Car boot sales benefits

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Car Boot Sale Benefits

Car boot sales have been around a long time, but they are becoming increasingly popular as places to buy and sell, and even simply to enjoy yourself. They happen in church events, village fetes, inner city car parks, sports and recreation grounds and in all sorts of exotic and unusual locations.

The common theme is that in a world where every aspect of life is tightly controlled and planned, car boot sales enable us to get involved in rummaging, bartering and doing business at a human level, whether we're buying or selling. Here we describe the thinking behind car boot sales and why we like them.

What is a Car Boot Sale?

Car boot sales have been a UK phenomenon for many years. At its most basic level, the organisers make space available for the sellers to bring their cars full of items they no longer need or want, and to sell the to others who are looking for a bargain. The seller pays the organisers a fixed fee, usually £5 to £10 for a car or £10 to £15 for a car with trailor or a van, and is given a pitch or place to park. The choice of pitch is usually on a first com basis, so the earlier you arrive, the better the pitch.

Why do car boot sales take place?

Car boot sales are successful for three main reasons:

1 - The organisers make money by charging sellers a fee to sell, and sometimes buyers an admittance fee. The organisers may be a small charity such as a church or other socially driven body who find the income a great way to make some land they have pay for itself and contribute to the organisation's funding. On the other hand, the car boot sale organisers may be individuals or businesses who want to run the sale as any other public event. Car boot sales can work as both small local events, and as major businesses. Both have a place, and they often have different personalities, demographic mixes and ethos.

2 - The sellers want to make some money by selling stock. As with the organisers, the sellers can be private individuals who just want to clear their attick, or they may be well established traders with lorries and paid employees. The distinction is often blurred, where some people who have dipped their toes in the boot sale waters find they like it, but can't keep selling their household contents. They then may buy some stock from a wholesaler to mix with their own items, and so they pass from being private individuals to traders. The difference may well indicated by whether you make a profit on what you sell. Don't be fooled into thinking that if you buy an item for £20, and sell it for £2 five years later you have made a profit.

3 - The buying public want a bargain. We buy things, use them, but then we may tire of them or no longer need them if our lifestyle changes. Our options are to give them to friends or charity, dump them, or sell them to redeem some value. A car boot sale is an excellent way to redeem some of the value in an item rather than simply throwing it away.

Green Credentials

Can there be a better way to prolong the life of an item than to pass it on to someone else (for a small fee) and let them get benefit from it while it is still functional and useful? Why pay a fortune for something new when you can often buy the same item at a car boot sale for a fraction of the price. This is especially true of tools an items which have a long life span. Car boot sales have been energy and carbon efficient for many years, long before it became fashionable.