Sunday 26 May 2019

And Then It Was Gone ...


This was the interior of our truck as we arrived at the Mary Hughes Memorial Playing Field Car Boot Sale ... known to most of us here in the valley as The Taly y Bont car boot sale.


Then I spotted that Alan had already unloaded five demi-johns ... gosh he was quick off the mark  ;-)


It was a brilliant morning for us, luckily the rain held off apart from a few threatening big blobs and then a bit later on there was the smallest of showers, which with the heat of the day was soon dissipated and no stock was spoilt.  

And we sold, sold and sold some more.

Our new favourite blog readers/car boot stalkers Gill and Mike, came over to say hello and make some more purchases, and everyone on the field was in a buying mood ... which as a seller is always very refreshing.

Of course it helps that our stuff is clean, well presented and priced to sell.  If we take something to a car boot sale it's because we actually do want to get rid of it to someone who hopefully, will appreciate it, need it and will make good use of it.  There are always some stalls that you see at every boot sale through the Summer with the same stock, over priced and gradually getting dustier and dustier throughout the season and they seem happy to keep transporting it around.  Maybe it's just a day out for them and a chance to make money, each to their own and all that ... but we pay our pitch money and want to sell what we have brought.

So we have a haggle with folk, let people have bargains, explain how to use things ... and at today's car boot sale I seemed to be giving out a lot of vegan advice.  Having some vegan books and magazines for sale helped people strike up conversations and today quite a few of those were about eggs!!  Oh well I hoped I helped in my own small way.


My one purchase of the day, a book for 50p.  I've seen the film and loved it.

When we're there to sell we do sometimes have a little wander round, I like to do my wander at the start of the day so I can see who is behind each stall and the sort of things they are selling.  Mostly because you find other stall holders will come over and make offers for things and then literally ten minutes later they have your items for sale on their table for twice the price (or more).  Now I really  don't mind people doing this but if I'm asking £5 for something and they offer me £2, and then I see it for their stall at £8 I do get a bit annoyed.  If they want to buy to resell then fair enough ... but pay me what I'm asking you are still going to make a profit, if you can get the £8 you are asking that is!!

A case in point today was a lady who wanted some as new Hotter shoes that I was selling for £12 a pair, she offered me a real knock down price ... but I said no.  I'm so glad I did as a few minutes later I walked past her stall on the way to the toilets and spotted that she had boxes and boxes of shoes all being sold at £20 a pair.  


The back of the truck at the end of the sale.

I will sort through the clothes that are left and keep the very best for next time, add the ones that I intend to sort out this week while I'm here in Wales to the rail ready for the next car boot sale and give the unwanted ones to the charity shop for either selling or rag weight.


And what was our grand total ... well we beat last weeks money easily and came home with £182.80.

Not to be sneezed at.  

Now I have a couple of empty large boxes and space on the hanging rail.  So I think it's time for a few days of sorting and pricing in our bid to move from the cluttered and hectic life we seem to have to our newer smaller and simpler one.


Sue xx


18 comments:

  1. This all looks good to me - when I moved here after being widowed I got rid of everything except the things I really wanted to keep. Off loading I found very therapeutic.

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    1. It really is isn't it, we are feeling better with each area we sort out.

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  2. I've got a lot of sorting out to do, not my stuff but recently acquired from a house clearance, which will be sold at the end of June for the Cat Rescue. I've got piles of the stuff and will be glad when it's gone.

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    1. It does get annoying when you have boxes and boxes of stuff waiting to go doesn't it. Your boot sales are a brilliant way to make money for a good cause.

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  3. Well done! Wish I was fitter and could do a car boot. We dont seem to have them where we live.

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    1. It really does depend on whereabouts you live doesn't it. I wonder if there are less car boot sales in the whole of Scotland, or just your area? I don't recall seeing any signs for them when we've been visiting Alan's neck of the woods (Peebles and the Borders) either.

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  4. Hi Sue, it was Mike's birthday yesterday and I know that a car boot sale is not everyone's idea of a fun morning out but I know that it suited him just fine. We are both bargain hunters and skinflints, I'm Yorkshire born and bred so it's in the DNA and we both get enjoyment out of finding something that we need at a knockdown price and we aren't at all worried about being 'second-hand Rose'. Since we got our Welsh cottage last summer we've both been looking for decent wet weather jackets in the charity shops and we found a Berghaus for Mike 3 weeks ago for £1 in our local charity shop at home (it sells most clothes for £1) and I got my wish yesterday too, thank you so much! The rest of our new treasures are VERY welcome and I love them all.

    You had a fantastic return for your efforts so well done, you really did empty the car out.

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    1. Aww ... you should have said, I hope he had a good day. I wouldn't call you skinflints for shopping at car boots, just sensible and good re-cyclers. Ooh WHAT was your wish ... you have me intrigued :-)

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    2. Hi Sue, I did take Mike out for lunch though so there was a bit of birthday about his day!

      You granted my wish of a super-stylish wet weather jacket for not a lot of money, It's been on my wishlist since last summer and I REALLY didn't want a brand new one so your jacket fitted the bill perfectly. I've left it in the cottage as it will get more use in Wales but brought all the books and magazines back home. I can see them going back and forth with us as I read through them, tagging the pages I want to cook, photographing the pages then indexing the photos in a document along with my other recipes - and then passing them on to someone else so I can keep to my 50 cookbook self-imposed rule.

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    3. Brilliant, I'm glad I could make your wish come true.

      Sue = Genie in disguise ;-)

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  5. The car boot sales have gone right downhill here. Only a small rubbishy one nearby that is mainly traders. A few years ago we did one a few miles away and we had the same problem of people wanting our stuff for pennies so they could resell for more than we asked.

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    1. It spoils it when it's mostly traders doesn't it, luckily the two that we sell at don't have any traders as such, just a few seasoned and regular car booters that turn up at both over and and over with the same stuff.

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  6. You did very well at your sale.

    God bless.

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    1. We were pleasantly surprised at how much we made, we had guessed at just over a hundred but to be that much over was a nice surprise.

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  7. I remember when you used your earnings from car boot sales as money for household expenses...I've started doing the same with anything I get including spare change, found money, gifts of cash, etc. You did well. Wishing you continued luck as you scale down.

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    1. This year any money we earn from the car boot sales is being used for day to day expenses. The notes and pound coins as housekeeping and for incidental random living expenses and anything smaller into the Sealed Pot for opening later in the year. This way the money left over from our wages each month, of which there should be more, is being transferred straight over to our savings.

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  8. Well done on your car boot sales. That's a great amount to make! I really must get cracking and get my car boot stuff together. I just need to make sure I can have hubby's car, I can't get much in my little Fiat 500!

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    1. Haha ... yes that's what I drive. I have done a boot sale from it once, I just loaded everything loose, not in our usual boxes, and filled up the back and front passenger seats too 😃

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