Spot & flog from car boot/jumble sales... official MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

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Spotting & flogging items bought at car boot/jumble sales

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• I used to make Ј2,000 a year extra selling stuff on eBay that I'd picked up at carboot sales. Mainly rare videos, that hadn't made it to DVD. But as more and more of them did, the money dwindled, and it was no longer worth it.
  Probably took about 10 hours a week on average as well, outside the real job. Now that I've got family it just didn't seem worth it.
• i used to buy and sell rare consoles from car boot sales, specialised in the nintendo snes console as i had a friend who was always willing to help me.
  typically these were worth Ј20-Ј25 in top condition, to get them to that stage i would make sure the rf leads were in top condition then clean the outside of the unit with bathroom cleaner and an old cloth and the cartridge slot with a dry cotton bud, they came up a treat and the materials cost pence, i typically bought these for Ј8-10 and would sell them for Ј15-Ј20, small profit i admit but i had been known to buy one with 3 rare games for Ј14, and sell the games for Ј18 and the console for Ј15.
• I do this but I have to say it is abit hit and miss. I buy old clothes and re sell on ebay. I don't make a fortune but I whack all the money I make in a savings account - more of a way of saving I supose.
  I just love doing it - I am sad that I find it fun.
• Hi I make my living on Ebay
  in two ways
  one is carboot sales Musical instruments such as fluted clarinets trumpets guitars
  buy for around Ј10.00 to Ј25.00 sell on ebay for between Ј50.00 to Ј250.00
  Victorian wooden boxes especially musical ones by best buy was a small wooden alms box i paid 20p for and sold to a buyer in the USA for Ј395.00
  How do i earn in the winter?
  Easy i am a member of ATS distribution get an account as a drop shipper out lay is Ј5.00 but they send you approx Ј30.00 in goods as a joining pack
  you then log into ATS find cheap items put them on ebay for twice the price you dont pay ATS until the item sells you then fill in the buyer address and ATS do the rest
  On average i make approx Ј100.00 a week like this
  One thing to remember with people that buy on ebay they tend not to look else where so play.com is also a good source whoop a fiver on the price of older tv series dvds such as last of the summer wine and whamo another Ј50.00 profit per week
  Downfall ebay fees, down load turbo lister 2 open a photobucket account
  place all pictures in photobucket and just paste the HTML code in to your auction
  Load using turbo lister then you wont pay ebay for pictures or trimmed pages
  If your new to online auction try ebid.co.uk this is totaly free unless you sell something but will give you some practice before doing ebay
  hint keep auction simple
  example Old wooden box poss late 18th century measures 10 cm by 10cm detph 5 cm, This lovely old box is seeking an owner who will cherish it
  there is no need to go into detail if you have a few pictures
  weigh all items then add 300grams before checking on royal mail for postage costs
  I wish you luck i average Ј1000 pound a week earnings on ebay
• On the ats site it says join up fee is Ј40?
• Hi sure was a fiver when i joined you are clicking for the drop shippers account? I will double check But was defo a fiver when i joined but i joined approx 5 years ago
  Dont shell out Ј40.00 on member ship its not worth it
• Before e bay was born I used to buy and sell car workshop manuals. I used to specialise in Haynes ones but did get offered the odd original BL Triumph etc.
  I used to have a regular punter who would sell me what he had duplicates of and also give me a list of what he wanted. I just checked the list when I got a load of new ones in.
  I never could retire on the proceeds but very quickly I got known as the man to ask before one went down to Halfords etc. If you work in a large company that really helps as you get loads of punters that way.
  More recently I ended up with a number of slow movers so I simply lotted them to gether on e bay and got Ј25, which was more that I had paid for them individually.
  I also had my own website where people could go to. I sold to such far flung places as the Dominican Republic, Japan, the States etc. I had one chap from Holland who would buy all the Citroen GS and GSA manuals I could get my hands on. The best thing about this is that those were among the ones that were virtually being given away by car booters etc all the time.
  More recently, I flogged all the leftover ones on e bay and went back to having a life
• Scrap metal.
  I tend to gather more rubbish than most in what I do. Recently we just took possesion of a house where the seller left pretty much everything (with our permission) as he didn't have transport.
  The cooker, the washing machine and various other ferrous metal items from the house fetched Ј7.00 at the scrapyard. The fact that I also had a small quantity of copper, lead and other stuff (I am a builder) meant that a trip to the scrap yard was in order.
  He also left most of his furniture. Most of what he did leave got put on Freecycle, as it was not worth selling via the auction room but was still perfectly servicable.
• I have so much toys, books and clothes etc to sell that I just dont know where to start.
  I always plan to go to these carboot sales but never make it. I have never been to one to sell things only buy.
  E-bay is so easy these days.
• This time last year I was making Ј400 a month on ebay, took me 2 evenings a week. Not bad as I was working then too. I had nothing to sell. Instead, I offerred a service for my friends selling their unwanted ites, I took a fee, usually a percentage unless it was a large item, in which case we negociated a fixed price before listing. Not as easy as it sounds as you have to decide what to do if item doesnt sell (you will still have listing fees). I even sold a car for my dad, made Ј100 just on that. Prob worth doing if you work for a large firm or can get a lot of potential customers. You must know ebay well though to do this, enjoy ebaying, sometimes the money was barely worth it for the effort required, must be good at book keeping and I ended up with items that were all over the house.
• I've been selling books on Amazon for the past few months and after postage and fees am making about Ј80 pm. Not a lot o money I know, but I just enjoy books. What I was wondering is do I need to register as a business, or can I just continue doing this regular? My paid work is full time and reasonably well paid and i pay all taxes and ni there.
• I found a set of Carltonware Walking Ware plates in a charity shop for Ј16. Knowing that the plates with feet are rare, I bought them purely for eBay and made Ј250. I also bought some Strawberry Shortcake mugs from Oxfam for Ј1.50 each. Managed to break two on the way home Sold one for Ј2, which wasn't bad. The next one went for...Ј75. If only the others hadn't broke, I could have made Ј150 there!
• Hello Everyone,
  over the past 6 years ive been buying things from the highstreet / charity shops / car boot sales and selling things on ebay and amazon.
  I buy old books and cds tools craft kits cameras binoculars old computer bits picture frames mirrors.
  New things i buy from 99p shops and poundland include wall maps language learning cds dress bags larger bras etc.
  its best to specialise in an area you are knowlegable on and look out in the sales as sometimes there are some real bargains about.
  I make on avarage Ј150 a week
  Good luck everyone
  Mark
• I bought, just b4 xmas, a wade t-pot at a boot sale that was in a box of bits for 50p, I have just bought another wade T-pot (different from first one) from my local charity shop for 33p. I have looked on ebay & I should be able to get about Ј20 - Ј25 each for them. (got to set up ebat account first, which will do when I get my comp back from repairs & upgrade next week. Maybe not a fortune but I could earn quite a bit if I keep finding bargains like these.
• I bought some stuff from an indoor car boot sale a couple of weeks ago - I got an ET figure that talks for Ј1, and some weird looking cat bookends for Ј3. ET sold for Ј25, bookends sold for Ј19 (both excluding postage).
  I'd done this as an experiment to see if I could make a little bit of cash to put away, and have a feeling this may become a hobby now!! Well worth a go if you want to make a bit of extra cash.
• This is a nice thread.
  Last comment was a year ago. Hope will help the others to see it.