Car boot sales in London
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By Maggie Davis
Posted: Tue Aug 1 2006 
First-time buyer, Chris Taylor
Meet the carbooters!
The first-time buyer
Chris Taylor, financial advisor, Wimbledon Stadium, Saturday morning
‘We came along to do a bit of a recce because we’ve got a load of junk in the house (in Tooting) and I just wanted to suss it out. It’s surprisingly good actually. I ended up buying this chair for a tenner. I needed something to fit in the corner of our living room and this is just perfect. I like the shape of it – the fact it’s quite angular and small – yes, it will fit quite snugly. We’ll definitely come back to flog all our junk.’
Veteran seller, Martin McManus The veteran seller
Martin McManus Wimbledon Stadium, Saturday morning
‘I used to be a hairdresser in the 1960s and then had an antique shop in Camden Town, but had two families to support so packed it in when business wasn’t doing so well in favour of this. I do about three sales a week. It’s mainly house clearance stuff – anything from old chandeliers and oak tables to Victorian travelling wardrobes. I’m finding the 1960s stuff that I used to chuck away is selling now. Funny how things change. It’s been tougher since 9/11 as we don’t have as many American buyers and they were good – they just aren’t coming over so much. On a day like today I can expect to make a hundred quid or so, other days a couple of hundred or more. It all depends on the weather, what I’ve got and how much money people are feeling like spending. Still, I manage to get by.’ Feature continuesAdvertisement
Katie Dailey (centre) sells at Holloway The stylish sellers
Alyn Horton, PR, and Katie Dailey, fashion writer Holloway Road, Sunday morning
‘We started doing car boot sales about a year ago. We had lots of old fashion samples and some junk I wanted to get rid of, so we put a load of stuff together and got a cab to the Holloway Road one. You just need a DIY table and that’s it. We were both a bit strapped for cash at the time, so thought we’d see how much we could make. We had initially been put off by the early start, but if you’re selling on foot, you can turn up to some (like Holloway Road) at 10am. One thing we learnt quickly was don’t let your own personal taste stop you from bringing something. We sold a half burnt-down pineapple-shaped candle within minutes of putting it out for £3 and a dodgy 1970s dress with a giraffe appliquéd on for £7. How we laughed! We ended up making about £50 each and have been doing them about once a month ever since. People tend to love anything with a big designer label on it and unused makeup and perfume. You always get a real mix going, from trendy people looking for vintage bargains to DJs on the hunt for obscure records and mums and kids out shopping. We’ve never found it to be a chore or trauma.’- Add your comment to this feature
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97 comments
Car Boots, sad to see lots close in the winter. There are still plenty of people prepared to run them but lots of popular venues from previous years do not re open. Whats changed, is it the safety laws or inability to provide toilet facilities. I live close to Heathrow and Windsor. Please anyone let me know, if there are any good venues. Thanks
From passionate about car boots
a note to mary 7thnov I suggest you practice what you preach!
thats democracy, mary talks about free opinions and everybody has a right to say what they like. along comes raj tells mary what he thinks she tells him tof!!!k off. true to the cause mary!!!!!!!!
mary are you sure you are not a labourite
Raj i have not insulted anyone on here so i suggest you turn your anger towards someone else, further more i am not chatting rubbish so i suggest you get a life. And .... you were not included in the conversation at all neither have i seen any of your comments on here previously so f*** off!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry everyone but i do not take kindly to idiots.
well mary i think you take yourself a little bit too seriously with all the rubbish you come out with. I bet you vote labour
i will try not to talk GRAP again!!!!!!!
Err have not been on here for a short while but have to say i am surprised at how many people are robbing people of having their own opinons, i wont say any names as it is very obvious who... but like i previously said i can not stand when others dont like someone's opinon beacuse it is not the same as theres! To be honest even if there are some boot salers here trying to plug there bootsales i think that is fine beacuse its all about opinon beacuse after all they may think there's is the best, which is fine as this site allows others to comment it is a great way to see who is bluffing and who is not and i think those who are doing that are very obvious, however people please dont get on your high horses beacuse someon's opion is not the same as yours that sort of stuff really does p*** me off. Everyone should be able to have their opinon whether it is good or bad and it does not even mean that it has to be constructive to be honest( although it would be nice) beacuse it is down to the individual... I want to know if someone thought a car boot sale was rubbish and if the people were rude!! The same way i would like to know if it was really good and you made friends etc. STOP BLOCKING PEOPLES RIGHT TO EXPRESS THEMSELFS. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!
THANKYOU CAROL, IF ANYONE ON HERE HERE KNOWS THE PEOPLE THAT RUN KILBURN CAN THEY PLEASE TELL THIS SILLY FOOL RICHARD THAT I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT I AM GETTING REALLY FED WITH WITH HIM,TALKING GRAP..WHAT A SAD MAN HE IS THANKYOU
Hi Marella
Yes the bootsale is still going on at Kilburn on Saturdays, I was there a couple of weeks ago. It has been split onto two sites. One has the walk-in pitches and the other has vehicles. There is a mini-bus service that operates between the two sites.
marcella i told you that was not your name we now know its RICHARD!!!!!
THE COMENT BELOW WAS FOR RICHARD........CAN ANYONE PLEASE ANSWER MY QUESTION ABOUT ANY GOOD BOOTSALES ON SATURDAY.......THANKYOU
I THOUGHT THIS WAS A SITE TO ASK QUESTION ABOUT BOOTSALE, NOT TO PLUG THEM, I HAVE BEEN ADDICTED TO BOOTSALES FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS NOW, AND LOVE THE BUZZ OF GETTING UP IN THE SUMMER AND BUYING GREAT BARGAINS, MAYBE NOT SO MUCH OF A BUZZ IN THE WINTER I CANT BELIVE THAT PEOPLE LIKE RICHARD HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO THEN SAY SILLY COMMENTS ABOUT ME PLUGING KILBURN WHEN I REALLY DONT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS BOOTSALE, RICHARD MOVE ON .....AS I DONT CARE IF YOU BELIVE ME OR NOT .....HOW BORING ARE YOU ....MARCELLA
Yes margaret I agree that this site is for constructive comments and opinions only - I gave an opinion and was called strange. Katie plugged the boot sale at princess may so much that she is obviously a part of it by what she said - breath of fresh air, polite organisers, reasonable, enjoyable, stall availability, successful, well worth a visit. Let people judge for themselves like I did. No more advertising thank you Princes May!!!!
i still dont believe you marcella!!!!!!