whiskywill
Established Member
Where have all the car boot gloats gone? I used to look forward to seeing what lucky finds others had compared to the paltry selection I have seen.
Car boot finds.
- Thread starter whiskywill
- Start date
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MMUK
Established Member
I did redditch last Sunday as a seller but did manage to pick up a nice woodie for £3. It was being used as a groundsheet weight :lol: I think it's equivalent to a #7, it's about that size. I'll post a few pics @ the weekend.
Do you not think the Internet, EBay and online antique tool sellers are killing the chance of a car boot treasure find?!
I do think folk are becoming more aware of the junk or gems they have in their garage or have been bequeathed by their old granddad.
They know what prices we collectors are willing to pay
Jonny
I do think folk are becoming more aware of the junk or gems they have in their garage or have been bequeathed by their old granddad.
They know what prices we collectors are willing to pay
Jonny
RogerP
Established Member
I sell quite a lot through eBay and have noticed a slow decline in the prices realised for many antique/vintage/old tools. That's not say some items don't still fetch high prices but overall the trend seems to be downwards. Or at least it has to me comparing like for like sales 12 months ago and now.
I buy at car-boots twice a week and still get many bargains but there's a growing number of sellers who try to sell at eBay prices. Quite often I hear "I'd get £xxx on eBay" to which I point out that they're not having to pay eBay/PayPal's fees, photographing and listing the stuff, packing and posting it - plus effectively giving a guarantee and chance losing out on returns.
Lastly one does have to bear in mind that a buyer's bargain is a seller's loss - so it does rather depend which side of the fence one is on.
I buy at car-boots twice a week and still get many bargains but there's a growing number of sellers who try to sell at eBay prices. Quite often I hear "I'd get £xxx on eBay" to which I point out that they're not having to pay eBay/PayPal's fees, photographing and listing the stuff, packing and posting it - plus effectively giving a guarantee and chance losing out on returns.
Lastly one does have to bear in mind that a buyer's bargain is a seller's loss - so it does rather depend which side of the fence one is on.
That's a really fair point Roger. And glad I am that you guys exist. I rely on folk like you that are willing to go through so much hassle to get an item on the Bay and sent to me. Why? Because where I live in Shetland, there isn't car boot sales to go to twice a week - just auctions every two weeks where you hope something comes up.
I try to hunt out boot sales or junk shops when I'm on the mainland, but that's maybe twice a year!
So like I said, I need guys like you as most of my buying is done over the Internet.
I've lost count at the amount of times I've heard the 'well it goes for 30 quid on eBay' routine, so folk are doing their research and are finding out what things are going for. But as you rightfully said, they forget all the hidden costs that a seller has to meet.
Jonny
I try to hunt out boot sales or junk shops when I'm on the mainland, but that's maybe twice a year!
So like I said, I need guys like you as most of my buying is done over the Internet.
I've lost count at the amount of times I've heard the 'well it goes for 30 quid on eBay' routine, so folk are doing their research and are finding out what things are going for. But as you rightfully said, they forget all the hidden costs that a seller has to meet.
Jonny
John15
Established Member
I've never been to a Car Boot Sale. I see the regular advertising signs at roundabouts etc but when it comes to the weekend I find myself doing other things. Also my small workshop is full of tools and bits of kit so hardly room for much more!
John
John
lurcher
Established Member
i do hemswell every sunday at 6am lots of good tools stanley no7 vintage £1.00 lots of house clearance tools too moulding planes 50p each its still out there if you get up and go
Scouse
Established Member
I used to do the boot sales twice a week and regularly post finds up on here, but for the last couple of years a few things seem to have happened, possibly one as a result of the other.
First, ebay tool dealing seemed to become very trendy. I used to pick stuff up at the bootsale and use a bit and sell a bit on, just for fun. Now I see a number of regular 'ebay dealers' virtually running around the sale from 5.00 in the morning before most have unpacked, asking stalls if they have tools and hasseling sellers to unpack them first, before other 'dealers' turn up. As a result my slow wander with the dog only really allows for the occasional find.
That coupled with sellers deciding that their Uncle Charlie's rusty no4 is worth £50 because 'one went on ebay last week for that', as well as a bit of consternation when it is pointed out to them that they not on ebay, but are in fact on a bit of wasteland in Bootle, generally doesn't make the buying process either pleasant or straight forward.
I also noticed fewer people on here putting boot sale threads up, so I assumed that either less was being bought or possibly that the appetite for boot sale threads had dropped off.
Now, although I still go to the sales, it's almost never tool related, mainly for old books, and I rarely if ever buy tools unless it's something I need.
I guess it will be a cyclical thing and the tool trading bubble will burst eventually, but to be honest I've kinda moved on.
First, ebay tool dealing seemed to become very trendy. I used to pick stuff up at the bootsale and use a bit and sell a bit on, just for fun. Now I see a number of regular 'ebay dealers' virtually running around the sale from 5.00 in the morning before most have unpacked, asking stalls if they have tools and hasseling sellers to unpack them first, before other 'dealers' turn up. As a result my slow wander with the dog only really allows for the occasional find.
That coupled with sellers deciding that their Uncle Charlie's rusty no4 is worth £50 because 'one went on ebay last week for that', as well as a bit of consternation when it is pointed out to them that they not on ebay, but are in fact on a bit of wasteland in Bootle, generally doesn't make the buying process either pleasant or straight forward.
I also noticed fewer people on here putting boot sale threads up, so I assumed that either less was being bought or possibly that the appetite for boot sale threads had dropped off.
Now, although I still go to the sales, it's almost never tool related, mainly for old books, and I rarely if ever buy tools unless it's something I need.
I guess it will be a cyclical thing and the tool trading bubble will burst eventually, but to be honest I've kinda moved on.
JonnyW":3e6jl2u0 said:
I think there are Ebay sellers who are are selling tools that they haven't bought from boot fairs etc to sell on Ebay!
I haven't been to a boot fair for quite a while. I'm limited by having to rely on public transport, or my bike. There was one near me but was quite small, but they've moved further away. But 90% of the stuff I see there were old clothes and shoes, babies' toys and clothes, the rest was household junk. As others have said, the sellers get pounced on by Ebayers as soon as they arrive. So if you're not there at the scrum, anything interesting, not just tools, will be long gone. But they get don't spot everything though so if you're lucky you might find something. I also didn't like paying to enter just to look at piles of rubbish, well not actual rubbish but stuff I wouldn't want even if it was free.
There's a bigger one a bit further away but 99% of the stalls seem to be traders and not people just getting rid of their own stuff.
That's not to say I havn't got bargains from boot fairs, but now I think it's not worth the time and effort.
I went to one today and bought
Acorn No.4 for £3
Tyzack 14B
Steel rule
Round rasp all for £1
Went last Sunday to another local sale and bought
This is Frankie seeing if they are counterfeit or not!
Coping saw
Fretsaw
Rosewood bevel
Gents saw
Brass backed dovetail saw
Veneer roller all for £8
I haven't looked on Ebay for a good couple of years for tools and I've been looking over the last couple of weeks and I was quite surprised how prices have gone up.
A 71 router went for £91 the other day, a couple years ago they were really cheap!
Dave
Acorn No.4 for £3
Tyzack 14B
Steel rule
Round rasp all for £1
Went last Sunday to another local sale and bought
This is Frankie seeing if they are counterfeit or not!
Coping saw
Fretsaw
Rosewood bevel
Gents saw
Brass backed dovetail saw
Veneer roller all for £8
I haven't looked on Ebay for a good couple of years for tools and I've been looking over the last couple of weeks and I was quite surprised how prices have gone up.
A 71 router went for £91 the other day, a couple years ago they were really cheap!
Dave
RogerP
Established Member
Some decent hauls. I'm off to my local car-boot early tomorrow, hope I can do as well.
I walked around 150 car boots the other week (all in the same field of course), about 10 cars from the end I found a 7" wooden plane i call a coffin plane (rightly or wrongly). It was the car booters father's. in very good condition indeed. I expected him to ask some silly amount. well it was silly, fifty PENCE. So now its mine all mine (g)
I have been going a bit more recently but still very variable in terms of what is available on the woodworking front.
Most weeks I manage to find at least one chisel worth saving, todays example was purchased for 50p and I think the seller felt a bit embarrassed asking 50p for it but it had the key things I look for in a chisel these days:
1). Bevel edge pattern (I already have enough mortise and firmer chisels!)
2). Decent length of blade remaining
3). Not obviously bent or twisted
4). The older style hand forged neck
5). Made in Sheffield
Although I could not read the manufacturers name at the time; it looked salvageable and I needed a 1" chisel anyway. As usual it looked like it had been more recently used for opening paint tins amongst other things. It definitely had the worst condition handle I have seen recently!
As bought this morning:
Old style neck;
Underside of chisel:
Once home I could see it was a Marples, so a decent buy at 50p.
A couple of hours this afternoon had it cleaned up. Removed the remnants of the handle and salvaged the brass ferrule. First working through some emery paper 120/240/400 and then 800/1000 wet and dry on the underside had it looking like this:
There was still some light pitting but not enough to make further metal removal necessary. Moving to the top side with a wire brush and then the emery cloth again on the glass plate, I got the worst of the top side cleaned up. I always black oxide coat the top just to even out the colour of the metal and the chisel was now looking a lot better.
You can easily see the Marples name now:
I turned up a new handle in Ash, copying the style of another Marples chisel I have with an Ash handle and fitted the rescued ferrule. So here is another rescued chisel for future generations and hopefully some use for me as well! Just need to get around to sharpening it now.
Most weeks I manage to find at least one chisel worth saving, todays example was purchased for 50p and I think the seller felt a bit embarrassed asking 50p for it but it had the key things I look for in a chisel these days:
1). Bevel edge pattern (I already have enough mortise and firmer chisels!)
2). Decent length of blade remaining
3). Not obviously bent or twisted
4). The older style hand forged neck
5). Made in Sheffield
Although I could not read the manufacturers name at the time; it looked salvageable and I needed a 1" chisel anyway. As usual it looked like it had been more recently used for opening paint tins amongst other things. It definitely had the worst condition handle I have seen recently!
As bought this morning:
Old style neck;
Underside of chisel:
Once home I could see it was a Marples, so a decent buy at 50p.
A couple of hours this afternoon had it cleaned up. Removed the remnants of the handle and salvaged the brass ferrule. First working through some emery paper 120/240/400 and then 800/1000 wet and dry on the underside had it looking like this:
There was still some light pitting but not enough to make further metal removal necessary. Moving to the top side with a wire brush and then the emery cloth again on the glass plate, I got the worst of the top side cleaned up. I always black oxide coat the top just to even out the colour of the metal and the chisel was now looking a lot better.
You can easily see the Marples name now:
I turned up a new handle in Ash, copying the style of another Marples chisel I have with an Ash handle and fitted the rescued ferrule. So here is another rescued chisel for future generations and hopefully some use for me as well! Just need to get around to sharpening it now.
