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Giving the crunch the boot
5:00am Sunday 28th September 2008
Comments (10)
IT’S been going for 21 years, but selling and buying at this particular car boot sale has never been so popular. From 5am, early-bird risers arrive in their cars to set up their pitches at Bursledon Open Air Market – one of the biggest car boot sales in the region.
Organisers say they are at their busiest as the credit crunch continues to bite, leaving thousands of people discovering new ways of earning extra cash.
The increasing number of eager sellers is matched by a growing number of enthusiastic bargainhunters prepared to sacrifice a Sunday morning lie-in for the chance of getting a good buy.
No longer is it just the veteran car boot sellers selling their unwanted wares but families trying to earn a bit of extra cash as the cost of living soars.
They are joined by a growing breed of car boot seller, with young professionals looking to earn some extra cash and retired couples hoping to top up their pensions.
A typical seller might make in the region of between £50 and £100 – enough to cover a weekly food bill, pay for a couple of tanks of petrol or help meet rising electricity or gas bills.
As far as the eye can see, rows of cars are parked in neat lines, with trestle tables and ground sheets showing off an eclectic mixture of unwanted personal possessions.
Once-cherished ornamental figurines sit alongside battered board games, unopened jigsaws, colourful toys, unwanted pictures and old furniture.
One person’s rubbish is another person’s treasure as bargainhunters haggle for the best price for the object of their desire.
The rising popularity of the car boot sale is not only to be found in Bursledon.
According to a national directory of car boot sales, there are 20 per cent more being held nationwide compared to this time last year due to the economic downturn.
Turn back the clock more than two decades and the field now occupied by rows of cars, trestle tables, furry toys and clothes rails would have presented a very different sight.
Land-owner Maurice Doe previously grew strawberries and Christmas trees on the 45-acre site.
But after 25 years in an increasingly difficult English farming industry, he gave car boot sales a go and has never looked back, with the help of his two sons Maurice and John.
“I have been involved with the whole operation since I was 12 and we are just getting busier and busier,” says 33-year-old John.
“The number of people we get does depend on the weather but we are generally really busy at the moment.
“We have noticed a lot of old faces coming back and others who are coming to sell their wares at a car boot sale for the first time.
“The numbers are increasing because the cost of living is getting so expensive.”
He said that every Sunday around 300 sellers turn up to sell their items on pitches costing £6 each – although he has never counted exactly how many pitches are available.
And he has seen more foreigners, particularly people from Eastern Europe, coming to buy items during recent months.
“We do see trends in what people are selling. Fashion is dying out because people can buy cheap clothes from the supermarkets.
“Mobile phone accessories seem to be the in thing at the moment.”
It seems that the humble car boot sale where you can buy nearly everything you might ever need at a fraction of the price – including, literally, the kitchen sink – is one of the very few winners of the credit crunch.
Top tips for a successful sale...
SELLERS
- Pack your car carefully so that you can take your items and table out in the correct order
- Arrive early for a good pitch
- Bring a ground sheet to display extra items like toys and books
- Standing around can be a cold and hungry business. Stay warm and bring refreshments
- Rotate your goods – this will increase buyers’ attention to what you are selling
- Group together baskets with items that are all worth 50p or a £1.
- Don’t accept too low offers too early in the day
- A money belt is safer than a plastic tub on your table
- Smile
BUYERS
- Unless you are 100 per sure of its source and the reputability don’t buy irons or electrical fires.
- Be extra cautious when you buy prams, pushchairs, paraffin heaters and oil heaters which should all adhere to set safety standards too.
- Inspect toys to make sure there are no small parts that can be pulled off
- Check plugs and fuses before using electrical items
- Don’t be afraid to haggle – especially if it is near the end of the car boot sale
- Take batteries to make sure items work
Your Say YourDaily Echo
Iw61, bitterne park says...
10:57am Sun 28 Sep 08
hulla baloo, southampton says...
11:19am Sun 28 Sep 08
Iw61 wrote:And look at the mess the Labour have made of the country over the last 11 years.
11. Dont vote for Cameron at the next election.Remind yourself how the Tories mucked things up last time.
Iw61, bitterne park says...
12:16pm Sun 28 Sep 08
hulla baloo wrote:They took over where the Tories left off in 1997 and did very liitle to adress the privatised mess they inherited. Thats why you and me are paying for it now.
Iw61 wrote:11. Dont vote for Cameron at the next election.Remind yourself how the Tories mucked things up last time.And look at the mess the Labour have made of the country over the last 11 years.
I agree that New Labour have made a mess but do you honestly think or to put it another way, have you heard any policy that Cameron has come out with to improve things?
He would have acted exactly the same if he had been in power instead of Brown/Blair.
hulla baloo, southampton says...
12:44pm Sun 28 Sep 08
Regardless of the position of the country when they took over in 1997, in 11 years, there has been no improvement.
On the contrary has only got worse.
To mention a few-
The raid on the pension funds of financial companies which has affected everybodies pension.
The farce on immigration and terrorism rules.
The ongoing loss of supposedly secret documents.
The selling off of the gold reserves when the market was at bottom.
Instead of reducing, as promised,the Government funded payroll, has dramatically increased.
The Iraq war based on lies.
The increased public borrowing, which is now scheduled to go over the 'legally ' allowed limits.
Stealth taxes.
Local council policies and (lack of) bin collections.
Cash for honours.
Better stop now as getting depressed thinking about all this.
Iw61, bitterne park says...
4:37pm Sun 28 Sep 08
Even without speculation , while we can criticise Brown and Labour over the last 11 years, there is little vision or substance in what the Tories are proposing apart from more of the same that we received between 1979 and 1997.
The wont even call into account the speculators and bankers that contributed to this financial mess and is to cause more misery as the failed economy unfolds.
Dont say the Conservatives would do any better in the circumstances. The USA has been run by a neo Conservative Republican government under Bush and look what a mess they are in!!
We need radical action and it wont come from the Conservatives!!
paul b, Mottisfont says...
4:50pm Sun 28 Sep 08
hulla baloo, southampton says...
5:16pm Sun 28 Sep 08
Iw61 wrote:I dont disagree, however I cannot see any strength in any party capable of pulling us out of this mess. The best of the bad bunch,in my opinion, has to be conservative. Not because of any strengths they have, but because of the poor labour show over the last 11 years.
Hi Hulla baloo.Even without speculation , while we can criticise Brown and Labour over the last 11 years, there is little vision or substance in what the Tories are proposing apart from more of the same that we received between 1979 and 1997.The wont even call into account the speculators and bankers that contributed to this financial mess and is to cause more misery as the failed economy unfolds.Dont say the Conservatives would do any better in the circumstances. The USA has been run by a neo Conservative Republican government under Bush and look what a mess they are in!!We need radical action and it wont come from the Conservatives!!
All politicians seem to be interested in is preserving their own careers and feathering their own nests, and putting the electorate second.
Andy Locks Heath, says...
9:07am Mon 29 Sep 08
Bambi, Southampton says...
9:46am Mon 29 Sep 08
paul b wrote:More a case in point that you don't appreciate the scale of it.
Good to see the echo still have not worked out what the credit crunch is
The crunch in credit availability has a knock on affect beyond sub-prime mortgages, hence the rise in inflation which is making prices for everything go up, from fuel to food.
A Hampshire car boot sale
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downfader, southampton says...
10:30am Sun 28 Sep 08
While we're on the subject... Other ways you can save money in these times are:
1. use a pushbike instead of the car for local journeys
2. drink less booze. I've have more money now I'm teetotal that I would have had if I drank
3. prescriptions, if you need them and a lot - get a discount card or look into buying 3 months of them (Dom on the BBC covered this)
4. Make things last. Dont become a slave to updating digital cameras, pcs, games consoles, etc. I made a PC last 10 years! You dont need much for the web ;-)
5. Go to charity shops for cds, clothes, as you would a car boot
6. Learn about growing veg in your garden! Seeds and time are cheap and it is fun.
7. Put food waste and shredded paper in a composter and use that instead of buying commercial compost from DIY stores
8. Save on heating by turning down the radiators in rooms you dont use often, and buy fleeces and decent winter clothing
9. Learn to knit. It worked for my family, lol!
10. Read a book/magazine instead of watching telly - you will save electricity costs, and turn off appliances instead of leaving them on standby