I tried 9 expert tricks to make money at car boot sales – I couldn’t believe how much I got for my old junk

CAR boot sales can be great places to make money from your unwanted stuff – but there’s a knack to maximising your profits.

The Sun asked car boot sale experts for their top selling tips.

Here’s what reporter Rosie Taylor found out when she tested them out at the Mega Car Boot Sale at Hickstead, West Sussex, over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Be prepared

Rachel Beech, car boot sale fan and founder of school run service We are Fetching, advised me to organise all my stuff before arriving at the sale.

The week before, I cleared out my loft and cupboards and sorted everything into bags by category – like kids’ clothing, toys, bric-a-brac and adults’ clothing.

“Arranging your stall by category means people looking for one thing, like toys, can see them all together,” said Rachel. “Too much of a mix can put people off.”

Organising everything beforehand meant it was easy to set up the stall quickly.

I just unloaded each bag onto a section of my table. It also made for more sales.

One family initially picked up a £2 toy but ended up leaving with £5 worth of toys because their child kept seeing more things they liked in the same section, as I’d put everything in age-appropriate groups.

Get there early

Having done several car boot sales, children’s book author Zoe Ayre, of The Respectful Mum warned me to get there early. 

“The later you arrive the worse your spot will be,” she said.

“You want to be in the thick of it not stuck in a corner or at the edge when people have already walked round the whole car boot sale.”

I arrived at 7.30am, which was when the site officially opened to sellers. 

But I wish I had got there even earlier, as I was a long way back in the queue.

I didn’t have a bad spot, in the middle of a row, but as it was such a large car boot sale it did seem shoppers were tired by the time they got to our section. 

If I did it again, I would go extra early and get ahead in the queue.

Plan your prices

Several of our car boot sale experts recommended setting minimum prices in advance so you’re not put on the spot when buyers start haggling.

But sticking on price labels can make it difficult to apply discounts later in the sale when you want to lower prices to shift stuff.

So I followed a tip from Maddy Alexander-Grout, a consumer money specialist at the Mad About Money App, and put coloured stickers on my items, with each colour corresponding to a price like 50p, £1 or £2. 

I stuck a list onto my table so shoppers could easily see what I was charging.

This also meant I could drop prices as the day went on without having to manually update all the price stickers – all I had to do was edit the list. 

I also took note of the advice of Lindsay Edwards, a personal stylist, who said: “I always price slightly above what I’m happy to take as I’ll accept some haggling.”

This was great advice. I had a face cream I wanted to sell for least £3, so I suggested a price of £5 and the buyer haggled me down to £3.50.

They felt they had got a bargain and I got 50p more than I had hoped.

Take lots of change

Stel Coombe, a car boot sale veteran who runs the gift shop Polyester Salt Burn, advised me to take “loads” of change.

“Don’t miss a sale because you didn’t bring enough change,” she warned.

Following her advice, I took a float of £40 in £5 notes, £1 coins and 50p coins. It meant I always had plenty of change and could offer it when buyers seemed hesitant about making a sale.

It definitely made the difference in clinching sales – especially towards the end when buyers were low on change.

I managed to sell a £3 shirt to a buyer who only had a £20 note left because I still had enough change.

Fend off aggressive early buyers

When you pull up at a car boot sale, it’s not unusual to get professional buyers and market sellers looking in your car windows and hassling you to part with your goods for relatively low prices.

Maddy Alexander-Grout said: “Usually they are looking for tech, and beauty products or old perfumes – these nearly always sell at car boots and they know this. 

“They will offer you less than other people will be willing to pay for them. Don’t be suckered in.”

With this in mind, I kept my more valuable items hidden in the car and unloaded things I knew wouldn’t be of interest to traders first – like kids’ toys. 

This helpfully put aggressive buyers off from approaching my stall until I’d had the chance to set up properly and was ready to stick to my guns on pricing. 

Bring a snack stash

As you’ll be outdoors for several hours, it’s important to be prepared for all weathers and bring enough food and water to keep you going.

I followed Stel Coombes’ advice to wear layers for the early start.

It was lucky because, although it was a beautiful sunny day, at 7.30am it was only 8C outside so I was grateful for my jumper and jacket.

As the day warmed up, I switched to a T-shirt and was glad she’d also reminded me to bring suncream.

Bringing two bottles of water and snacks also helped – Stel recommended cereal bars to give me energy.

As Maddy Alexander-Grout said: “You don’t want to be spending £20 on burger van food and taking money out of your earnings.”

Set up like a shop

I borrowed a trestle table and clothing rail, to make the most of the pitch space, but foolishly forgot to check the clothing rail before I left and it was missing vital screws so I couldn’t put it up.

I still tried to follow the advice of Lisa Talbot, a personal stylist who regularly sells at car boot sales.

She said: “Set out your stall like a shop, give the buyer the opportunity to browse, rather than sift through.”

Amy Brooke, who has sold at more than 15 car boot sales, also advised me to present my stall as nicely as possible.

“The better laid out your table, the less people seem to offer ludicrously low prices,” she said.

“I like bringing boxes with me so I can display things at different heights – people can then see and access everything more easily.

“And it just looks more appealing, meaning people are more likely to part with their money.”

This certainly was true for me – I rearranged my stall throughout the day to keep it looking full and tidy. 

Displaying things on boxes attracted attention to certain items, meaning I was able to sell an old plant pot for £2 as soon as my stall opened.

Interact with shoppers

“Stand up – don’t sit in your boot. It has a huge impact on people feeling comfortable coming to look,” advised virtual assistant and car boot sale fan Catherine Gladwyn.

Being active and chatting with buyers certainly made a difference in how many people approached my stall.

I also followed Maddy Alexander-Grout’s advice to upsell as much as possible.

For example, when a buyer was hesitating over whether to buy a large plastic car transporter toy for £2, I suggested he could have it and a plastic fire station toy for another 50p.

He jumped at the chance and I was thrilled as I was desperate not to take the bulky unwanted toys back home. 

Watch out for thieves and scams

Sadly, you do need to be aware of thieves at car boot sales, who can make off with your stuff or cash.

Amy Brooke advised: “Keep an eye on your things at all times, especially anything with a higher value, and keep higher value items at the back of the table, closest to you.”

Rachel Beech warned: “Take a money belt rather than keeping cash in a box that could be taken.”

I followed Amy’s advice and got through the day without anything being taken.

As I didn’t have a money belt, I wore a small handbag with my cash in which I kept on me at all times – that did the same job just as well.

I didn’t have any high value items to sell and almost everything I brought along was otherwise destined for the charity shop or bin. 

But the car boot experts’ tips definitely helped me transform my old junk into cash. In total, I made £68.20 from the sale. 

Taking into account the £12 sellers’ entrance fee, that’s more than £56 profit – not bad for stuff I would have chucked away.