Charity/car boot's Do you use them?

[daniel]

If one thing I miss because of being house bound at the moment,
It’s not being able to go to the out door carbboot sales and our local charity shops,

I like what i call the rusty stall’s,
Those tables with old tools on them and the quality tools that have been left unused for years but with a little effort and cleaning come back to being good as the day the first we’re bought,

My wife likes nothing better then revamping old wooden furniture " And she’s good at it"
Between us we do ok, she’ll give me a load of rusty catches etc etc and i clean them up, Ive one of those water filled electro cleaning box’s, And after a shop time the rust falls off any any left on comes off with a little rubbing with wire wool and then they’re returned to the wife and after a few days you just would not know that wooden mess she bought for next to nothing,

We tend to do this revamp stuff all through the winter and when the Brocante sales (car boot) start off around spring time we both like nothing better than seeing the people and selling what we revamped,
The people watching i really enjoy, Living here in France you really do see some fashion changes,
ie some of the hats worn and the older French Ladies dresses etc, They’rs not bothered about the latest trend’s they wear what they feel good in,
I hate to see the women in their 40’s 50’s walking around in jean’s with the knee’s sticking out because it’s the latest fashion, Any older Lady can still look good if they dress to kill,

We took Roxanne and the large cat cage with us last year & the two seat’s & small table for our luntch time snack, And “Important Note” a spare metal bowl full of cold water for passing dog’s
A lot of people bring dogs & Ive seen a cat or two (on leads) being walked through the brocante’s
And these Animals get thirsty just like us humans, the bowl of water & a tin of doggy biscuits go a long way for both a treat for you know who and always to have a chat with the owner’s,

Ive still got from my chimney cleaning day’s a hand help puppet of sooty, I keep this under one of the counters we use for the Brocante, And when those little kids in their push chairs come along and "mummy is looking at what we have to offer (I pop sooty up so the little ones can see him and then hide him back under the counter !!!
These little kids look really fed up until they see “SOOTY” and it’s then they come alive and “How’s it go”
Dont come knockin if my push chair is rockin, The Mums look and wonder whats making him bounce about and laugh ?
Yes as ive said many times you can really enjoy a lot of the simple thinks in life if you show interest,

It’s the smell of the brocante "ie the other stall holders cooking on the Bar, B, Q’s And the walk around to see what other’s are selling and any tip’s you can pick up,

We found not all folk like to ask the price your asking !!! So we put an asking price on everything we’re selling,

We look at what we think are mistakes, Such as dirty glass wear and plates etc, And not bothering to plan your stall’s But have every thing on a plastic sheet on the ground, ???

A lot of people (Not only the aged but people who have a hard time bending down will not buy,

Use a little humour, ie I had a Teddy bear,
it was about 3 feet tall & very fat, (like the average three year old child in size)
I put a notice on him saying please give me a home?
I do not each much,
I am house trained,
I do not need much Walkies !!
One old lady picked the sign up and asked how much the sign was (it had no price tag on the sign)

I replied it was free (meaning it went with the Teddy bear) She thanked me, put the sign in her basket and thanked me and walked away,
But so far this year ive no chance of doing any Bricante’s,
Tomorrow ive to go back to the Hospital for my needle’s in the tummy and what ever else the doctor thinks I need, But it’s all for my recovery & Im very pleased to have such care,

Just to finsh,
I had a good english friend come to see me this morning,
Her and her partner also do Bricante 's And thats why ive done this thread,

The Lady visitor was telling me a lot of people would never use the charity shops,
They do not like the thought of wearing used clothing etc,
Whats your thought on this subject ?
Bearing in mind two things (1) the people who run these shops do it for no pay,
And (2) all what they make go’s towards good aid’s ie be it Animal’s or local community,

Well have a nice day folks And dont for get to feed the birds

[LongDriver]

Some years ago, hidden treasures could be found during early morning visits, but since the pandemic it’s not really worth the trouble visiting boot sales because the good stuff doesn’t reach the sales…

[Graham]

There used to be a lot of car boots around here and occasionally we would go to a few of them, if to pass the time on a Sunday morning. Over time, most have disappeared and now far and few between. I think mostly because the grounds they were held in, were overtaken as car parks or built on. At the end, I never bought anything for any of them, it was all just worthless junk. These days, just can’t be bothered with them.

[Chilliboot]

I wouldn’t touch a car boot sale with a barge pole.
Years ago you might have enjoyed a stroll and found a bargain or two off the barrows…

[mart]

There is a regular Saturday car boot sale a stroll away from where we are. We sometimes go there if the weather is fair. We might go and see what plants the nurseryman has brought along that week. I have bought some gardening tools and a few ornaments over the years. Mostly, there is nothing we want but we still have a look around.

[daniel]

Hi Mart,
I know we’re your coming from ,
Im the same ref “nothing you want” I look for the converted tools you offten see,

You know those spanners that have been welded in odd shapes to get into places other spanners can not get into,
To give you an idea,

If you come across an engine oil filter that’s stuck and wont budge,
You can buy verious oil filter tools to do the job, but half the time they are made off cheap tin or metal that slips off these removers, or as ive said many times you get what you pay for,

I saw this oil filter remover on a stall and you could see it was quality made with a chain grip and good hand grip, I paid 10 eur, and i have used it a few times and never lets me down,

I do know about using screw drivers going through holes being drilled through the filter casing,
But this method can split the casing and give more trouble than it’s worth if the filter splits,
So for taking a chance on the price paid it was worth the risk,

Another good “Rusty counter buy” on the stalls was a good quality wood saw,
It had a good wooden hand grip and all it’s teeth (un-like me)
, it was rusty and the teeth needed sharpening, and the body cleaned and waxed, It’s a full length saw approx 3ft long and again it’s a tool I offten use and i paid 10 euro’s

Infact Ive a few saw"s of verious sizes both for wood & metal and all have been give away prices for the quality they are, And taking time and effort to bring them back to life,

One of the very best buy’s was a carpenters wooden chest,
It was all fitted out for verious tools to sit in it, And what I liked was it had the initial’s not only on the inner & outside of the chest but also on all the tools that came with the chest, Including a portable vice and even box’s of screws etc, 9 in all & all brass,
The woman who was selling it was an older women and her stall was mainly house hold stuff,
I asked her what she wanted and she said it was her late husband and he’d been on the buildings all his life and the chest was just sitting in the shed,
It had four planes and verious other tools, She said she wanted £25-oo for the lot,

All the tools had been waxed and every tool had her late husband’s initials engraved we’re possible,

I paid the asking price, the box’s of screw’s and ( oil can’s three) we’re around £30-oo worth,
she even gave me the Lock’s and keys,
That was one of the best buys I’d ever got on the Brocante’s buy’s,

But ive also bought things because i liked what I was seeing, Like a hand carved Motor cycle about 8 inches long and mounted on a wooden stand, It’s a Harley, and sit’s on the down stairs loo window ledge,
The detail in this carving has to be seen, Some body really spent hour after hour carving that out of one piece of wood,
Even in the charity shops Ive bought items made out of wood “Just for the wood” and used the wood for other projects,
You can again get really good wood with the brass fittings for next to nothing and turn them into other things and you’ll be saving yourself a small fortune,

[daniel]

Hi Long Driver,
Here well in the countryside you still get bargains,
I see a lot of Brits here on Holiday buying stuff to take back to the UK,
As ive said myself and her Indoors do it together, And hand bags sell really well here
Also Mirrors seem to go down well,
So maybe your having trouble because of your Location ?