Car booting, whether you’re a buyer or a seller, is a fantastic way to make some money if you’re a seller or to bag some incredible bargains if you’re a buyer. But first if you’ve never really booted before, you might want to take a moment to consider just what a car boot is. For buyers it’s not like ordinary shopping. Your average High Street supermarket or retail park trip usually means that you have a very good idea of what you want to buy before you even set out It’s just a question of finding it. With a car boot you have no idea of what’s going to be there or how much it’s going to cost. It’s more like a treasure hunt A few years back at one of the car boots operated on one of Eboot’s regular sites a buyer bought a tea pot. It was a bargain at a couple of quid and no doubt it looked like a very attractive piece. Just how attractive it was came out a little while later. It was sold at auction for several thousand pounds. I can’t guarantee that you’re going to find the same thing but you never know. And that’s what makes car booting so fascinating. Who knows what you might find? God knows it’s going to be a bit more interesting than an over-priced sweater from a rack which features a whole lot of over-priced sweaters. The only excitement there is that the sweaters come in different sizes and different colours. For a seller it”s equally immense fun and can be a lucrative hobby. As a seller you’re going to be offering up for sale things you no longer want or need. Just think: you’ve bought something, you’ve had your use from it and now someone’s going to give you money for it. It’s win-win all the way: you’ve sold something you no longer need and someone else has bought something they want at a knock-down price compared with an ordinary shop.

Booting is not rocket science but there are things you can do which make it a whole lot easier. more pleasant and more lucrative than if you just go into it with no thought and no planning. General tips whether you’re buying or selling: Dress for the weather. If ifs the winter wrap up warmly. Out there in a field in December it can get pretty damn cold. Wear a hat, take some gloves and just generally keep yourself warm. If ifs the summer take a hat and/or some shades. And if it’s really sunny don’t forget your sun block. You’ll spend a long time in the sun and that means an awful lot of UV frying your tender skin. Get there early. Again this applies equally to buyers and sellers. You wouldn’t go to the cinema at 9pm if the movie starts at 7. You’ve missed all the action. Do you take medication? Then for heaven’s sake ensure you’ve got it with you If you don’t take medication, then at least take some headache pills. You’ve no idea how a day can be spoiled by something as simple and basic as a headache. Finally take plenty of change. Boaters tend to be a little wary of £20 notes and even if they aren’t do you really expect someone to sell something for 5Op and give you£19.50 in change? They probably haven’t got it in change anyway.

Eboots are the family run, family fun car boot sales which offer the best of booting action all the year round in the West Midlands.

We run at least two car boots a week, every week through the whole year. In the winter we do car boots on Saturday and Sunday and in the Spring, Summer and Autumn you can catch up with the action every week on Tuesday and Friday as well as Saturday and Sunday.

Every single one of our boots offers something for all the family – and we make them as hassle-free as humanly possible.

First of all, there’s no need to book at any of our events – you can show up anytime from six to ten am and stick around till the fun is done by one (p.m. that is).

Prices start from £8 and for that you get a really generous amount of selling space.

On each of our sites – and there are seven of them throughout the year – there are fully attended toilets which are cleaned after every “visit”.

In addition there are plenty of pitches offering all sorts of food – from traditional home-made cakes, puddings and pies through pakoras and samosas all the way through to everybody’s favourite burgers, hot dogs and bacon sandwiches – as well as hot and cold drinks to suit every palate and pocket.

In the Spring, Summer and Autumn there are bouncy castles, slides and rides to keep the kids occupied.

But most importantly all year round there are traders and booters selling a vast array of goodies for pennies or pounds.

There’s nothing quite like a car boot for picking up bargains. The High Street’s a bore and on-line’s a chore so come to an eboot – we’re family run and family fun.

For more information on each eboot just navigate this easy-to-use website.

Eboots are the best way we can think of de-cluttering your house, having a fun and interesting day out and – if you’ve got kids – a great way of teaching them how to become an entrepreneur.

No really – Alan Lord Sugar and Delboy Lord Trotter are just two of the people we know who started off as market traders and ended as the mighty business moguls they are today.

Car boots are simple – you take stuff to an eboots site, lay it out for the perusal of the public and sell it.

But, like everything else, there’s the easy way to do it and the hard way. We’re here to suggest some ideas that will make it easy for you.

*Before the boot check out the stuff you want to sell. Make sure it’s clean and make sure it works.

*Find yourself a table or a groundsheet on which to display yours goodies.

*Load the car carefully – we can’t count how people who’ve chucked stuff in their car, broken it and had to throw it away. If you’re selling a phone make sure it’s got the charger. If you’re selling shoes make sure they’re in pairs. If you’re selling clothes give some serious consideration to a decent clothes rail.

*In other words make sure your stuff is complete, intact and clean and that you have some way of displaying it – if people can’t see it they can’t buy it.

*When you load your car put the tables or ground sheet in last. Why? Because you’ll want them to be the first things you take out.

*Check the weather AND check the eboots website or twitter page to make sure the event is on.

*Set off early and get there on time – that way you miss the queues, catch the early buyers and have the chance to look around and see if there are any bargains you fancy.

*Dress appropriately – in the cold times hypothermia is not a good look.

*Try and take the right money for the admission fee – this helps your arrival to run all the more smoothly and you can get set up quicker.

*Take a bag of change – pound coins and 50 pence pieces are good. First thing in the morning everyone wants to pay with ten or twenty pound notes.

*When you get there get your tables set up and your goodies on display as quick as you like – no-one can buy your stuff if it’s hidden in the driver’s footwell.

*Take a polythene sheet or something similar just in case the fine British weather decides to give you a quick, unexpected shower. The sheet’s to cover your goods for sale, by the way, not to cover you. You sensible people have all brought hats and coats, haven’t you?

*Don’t overthink what you’re going to take. You have no way of knowing what someone might want to buy. Just take it and try it.

*Put price labels on your stuff if you want to – it’s not a necessity and a lot seasoned veterans choose not to because when a potential customer asks the price you’ve already opened up a conversation.

*Look people in the eye when you’re talking to them and do try not to mumble.

*Please have a good, firm idea of how much you want for your priceless bir(Ming)ham vase. When someone asks you how much it is be ready to tell them straight away. If they want to buy several things as a bundle have a price in mind for that too.

*Be decisive. If you don’t want to sell something for a quarter of what you had in mind tell the potential customer politely but firmly.

*Be prepared to haggle over prices. As a seller you want to get the most for your stuff. The buyers want to pay as little as possible (if they’ve got any sense). There can always be a meeting point between the two extremes.

*Don’t be thin-skinned – a sense of humour is your greatest asset if someone makes what you think is a derisory offer.

*Encourage your kids to do some buying and selling. It will stand them in good stead in later years.

*If you don’t know about something – where the food wagons are, where the toilets are etc – just ask someone. Chances are the person next to you has been doing eboots for years and knows absolutely everything.

*Find somewhere secure and safe to keep your money – just like you would in any other situation.

*When you’ve finished for the day clear up your rubbish. Take it home and dump it in the receptacles provided. When you’ve finished a car boot the only things you want to leave behind are a good impression and your footprints.

*And that’s about it, really, apart from one final point: ENJOY YOURSELF!

All for the above plus the following: Try and take a table if you can. Why? Well, when’s the last time you went to a shop and all their good were laid out on the floor? By all means take a sheet so you can lay stuff on the deck but a table is the place for your really good stuff. Clean your items before you load them in the car. ice clean stuff sells at a better price. Don’t sell things which are broken particularly electrical items. Tell the truth about your stuff it’s only fair. Take plenty of change. You will be amazed at how quickly you can use change up. Keep your money safe. Don’t leave it on your table or on display in your car. Take lots of carrier bags. When you’ve sold your stuff put it in a bag for your customer. Take a relative or friend with you. Why? Well, one reason is going to the toilet your partner will look after your pitch for you. No friends or relatives willing to come? Okay then: strike up a relationship with the booter next to you. They can watch your pitch if you need to go anywhere and you can return the favour. Take a nice, pleasant attitude with you and try not to lose your temper with buyers no matter how trying they might be. Have a really good idea of how much you think your goods are worth. When someone makes you an offer at least you can think about it. Don’t bite their heads off. Car boots are the home of haggling and haggling is fun. No, really it is. When you’re done take your rubbish with you or put it in a bin. Don’t just drive off leaving a load of junk behind you. Oh – you might want to take some sort of waterproof cover for your stall. These are outdoor boots and apparently it can rain during a typical English summer. No. really.

Get there early. I mean it. Get there early. Take lots of change. It may be that the person you’re buying something from has gone through £40 worth of pound coins in the last ten minutes. Don’t wave a tenner at them for something which costs 20p. Take a torch. Well you are getting there early aren’t you? This is not the land of the Midnight Sun and you really shouldn’t buy anything that you can’t see properly. Take a pleasant attitude. Try not to be rude to people and that means particularly when you’re haggling. If someone is asking £20 for an item don’t offer them £1.50. That’s rude and it means your negotiations have nowhere to go. When you’ve strolled along an aisle of pitches. turn round and walk back along the same aisle. You’ll be amazed at the things you spot when you’re walking eastwards which you’ve missed when you were going westwards. Don’t be afraid to ask hooters if they’ve got any other stutl in their car. ff you’ve just bought a piece of. say, Poole pottery from them well chances are they may have some more but haven’t had the chance to lay it out. Why not take a shopping trolley? Damn sight easier than carrying 23 items in your poor worn out arms. Park as close to the action as you can. If you have a successful buying day you’ll be going back to your car with your treasure trove a lot more often than you·d imagine. Don’t take part in any games of Find The Lady, Spot the Pea or Chase The Ace. You won’t win. These games of”chance” or ‘”observation” were first recorded in Ancient Egypt about 3000 years ago. During the last 5000 years no-one has even won. The guy you saw winning £40 last week was the dealer’s brother.