Charity shop or car boot?

[InsolentAnnie]

We have a lot of stuff to get rid of - children growing out of things, me finally letting go of pre-DC clothes that no longer fit, just lots of stuff that we no longer need. House is a permanent mess and I, desperate to get it to a state we can keep on top of - DH works long hours and overtime - which I don’t mind as he’s in a profession that helps others - and I have three jobs, so we’re permanently on the back foot. We’ve done most of the sorting but it’s the actual getting rid of that I’m struggling with so it’s all just hanging round the house.

We could really do with the extra cash from selling some of it, but I’m not sure how! Put a couple of things on Vinted and they’ve not even had any views. Tempted by a car boot sale but I’m a bit scared to do it! We could donate it all but then we wouldn’t get anything for it (in the past I’ve done this and some of it will be donated, but now things are getting really tight and anything we can make back would help).

Is a car boot worth it? It’s clothes / books / toys / random household bits. Or is there something else we could do? At the moment we have piles of stuff in the loft and I’m worried the ceiling will fall in with the weight of it if we put much more up there 🤣

IME car boots are very specific - so some are great/always busy/get good sellers and buyers (tourists are good!) but some can be the opposites so I'd ask around locally for recommendations. The best one near us is a monthly one in a small posh village.

Depending on what kind of stuff you're selling, FB Marketplace may be better than Vinted - I find the former better for furniture and bigger items, and the latter for clothes. I'd have a lowest price in mind for selling online - i.e. anything you wouldn't get at least £7 for goes in the charity shop pile or similar.

Bundles often do well at both car boots and on Vinted, but you do have to be realistic about pricing.

I would do a car boot but don't expect to get much for each thing and then take whatever you don't sell to charity shop.
Facebook market place can be quite good as well depending on what you are selling.

I would just send it to the charity shop unless you have designer label clothes or antiques. People want stuff for very little at car boot sales and it’s a lot of effort if you’re pushed for time

We had this dilemma last year. We decided to do a car boot, it was a £13 entry fee and you had to take your own table and chairs to set up etc. Something to consider, people want a BARGAIN at a car boot, so keeping prices low will help sell, anything is better than nothing. We made around £200 in the day, it was exhausting, very hot and sweaty and I think I spent £50 of our profits on other peoples stalls 😅 but once there was only about an hour left I put up a huge sign that said "ALL ITEMS 50p", just so I didn't have to take it all home/to a charity shop. Most of it went to be fair! Definitely worth it if you can spare the day for it.

Car boot is very hard work.`
People wanting stuff for 20p.
You'll make a little, but it's a day out of your life.
Take what is left to charity.
Go with a good friend, and have something nice booked for the afternoon/evening after.

I think you have to be realistic about whether you really are going to do a car boot. You have to get everything ready and priced up in advance, you have to get there at crack of dawn to set up etc. etc. and you have children you will need to get looked after. If you are really going to do that then crack on.... but is it really worth hanging on to loads of stuff, much of which you will end up taking home again, for probably not much money?

I would have a good sort out, the really good stuff I would try to sell on vinted or facebook, the good stuff I would give to charity, the not good stuff I would throw. Look at things carefully - would you buy it? If not, then why would anyone else?

With Vinted, you need to upload lots at once to get items seen. I would do this - list 50 things at once and see what sells. Put bundle discounts on. Choose a date for a car boot sale and anything that hasn’t sold, take to that. Then drop anything remaining at a charity shop on the way home.

I volunteer in a local charity shop and we would only want stuff we can sell so, not scruffy baby clothes, baggy joggers or stuff with paint/bleach on them. Clean, good condition clothes, paperbacks, shoes and handbags - anything that you'd be happy to buy. Oh, and no to used knickers, grubby white socks or stuff with broken zips! Some people think we're one step up from the rubbish dump - I know that's not you though as you're putting some thought into it. Good luck with your clear out.

Please do not take your left over car boot stuff to a charity shop. If you can’t sell it for 50p or even less why do you think a charity shop can sell it. ?

Larger or more valuable items I would try listing first in multiple places: all the local FB selling groups, gumtree, Olio (they have a sales section as well as giving things away), Nextdoor and so on. You can just copy and paste all the details so it doesn't take too much time.

Vinted worked for me but only on items of clothing with recognisable, slightly upmarket brand names; I listed in batches of ten or so items, and set the prices high enough to be worth the hassle of posting it all out, so I didn't end up selling everything (I donated the leftovers). I haven't bothered with Ebay but the same probably applies.

I have also donated tons of stuff to various charity shops, given it away on Olio/Facebook, and taken things to the dump.

@letsnotIRL that's extraordinary what were your prices like?

Op I normally do Freecycle or charity and I'm going to try a car boot this time purely to show DC what it's about

Have you got the space to do a yard sale?

@IthasYes
Well me and my mam are slight hoarders and our lofts were absolutely full. We sold anything from a grandfather clock £8, a spinning Mop and bucket £5, to jewellery for pennies. I think its only worth it if you really do have ALOT to sell. It might seem like loads in your house but you need loads of crap to fill a stall lol. We had all kinds, even huge wooden ornaments and some first edition Disney videos!

Have you got the space to do a yard sale?

I was going to say that. A yard sale, or even better, a garage sale (so it doesn't matter if it rains). It's less trouble than going to a boot sale.

Personally, I've found Gumtree is good for getting rid of things.

Another option is to sell it as a job lot or several job lots on Ebay or Gumtree (or, I suppose, on FB, but I know nothing about FB). You wouldn't get much that way, but it's very little trouble and at least you would get something.

Books are available for a donation (though I don’t see many donate) at our Tesco and dunelm so I doubt you’d get much for books - maybe excellent condition popular authors or recently published.

I did a car boot sale once and absolutely hated it. Years later I tried a table-top sale with little footfall. It's all a lot of time / effort for minimum reward.
Now, I only bother to try and sell branded items that people will search for but donate most things.

Definitely a car boot sale! I was in the same predicament last month and decided on a boot sale. Sold mainly kids toys as well as some clothes, made £220. I’ve always been told everyone wants everything for 20p etc but I sold all my items for £1-5 each. Soon added up and if you’re debating taking it to the charity shop then you may as well do a boot sale and get something for it. Not sure how many you have near you obviously but I picked a popular busy one.