Racecourse – Relatively new but instantly popular, this is one of several trunk sales in the Brighton and Hove area. Open on scheduled Sundays or Monday holidays (see website) from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. for buyers and 8:30 a.m. for sellers, this is one of the few car chargers that charges buyers a small fee admission (80p) But if you want the best chance of the good stuff, look for an early admission pass that allows entry before 10:30 am, in 2018 it cost £ 2.50. Sellers pay £ 10 for any size vehicle and any amount of space while it lasts. Find them.
- Brighton Marina’s Giant Suitcase Sale, claims to be Brighton’s oldest and largest car book. Vendors’ cars and vans pay £ 12, entry and parking for vendors are free. Another special for early risers, it is open from 6 am to 2 pm, for both buyers and sellers. Find them .
How to find more trunk sales
In addition to all the regularly scheduled trunk sales, charity and one-time sales pop up all the time. The best way to keep up, or to find a sale close to where you are when you have a carb craving, is to check out one of these online directories and calendars:
- Trunk crossover
- Your Loot: Trunk Sales Directory
- carbootsales.org
