Car boot find of day

[oldmansmoking]

I went to a car boot sale in Ford Hampshire UK today Sat 20th May 2017. Good as this one is the only boot sale which does not charge customers an entrance fee. My wife was after a few things, I had my mind on a new pipe.

In this boot sale there are the professional car boot tradesmen and Jo Blogs selling stuff they no longer want.

The thing that always gets to me is the house clearance, someone's life reduced to boxes.

Anyway I was in luck this stall had a wade ceramic pipe holder with a new unsmoked briar pipe, the wanted £20.00 but I only wanted the pipe. I got this bobby dazzler a generic Pipemaster for £5.00.I have seen similar in my local tobacconists for £20 - £25

A good basket pipe, with a valconite mouthpiece. Smoked it today had a great draw. Made my day.
All the best oldmansmoking

 

[didache]

Welcome to the forum from another Brit!
I've rarely been lucky at finding pipe stuff at boot sales - maybe I'm not looking hard enough. The best thing I suppose was a pipe rack I got in a charity shop some years ago. Nothing special - just one of those gate type ones. One of these days I will find a whole box of Dunhills for £1 a pop :roll:
Cheers

Mike

 

[darthcider]

Always nice to get a bargain.

Worth having a mooch round a car boot.

 

[oldmansmoking]

I have found in this climate of austerity they don't negotiate very much with their prices. The best find on pipes was in the same location last year or the previous year. A Peterson harp full bent, silver band for £8.00. He was giving it away. £75 on line and was hardly smoked. I love it, find boot sales better than eBay as you can check the pipe out, and you don't get outbid at the last moment.

Got a half churchwarden, tobacco jar metal type pipe (which fell apart) and a briar which broke on the outside shank, I successfully glued it, all for £8.00. The half churchwarden and pipe jar with a stand which held two pipes in leather slots was what I wanted the rest was a bonus. I hunt down like a dog any pipe stuff.

Last week had to laugh a woman was selling condor tobacco one opened one sealed at £2.00 each more than you could get in ASDA supermarket. Told her, but no sense negotiating.

Today one stall holder wanted £15.00 for a cigar, when I can get 50gm of pipe tobacco for the same price.

Just love bootsales
Oldmansmoking

 

[mso489]

I think the idiom "car boot sale" is unique to the U.K. I understand it is a sort of temporary flea market, similar to a yard, garage, or estate sale in the U.S., but it would be interesting to know the details. Do people bring their items to sell in the boot and then empty them onto a folding table, or sell them right out of the boot, or both? Are all the sellers lined up in assigned spots, more or less, or just parked and set up where they will? It's just interesting to see how things are the same, and how different from one place to another. In the U.S., the boot of the car is called the trunk, except my late wife's mom always called it the boot; I don't think she was affecting a British manner, but she grew up in the country where some language was not typical of the U.S. generally. Are car boot sales usually in parking lots, or open fields, or in town?

 

[didache]

mso489 - it is something like a mass flea market and, yes, people sell things, usually from a folding table set up at the rear of their car. On any given Sunday anywhere in the UK there are probably several boot sales within easy reach of most people.
Usually they are on grass (although sometimes in a large car park) .. most often someone with a large area (eg a school or a church) will host it. Cars pay a fee for being able to sell there, which is how the school/church/etc makes money. They can vary from a small one with just a few dozen cars, to some really big ones with hundreds.
Like some ebay sellers, there are many car boot sellers who, in effect, have made a business for themselves in antiques or whatever they specialise in.
Hope this helps

Mike

 

[mso489]

Thanks didache, that spells it out nicely. 'Sounds like a good system, and a good uncomplicated system to allow non-profits to make some money.