Car Boot sales are a fun place to have a wander, but there seem to be certain people who are able to go along to them every weekend and then turn up to work talking about all the wonderful bargains they’ve bought.  I don’t know about you, but for a long time I wondered at how they managed it!  I have since then been lucky enough if not to become someone who finds a bargain every time, at least someone who comes home happy with what I’ve bought on a much more regular basis.

The first thing I’d say is be prepared to get up EARLY if you want a bargain!  I know many of the boot sales go on till midday, but the really good stuff has usually gone before 9am so get up and get out there ready to go in when the sale starts!

If you plan on being a while take a snack and a bottle of juice with you, dress for the weather of the day, and take plenty of change.  You don’t want to be wasting money on food and drink, and it’s no good getting a good price for something then finding that you only have a £20 note and the seller’s run out of change!

Now I know a lot of people are really careful about buying electrical items at boot sales, because after all what do you do if you get home and it doesn’t work?  Well the thing is, if most people are careful of it, then good electrical items can often be bought very cheaply because seller’s know you’re taking a chance.  (I bought my last vacuum cleaner – a Dyson DC04 – at a boot sale for just £8 and we’ve had it more than two years now – not the latest model, but a very good bargain!).

Clothes and shoes can look a bit messy when seen at Boot sales, but take a good look at what the seller has, they may have some really good brand name items going for mere pennies, so it’s worth a good rummage.

Ask how much when you’re interested in something – even if it’s got a price stuck to it.  There’s a good chance that the seller would rather sell it for a bit less than the marked price, than take it home again.  If they give you a price, ask if they could do it for a bit less, chance it… you can’t lose anything by asking after all!  If you like several things on a stall, maybe once you’ve negotiated a price for each one separately, ask if they will knock off a bit more if you buy all three.

Despite what I said at the beginning about getting up early for the best bargains, if you stick it out till people are packing up, you can also sometimes pick up some bits for really good prices.  Not everyone who does a boot sale will be there every week, many people just do one or two each summer so they’re likely to let things go at silly prices at the end in order that they don’t have to pack it up and take it home.

Happy bargain hunting!

Contributed by Vialdana

Tags: bargain, car boot, car boot sale