Car boot sales or boot fairs are a form of

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

in which private individuals come together to sell

household A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

and garden

good In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil. The specific meaning and etymology of the term and its ...

s. They are popular in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where they are often referred to simply as 'car boots'. Some scientific research has studied shopping habits at car boot sales. These groups of scientists see the rotation of surplus household stock as essential as it prevents waste and disposal costs, and also produces a small community where thriftiness and entrepreneurship flourish. The term "car boot sale" refers to the selling of items from a car's

boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...

. Although a small proportion of sellers are professional traders selling goods, or indeed browsing for items to buy, most of the goods on sale are used personal possessions. Car boot sales are a way of attracting a large group of people in one place to

recycle ReCycle is a music loop editor designed and developed by Sweden, Swedish software developers Propellerhead Software. It runs on Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh based Personal Computer, PCs. The software debuted in 1994. The principal idea ...

useful but unwanted domestic items that otherwise might have been thrown away. Car boot sales generally take place in the summer months. However, in a growing trend, indoor boot sales, and all-year hard-standing outdoor boot sales, are now appearing in some parts of the UK. Items for sale are extremely varied, including for example

antiques An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

and collectables, as in a

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

. Car boot sales are also very popular in parts of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and have a growing presence in

mainland Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by so ...

Locations

Car boot sales are held in a variety of locations, including the grounds of

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

s and other community buildings, or in grass fields or car parks. Usually they take place at a

weekend The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week, devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most o ...

, often on a Sunday. Sellers will typically pay a small fee for their pitch and arrive with their goods in the boot of their car. Usually the items are then unpacked onto folding trestle tables, a blanket or tarpaulin, or the ground. Entry to the general public is usually free, although sometimes a small admission charge is made. Advertised opening times are often not strictly adhered to: often the nature of the venue makes it impossible to prevent keen bargain hunters from wandering in as soon as the first stallholders arrive.

History

It has been said that Father Harry Clarke, a Catholic priest from Stockport, introduced the car boot sale to the UK as a charity fundraiser, after seeing a similar event or trunk fair in Canada, while on holiday there in the early 1970s. Despite the fact that no original source for this has been verified, the story continues to be told. There are now large numbers of regular car boot sales across the UK. An alternative or complimentary history is that the world's first commercial "Grand Boot Fair and Car Boot Sale", or at least the first in the south of England, was held at Nepicar Farm,

Wrotham Heath Wrotham Heath is a settlement in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is part of the civil parish of Wrotham, and is approximately south-east of the village of Wrotham, east of Sevenoaks, and west of Maidstone Maids ...

in Kent, England, on 20 September 1980; 200 stalls and 2000 members of the public turned up despite inclement weather. The title or name 'Boot Fair' was coined by one of the originators and organisers, Barry Peverett, in order to create the curiosity that ultimately ensured that car boot sale events became a run-away popular success and a burgeoning nationwide weekend activity. Barry Peverett was an antique dealer from Maidstone. His wife had visited the USA on a visit to her brother and had encountered "trunk sales" whilst there. As an antique dealer who regularly attended antique fairs Peverett saw the potential of bringing this idea to the UK ultimately organising the first large non charity boot fair at Nepicar farm in Kent in September 1980 with fellow organisers Harold Woolley and John Powell. Peverett ran successful boot fairs using the name Rainbow events across Kent in locations such as the Stour centre in Ashford and Maidstone Market amongst many others.

Online

In the 2000s, various "car boot sales" websites were established. These tend to be popular in winter when there are fewer normal outdoor car boot sales.

Safeguards

In 2008, a national charter, ''Real Deal: Working Together For Fake-Free Markets'', was launched by the

Trading Standards Institute The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) is a professional association which represents and trains trading standards professionals working in local authorities, business and consumer sectors and in central government in the UK and oversea ...

in England. It is intended to help local authority Trading Standards staff, market operators and copyright owners. By signing up to the charter, a market operator commits to work closely with Trading Standards to prevent the sale of counterfeit and other illegal goods, and to be aware of who is trading at the market. Trading Standards will, in return, commit to support the market operator and provide information to them in relation to the sale of infringing products."Car boots & markets - 'Real Deal'", Doncaster Borough Council
. Retrieved 17 August 2014 Guarantees are rarely sought or given at car boot sales and electrical items can rarely be tested at the sale site. Although tracing a seller can be difficult, in the UK they are still obliged to abide by the Trade Descriptions Act.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Car Boot Sale Culture of the United Kingdom Non-store retailing Retail markets in the United Kingdom Reuse

Locations

History

Online

Safeguards

See also

References