Boot sale tips? Haggling?

[BrightSide]

I didn't think this was suited to the Corral, hence Off Topic.

'Kay so I haven't been to a car boot sale since I was around 9 years old. And 7 years is a long time.. I sure knew how to grab a bargain as a kid, but now I've no clue!

My parents like to go to boot sales almost every Sunday in the summertime, and I'll probably accompany them to go pony hunting..

But how do you haggle? How do you guys manage to grab such awesome ponies?

I feel too shy or mean to push for deals, but I don't want to overpay for ponies!

Helllllp!

[kaoskat]

Well, the best bet would be knowing what the item you are buying is worth. Then you'll know if it is a deal or not.

[Emfen]

Well, if I happen to find a pony that is overpriced I ask the seller politely about lowering the price. Today I actually asked a seller if I could get a play set cheaper due to it having some wear.

The days, weather and time is something that you gotta keep an eye on. Weekends are when families are out so it makes the chance of finding ponies less. Weather also is a factor, no one likes being in rain. Then of course time, it's always good to be first out as it makes the chance of finding ponies more likely.

[melodys_angel]

Always be nice.  Noone likes a pushy buyer.

I havent been to garage sales in awhile, but I used to bring someones kid with me and that seemed to help quite a bit.  Usually the next door neighbour, or my sister (who I can no longer drag allong, shes too old >>)

[Eviecorn]

I think the number one thing is to not act like you're desperate for the item.  Play it cool when you're talking price.

[mlpfan]

I have been doing this for 20 years,
if you think you want something PICK IT UP! then ask the price and check it out, you don't want to be looking at it and have someone else pick it up and buy it, flea market rule number one, who ever has it there hand has first dibs on buying it.

don't jump up and down and squee at what you found, the dealer then knows he has you and he will not hagle as much,rule 2 act like you could care less about buying it.

ask a price , it will go something like this, you say ''whata ya hafta have outa this?'' he says" I'll take 10 bucks for it", you say "take any less?"
then he will either stand firm on a price or say"I'll go 8 on it"  then you can say "take 5?" and he will either take five or come back with "I'll go 6 and that is the best I can do" then you can pay it. or keep trying to beat him down

here are some secret flea market pro moves you can try

there is "the walk off" if there is no one really moving around,  ask a price, if he wont haggle much you can put it down and start to walk off, about half the time the seller will almost jump across the table and say " ok I will take less" to keep from loosing the sale,

the "split the difference with you" if he is at ten and you are at 5 you can say I will split the difference with you" and go 7.50

the ''i really don't need it"  keep saying how you have alot of them allready or you have no use for it, most of the time his price will slip, also be sure to point out flaws or missing parts to the seller.

last but not least is the "cash flash"  if he is at 10 and you at 5,lets just say that a five dollar bill flapping around could very easily cause him to stop haggiling and take what you offer.


this is what my family has done as a profession for 20 years , so I hope these tips help. I will post some more when i think of them,

[BrightSide]

^ That is awesome!

I'll definitely have to remember the poker face tip.. as my natural reaction would be to squee and get excited.

I think it could possibly also help that I tend to dress fairly gothic  and wear stompy boots, which often gives the effect of people stereotyping and going 'welp scary goth eek do whatever she says', when actually I'm a softy little kitten

If I could acquire a small child to accompany me, that would be fantastic.. hmm..

Thanks everyone. Keep them coming in!

[mlpfan]

be sure to take allot of small bills and lots of change.

[kiwimlp]

Often the sellers already have a set price on an item, then you just need to decide if you want it or not.  If you feel it's a little pricey, then don't be afraid to make an offer.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained - and the worst they can say is no.

[Gingerbread]

Yep DON'T squee! Pick the item up and look at it carefully first to make sure you know what condition it's in. A few small marks or frizzy hair can be fixed by a collector but they can also be used as a bargaining tool Don't be scared to ask a silly price too! I found a shell at a bootsale today that was worth about £5. The seller wanted 50p. I asked if they'd take 20p, and they said yes. I would have been happy paying 50p but sometimes I just have to go lower And if you see something you want, if you haggle or not, buy it! It won't be there when you come back for it. (I've learnt that the hard way so many times!)

[babystarz]

My dad's favorite haggling tactic is starting to walk away if the seller won't come down to a price he likes. It works for him every time. He also happens to be a phenomenal poker player. I am terrible at haggling myself It's too hard for me to act like I could take it or leave it when I want something cool, but that's really what you need to do to be any good at it.

[bewilderness]

What works for me...don't carry a lot of money...then I can say, "well, I don't have a lot of cash on me, will you take such and such?"  lol.  That's usually the only time I haggle.  On the way home today I stopped at a yard sale and they had a couple of air purifiers for $5 each.  I've been thinking about getting one for a long time but have put it off because they're so expensive.  I didn't have $5 on me...I did have $2.65 in change, so I asked her if she'd take that for one of them and she did (probably because it was starting to get late).  Got back home and plugged my new air filter in and it runs.  I looked it up online and found out it originally sold for $100!!!  Talk about a deal!  And I was even able to find the manuel free online.

If you go a little bit later (say, after 10 or 11) you won't have as much choice but people are going to start getting ready to pack up and you can usually get pretty good deals then. 

[mlpfan]

What works for me...don't carry a lot of money...then I can say, "well, I don't have a lot of cash on me, will you take such and such?"  lol.  That's usually the only time I haggle.  On the way home today I stopped at a yard sale and they had a couple of air purifiers for $5 each.  I've been thinking about getting one for a long time but have put it off because they're so expensive.  I didn't have $5 on me...I did have $2.65 in change, so I asked her if she'd take that for one of them and she did (probably because it was starting to get late).  Got back home and plugged my new air filter in and it runs.  I looked it up online and found out it originally sold for $100!!!  Talk about a deal!  And I was even able to find the manuel free online.

If you go a little bit later (say, after 10 or 11) you won't have as much choice but people are going to start getting ready to pack up and you can usually get pretty good deals then. 

be careful about not bringing alot of cash, you never know when you might walk up on a huge pile of g1 ones for .50 cents each, nothing is worse then not having the money with you to buy up a great deal as the old saying goes "A day late and a dollar short"
and DO NOT  carry checks , seller HATE them and 99 percent of the time they wont take them because they have been burnt by bad checks before.

[Chrissytree]

You can always keep your money seperately.  So if they're asking £5 and you have change that's around £3 you can always say "this £3 is all I have!" Sometimes works for me.  I also try picking something else up, ask a price, put it down then try for the pony before haggling.  Makes you look like you're a casual purchaser not an avid collector.  IF there's more than one ask the single price then say "would there be any deal on all of these?"
I love finding ponies at Car Boot sales but I don't get to go to many

[BrightSide]

^ I really like that thought! Change in one pocket, notes in the other.. sounds like a fabby idea!