Streetlife

I don't see why anyone should pay a pound for something when you can buy a brand new version from Poundland!  It always amazes me what people charge at a carboot sale considering a lot of it is absolute rubbish that they've cleared out of their houses.  I stopped going to Foxhall Car Boot and Suffolk Showground because I couldn't believe the amount of crap people were trying to sell.  It was laughable really, I'm not one for waste either but when you know you can buy good brand new items from the discount stores in town, its a wonder that car boot sales are still going really.  Plus there's the Freebies site on Gumtree where you can pick up a bargain for the grand total of £0 pence!  They charge you to go into a carboot then you're expected to pay a rediculous amount for something that's poor quality/dirty and/or knackered!  And that's my rant over!

I always charge more than I really want so when the bartering starts I usually end up with what I wanted in the first place.  The Cats Protection car boot at St Clements has been, in my opinion, the best one locally but the site is now closed so if they don't find another one that will be the end of that.  Needham Market on Wednesdays & Sundays is also a good one.

dont go to portman road you need a passport to get in to that one my god there are some real seedy characters down there if you want to get an idea of how many diffrent nationaletys are in ipswich then portman road is the place to go on a sunday

You're so right.  It's like the united nations and can they barter?  They want everything for 1p even if it's only 5p to start with.  The ones outside the town centre are so much better as the foreigners don't seem to know how to get there.  They can be so intimidating too.  It's such a pity because most of these boot sales are for charity.

Really sorry to hear about CP boot sale I loved those. As you say Needham very good. And Stonham Barns Sundays are good. Have you tried Blakenham Village Hall Field for CP ? We use it for our dog events.

Personally I have found that certain words beginning with an F and an O worked perfectly well for me!!! I once had a woman try to get me to sell her a brand new set of Brabantia kitchen items for £1.....I mean really? I would sooner give to charity where someone could sell for 10x that.

The thing that really sticks in my craw is people trying to go in the boot of you car as you get things out. It's 6am, you're groggy, grumpy and its cold asnd some idiot is turfing through boxed you've not unpacked. Oh, and people who come round asking for mobile phones ( also first thing) and computer games. I found certain choice words help with that too!

In the end I stopped unpacking right away, and went off to have a cuppa and a bacon buttie first, that way all the dealers have got bored and gone- for the most part the orderinary punters won't rock up till about 8 onwards.

I find Needham to be the best...

Great thanks people I will try some of these other ones.

You never know you might find a heir loom

car boot sales are markets, and people love to barter ,its part of the fun. Thats why you have to mark the prices higher to allow for a knock down ( the same as the shops do in their sales  ) Those who crowd around you when you first arrive are the other stallholders checking for cheap stuff they can sell for a higher price. Make no mistake, there are many professional "Booters" around. Bargains are rare,very rare. In the 1980s and 90s there were loads of good books and albums at decent prices ,  but people are more aware nowadays of the value of stuff. So DONT expect to find a real bargain. Just go and have fun and buy whatever takes your fancy, and if its a good price for you, then it is a bargain. If you want to set up your own stall, then just take a table and buy all the junk you can find at 6 am from other booters...lol

There are three little words to use at any Sale by both buyers and sellers - PLEASE AND  THANK YOU!   Three words that you do not hear very often these days.  Makes life so much nicer.  And a smile goes a lot further than a frown.

needham market car boot on saturday is huge ,especially in good weather,worth a visit.

I'm with Sheila B good manners Cost Nothing !

Indeed....but they are lost on some people. Treat people as they treat you and then everyone gets whst they expect! :-)