Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

August Bank Holiday


jdgm

Recommended Posts

In England the last weekend in August is extended and we have a long weekend with Bank Holiday Monday.

 

Today - Sunday, it didn't rain (until this evening) so I went ahead and did a car boot sale.

I think car boot = trunk or whatever you call the rear storage area in your vehicle.

We have car boot sales over here. I went to the Country Market (big farm produce shop) near Bordon, about 20 mins away from me, and paid my £8 to park in their field and sell whatever I had put in the boot (sorry, trunk) of my car - i.e. all my old junk.

 

I did it last weekend, made about £65(GBP) profit and got the bug....."hey I can get rid of a lot of this stuff and get some money" is what this is about.

I loaded the night before (you must have folding tables to put all your junk on and it sells better if it is clearly priced) and got there before 8 a.m.

You make most of whatever money you are going to make by 10 a.m. then it slows right down and the whole thing is over by 12.30.

Many people sell old clothes, kids toys and...try anything you've got in the cupboard and want to get shot of!

 

Today I made £60, probably a quarter of that was from old 45s and LPs in not-so-good-condition. But the most important thing is I got rid of an awful lot of stuff I never use anymore or need.

What I've brought back home will go to the charity shop, the rubbish bin or in a box for the next time I do this.

I had some music-related items - cheap guitar leads, a de-gausser etc, which didn't go this week....no musicians!

 

I already spent £35 of my profit on petrol for next week's rehearsals and gig.

 

So I know you have yard sales in the USA. Got anything like this? Here are some pics starting with my very modest setup! Most of it got sold.

 

BootSaleD300815_zpskh9iwnao.jpg

 

BootSaleA300815_zpsyuld6vbn.jpg

 

BootSaleC300815_zpsewyku8xx.jpg

 

 

 

Regards!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In USA we have Yard Sales. Just put everything out in front of your house 8am Saturday. We have to give the Man a fee to even do that. So much for land of the free

Who do you have to pay - a local authority? How much? One-off payment?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

its summer there, right?

 

[biggrin]

[lol]

 

Yes.

You can tell because the umbrellas are still furled.

 

I've never done a Boot Sale but we went to one recently and bought a bike for our daughter.

A bit of time spent removing hideous (factory-applied) stickers, a clean&lube, some really gorgeous cursive-script 'factory' stickers (from eBay) and it looked brand-spanking-new and totally Classy. All for £40. The bike never fails to turns heads / receive admiring glances wherever she goes.

 

I came back a huge fan of the Boot Sale concept and we're definitely going to 'do' one ourselves for the reasons mentioned by the OP.

For one thing we now have two of my daughter's older bikes to shift...

 

Pip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who do you have to pay - a local authority? How much? One-off payment?

 

 

I think here (Massachusetts) it's 25 bucks for the "License" to conduct yard sale.

 

can't be making any money round here with out someone taking some of it from you.. [cursing]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[lol]

 

Yes.

You can tell because the umbrellas are still furled.

 

 

 

I've never done a Boot Sale but we went to one recently and bought a bike for our daughter.

A bit of time spent removing hideous (factory-applied) stickers, a clean&lube, some really gorgeous cursive-script 'factory' stickers (from eBay) and it looked brand-spanking-new and totally Classy. All for £40. The bike never fails to turns heads / receive admiring glances wherever she goes.

 

I came back a huge fan of the Boot Sale concept and we're definitely going to 'do' one ourselves for the reasons mentioned by the OP.

For one thing we now have two of my daughter's older bikes to shift...

 

Pip.

 

The secret to scoring good at a boot sale is to go very early...

 

Regards

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have yard sales and we don't require a permit.

There are boot sales. I've always called them flea markets.

 

It is a real treasure hunt for some people.

 

There are lots of conversations that go like this:

Him, "Look at this excellent boat anchor that I only paid $3.50 for. He was asking $5.00"

Her, "You don't have a boat."

Him, "But it was such a deal, and you never know when I'll need it."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are lots of conversations that go like this:

Him, "Look at this excellent boat anchor that I only paid $3.50 for. He was asking $5.00"

Her, "You don't have a boat."

Him, "But it was such a deal, and you never know when I'll need it."

 

There's always these. [smile] One of the 1st things I sold on Sunday was a very old (not good) brass cymbal for £3 - the guy wasn't a drummer but said "it's worth it just to annoy the wife".... [laugh] [laugh]

 

An hour later a self-confessed tool addict bought some desperate old tools I had including my steel saw handle (yes only a handle - it was dirt cheap, visible in the wire basket in my pic) as a spare!

 

You never know when you might need a gross each of 3" and 3 1/2" size 8 steel screws, sold to someone else who appreciated their 1960s quality...when would you need 3 1/2" screws? That's as long as a finger. Not often.

Or a set of 2U rack ears?

How about the engine management 'brain' of a Mercedes 190E? That didn't sell - I had it up for £20 ono, and no-one wants to risk that sort of cash on electricals without some sort of comeback....rightly IMO.

I was surprised the TEAC mixdown panel didn't go but no-one uses tape now do they?

 

I've sorted out all the remaining stuff today and binned a few things, the rest (car brains, unsold 45s and mixdown panels) is in a box under the stairs or going to charity this week.

 

It was good - I can recommend it but as Flight says you have to be early, plus you have to have a few good things that you know are going to sell as well as the rest, and you have to want to GET RID OF IT most of all...IMO this is more important than any money you make.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BootSaleD300815_zpskh9iwnao.jpg

 

Regards!

I must admit that is the largest capacity coping saw I have ever seen.

 

< I came back a huge fan of the Boot Sale concept and we're definitely going to 'do' one ourselves for the reasons mentioned by the OP. >

< For one thing we now have two of my daughter's older bikes to shift... >

 

Pip.

One day I will be doing the same. With four kids, the cast asides take up enough room to park a car. In total there are eight with another to be added soon, as my youngest son has outgrown his 24".

The three boys got to share hand me downs - my daughter is now on her fourth. There is one other but it was purchased by my second son with his own money, so I dare not sell it lest I incur his wrath.

Of course, my four and the one I learned on are off limits... unless I could trade them for guitars!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...