Selling stuff at a car boot sale - how much to charge?

[tigerbear]

Has anyone sold stuff at a car boot sale recently - what sort of prices do things go for? We are in a relatively affluent area of London. What’s the average for instance for:
New clothes with tags still on
Decent second hand clothes - some designer like Maxmara, other stuff Jigsaw, Zara
Second hand designer shoes
Does makeup sell - stuff still boxed?
Children’s clothes
Children’s books
DVD’s - does anyone actually still buy these?

Thanks in advance

People will expect it for £2 or less. You are genuinely wasting your time doing a car boot to make money.

The mindset of people buying at a car boot sale is to pay very low amounts. You are much better off using eBay or local selling pages!

Sold a lovely almost new leather jacket for £5 (label lab?) sold irregular choice shoes for £5 each sold opened makeup for 50p - car boots are horrible and boring and you are lucky to make back the pitch fee!

People expect you to practically give away your stuff. Steel yourself .

Oh no, I’m a bit scared now! But tbh it’ll just be good to get rid of a load of stuff out of the house.

Donate it to charity, or social work/women's aid. Sell the higher tag items locally.

Cat boots are the pits.

I agree. Am never doing another one. Did one last year and a couple of years before that. Did one with my mum separately. Honestly eBay, charity shops, local selling pages. Or get up really early, fend off loads of blokes asking for jewellery or perfume bottles, and sell your clean functional items for under a quid. Make your pitch fee, lose it on the petrol to get there.

Make up will sell. Clothes only if you sell really cheap - eBay or a clothing exchange is a much better option. The ‘pros’ always ask for perfume and jewellery so take that if you have any.

Clothes with tags you'd do much better off loading on ebay. I've never got more than a fiver, even for Monsoon evening dresses! I do A LOT of carboots and learned pretty early on that people just aren't prepared to pay what you think things are worth. Brand new things, like scarves, stationary kits, gardening tools, decorative bits etc, usually go for around a pound each. Jigsaw puzzles (which sell surprisingly well!) for 50p and books for 20p - 50p depending how tatty they are. DVDs that have been watched you can't even give away, but you can get £3 for a boxset still in its plastic wrapping. Used clothes items you can get around £1 for if they're a 'name', high quality and good condition. In my experience makeup does sell - you can even get 20p or so for half used stuff (though who the hell wants to buy that I don't know!!)

Basically, carboots are for decluttering and a mildly interesting day out. You will most likely make a loss, draw even, or earn a few quid for the money box. It is really enormously painful to think of the difference between what the items are worth and what you're getting for them though!

And be ready for the tramps who try to get into the boot of your car before you've even turned off the engine. Drove me mad and I swore I'd never do another one. My ex MIL was brilliant at them though and made loads of money.

Tramps?! Jesus! 😬
Ok, thanks for all the advice!
The good thing is, there’s no pitch fee, so won’t make a loss 👍

I wouldn't describe them as tramps, it's more like second hand dealers who are desperate to see if they can win a bargain to shift on for profit.

They literally swarm the car when you arrive, before you even get parked they are there and as soon as you open the boot they are right in there.

It's awful. I used to spend a lot of time at car boots for an organisation I am involved in. We finally managed to persuade them to stop as it really doesn't work.

Wow, I’m horrified and intrigued!!

Oh my god, I did one ONCE with my brother about 10 years ago - we had a right laugh but I’d never do one again!
Had a very expensive dress (paid about £300 for it) and just wanted to get rid of everything - someone haggled and haggled and ended up paying 20p for it
I think we made about £100 each but it wasn’t worth the early start and the annoying greedy customers to be honest.
Now I just pass on things we don’t want or donate to charity, I too feel happier when I don’t have too much ‘stuff’ in the house so regularly do a Facebook shout out to see if anyone wants it before I work out what to do with it.
Things like children’s books and dvds will go for about 10p, clothing items about 20p, some of our stuff was kids Ralph Lauren and went for between 50p-£1 per item.
Dresses and shoes etc don’t expect more than a fiver for, even if they were very expensive new.
No idea about makeup.

Oh gosh yes I remember the pros descending on the car as soon as we got there.

It happened so fast, they wanted the jewellery, REALLY wanted it. It was mostly costume jewellery too.

Radley bags sold well, and sporting goods, rather randomly.

Next to nothing except maybe a quid or so for the makeup. Not worth your time.

i did one last week that a few years ago we regulalry used to make over a hundred quid a week (we were dealers as opposed to clearers) last week i couldnt give stuff away, books went for 50p each, dvds and cds 3 for a pound, ornaments that were actually vintage or collectables went for £1 down to ten pence each in the end so i didnt have to take them home, sold some motorbike helmets to get the stall money we made £38 it was crap,

They’re hideous! Seriously as soon as you park and open your boot there are swarms and swarms of them, rifling through boxes that are in the car, craning their necks in the boot to have a good ogle! It’s quite intense!!

I’d never do another one, seriously, they haggle you down from a pound to something ridiculous like 10 pence for a pair of shoes. If you have collectible figures (Star Wars etc...) they sell VERY well for good money.

Good Luck!

I did a car boot where I live (Hackney, London) in January, had loads of stuff, sold about half of it and took £185, so I think it is worth it, and I enjoy them (not more than once every few years though). There are different kinds of punters, round here it's the dealers, the very poor people who need to get stuff very cheaply, the "addicted to car boot" types who love buying, and the better-off, usually young hipsterish folk who are looking for vintage, collectables etc.

DP and I had some things that we put minimum prices on before we went, and that worked quite well, but we did sell some things cheaper in the end. People do expect things to be very cheap and will often haggle; don't expect to get eBay prices.

I used to do car boots fairly regularly and I agree with pp that people expect stuff for next to nothing.

Stuff with tags on you’re better off selling on eBay/FB/Shpock.

I’ve made fairly good money at car boots and have found household and kids stuff sell well.

However, last few times I’ve been have been enough to stop me going. People really do expect something for nothing. I had a brand new set of 4 mugs still in packaging that I was selling for £2 and I had a woman offer me 50p for them!

I remember a woman next to me was selling empty designer perfume bottles. It’s the professional sellers that descend on you as soon as you get there they buy them!

Apparently, they fill them up with replica/cheap stuff and sell them as designer. I was shocked!

I just don’t think it’s worth it anymore.

They’re hideous! Seriously as soon as you park and open your boot there are swarms and swarms of them, rifling through boxes that are in the car, craning their necks in the boot to have a good ogle! It’s quite intense!!

Blimey! You lot are going to really downmarket car boot sales! I've had that experience at one but all the others I've been to have been fine. We're doing them most weeks at the moment as we're fundraising. Always choose a boot sale which allows sellers in before buyers so you can set up in relative peace.

Choose one which doesn't charge an extortionate pitch fee (my local one charges £6 per car). Mark prices on items beforehand and always price items higher than the least amount you want for them so that you can allow yourself to be haggled down without feeling that you're being taken for a ride. And be prepared to stand your ground on prices unless getting rid of things is more important than the price.

@Dontmakeme - there’s no seller fee at the one I’m going to. Just getting all the stuff together now - we’ve got shed loads 😬

I did a car boot sale once. Never again..

tigerbear That's fab.

We've had loads of stuff donated to us to sell for our fundraising so I'm not emotionally attached to it which helps as well. :)

I'm with pp. They aren't worth the stress, hassle and time for the money you might make (and all the stuff you might have to pack back up at the end anyway!).

Just donate to charity/bin/sell (ebay, FB local, musi magpie) as appropriate. the satisfaction of reclaiming the time and mental/physical space is worth it.