Its 6.30am, its dark, its cold and we are sitting in a queue of cars outside the car boot sale. The insane thing is, we are 30 minutes late. People already have their stands set up for the day. There are buyers wandering around with torches looking for that bargain that idiots like us throw out because they belonged to great grandparents and have been sitting up in the loft for the last 25 years.
We are directed to our allocated spot and no sooner than the first box is out of the car, vultures descend upon us. They rip open boxes and frantically rummage through all the carefully wrapped items, carelessly discarding the newspaper dated 20 April 1991.
Vulture One: “How much for this?”
Mike: “£2 for that”
Vulture Two: “How much for this?”
Mike: “£3 for that”
Vulture Three: “How much for this?”
Mike: “£4 for that”
Finally after 30 minutes of mayhem, the vultures are all rummaged out and we are £50 richer.
Looking around, other sellers appear to have a method to their selling. Things are displayed in an orderly fashion, nicely laid out, items labelled appropriately. We have decided on more of a haphazard approach. Our items are displayed in a disorderly fashion, items left in boxes, clothes and shoes spread out over the concrete and a few random items on our paste table.
People pass by our table to look at our stuff. A lady stops to look at my sweaty and worn out trainers. “How much?” she asks. “50p for the crappy pair and £1 for the not so crappy pair” I reply. She hands over the cash. People will buy the most unlikely things. I really should have brought my old underwear down.
A gypsy wanders up to our table and starts fondling Mike’s old camcorder.
Gypsy: “Does it work?”
Mike: “Yes.”
Gypsy: “how do I know it works? I bought one t’other day and it don’t work. Chucked it in the bin I did. I don’t want to buy another one that don’t work”
Mike: “It works. It just needs to be charged.”
Gypsy: “How much?”
Mike: “£10. The wide angle lens alone is worth £50”
Gypsy: “But you can’t guarantee it works”
Mike (slightly agitated): “It works”
Gypsy: “But I can’t see that it works. I‘ll give you £5.”
Mike: (more agitated) “It does work and £10 is the price”
Gypsy: “But I can’t see that it works, I’ll give you £8”
Mike: (really pissed off now and thinking of upping the price) “NO, price is £10.”
Gypsy: “Go on, I’ll give you £8”
Mike: (clearly not wanting to sell to this guy for any price now) “NO”
Thankfully creepy gypsy guy walks off.
Dribs and drabs of people come up to our table. Some buy, some just look. We really don’t want to take this stuff home, so I buy a marker pen for 10p and start putting prices on things.
“Box of Poole Pottery from the 1950s – £5 the lot.”
“Box of glasses – £3 the lot”
“Box of brass – £2 the lot”
Mike makes himself a sandwich. As soon as he bites into it, a flood of people arrive and the buying frenzy begins. Rather than help out, I sit back and laugh, watching Mike struggle with the money, a sandwich and a mouthful of food.
After a long morning of standing around it is all gone and we are £140 better off for our efforts. This money is to be converted to Australian dollars for our big tour next year.