How to Do a Car Boot Sale Before Moving

If you’re moving to another home soon, a car boot sale can be a great way to simultaneously reduce the number of unwanted household items in your current house or flat and cut down on your moving expenses by pocketing some extra cash.

Read on for our super practical car boot selling tips and ideas in order to turn your car boot sale into a successful and pleasurable experience.

How To Prepare For A Car Boot Sale

One thing is clear – you need good preparation in order to pull off a trouble-free and profitable car boot sale.

Declutter your stuff

Paying for the transportation of any items you neither want nor need anymore will only be a complete waste of money and time.

Decluttering your home will not only make your home move cheaper, quicker, and easier but selling those unwanted items will help towards your relocation costs.

Pay special attention to your storage spaces (attic, basement, garage, tool shed, etc.) because they will probably contribute the most to your eventual car boot sale profit – all the things forgotten with time, no longer wanted by anyone in your family, totally or partially neglected, and grossly unappreciated.

You may also like to read: The Epic Guide to Decluttering for a Home Move. In this guide, we explain the easiest way to declutter each room of your home.

Assign fair prices

Placing price stickers on your sale items is a great idea and if you have helpers there will be no mistakes with prices and your customers will have a good idea of the ballpark figure you are willing to take for an item.

Next comes another hard task for you – to assign reasonable prices for each item that will go on sale very soon.

This is a delicate process that will definitely determine how successful the overall car boot sale goes.

One-fourth of what you originally paid for an item is usually a good initial price for your used items but to really find the right balance between overpricing (coming back home with most of the things unsold) and underpricing (clearing your lot fast but at a loss), you will need to do some research first.

Browse through big online shops such as eBay or Amazon and take a close look at how similar goods are priced so that you come at least close to a well-balanced price.

You may also like to read: How to Declutter the Loft. The loft is often the hardest part of the home to declutter because many of the items will have sentimental value and you may be reluctant to part with them. In this guide, we show you not only how to safely declutter the attic but also how to detach yourself emotionally from your possessions.

How To Organise A Car Boot Sale

Our car boot sale tips continue with practical advice on how to organise your car boot sale the right way.

How to find a car boot sale

Are we forgetting something? Ah, yes – you will have to first find a local car boot sale in order to be able to attend it, right?

Probably the best car boot sale finder is offered by Car Boot Junction – one of the UK’s fastest-growing car boot sales directories online.

Their directory lists more than 1800 car boots all over the country, including essentials such as opening times, entry fees, and other additional information (disabled access, refreshments, etc.).

Last minute preparations

Having already found a local car boot sale near you, these are all things you should do right before you load your merchandise into your car and drive off optimistically towards the nearest car boot sale.

Our car boot sale checklist goes like this:

1. Contact the car boot sale operator the day before the event and make sure the sale hasn’t been cancelled for one reason or another.
2. Also, ask the organiser what time the sale starts and then do your best to arrive there at least 1 full hour before the official starting time unless you are assured that no admission will be possible before a specific time. Remember that there is always a good deal of competition for the best pitches and you can be sure that the regular car boot sellers will already be there. MOST IMPORTANTLY, the regular buyers will be there at that time as well, and they are the ones you are after since they can usually afford to spend the most money.
3. Unless the car boot sale you’re going to is an indoor event check the weather forecast for expected rain one day before the sale day. It won’t make any sense to show up at a sale if it is pouring down. If only slight drizzles are expected, don’t forget your umbrella and a few plastic coverings to protect your items. On the other hand, if they say the weather will be sunny, you may as well take some sunscreen with you for protection against sunburn.
4. Don’t rely on the available refreshment stalls there but prepare in advance some sandwiches and bottled water to take with you, especially if you have children with you. If you plan to take your trusted canine friend with you as a guard and companion, remember to take food and water for them too, but only after you have made sure that pets will be allowed on site.
5. What are you going to use to display the stuff you have for sale? The classic solution is to have a folding pasting table, but you can also choose to lay your bric-a-brac straight on the ground (not before placing a protective material of some sort, of course) or display them directly from the boot of your vehicle. If you choose to use a folding table like you should, load it last into your car to provide easy access to it as it will be the first thing you will get out of your vehicle when you arrive on the grounds of the car boot sale.
6. Take one (foldable) chair if you’re going to the sale on your own or at least two if you’re taking your family or friends with you.
7. Having a stack of carrier bags to hand over to your buyers is an excellent idea, as is having extra packing and padding supplies with you.
8. It’s very important that you take plenty of small change with you and possibly a reliable bumbag to keep the profit safe.
9. If possible, arrange to have a companion with you – it’s always more fun to have good company and besides, this way you will guarantee yourself proper toilet breaks and improved vigilance over the stall.
10. And finally, a few final words about your items: make sure they are clean, presentable, and still usable, then pack them safely with packing paper (newsprint is also a good choice but mind the ink stains it can leave on your merchandise) or bubble wrap for the more fragile ones, place them into smaller cardboard boxes and load them safely into your vehicle. Oh, and don’t forget to check the pockets of the clothes you will be putting up for sale for money or other small items of value.

You may also like to read: How to Make Moving Home Fun. Holding a car boot sale can be great fun. In this guide, we look at other ways to make moving home fun, from preparing for the move to unpacking at your new home, there are always ways to make things more fun.

How To Sell At A Car Boot Sale

Our car boot sale advice will end with some practical pointers on the dos and don’ts of car boot sales.

1. As advised above, arrive at the car boot sale at least one hour before the advertised opening time, or maybe even a bit earlier.
2. Look for a good pitch – ideally a sunny spot closer to the refreshment stalls and away from any mud patches.
3. When you park your car, you may want to wait at least 10-15 minutes before starting to unpack so that the over-eagerly boot divers have a chance to drift off.
4. It’s imperative that you take out your pasting table and set it up BEFORE you begin to take your sale items out of the vehicle. Setting up the table first will enable you to avoid overly quick questions or having to watch out vigilantly for sticky fingers from the very beginning. Understand that it’s you who will determine how your particular sale will unfold so try to follow your pre-set rules.
5. Be careful to leave a considerable gap between your sale area and your neighbours’ so that potential buyers can walk comfortably around you.
6. Think of various ways to make your stall more attractive – consider placing a tablecloth of a bright colour or tying a few cheerful balloons to start the sale on the right foot. Go in front of your stall and look at it from a buyer’s perspective – do you like what you see or is there room for improvement?
7. If possible, arrange your items in themes so that potential buyers can easily spot what they are after. The goods that you think will be less saleable can be placed on the ground over a protective sheet while keeping the “bestsellers” on the table.
8. As mentioned above, the price stickers you place on each item will give you a break as you won’t have to answer price queries every 10 seconds or so. On the other hand, you may prefer to have people asking for the respective prices, especially if you’re a person who likes to haggle.
9. Speaking of haggling, be mentally ready for this car boot sale phenomenon whether you like it or not. Be polite and respectful to anyone interested in what you have to offer. You can even do your best to charm potential buyers with a friendly conversation. However, you should still state the prices firmly and at the same time be flexible for business-like negotiations and possible discounts. Just remember your initial intention to do a car boot sale – was it to get rid of all unwanted and undesired items before you move house or was the idea to earn as much money as possible to help you cover some of the moving expenses?
10. Hopefully, there will be a steady interest in your stall and the sale transactions will be constant throughout the duration of the car boot sale.
11. And finally, do your best to have fun during the sale day. If you have a friend to look after your stall, take a walk around the boot sale and see if you can grab any bargains yourself!

You may also like to read: Where to Donate Unwanted Items. If you don’t manage to sell everything you may want to donate those items to a worthy cause. In this guide, we list items by type and the places where you can donate them.

We believe that the above car boot sale tips will enable you to go home with a sizable profit AND a smile on your face.

With the upcoming move, you will certainly put the earned money to good use.

Be sure to visit our home moving blog where you will find many guides to make your home move easier and cheaper.

Good luck!

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