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well in a month or so - i will be back off to our local car boot sales ( too cold early mornings at the mo ) - i love boot sales all sorts of interesting stuff at good prices ( mainly because i am interested in stuff most other people don't want ) - and over the years had some real bargains

so any other car boot fans out there ?? - and what was your best find ??

mine has to be the stair lift - i got for my late wife - but i have all sorts - well it will come in useful sometime

brett53 wrote: - but i have all sorts - well it will come in useful sometime

tehe, doncha just love em?

when i went back to riding a motorbike i got boots and a leather jacket for less than a fiver!

I too like them, I like getting up early and having one of those dirty greasy burgers for breakfast. Walking around seeing what other people dont want any more!

SusieGee wrote:Ewww Nick do yourself a favour and don't have one of those dirty greasy burgers, I watched a prog on catch up tv about disgusting food and they figured real high on the gross factor

I know and its really unlike me to like anything like that but......

I love boot sales, or the French equivalent thereof, called vide greniers - empty attics

They do get mixed up with Brocantes frequently - and these are more of an antiques type market and obviously that reflects on the prices.

But from end of May onwards to the end of September there is one nearly every Sunday morning and off I go for a trawl through other people's unwanted tat - love it!

I used to go to boot sales every week, it's was amazing the stuff people used to throw out,
I always found it amazing that I went with a couple of particular items in minds that I wanted
and 9 times out of 10 I'd get them there, at a bargain price.

i love them but i prefer charity shops as they are generally easier for me to get to.

i have found so many bargins ( and not realised it!) my best one this year though wasnt actually at a charity shop but rummaging around those sale baskets in the shops, was after a lovely wall hanging but at £35 i said no and guess what one was in a sale bin ( had a stain about the size of a 2p and a bit of fading not much ) and it was only a pound!!! brought a bag to for a quid, just like the one i had seen last year but it was nearly £10. i think it was all ex display stuff but it was still in really good condition or 100% fixable and can live with it.!

also found some fishing weights and a usable crab line wandering on the beach, all of which will be used reguarly

Nick69 wrote:I too like them, I like getting up early and having one of those dirty greasy burgers for breakfast. Walking around seeing what other people dont want any more!

ohh lovely - just the thing to set you up for the day ( or a hot dog - must be jumbo with onions ) - and a cup of tea with loads of sugar - stirred with a suspect spoon - by heck lads that's living ( and i am still here tell the tale )

but after some of the dodgy tea and grub i used to eat whilst in the fire service ,when out on jobs , i don't think the odd burger from a van will kill me - nothing like drinking tea from a jam jar at 3 in the morning after 6 hours at a barn fire - been very glad of it in the past believe me , especially when it was - 5 c and even the pumps where freezing up

but then i don't watch TV programs about healthy eating too often

TV is a corrupting influence

OK...What is a car boot sale ?

I am assuming it is the same as what we, in the US, call a Garage Sale ?
where a family sells all the stuff they don't want,
usually setup in a garage, driveway, the yard, or maybe on the front sidewalk.

Minnesota wrote:OK...What is a car boot sale ?

I am assuming it is the same as what we, in the US, call a Garage Sale ?
where a family sells all the stuff they don't want,
usually setup in a garage, driveway, the yard, or maybe on the front sidewalk.

pretty much except people load up their cars with all their junk - trot off to some god forsaken field or car park at the crack of dawn and have a natty selection of wall paper pasting tables in their possession - we would not be allowed to do it like you guys do - probably get harassed by some petty official from the local council - the tax man - or the neighbors - and if we obstructed the pavement ( sidewalk ) - arrested for obstruction or at best told to "move along there " ( our coppers ( police) do things like that )

I went to a "Yard Sale" in Callington in Cornwall in the Autumn, it was in a chaps Garage, I got loads of Demi-Johns, Barrels, an old Meat serving plate, a cream ware mixing bowl, some hand blown coloured glass vases, a set of coloured wine glasses, a nodding head tiger, a totem pole from Canada, a Jewelery box with dancing Ballerina (drawer missing) and all for under £20!

I found out about the Yard Sale by going to a Boot Sale the previous weekend! Serendipitous events!

brett53 wrote:people load up their cars with all their junk - trot off to some god forsaken field or car park at the crack of dawn and have a natty selection of wall paper pasting tables in their possession

oooooh, that's a Flea Market in the States

Flea markets here tend to be full of 'traders' but car boot sales are usually supposed to be just regular folks getting rid of their old stuff.

I have yet to find a good one, there are a few regulars around here but they are full of traders so it is either proper crap or overpriced furniture and CDs.

The irregular ones at scout halls I have been to have been the best.

Vide greniers are year-round here and we used to go to a lot of them. Unfortunately, a lot of the same old tat comes out at each one and we ended up recognising a lot of the same stuff. It got a bit monotonous...

The summer ones tend to be better especially the local ones by the pompiers (firemen), sports associations or the schools. The food is usually a bit better than from burger vans - BBQ or crepes, and there is ALWAYS a bar.

We had a stall at our local primary school VG in June and sold loads of childrens clothes, English books etc. Had a great day but ended up with sunburn and taking home more tat as purchased by the kids!

Ann,
the Big Flea Markets in my area are just like what you said.
But there are Little ones that pop up in the summer,
that are just folks getting rid of there junk.
Funny thing is, the City Officials continually
try to stop the Little flea Markets, But actually
celibrate the Garage and Yard Sales.
In fact, twice a year our town has what they
call a "City wide" garage sale day.
encouraging as many garage sales as possible,
Charities will have raffles and food stands.
the City will advertise to try and get people from
other towns to come to our town, just to ramble through our Junk
and then buy it.