BARGAIN hunters flock from far and wide for a good car boot – and I was itching to see what I could get my hands on at my local sale.
I’m a big fan of buying clothing second-hand, and I regularly buy items from charity shops, or from pre-loved sites like eBay, Depop and Vinted.
I made a profit by cashing in on my car boot finds
But it wasn’t until recently that I started to wonder how much money I could make by selling some of my second-hand finds online.
I had never visited a car boot sale before and I was keen to see if they’re a good place to find bargains that could be sold on at higher prices.
With this in mind, I hit a sale in Brighton with a budget of £30 to see what designer bargains I could find, and how much I could make by selling them online.
What did I buy at the car boot sale and how much did they cost?
I visited the Brighton Marina car boot sale which is held every Sunday.
There were endless tables filled with everything from clothes, vinyl records, homeware and even pet supplies.
But I stuck to finding high-end and designer clothing items.
This is because I know how to spot a good find from the endless hours I have spent scrolling on reseller sites like Depop.
The first thing I picked up was a women’s silk DKNY dress in medium.
The dress was in pretty good condition, minus a couple of tiny marks on the front, so I was happy to pay the £10 the seller wanted for it.
After this, I picked up a linen top from Zara in large for £4.
While Zara isn’t a designer brand, I had seen items from the high street chain go for big money online.
My next find was a £5 Ralph Lauren cotton shirt in a men’s size small.
It looked pretty crumbled on the hanger, but after a wash and an iron, I’m pretty sure it will look like new.
The final thing I managed to pick up was a women’s Adidas jumper in mint green. This was a little pricer, also coming in at £10.
I think if I was more of a car boot pro, I could have haggled on the price a little.
With just £1 left of my £30 budget, and most of the sellers packing up, I decided to head home with my finds to see how much I could make by selling them on.
How much could I sell my car boot finds for online?
Adidas jumper
I picked up an Adidas jumper
Adidas is a popular brand on second-hand selling sites like Depop and Vinted.
Both sites are great for selling everything from sportswear to high street brands and designer gear.
I tried Depop first, and typed in the exact style of jumper – Adidas Originals – which I had bought from the car boot into the search bar.
I found that the exact same style were on sale for £20 and they were also second-hand.
This was the same on Vinted.
I also checked eBay, and found a jumper in the same colour and style had also sold for £25 on April 22.
This means I could make around a £15 profit from selling the £10 jumper I found at the car boot
I was also shocked to Adidas still sells very similar jumpers for £40.
So if I decided to keep the jumper, rather than sell them on, I would have saved £25.
DKNY dress
I think this DYNK dress was a steal
DKNY is a big name in fashion and it’s obviously very pricey, so I was thrilled to have found such a lovely dress for just a tenner.
I couldn’t find the original retail price of the dress, but I spotted similar DKNY website website for £150, meaning I had already saved £140 by buying it second hand.
After a browse on Depop, I found a very similar dress on sale for £35.
But on eBay, one seller had sold a near identical dress for £20.
I could therefore expect to make about between £25 and £10 profit on my car boot purchase.
Zara top
Zara is a popular name on reseller sites
Zara has been a staple on the high street since the late nineties and the brand is loved by second-hand sellers.
So when I found this cute women’s top at the car boot for £4, I was pretty excited to see how much I might make by selling it on.
Zara is still selling a very similar embodied top for for £25.99 online – £21.99 more than I found it in at the sale.
On Depop, a very similar top was on sale for £15, meanwhile one had sold on eBay for £20 on May 16.
If I was to sell the linen shirt, I could realistically expect to make between £11 and £16.
Ralph Lauren shirt
Ralph Lauren resells at good prices
Ralph Lauren is pretty popular with students and twenty-somethings – so it’s the perfect brand to be reselling on Depop.
I couldn’t find exactly the same shirt for sale on Depop, but I found a very similar style for sale at £28.50.
On eBay, similar shirts had sold for around £15 earlier this month.
So I could expect to make at least £10 profit or, if I’m lucky, I could pocket almost £15 in extra cash.
My verdict
No doubt there are bargains to be found at the car boot – particularly if you’re a fan of big brands.
And there is also money to be made – I could expect to make around £70 in profit by selling my finds online if I matched the highest prices.
On top of making back the £30 I had spent in the first place, I would end up with £100.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that you’ll sell the item, or get the price you want.
You may have to wait some time for the cash if the item doesn’t sell instantly.
And in the worst case, you might be stuck with the item or have to sell at a loss.
There are also some things to consider when you choose to sell clothes online.
For example, some platforms charge sellers a fee or take commission that can eat into profits.
On Vinted, the seller pays nothing and instead, the buyer pays a fee of 3-8%.
Depop doesn’t charge a fee to list an item but you pay 10% commission on anything you sell.
You can list up to 1,000 items a month on eBay for free.
You’ll pay commission of 12.8% on what you sell, plus a 30p fee.
But even taking these extra charges into account, it’s still worth having a little look to see how much money you could make by selling on your charity shop finds.
Meanwhile, we spoke to a car boot expert to find out what five items you should always buy at a sale, and four to avoid.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]