How To Have An Effective Car Boot Sale
Find out how to make sure you prepare for your car boot as effectively as possible, all whilst making as much money as possible too.
It is car boot season which means there is an opportunity every sunday to make some extra cash. That's right, you can sit down for a few hours, eat a few bacon sarnies and chat with lots of customers and make yourself up to £100 or more depending on what you are selling. Sounds pretty good for a sunday morning you might otherwise spend snoozing right? If you're going to have an effective car boot sale this summer, take a look at these tips to help your money tin finish full at the end of the morning:
Declutter
You have to have items to sell right? So declutter, declutter, declutter! All of that useless junk to you, is a treasure to somebody at the car boot willing to pay good money for it! Take a weekend and go through each room gathering items to sell, items to give to charity and items to throw away. You may want to try and sell items you will otherwise donate to charity afterwards if they don't sell, to maximise your car boot stock. Don't forget to declutter your cheap self storage unit either, which may well be stuffed with even more car boot treasures to sell. This will not only earn you money, but will help you downsize your self-storage unit so that you can save money month on month moving forward as well (find out more).
Pack To Sell
When you pack items up, don't just chuck anything in any box, pack to sell. Think about how your stall will be laid out, and pack in a way that means you can easily group items up as soon as you start unpacking. Clothes in one box, ornaments in another, toys in another. The more organised your packing, the quicker you can be sat down relaxing on the day of the boot sale.
Have The Right Kit
You have to have certain things to have an effective car boot sale which are:
● A money tin or box
● Lots of bags - people always want bags to carry items in
● Pasting tables
● Cloths to cover the tables
● Boxes
● Labels
● A marker pen
● Change
Be Friendly
When people go up to your stall, smile and then busy yourself with organising things (even if they don't need organising) so they don't feel they are being watched. Watching someone browse will deter them because most people feel uncomfortable being watched (understandably!). If they chat to you, get chatting to them. As a general rule, stalls with people browsing on them get more interest because other people think they are missing out. So the longer you can keep customers on your stall, the better.
Be Open To Negotiation
Expect people to begin negotiations at 50% or less than the price you offer. This is normal and most people are looking for at least 25% off the price you mention. So if you have an item you want to sell for £5 minimum, but ideally £7, then say it is £10 to start negotiations. People expect to be able to haggle.
Your car boot is going to be successful because it costs around £5- £10 to sell, and it is highly likely you will at least make that money back so, you won't lose anything. At the very least you'll have decluttered your home, and you can donate items you don't sell to charity. At the most you will have decluttered, and spent a relaxed sunday morning making up to £100 selling items you would have given away.
