Hello Ian,

Thank you for your email and comments. Most sellers do not like selling in the Cattle pens and the buyers like it even less, what we need is a huge hanger without obstructions for when the Cornish weather is doing its regular habit this year by raining almost every pissing sodden Sunday.

Geoff

Hi Geoff,

I attended your car boot sale on the 23rd August and thought that you might be interested in my experiences.

I arrived at about 11.20am and spoke to a very helpfull lady on the gate (your wife I believe) who explained that it should be quite busy as all of the other car boot sales in the area had been cancelled due to the weather.

I duly took my place in the queue not far from the gate and then engaged in the interesting pursuits of observation and earwigging. The people in the queue were quite interesting and included;

* holiday makers from Burnley and Manchester who were discussing what car boots they has been to in the previous week and what they were like.
* a couple of Eastern European men
* 2 men who looked like twins, or certainly brothers, with designer stubble, shades, and rucksacks on their backs
* Madge – I am sure that you have mentioned her before as one of your regulars. I only knew who she was because someone called out to her.
* a lady on a disability scooter

Interestingly, the queue didn’t reflect the ethnic mix of customers that we get ‘up country’.

Whilst in the queue I had noticed the stall with the 50p sign and thought that I would head for that when the car boot opened.

The horn duly sounded and I witnessed a mad sprint into the car boot. The car boot was okay but it certainly wasn’t worth sprinting for. I joined in though and dashed to the 50p stall. Alas, there was nothing there for me.

The car boot was a mix of traders and genuine car booters and was an interesting experience. Most of the traders wouldn’t budge on their prices but it still does no harm to ask. One of them had CD’s priced at £2.00 each but was willing to sell me 10 for £10. Another trader had their vinyl and CD’s priced but pretty much nothing else. This resulted in an interesting conversation with a customer. The trader had some small bags of LEGO and the customer asked how much they were. The trader replied £4.00 each to which the cutomer replied, ‘You must be joking’. He replied no they are £4.00 each and I have already sold some. If the trader had priced the Lego the customer could have made an offer or just walked past the stall.

There were some lovely sellers who were happy to accept reasonable offers or to engage in a good game of bartering.

Several sellers could have made more money if they had just spent a bit more time presenting their stall a bit better ie CD’s and DVD’s being offered for sale on their stalls but back to front. I haven’t mastered reading titles back to front and so am sure that they will have lost sales. When I mentioned this many commented on the lack of time they got to set up their stalls, particularly those in the cow sheds who had to carry all of their sale items and tables from their cars into the cow sheds. One seller had clearly spent a lot of time putting all of his CD’s in alphabetical order, 2/3 boxes worth but then positioned the boxes back to front.

The easiest stalls to navigate were those who had priced all of their items. You could then either pay the asking price, make an offer or just walk on to the next stall.

After my initial walk around the car boot I went to the cafe for a coffe and something to eat. The coffee ordering was easy but not the rock cake. I was asked if I wanted an x or y. I can’t remember what the names were but had never heard of either of these. As I was hungry I choose one of them and it was fine. I then went back to the car boot but was surprised to see a number of the outdoor sellers had either left or were about to leave. Madness really as there was still good business to be done, particularly where sellers were willing to compromise a bit on the prices to get some late sales.

It was a very interesting and enjoyable afternoon so many thanks to all those that made it possible.

Kind regards

Ian ( from Coventry)

PS I managed to loose my black jumper which I had tied around my waist as it got a bit warm that afternoon. I don’t suppose that anyone found it and handed it in to you.

Ps. We found your sweater and sold it (not true) and by the way some sellers do go at any time they wish, it’s normally the lady wives who have to get back home to get ‘his tea ready’ when he comes home from the Pub, just like in the North East.
Geoff