Car Boot Sales... Do they work?!

[Sutty100]

Hi Everybody, I was thinking of going to have a look around a few car boot sales to see if I could find any retro gaming items and I wondered is it a myth that people pick up working systems and games all the time from car boot sales or does it actually happen! And if anybody has any really good finds they discovered at one maybe they would like to tell us about it!

[JimS]

Over here in the States we have garage sales, which I'm assuming are the same sort of thing... not always in the garage, and not all in one place, usally. I like to hit the sales for entertainment, but it is possible to find some good deals.
I bought the pc i'm using now at a garage sale for 5 bucks. They were paranoids and pulled the HD, but not bad for a 2.1 gHz Athlon. Works great. Got one of the monitors for 8 bucks, the other was free (freecycle)... While out hitting the sales couple years back, I found a guy with a baker's rack in the yard and a "free stuff" sign on it.. I got a nice scanner with an ADF unit.

You can get burned though... I took a chance on some bare HDs once. Crash!... got some nice magnets out of 'em. ;-)

[LordSpunky]

Well....as a retro computer collector I've had some bargains! Boxed Mega Drive's, Saturn's etc, I picked up a mint Vic-20 in a case for £20.......and a broken Amiga 600, it is hit and miss here.....nothing for weeks and some jems.....there is a kind of retro dealer but all his stuff is dirty and not very good.....but I always stop just encase.....I bought a GameGear off of him and it was shot ;(

[foleyjo]

Problem with a lot of car boot sales is that you get people who go early and pay extra to get in before it opens.

These people go and find all the best stuff and then take it home to sell on ebay.

You also get the dealer type that lordspunky mentioned who will go round all the stalls as they are being setup and only set up their stall when the doors open.
They either buy things to add to their collection or add to their stall.

So it is very hard to find a bargain when it comes to computers.

Saying that though I managed to get a Commodore 128 and a Grundy NewBrain at a carboot for £8. Both working

[Franko]

Problem with a lot of car boot sales is that you get people who go early and pay extra to get in before it opens.

These people go and find all the best stuff and then take it home to sell on ebay.

You also get the dealer type that lordspunky mentioned who will go round all the stalls as they are being setup and only set up their stall when the doors open.
They either buy things to add to their collection or add to their stall.

So it is very hard to find a bargain when it comes to computers.

Saying that though I managed to get a Commodore 128 and a Grundy NewBrain at a carboot for £8. Both working

My sister & brother-in-law do a car boot sale most Sundays, and the dealers are there first thing (even as your trying to set up your table) rummaging through all your items...

The brother-in-law just tells them to bugger off and refuses to sell anything to these guys, who as you say will have it up on eBay or even worse on their own stall minutes later at twice the price they paid for it...

Although sometimes the brother-in-law will take stuff along that he knows to be broken and sell it to them just for the hell of it...

[dannyp1]

Your "Car Boot Sales" sound like our "Flea Markets" here.  The same type of things happen at our sales as yours.  Some people get in early, dealers buy up the good deals, and the general public is left with paying higher prices for what the dealers have bought and marked up.  Still, I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday or Sunday morning!

[JimS]

I'd rather go to the garage sales than the flea markets. Usually the prices are better from people not trying to make a living at it. There are a couple of flea markets around here... one of them reminds me of a casting call for "Deliverance", and the other is like Bagdhad. ;-)

[motrucker]

They are all worth going to, no matter what you call them. As sure as you cross one off, that's where the deal of the century is.

[fitzsteve]

I've found some great stuff at Car Boot sales, we used to go to them all the time but less these days.

Amoungst the gems I got my first Amiga in about 2001, an A1200 for about £20

Recently I've picked up an A600HD for £4, Dreamcast + 10 Games for £8, Megadrive plus 10 games for £5, GBA for £1 lol

When I was collecting my sega saturn stuff originally I got most of the games for £1-£2

As Franko says you get the dealers there early but a lot of people are wise to it now and don't sell to them :hammer:

Anyway, a great way to spend a summers morning

Steve.

[commodorejohn]

You can find some pretty decent stuff at garage sales, but (in my experience, at least) it tends to be more "modern but outdated" PCs and game consoles the kids no longer use than old computers dragged out from the attic. What I do, and has yielded a good variety of stuff, is find a local rag that offers free classified ads and put out a little want ad offering to clear old home computers out of someone's attic or garage. If you can make it sound like a service, it's quite possible you'll get something for free

[Boudicca]

* Getting there early.....yep that's me.
* Buying at higher prices.......na I buy at the right price.
* i've bought around 70 computers there or thereabouts of the last 15 years at car boots.

* Some, not all, I've sold for far more than I paid, but then again, I've probably spent more than I've sold and lost more than I've won but that's the buzz. I beat the seller. I win.
 
and your right......can't think of a better way to spend Sat and Sun Morn, breakfast, boot and bargain.....


Where ! ******* STAY THE HELL OUT OF NOTTINGHAM ******

[Franko]

* Getting there early.....yep that's me.
* Buying at higher prices.......na I buy at the right price.
* i've bought around 70 computers there or thereabouts of the last 15 years at car boots.

* Some, not all, I've sold for far more than I paid, but then again, I've probably spent more than I've sold and lost more than I've won but that's the buzz. I beat the seller. I win.
 
and your right......can't think of a better way to spend Sat and Sun Morn, breakfast, boot and bargain.....


Where ! ******* STAY THE HELL OUT OF NOTTINGHAM ******

Need to send the brother-in-law down your way with a load of PCs and consoles filled with house bricks...

[Boudicca]

Need to send the brother-in-law down your way with a load of PCs and consoles filled with house bricks...

Its funny you say that......

There is new trend at Car boots/Flea markets/auctions and scrap markets. The "Bulk" buyers, its been getting far worse over the last couple of years, the boxes are bought bulk by nefarious buyers who just bulk the stuff and load into a van/truck, god knows where it all goes, mostly tat, but bikes/stereos/tv's/large single person to carry items/just bulk.....a couple of times i've dipped into a box bought by them and I get a "long" stare of "I'll kill/stab you!"......One dealer said its going to container overseas, Africa/Asia....but if it gets any worse not only will you have to get there early, you will need to camp.

[Franko]

The sister & brother-in-law get these regular types that show up about 6am every Sunday morning...

The Dealers - who buy stuff for their own stalls, ebay or antique shops...

The Poles - who'll buy mobile phones, PCs, TVs & clothes to take beck to Poland and sell...

The Africans - who buy anything at all as long as they can get it for 50p and again take it back home to sell...

The sister cottoned on to this a few years back and they have a regular supply of old suitcases that they pick up from auctions as the Africans snap these up to make it easier to transport the stuff back home...

[Boudicca]

The sister & brother-in-law get these regular types that show up about 6am every Sunday morning...

The Dealers - who buy stuff for their own stalls, ebay or antique shops...

The Poles - who'll buy mobile phones, PCs, TVs & clothes to take beck to Poland and sell...

The Africans - who buy anything at all as long as they can get it for 50p and again take it back home to sell...

The sister cottoned on to this a few years back and they have a regular supply of old suitcases that they pick up from auctions as the Africans snap these up to make it easier to transport the stuff back home...

Never know which is worse. At least with dealers if you wait long enough, they often sell at almost what they bought it for. When I was a "Dealer" the trick was to keep your stock changing, holding out for a price was foolish as you better to just rotate the stock. Made a few quid but a lot of cold/hard winters did me.