Who doesn’t love a market rummage on a Sunday or if you are skint a carboot clear out?
I used to love a visit to Greenwich Market in a Sunday when I lived on the other side of the river and could always find upcycled interesting small pieces of furnature, pictures, paintings, collectibles and antiques, the kind of things that are useful to dress a property before selling it, staging houses is something I have done, or to show to interior clients who like something quirky and original. For lovers of finding a bargain or having a nosey, a Sunday morning market or carboot sale is a fun and rewarding exercise, especially when the economy isn’t that buoyant and people have to find new ways to survive and make extra cash.
I’ve been watching sellers and buyers visiting the Capitol Carboot in Pimlico reporting some pretty incredible finds so decided to go and check it out for myself a few weeks ago.
It was a beautiful sunny morning so I thought sellers would be encouraged to go by the weather and there would be a good turn out so I prebooked my tickets online, £7 for an early bird ticket. You get to go in at 10am when the doors open. If you are a later riser and don’t mind going later when potentially all the best things have gone you can get in for £3 or £4.
I arrived with ten minutes to spare and there was a small crowd gathering outside. I was filled with anticipation as to what I might find. I’d got cash, a few hundred quid and had a couple of large IKEA style bags for my purchases, I was expecting to shop.
When the barrier opened dead on 10am their was a Le Mans style bolt down the hill and I did think what are they all running for.
When we got down to where the action was I have to say I really couldn’t believe it. Over 50% of the sellers there weren’t even set up and the sparse number meant getting around the outside playground (it’s in a school) and inside stands took me less than 10-15 minutes.
The offering was predominately clothes most of which you couldn’t sell on Vinted. I did have a rummage at one lady’s stand that had some very nice things, branded items, Stella McCartney, Maje, Anya Hindmarsh, Longchamps for reasonable prices but really small sizes, XS, 4-6 and some good shoes but very well worn.
I almost bought a couple of things then reminded myself what I was there for.
The only other thing I looked at was a really amazing quality jumper someone had put in the washing machine and shrunk the life out of it.
If you’ve got decent stuff to sell and are happy to let it go for £10-£20 max you might do OK as a seller, there were a few people there early maybe 60-100 looking for a bargain but as a buyer, well I came home with my stash in tact.
The moral of the story don’t believe everything you see on TikTok. From my experience the only people making money are the organisers. It costs £20 to sell and £7 for an early bird ticket.
The majority of stalls that were organised and ready on time were professional market traders selling knock off designer dupes and cheap shoes and trainers. And the clothes, I saw more Matalan, Primark and TU than designer bargains. If you’ve were looking for a fancy dress costume then maybe but antiques and collectibles were thin on the ground and no furniture, mirrors or interiors except for a picture here and there.
Would I go again. Unlikely. It wasn’t the exciting bargain hunters rummagers paradise marketed online.