Are the Boden Clearance sales worth it?

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I am thinking of going to one of the Boden clearance sales but it will involve a long journey and limited time there (I've got to be back home at a certain time). Would be grateful if anyone could advise if they are actually worth it. Are the prices bargainous??

No. Johnnie's old tat he can't palm off on to anyone else. Run a mile.

I'm going to the Edinburgh one tomorrow. Am envisioning major traffic jams!

I've never been before and must admit am slightly excited.

Will there be changing rooms?

I didn't go to the last one down here, but friends did, and apparently it was a mare of women buying up £800 quids worth of stuff - including all of some handbags etc - clearly to sell on ebay. Which seems a bit rubbish.

I didn't go to the last one round here but heard it was full of women shovelling any old tat into carrier bags, I assume too destined for Ebay.

The thing about ebay is that it is so hit and miss. I've sold brand new stuff on there for pennies, only to sell some old tat the following week for more then it cost new.

Anybody doing a Boden ramraid to make money on ebay is taking a big risk imo.

Mind you, if I see any really 'crazy' reductions I know that the 'ebay devil' will be on my shoulder!

Why do we give in to the madness

Morris - would really appreciate it if you could let us know how you get on. I'm maybe going to go to the Edinburgh one on Saturday but keen to know if it's worth it. No desire to put stuff on ebay just wanted to get some cheap clothes for my DD's.

huge traffic queues to get there and a scrum inside....wasn't worth the bother imo (but then i don't do ebay)

I won't be at a computer Belle, sorry! I think they have these sales all over the place so maybe somebody else can advise how good it is in general. Must be out of season stock etc, and may well be presented in 'TK Maxx' style and require sharp elbows!

Well it's a while til Jenners sale

I'm going to try my luck at the Edinburgh one tomorrow. Never been before, but will report back. Wish me luck!

Best of luck Helena!

Well - to be honest, it wasn't too bad. I got there before 9am and was just a few people away from the front. By the time they opened the doors, there were several hundred people snaking round the building though! Not as much boy stuff as I;d hoped, but for £170, I came away with boys: trousers x2; tops x2; pyjamas x2; winter coats x2. One top for dh, and 3 tops and a bag for me. The worst bit was the queue to pay.........
HTH

How do you get to hear about these sales?? I am about 400 miles from Edinburgh.

Nice work helena! I'm going this afternoon, wish me luck!

Betty, I got a leaflet about it posted from Boden two weeks ago. I guess they do it by postcode/ proximity to the sale.

Aha. No call for cheap Boden in the Wiltshire borders then

i got 3 trousers, 2 shirt, 1 skirt for me 1 trouser for dh, 2 dresses, 1 top, 1 cardie for dd
£130 bargain.

trousers were £10 which was great. i was v. sceptical but am a convert. the queue to pay was horrific though and dd will never come shopping with me again.

I got a lovely shirt for £15 in the last online sale. I woudln't go to the shop though - it will be a right rugby scrum.

it was cheaper than the sale online. the only horrible bit was queuing to pay really.

I was at the Edinburgh sale at 4pm on the Friday - was no queue to pay, and plenty of room in the 'changing rooms'. Everybody was polite, there was no scrum at all.

I got a few things, best purchase by far was the blue and green graphic 'fun skirt' from last summer for £20. I had loved it in the catalogue but been put off by the price.

I have to say, one good thing about the clearance sale is that it is so jumble-sale like, it really helps you to get Boden clothes into perspective IYSWIM.

When you've dug around in plastic boxes laid out on shabby trestle tables in a smelly old scout hut for your fizzy spotty skirts, they don't seem quite so glamourous as when presented on lush models in a super-gorgeous catalogue shoot. They're just clothes.

Btw, for anybody giong to the sales in future, prices are:

Skirts £20
Dresses £30
Knitwear £30
Tops £10
Shoes £20

And some other bits and bobs. Much cheaper than catalogue, but not exactly giving it away.

Hi I went to the Edinburgh one on Saturday.

There was nothing left clothes wise that I would have considered although I did try a few things on and the fitting room was full of women trying on stuff that really wasn't that nice, and as you can see from the prices above, still not mega cheap for most of the stuff. I tried on a couple of pairs of shoes and boots, but boots were still £30 for ankle boots and £40 for long boots so I didn't get any.

There were no boys clothes at all for DS age range 2-3 or 3-4 and seemed to be very little left for children.

TBH I wouldn't recommend going any distance for it unless you are going to get there early as presumably all the good stuff was gone by the time I got there.

I went to the Boden sale here today and oh my god it is an experience I will not be repeating. I got there just before it opened, and there was an enormous queue, which I'd kind of expected, but it was even bigger than I had thought. Then, when you got in, dear god the avarice in people's faces was something to behold! There were a group of women who had got in early and clearly swept whole crates of children's clothing straight into the large Ikea bags they had brought with them for the purpose. Then they sat in a corner of the room sorting through their haul. EBay, I presume.

I also didn't think the prices were that great - I saw shorts going for £8 which I had bought more cheaply for DD2 at the end of season online sale last year.

I bought nowt. I did however stay for a while just to watch the mostly female crowd sift frantically through the boxes in search of the perfect bargain - I hope they found it.

Go in the afternoon when the crowds die down. I am firmly of the belief that the EXHAUSTED staff don't have time to pour more stock onto the tables till then, so there is good stuff to buy in relative peace.

One year I got a brown and a purple satin shirt with jewelled buttons for £15 each - had paid £70-ish for my green one on-line.

I remember saying to my DP as we drove home, 'There were lots of people our age there. And lots of people older then us. But nobody younger than us'.

We're 37. Maybe they'll rename middle age as Boden age

I found that "grabbing everything" thing very odd when I went to one (about 5 years ago) There were huddle sof women sat in corners going though stuff and kindly let us polite people sift through the stuff they didn't want

That was in Winchester - it was horrible.

There is one coming up in Southampton soon - not sure if I will go or not because I am very partial to their dresses but refuse to pay full price for them

Can anyone say when and where is the Southampton one, or the net one in Winchester?

10th and 11th June at the city Cruise Terminal - never been there so I don't know how to get there or anything!