Spice Girl dolls, £5, at Wimbledon
Car boot sales in London
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By Maggie Davis
Posted: Tue Aug 1 2006 -
Once car boot sales were about as glamorous as a night out in Homerton, but 26 years since the first one was held on a Kent farm, nabbing bargains or selling junk from the back of a motor has become a credible way of spending a Sunday morning. Time Out gets up at dawn to set up a wallpaper pasting table off the Holloway Road
It’s 7.59am on a very hot, hazy Sunday morning and I’m standing on the Holloway Road with some other waifs and strays who include: two Japanese students in homemade T-shirts and skinny jeans; a crumpled old couple with a plastic tartan-print shopping trolley; a smackhead with a dog, a bike and an ominous Morrisons carrier bag; and a line of cars full of chairs, plants, cardboard boxes and general junk. Is it too late to go back to bed, I wonder.
This is the world of the hardcore car-booter, a strange breed who are quite happy to start queueing at the crack of dawn to ensure a good ‘pitch’. I’m feeling nervous and out of my depth. Will anyone want my flower-print mini Polaroid or the four cocktail shakers I have somehow accumulated? And surely not my muddy old Nike walking shoes? Feature continues
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Quality pop classics going (very) cheap at Holloway car boot London car boot sales certainly lack the quiet glamour and grace of Portobello Market on a Friday morning with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafting from Cafe Lisboa. And they’re nowhere near as laidback as sitting at your PC uploading pictures of your wares on to eBay. But then that’s not the point. Car boot sales are about freeing yourself of years of accumulated clobber, emptying your spare room and, of course, making a bit of extra cash. Over the past decade I’ve accumulated all manner of stuff, from a Stella McCartney sunvisor to Burberry perfume, floral wellies, scented candles, T-shirts and cheap costume jewellery. Why get paid for getting rid of it all?
There’ll be plenty of likely buyers, I assure myself. Apparently Britons now spend approximately £1.4 billion a year at car boot sales; that’s an average of £10 each, nationwide. That makes for a lot of potential customers and London turns out to be the most profitable place to hold a sale, with the average Londoner making almost £100 a time (in Wales it’s only £80). In the same way that shopping in Topshop is seen as cannier than shopping in Harvey Nicks, buying at a car boot sale is considered cleverer and cooler than a trip to IKEA. Why face the hell, the ubiquity and the flat-pack assembly when you can find a one-off bargain that none of your friends will have?
Cheap as chips: what looks like old tat could be worth as much as £8 As it turns 10am, my car is directed to be lined up in the school playground. First step: unload, set up table and unpack. Easy enough I think, until I see the swarm of shoppers heading my way from all directions. Before I’ve even unpacked the first bag, about half the population of N7 – hooded kids, Arsenal-shirted twentysomethings and eagle-eyed old ladies with violet-coloured hair – have descended on my pitch and are rummaging through my bags. ‘How much for this? How much for this?’ ‘£2.50. A tenner… Jesus! Waaaaait a minute!’ I frantically sell a pair of Orla Kiely wellies for £8 to a posh bloke who has pulled them out of a box and barely stops to ask what size they are. Result. One of the Arsenal shirts has spotted the Burberry perfume. This garners a lot of attention and suddenly there’s a bidding war going on. ‘How much, how much?’ he asks. ‘You can have it for £20,’ I respond. Another pipes up, ‘I’ll give you £15.’ Another with gelled-back hair and box-fresh Adidas trainers yells: ‘I’ll give you £16.’ I sell it immediately in an attempt to gain some order and control.
This doesn’t happen for three hours within which time a feeding frenzy has occurred. ‘It’s because you are new,’ says the man next to me, who gave up his full-time job eight years ago to make a living from car boot sales. He now spends his time collecting antiques and junk from house clearances and skips. ‘People know that you will have some genuinely good bargains.’ He’s right, my ‘boot’ has been attracting more attention than the regulars simply due to the novelty factor.
Retro radios at Wimbledon By lunchtime I’m absolutely frazzled. This is turning into one of the most exhausting, exhilarating and hilarious days of the year and I am loving exchanging what I consider to be my rubbish for hard cash. I’ve learnt a few things too. Like that in car boot world Burberry is considered more prestigious than Balenciaga (though Chanel perfume goes down a treat) and my rather lovely Cacharel top is ignored while River Island is revered. Indeed, there is no room for subtlety and sophistication in the car boot car park. And sometimes labels don’t count at all. A fellow car-booter tells me how a lady was interested in a tracksuit she was selling, but only offering her £2. When it was pointed out that it was a brand new Reebok tracksuit, the response was: ‘Don’t come at me with your fancy labels.’
As it approaches 2pm, the stall is looking empty and the need for a very large Sunday lunch and beer is intensifying. I’ve made £228 from nothing and even got rid of the muddy Nikes. Then I realise I haven’t sold the Stella McCartney sunvisor that’s been shielding me from the sun all day. I decide it will be my final triumph. ‘Anyone for this beautiful, practical and most wonderful sunvisor?’ I yell. A 4'9" Indian man who was eyeing it up earlier returns. ‘I’ll give you £1,’ he says. ‘£2,’ I bargain. We agree on £1.50.
‘Stella McCartney… is that you?’ he asks. ‘No, she’s a fashion designer. The daughter of Paul McCartney…? The bloke that used to be in The Beatles…?’ He still looks blank, but wanders off happy into the sunny afternoon with the plastic lilac visor, designed for teenage girls, perched proudly on his head. Final takings? £228.
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111 comments
How many paranoid people are there on what is meant to be a basic comments site. I can't believe some of the comments I am reading mainly from organisers of one relatively unknown carboot. May I suggest that if anyone wants a good car boot sale they use their search engines and google them up like I do when I want to sell or buy. There are dozens of good boot sales out there. Let's put a stop to all this nonsense and self-promotion!!
Katie this is all about giving personal opinions. You have good experiences at the boot sale at princesss may and I haven't. What is strange about that!! The boot sale is never that busy and cannot compete with others I have been to. Get a life Katie - you definitely sound part of the set up at princess may - just take it on the chin.
I find Deena's comments really strange. Perhaps she is also another Car Boot Organiser? I have been a regular at Princess May for sometime. I find it, as a relatively new bootsale, a breath of fresh air! The organisers are polite and the cost, unlike other bootsales is very reasonable. The times that I have frequented this Bootsale, I have had a good day both financially and enjoyably. And now, that some indoor pitches/stalls are available, this bootsale should be a great success all through the year. I think it's well worth a visit.
we all khow you run kilburn marcella if thats your real name. Get a life
hi there can anyone tell me is there any good car boot sales on saturday apart from the ones in time out thankyou ...marcella
Yes i totally agree with Diana and mary. Everyone has their own opinion about boot sales - even if they are not rosy red. I have been doing car boots for years and have recently been to the one at Princess May - as a buyer and a seller. For me it was not good but that's just my opinion. I live in the area and thought I would give it a try because it's local. On my first visit (as a buyer) it did not seem very busy with sellers but one of the organisers asured me it was a quiet week and usually it was much busier (apparantly it has room for 80 or so cars). I decided to give it a try to sell and have been twice in fact - and both times it has not lived up to expectations. One week I only counted about 33 cars and that was a sunny day and there didn't seem many people through the door either. The organisers obviously want to entice people and will say what sellers want to hear just to get them in. Unfortunately it didn't do it for me which is a shame -I won't be trying a third time. I'll go back to my usual busy haunts.
quite right mary everybody is entitled to a fair opinion good or bad of car boot sales. but this moron parker thinks he has the right of free admission just because its a car boot sale. when he was told he had got to pay an entance fee to he got abusive and arrogant and made stupid threats, thats the problem mary his was not a review more a thugs view
Why the hell do people on this site seem to think that the reviews from sellers or buyers have to be rosy red???? if someone did not enjoy themselves at a car boot then they reserve the right to say it, i dont think anyone here is commiting slander no one has said dont go the that particuar boot sale and only a few have mentioned specific names, sorry but there is one thing that i can not stand and it is people who dont allow overs to voice their views on how there experence was. THIS SITE IS FOR REVIEWS AND INFO ON CAR BOOT SALES WHETHER THEIR ROSEY RED OR S**** BROWN. If he didn't like princess may then he just didn't like it!!
Gosh! I still go there and so do others and if i have any trouble there i will be straight on this site reporting it!!! With out a second thought!!
Dear Mr Parker
Its sad to read that you was not happy with your experience at the carboot, however you have aired you grievances for many to read and there may be some who choose not to go to that car boot. But I am amazed at your energy that you want to go down so many avenues to seek further revenge. You seem like a bitter highly sensative individual and if only you chanelled your time into helping so many individuals suffering around London.
I know the team at the car boot from a distance and they work enormous hours well before daylight arrives and are there hours after the car boot finishes cleaning the mess left by others. They also appear to have additional cleaning services which must cost a fortune. I have joined my husband on the odd ocassion as a booter and I have seen staff physically abused and also the same staff protect booters who have been attacked from members of the public and sometimes defused very dangerous situations. Chill out you see everything in a single tunnel vision.
i reckon that silly bugger l parker should come to my club and then see what would happen if he did not want to pay his entrance fee
what a stererotype Mr l parker is. just moan and report people for legally asking for the £3 entry fee before 9am. He is obviously extremely jealous of the people running the car boot sale. Its just him moaning because he does not have the initiative to do the same thing himself. I bet anything he does not mind going into his local supermarket and gettin ripped off. No, because they are not Multi-nationals, not like these hardworking ordinary people runnnig the car boot sale!
I'm a seller and I'm going to Brentside car book in Ealing this Sunday. i heard the weather is going to be good so I'm looking forward to a good day, i've been before and it was good.
Thanks Steve - that's all good to know - see you Sunday!
Hi Flic,
You need to arrive at Princess May Primary School on Princess May Road, London N16 8DF from 7am onwards. It doesn't matter if you don't have a table or a car. People sell their stuff on the ground ontop of a blanket or ground sheet. The cost is £8 for a walk-in pitch, which you pay on the day.
See you there!
I would like to find out about the Princess May Car boot sale - I don't have a car or a table (!) to sell my stuff out of or off - does that matter? Do I just turn up before 8am on Sunday to sell stuff? Please excuse my dumbness - I am new to this and a lillte unsure of what to do!!!
Any advice I would muchly appreciate.
Cheers