AIBU to object to a £1 charity entry fee at car boot sale?

[TightwadTilly]

My local car boot sale has been running for years, apart from a Covid hiatus.

As it's now reaching the time of year when getting up early on a Sunday morning is a pleasure, I was planning to start going again. However, I've found out they are now imposing a £1 entry fee for buyers. Apparently this will go to charity - I haven't found out which charity or charities, however that isn't greatly material to my point.

I want to be clear that I could afford a £1 entry fee, but I really object to the principle of it and - this might sound odd - the fact it is a charity 'donation' is even more annoying. I could live with it better if it was a case of the sellers having their pitch fees reduced by £1 to 'share the costs'.

It also puts me off selling there (which I have done in the past) as I'm sure there will be others deterred from going in by this fee, either on principle or because they go to car boot sales to get things cheap that they couldn't otherwise afford.

Quite prepared to be told I am tighter than a gnat's arse, hence name change, but AIBU?

Already got his opinion. If everyone was only interested in their spouse's opinion on things, it would render internet chat forums somewhat redundant.

£1 is neither here nor there. I’m embarrassed for you.
Why would you give up something you enjoy for the sake of £1.

WTF

Just don't bother going. Local near us started did this so don't visit now and saved a fortune. No idea if they still charge as it doesn't seem to be going. Tbh I never been charged to go to a car boot sale either.

It would annoy me too. Added cost and virtue signalling. As a buyer or a seller I would be discouraged - footfall would drop for sellers, bargain hunting is reduced by that pound, unless it's a busy time of year with lots of choice I'd stay home.

Also, their choice of charity might not be my own...and I have massive issues with certain charities from personal experience of them.

Yes - it could easily lead to diminishing returns. With a car boot, you can see the number of stalls before you go in. In a situation where there weren't many stalls, if it's free entry I'd still go and have a look - might as well. If I have to pay, I wouldn't bother.

When I sold there, I think I made about £2 over my pitch fee. I wasn't bothered as I'd at least got rid of some unwanted items, but it wasn't really worth getting up at 4am for other than as a novelty.

I know with this particular car boot, it can be up and down - sometimes it's busy, but sometimes the car park is only about 1/4 full. I don't think they are in a position where they can introduce fees that might be a deterrent to buyers.

Omg first world problem!

REPORT REPORT REPORT - to whom I have nae idea. That’ll hae them telt min.

I have always had to pay an entry free for the bootsales. Didn't realize any were free to enter. Local ones to me range from about 50p to £ 3 entry

I don't think there's really a valid principle to object on here.

"It used to be free" - well, now it's not. The organisers can choose what they charge and where the money goes. Buyers used to get in free, but on the other hand the charity didn't use to receive money. Swings and roundabouts. If you want a boot sale that's free to buyers, then go to a different one. Or organise one.

"I don't get a choice of charity" - no, you don't. If you buy something at the boot sale, then you don't choose what the seller spends that money on, either.

"I don't get a choice about whether I pay or not" - well, yes you do, because you can always not go. Or go to a different one.

I understand that you don't like it. But that doesn't mean it's wrong on principle.

Either so many people will vote with their feet that the organisers change their minds (unlikely), or most people happily pay the fee knowing that they’ve been very lucky to have had free access all these years and that the money is going to a good cause. I’d be one of the latter.
The only time I would have an issue would be if the charity was one I vehemently disagreed with but they’d be a bit short sighted to choose something that controversial.

You say people are missing your point. I think we get it - you’ve had free entry for years and don’t like the change - but you’re really not entitled to anything for free.

You could of course volunteer to get involved with the organisation, and make your points directly to the organisers?

We have three big sales near us. Two charge an entry fee that goes the farmer that organises them. One goes to charity. We have no free ones.

Most car boots charge an entrance fee. I doubt it makes a difference to foot fall.

Our local one charges a quid after 7.30 and £3.50 for early bird entry. The queues are always very long.

I hate it when people say "you're missing the point"
No love they just don't agree with you
It's not the same thing
You're being tight

I hate it when people say 'you're on a wind up' when they 'just don't agree with you'.

Anyone who thinks I am on a wind up is missing the point, whether they agree with me or not.

YABU.

And to feel like this over ONE pound -??

Double digits unreasonableness.

But what is your point?

That £1 entry for a car boot sale is too much? I disagree.

That a £1 charity donation for entrance to a car boot sale is unreasonable? I disagree.

That you'd like to know which charity was benefitting. Meh, I guess I agree, but consider it relatively irrelevant, as its a reasonable mandatory charge, so the organisers can choose to donate it where they want.

That because previously didn't charge you are somehow entitled to benefit from their hard work organising and hosting the event for free forevermore? Very hard diagree, and if this is your thought process, it shows you up to be very entitled indeed, as well as being a self confessed tightwad.

Don't cut your nose of to spite your face for the sake of a quid OP.

Even if the charity is something you don't rate then it probably means a lot to other people. Unless it's something you oppose wholeheartedly go, give the money, do some good and have a fun Sunday morning.

Carry on resenting in principle then

That £1 entry for a car boot sale is too much? I disagree.

No, £1 is not excessive for me personally. Suppose the buyers to be a family of six on min wage, looking to buy cheap children's clothes because even charity shops are too expensive, £6 might be a lot for them!

That a £1 charity donation for entrance to a car boot sale is unreasonable? I disagree

This is where we differ. It is not my choice of charity, and donating to charity should be optional. This is not a new 'charity event' - it is an existing event that has been hijacked, for want of a better word. If it were to go towards costs with a corresponding reduction in the buyer's fee, I wouldn't have a problem.

That you'd like to know which charity was benefitting. Meh, I guess I agree, but consider it relatively irrelevant, as its a reasonable mandatory charge, so the organisers can choose to donate it where they want.

That is a big part of the problem. I don't want to derail the thread into a debate about the merits and demerits of different causes, but there are some charities I simply would not support, and it annoys me that none of the publicity states what the charity or charities are - why not include that very relevant piece of information.

That because previously didn't charge you are somehow entitled to benefit from their hard work organising and hosting the event for free forevermore?

The organisers already get revenue from the pitch fees, and as I've said, if it was a case of 'splitting' this income between buyers and sellers it would be less problematic, although personally as a seller I would rather pay £1 more on my pitch fee in the knowledge more buyers will come if it's free.

Very hard diagree, and if this is your thought process, it shows you up to be very entitled indeed, as well as being a self confessed tightwad.

Yes, I am a tightwad - I don't think that goes hand in hand with entitlement. I am a tightwad because the cost of living is going up and up, I'm paying lots of tax, I don't receive anything from the state, the goalposts of my state pension keep moving later and later and I need to make sure I can pay my way in life and that I can have a reasonable standard of living both now and by saving for the future.

You are completely missing the point, though.

It's not your event. How it is run is not up to you.

You don't get to dictate what they charge, who they charge, which charity the donate to, or any other aspect of how they run their business.

You get to choose to attend, and abide by their terms, or not attend.

If you think you can run a better event, then you do all the work, put all the effort in and set up your own event. Otherwise, suck it up, and stop trying to dictate the terms of someone else's business.

Your comment baffles me. I have said more than once, I have no plans to complain either to the organisers or via any form of media. How is this 'dictating' how they run their business?

You are confusing 'dictating' with 'having an opinion on'.

OP, you actually cannot be serious.
How on earth did you end up so mean-spirited?
I would understand if it was a fiver donation, but a quid, get over yourself!

Yes, absolutely this.

There is no 'point' being made, apart from, "I don't like this. I think everyone is entitled to continue getting this freebie. If I do have to pay, then I think I'm entitled to be sure exactly how the money is spent afterwards."

People are (quite rightly, in my view) disagreeing with this stance, and also pointing out that OP absolutely has the freedom to choose not to go to the event in the first place if it's that much of a problem for her. It's not that posters don't understand. It's that they disagree.

Personally, I have no problem with OP being a tightwad. Each to their own. But the world does not revolve around OP's preferences, and she is wrong to expect that it will. Just because people have been giving her something for free for a long time, doesn't mean that she has the right to it. If she pays for a product/service, then she doesn't get to choose (or even know) what the seller subsequently spends that money on.

The organisers of the car boot sale have the right to decide who is charged, and how, and how any profits are spent. OP has the right to dislike this, and to stay away if she chooses. Other posters have the right to disagree with OP, and explain why. OP has the right not to learn anything from this process.

OP I think you are being ridiculously tight (and I say this as someone who is also very tight!). HOWEVER are you sure it's not clear who the charity is? It should be clear, legally, before you pay, because obviously you should know. You might not want to donate to a particular charity because you don't share their aims, who knows. I wonder if the advertising refers to a charity donation because the charity varies but when you go on a particular day they make it clear which charity your money will go to? If it isn't clear, then you do have a point (but personally I would have made your point without mentioning the £1 element, because your point isn't really the amount but rather the fact that the charity recipient is unclear).