Selling at a car boot sale in Ireland
Most of what is written about this is guesswork. The prices below are not. They come from the 13 car boot sales we track that publish a pitch price, and every one of them links to the listing it came from so you can check it yourself.
What a pitch costs
In the Republic, a pitch runs from EUR 10 to EUR 25 across the sales we have prices for. A van is usually EUR 5 to EUR 10 more than a car, a car with a trailer sits between the two, and a high roof van can cost a good deal more again.
In the North it is cheaper: GBP 5 to GBP 7 for a car, and double that or more for a van.
That is the whole outlay. There is no commission, nobody takes a cut of what you sell, and at most of them you pay at the gate on the day.
| Car boot sale | County | Pitch price |
|---|---|---|
| Trinity Lisburn Car Boot Sale | Antrim | GBP 5 per car, GBP 10 per van |
| Shambles Yard Car Boot Sale | Armagh | GBP 6 per car, GBP 11 per van or car and trailer |
| The Vale Centre Car Boot Sale | Derry | GBP 7 per car, GBP 12 car and trailer, GBP 17 per van, GBP 25 van and trailer |
| Carrigtwohill Community Centre Car Boot Sale | Cork | EUR 10 per car, EUR 12 small van, EUR 15 car and trailer |
| Castlebar Car Boot Sale | Mayo | EUR 10 per car for one space, EUR 20 for two, EUR 20 small van, EUR 30 van, EUR 40 high roof van |
| Clonmany Indoor Car Boot Sale | Donegal | EUR 10 per table, booked in advance by phone or email |
| Larchill Gardens Car Boot Market | Kildare | EUR 15 a pitch, EUR 5 more for a table, paid at the gate |
| Solas Car Boot Sale | Laois | EUR 15 booked online, EUR 20 on the day |
| Clara Sunday Market and Car Boot Sale | Offaly | Car boot spaces from EUR 20 |
| Kilkenny Sunday Market and Car Boot Sale | Kilkenny | EUR 20 indoor table, EUR 25 per car, EUR 30 per van |
| Fairyhouse Sunday Market Car Boot | Meath | EUR 25 per car, EUR 30 per van |
| Irish Car Boot Ballymun | Dublin | EUR 25 per seller for a space and a half |
| Irish Car Boot Tallaght Stadium | Dublin | EUR 25 per seller for a space and a half |
Book, or just turn up?
Both happen, and it is worth knowing which before you drive anywhere. Outdoor pitches are usually first come, first served: you pay at the gate and take the next space. Indoor tables are nearly always allocated, and at the indoor sales they go early, so ring or email ahead in the week.
A few take bookings for outdoor pitches too, and one or two open bookings on a fixed day of the week. The listing for each sale says which it is where we know, so read it before you set the alarm.
What time to get there
Earlier than you think. On the sales where we know both times, sellers are let in anywhere between half an hour and two hours before the buyers, and the earliest set-up time on any listing we hold is 7am. Getting there at opening time means unpacking while the first buyers are already walking past you.
The serious buyers, including dealers, come at the very start and are often gone within ninety minutes. If you are not set up for that first hour you have missed the part of the day that pays.
Check whether the sale asks vehicles to stay put until closing. Several do, for safety with children about, so plan on being there for the whole run rather than packing up when your good stuff has gone.
What to bring
- A float in coins and small notes. Bring more than feels sensible. The first hour is all EUR 20 notes handed over for EUR 2 items, and running out of change costs you sales.
- A pasting table or two. Selling off the ground is slower and buyers browse less. This is the one thing that most changes how much you take.
- A gazebo, or at minimum a tarpaulin. Sun and rain both turn up, sometimes on the same morning. Weigh the legs down properly.
- Bags. Nobody brings their own, and somebody who cannot carry it does not buy it.
- A clothing rail if you are selling clothes. Folded clothes in a box get ignored. Hung clothes get looked through.
- Something to sit on, food and a flask. It is a long morning and you cannot leave the pitch.
- Old newspaper and a marker. For wrapping breakables and for writing prices big enough to read from the far side of the table.
Pricing and what tends to sell
Price to shift it, not to recover what you paid. Anything you carry home you have effectively paid to store for another year. Round numbers move fastest, and a "everything on this table EUR 2" sign does more work than pricing forty items individually.
Expect haggling. Build a little room into the sticker and let people feel they got a deal. Toward the end of the morning, dropping prices hard beats loading the car back up.
Children's clothes, toys, books, tools, kitchenware, garden bits and anything electrical that you can demonstrate works tend to go. Adult clothes, large furniture and old technology are slow. That is a general pattern rather than a promise, and it varies a lot by venue.
The rules that catch people out
They differ by venue and they are worth reading on the listing. The ones we have come across on sales we track include second-hand goods only in the car boot section, no dogs on the field, no petrol powered tools, a cut-off time after which sellers are not admitted at all, and vehicles staying in place until the sale closes.
If you are selling new goods as a business rather than clearing out a house, that is trading, and casual trading in a public place needs a licence from the local authority. Some markets hold the licence and cover their traders under it. Ask the organiser rather than assume.
Weather
Outdoor sales get called off in bad weather, often at short notice and usually announced on the organiser's own Facebook page an hour or two before. We cannot know that in advance and neither can the organiser, so check on the morning before you load the car.
Find one near you
Running one rather than selling at one? List it here, free. Sellers plan the week before, and a pitch price they can find is a pitch they can book.