So you have organised all of your stuff ready for your big move and like many people do have realised you have a lot of resalable clutter that you no longer need. Still a popular choice for many people are car boot sales but they are not always as easy to participate in as you would think. Here are some top tips from Kitsons Transport for having a successful car boot!
– Do your research “Check out some of the car boot sales that are happening when you are available and pick out one that suits your needs or looks to have the type of car boot customers that you are wanting. Many car boot sales also charge a fee per car so factor this into your costs. Check out Car Boot Junction for more information on car boots happening around your area.
– Prepare to travel “ Although you may be worried about the additional fuel costs that may incur from travelling further afield it could be worth it in the end. Many of the more popular car boot sales are likely to happening away from your doorstep but attending one of these carboots will help you sell all of your items in one day.
– Get there early “ Setting up a car boot sale happens at the crack of dawn so get yourself down there early, as early as 5am in many cases, to get yourself a good spot on the car park / field. There is no point putting all your effort in researching the best car boot sale, travelling down there and then finding out that the only spot is at the far back of the car boot or even worse the car boot is full and you cant even get your stall set up.
– Take change “ Make sure you have a good selection of coins in change from 1p to £1 coins so that you dont end up missing a sale from being unable to give change back to the buyer. Your bank might be able to change some money for you.
– Display everything “ Dont expect people to want to rummage through all of your boxes. If you can try and display every single item that you have on sale, price clearly marked and if possible group similar items together as some customers might be likely to buy more than one item.
– Negotiation skills “ As you can imagine a lot of potential buyers at car boot sales think that they can get everything at the cheapest price possible. Dont always think that you must sell everything today. If you are sure that something is worth more than what the buyer is willing to pay then stand your ground, another buyer may be just around the corner.
– Bags “ Bring some bags (preferably eco friendly ones) see here for some eco bag options. You could even charge a small fee to the customer (a few pence at most) for providing a plastic bag. Many customers may have their own bags or boxes to put the items in so wont need your bags.
– Prepare for the weather “ As we all know even in the middle of summer we can be hit with an unexpected downpour. Dont let this affect your sales by preparing for the rain with over sized umbrellas and plastic sheets to cover items that could be get water damaged. You could even sell the umbrellas afterwards if you never plan on using them again.
– Remaining Items “ You dont always sell every single item at a car boot sale unless you give everything away for free (Some people will even haggle over items costing 10p¦). Therefore be prepared to take some items back with you. From here you have some additional options to get rid of the items if you really dont want to keep them anymore. You could attend another car boot sale the next weekend, list the items on ebay or even give them away to charity.