Rusty, caked-in-grime tins are not what most of us would stop for at a car boot sale. For UK reseller @JammyDodgerFlips, they were a £5 bargain.
“I love my tins,” he told the seller, “especially when they’re like that.” He says he has sold tins with that rusty patina to TV and film studios before, and in this condition he still expects around £20 to £25.
The haul came from a Thursday morning hard standing car boot, which he says is a different animal from the field sales. He says it is good for old antiques and for house clearance dealers, which means plenty of old electronics, VHS players, DVD players and TVs.
He called it one of his best results from that car boot in a very long time. The aim of the game, as he puts it, is to buy as cheaply as possible and sell for as much profit as possible in his eBay shop.
A Speaker With A £15 Ask Turned Into A £74.99 Sale After A Quick Clean
The speaker was the surprise. The seller asked £15 for it, and he found the remote tucked up on a shelf nearby, along with a little adapter.
He had figured these sold for £40 to £50, but he says they actually do well when fully working. After a little cleanup it worked perfectly and came with the remote and the power cable. It sold for £74.99.
He was so pleased that he joked that the next time he sees the seller, he will hand over the extra three quid.
A Brand New Philips Radio Sold To A Buyer In Norway For £89.99 Within A Week
Another standout was a Philips radio for £15, brand new in the box and completely unused. He says the special part is that it sold within about a week to a buyer in Norway for £89.99.
“I cannot believe that,” he said, especially for a Philips radio. He says he just got quite lucky.
The camera bags were a smaller win. He paid £5 for three, two Lowepro bags and one Canon bag, and he says they keep the shop ticking over even if the big sales are more fun. He also bought a pair of brand new Head slingshot-style bags at £5 each that look to him like Y2K era pieces. The receipt in the bag shows £75 when they were new, and he is aiming for about £30 each.
He Bought Heavy And Bulky, And Someone Even Tried To Walk Off With His Bag
By the end he had filled about four to five IKEA bags with stock, and he called it a workout, carrying car boot tat instead of weights. At one point, he says, someone tried to take his bag, though he does not blame him because the stall was such a mess that the bag probably looked like part of it.
A Smith Corona 300 DLE typewriter cost £5 and works, and he says it sells for around £50 to £60 even though it is big and bulky. Fifteen Dickens books went for £15, a pound a book. Every set he has seen lists 16 books, so one is missing, but he figures a set in good condition can bring £60 to £70.
A Nerf Infamous with its original mag cost £5. He sold one last summer for £39.99 and expects about £30 now that the weather is turning colder. A small Panasonic hi-fi remote was a pound and sells for about £12.
The Garage Test Showed Which Finds Powered Up And Which Needed Work
Back in the garage he ran through the electronics on the bench. The Deco speakers have an odd connection he had never seen, so he will sell them as untested, though he saw similar ones sell for £60 on eBay and expects £35 to £40.
The Bose sound dock has a rotating base and a 30-pin connector for old iPods. A very dirty Sony radio came to life when plugged in, and a Roberts radio powered up with a bit of static and a folding top with dials inside. A plain gray one may sell for less than the colorful ones, he says, but there should still be a profit.
He also tested a CD player with Mariah Carey. A Panasonic Superdrive he expected to sell high turned out to be worth only about £20, though with the remote and fully working they bring £70 to £75.
He says he often buys from house clearance dealers who have emptied a home and sell the leftovers, so nothing has been tested.
How To Hunt Car Boot Sales Like A Reseller
You do not need to be a pro to borrow his habits. Here is what his haul suggests.
- Look for house clearance stalls, where old electronics and heavy items are priced to move.
- Ask for remotes, cables and adapters, because a complete item sells for far more.
- Plug things in and test at home before you list, and be honest if something is untested.
- Check what similar items have sold for before you buy, not just what they are listed for.
- Take your time. He says he usually goes too quick and misses things, so he slowed down.
Condition and completeness matter, he says. Rust helped his tins, but a missing remote cost the speaker money, and a missing book keeps his Dickens set from being a full set. He says that is why he keeps looking for the whole package.
Before leaving, he checked a pocket on one of the Head bags and found a matching CD pouch, which hints at when the bags were made. He says that is the kind of detail that helps a brand new, unused item sell.
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