Car boot sales in London
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By Maggie Davis
Posted: Tue Aug 1 2006 
Raising money for Notting Hill Carnival Club at Wimbledon Stadium car boot sale Top tips
Get there early
If you are selling, you generally need to arrive well before the punters. That could mean waking at the crack of dawn and queuing for two hours, or simply rolling up at 11am if it starts late – check with each individual sale.Take a wallpaper pasting table and fold-up chair
You can track down a table at most DIY stores for around £10.
Make sure you have enough stuff to sell
You’ll be surprised at what people will buy. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure and that is never truer than at a car boot sale. If in doubt, take it anyway – someone might well want that sushi-making set your brother-in-law gave you. Feature continuesAdvertisementHave prices sorted in your head
And if possible organise your stall in some kind of price order. Items over a tenner at one end, things for a fiver in the middle and a £1 box at the end.
Have your wits about you
When the punters descend, it’s chaos. If possible, set up before they approach you. Sometimes this is impossible and you’ll have 20 nimble-fingered people riffling through your boxes. Don’t be afraid to tell them to go away until you are ready.Buy a bumbag
This isn’t a time to think about fashion, a bumbag is an absolute necessity to keep your cash and mobile phone safe.
Take some spare change
About ten £1 coins and four £5 notes should be fine.
Don’t accept £50 notes
People often try to get rid of fake notes at car boot sales, so don’t risk accepting one.
Don’t go it alone
You’ll need moral support and back-up when the haggling gets tough and for those all-important tea breaks.
Novice car-booter Maggie sets up a stall Things that sell well
Books Apparently the bestselling items at car boot sales, followed swiftly by…
Boxed toys, clothing, and CDs
Designer perfume and make-up But only if unused.
Electronics in good working order Boxed MP3 players, video games, mobile phones and the like, as long as you can prove they work.
Handbags For some reason, a good-looking leather, PVC, or glittery bag goes down a treat.
What to buy
Secondhand furniture is almost always dead cheap at car boot sales, so if you see something you love, buy it. You are unlikely to find it again.
China You’ll always find a lot of old tea sets at car boot sales that specialise in secondhand and antique. Look out for quality brands made in England like Royal Doulton. First edition books can be found at many car boot sales for next to nothing and can be resold on eBay for good money.
Designer clothing Always good if you happen upon a stall belonging to a fashion industry insider on a purge. Again, you can sell many designer items in good condition on eBay for a healthy profit.
What not to buySoft toys Just think about all the littlun's who may have thrown up on them.
Anything you suspect could be stolen If you purchase it you will be handling stolen goods, which is a criminal offence.Secondhand lingerie Obviously.
Electrical equipment that you can’t test on site. Even if the vendor can prove something is working then and there, it won’t come with a guarantee.- Add your comment to this feature
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98 comments
mary where are you
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!!!!