16 Unique Tips for a Car Boot Sale

Car boot sales are a great method to get rid of your old stuff and making a few bob in the process. They can give families an opportunity to work together for a common goal. You can also use a car boot sale to teach your child key skills, such as numeracy, customer service and bargaining. Sops and I have held a number of car boot sales in our time and have picked up a few tips and tricks on the way. Here are some tips on preparing for a car boot sale that you may not have considered.

Go at the Right Time of the Year

Check out your local car boot venues and when they are most busy. Some may be especially busy over bank holiday weekends, others may be very quiet. Have you got lots of seasonal items to sell, such as winter clothes or Halloween costumes? It may be worth holding two car boot sales in the year, one in the Spring and one in the Autumn. We found it hard to shift Sops’ winter clothes and coats during the spring car boot sale because parents worry their child will grow out of them by the winter.

Join local Facebook groups to discuss the best car boot venues in your area.

Watch out for the Weather

Check out various forecasts for the weather. Whilst one site may say it will be bright and sunny if all the others are saying it will be rainy, don’t go.

Also, watch out for windy days. You don’t want to spend the day trying to hold all your goods down. Remember to check out wind speeds as well as other weather conditions.

Arrive Early

It’s not easy to get up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning, but that is the best time to arrive for a car boot sale. You will need time to set up and believe me, people will be wanting to buy stuff from you as you are setting up! You will also get a better spot is you arrive early. Ideally, you want to be near the front gate when you set up. That’s when people have money burning in their pockets. By the time they get to the end of the field, they may be bored and too poor to buy anything else.

N.B. Other traders may want to buy from you first thing and then sell your stock for a higher price. They tend to tour stalls first thing in the morning.

Top Selling Items

Some things naturally sell better than others. Here is a list of the top 10 best-selling items at car boot sales.

Children’s Clothes – Don’t bother with trying to sell adult clothes, it’s the kid’s stuff that flies off the car boot tables.
Children’s Toys – Especially if they are clean and ideally in their packaging.
Collectible Toys – Such as TY Toys. (Sops is a collector)
Video Games – A lot of traders asked us if we had video games as we were setting up.
Technology – We sold our old Sky box and landline phones – who would have thunk?
Baby Goods – What you don’t need anymore, may be useful for another family
Shoes – I was generally surprised at how well the shoes sold, especially Sops’ old shoes.
Jewelry – Costume jewelry sells very well at car boot sales. Some crafty people like to re-purpose them, and make new jewelry.
Kitchen Items– Pots and pans and utensils sell well. Plus crockery. If your child is going to university you may be able to get a bargain for them at a car boot sale.
Soft toys – Children’s eyes dart toward soft cuddly toys. They have an inbuilt radar for them. Shame Sops won’t sell any of her soft toys.

Get a Portable Clothes Hanging Rail

It is easier for customers to see the clothes you are selling if you hang them up on a portable hanging rail. There are many such rails for sale on Amazon, but this one has great reviews. It is really easy to assemble and take down. It is pretty sturdy and likely to stay up in windy conditions. Sops and I have seen plenty of hanging rails blow over at car boot sales; make sure your own doesn’t.

Hang Your Clothes on Your Car

Admittedly, Sops and I do not have a portable clothes hanging rail yet. So we just hung some of our clothes on the car. It is not ideal, but you can wind your windows down and hang the clothes up from there or from the boot door. We did successfully sell some of Sops’ Monsoon dresses this way.

Use a Tarpaulin Mat

Often times the grass can be wet when you first arrive on the site. Due to the dew. To avoid your lovely items from getting soaked, make sure you lay down a waterproof mat. You could use a picnic blanket or better still this 3 x 5 m tarpaulin mat. You can use tent pegs to hammer it into the ground. It is very hardy and unlikely to tear. It is easy to wipe clean and is mold-resistant. Should do the job nicely

Don’t Forget your Foldable Table

Sops and I used a rickety old plastering table during our latest car boot sale. But we wished we had this table. It is 6ft long and easy to unfold. It even has a handle so you can easily carry it. This is a great all-purpose stable table and you can use it for a host of activities, such as camping, picnics, and displaying your finds during an archeological dig.

Demonstrate Toys

I have a confession to make; I used to be a toy demonstrator. You heard me correctly. I spent whole days in the toy department in Harrods playing with toys, trying to sell them. People thought it was worth investing in someone to demonstrate toys, and that method does work. If you can play with some of the toys you are selling with your child it will attract attention. That’s how we sold Sops’ bow and arrow.

Don’t Forget

There are a number of things you should remember to take with you when going to a car boot sale, which many people easily forget.

Cash – Don’t forget a tin full of loose change. Sort that out the day before. It’s not easy to get to a bank at 5:00 am on a Sunday morning
Wipes – It is worth cleaning all your items before you try and sell them. But remember to bring a packet of wipes just in case.
Water – All that bartering is thirsty work. Remember to keep yourself hydrated.
Thermos – Take a thermos for tea or coffee to keep you going. This will save you from wasting money at the mobile tea shop on-site, (if there is one).
Snacks – Especially if you take your child.
Portable Chair – Sops and I took turns sitting in the car. But if you have room for a fold-up chair, use it.
Cables and Batteries – If you are selling any electronics, make sure you test them beforehand and have the right cables with you. Make sure there are batteries in the battery-operated toys, so you can demonstrate them.