Stonham Barns Car Boot Blog Archive: Jul - Dec 2013 

suffolk's traditional car boot sale ~ every Sunday from 8am 

1st December 2013 

I must start by saying how well the organisers at Stonham performed considering. As usual everything was being changed and amended right up until the last minute and considering the general turmoil of an event day it went as smoothly as it possibly could. I’ve seen a lot of events at Stonham and this is probably the best it’s been. Also, I would say that it was nice to see a better quality selection of fun rides and a great tent for the stalls. The Car Boot, as usual, had yet another move but, I actually thought we were in a great position by the shops. If the sellers didn’t get the buyers first thing they ended up getting them on the way back. The many that stayed longer were exceptionally happy as they had an all day buying market. I think that out of all the sellers we had only one said that they hadn’t sold well but, still enjoyed the occasion and said that it may have been the wrong day to sell the items they did. 

 

It’s always pleasing when everyone sells well. It doesn’t happen all the time but, we can only lay on a venue for them to sell at. With so much going on I was pleased to see so many of the normal Car Boot visitors coping with the parking and getting on with it. With big days it will always be a lot busier than normal for everyone but, what do you expect. 

 

In the Summer the Car Boot is happily in the field with all the buyers and event crowd next to us but, no matter what with days like these there are big numbers at the events and there will always be people parked in front of this or that. 

 

There is a point to my waffle, as always, it is that if you want lots of people at Stonham then you have to expect a little bit of turmoil. As usual having events upsets some but, I think we are so lucky to have a venue that provides so much.. 

 

In all this time last Sunday was the first time that someone helped us move the covered stalls back. I know that it isn’t down to anyone else but, can I say a huge thank you to the events organiser and the young lad that assists at the events. A small gesture but, at 5pm to 6pm and at the end of a long day you have no idea how appreciative we were that we had a hand. 

 

I don’t normally go on about the effort we put in but, it is tiring and I do care what everyone thinks about the Car Boot. I know I shouldn’t but, I always ask people how they have got on and try and find a reason why they have or haven’t sold well. I know we can only provide a venue but, it really can be hit and miss at a Car Boot. i alsways find out about other Car Boots and how they are getting on. Some weeks they are packed and others empty. We all suffer the same. Two or three weeks back we had loads of buyers and the next week (although the weather was worse) we didn’t. It’s really upsetting when we get new sellers and they say to me … Is this it or isn’t it quiet. We do start slowly but, if it’s a nice day it can be massively busy. Some come here once and decide that it’s like that every week. There are of course some weeks when you have to sell there and if you read the pages I write every week (I do write the next weeks Car Boot piece every week) it pre-warns everyone about the week ahead. I do listen to the expected numbers and advertise with anyone holding an event there. We always advertise the events at Stonham and do everything to try and make the days as good as possible for everyone. However, the weather is always vital. We added the stalls to counteract this and do have bad weather days where it is busy. Either way, we do try bloody hard to have a good event each Sunday we open and I think that anyone that knows us (and I include all the regulars as well as they all help muck in at times) knows we put a lot in. 

 

Anyway, i’m getting bookings coming in each week now for the covered stalls which is always good. I only offer bookings in Winter as they tend to go in Summer. We are listed as an all year Car Boot but, based upon the weather and expected cold point which is sure to come in January, we are still contemplating whether to close in January. We are definitely shut on the 22nd as we feel it is too close to Xmas and judging by previous years has been a bit of a waste of time with everyone getting last minute Xmas shopping. I could be wrong but, we need to do some as well… 

 

I’m also undecided about the 29th December as well. If I get a positive response with regard to the 29th and I will open but, if I don’t I won’t. What do you think… 

 

24th November 2013 

A bit disappointing last week but, not unusual. Well, the forecast was rain at 11am but, it was raining all night and raining at 6am and gloomy from 6am onwards. many people must have looked out and decided it was going to be a rubbish day and stayed in. Having said that, the rain stopped and it looked bright as we reached 8.45 and suddenly we had good numbers of sellers. Sadly, the weather didn’t perform and it was raining again by 9.30. As you can imagine buying numbers were down and this was disappointing because the week earlier we had loads of buyers. I’ve mentioned this a million times but, what is it that people do…. from one week to another. Once you get hooked on Car Boots you tend to want to come again. This is what I don’t quite get my head around. 

 

Now, I understand that normality pops in every now and then and we all have things to do but, everyone likes browsing through a Car Boot. Hence, we do get the same faces every week but, on nicer days we get this hidden selection that come from nowhere, appear to love the atmosphere and say how wonderful it is and then hibernate until 2020. 

 

What do these people do? Also, we get new sellers every week. It always amazes me when someone says … I didn’t realise you ran a Car boot there. Where have they been. I know it isn’t Cup Final Day or Ascot at Stonham Barns but, you won’t find a more honest Car Boot (if I may say so myself). Seriously though.. the buyers are civilised, the sellers are, the atmosphere is good and it really is a good day out at Stonham. As far as venues go you won’t find another Car Boot at a venue with so much going on. Which brings me to this week. I’m expecting a good turn out this week. Chipperfields Circus starts, there is a big tent with festive food, Xmas trees, Santa and his Reindeer and a funfair all going on around the Car Boot so, hopefully the weather will be good. But, irrespective of that good numbers will still be expected. A must go to day for buyers and sellers at the Car Boot as there will be lots to see and do. My only moan about this day is that Chipperfields have two tents. One for the Circus and one for the Ice Skating however, the Ice Skating doesn’t start until the 24th December… why… Winter Wonderland and it isn’t open. The Ice Skating is actually going to be good as it’s actuallyu a real Ice Skating rink unlike the one last year which was the size of a shoe box and was just slippery board. Surely, on Winter Wonderland, it would make sense to be open for the event. 

 

Anyhow. Anyone wanting a Covered Stall on Sunday I would recommend being there for 7.30. I have held a few for regulars but, it really is first come first served but, never fear as so long as you bring a sheet you can always place everything on the ground and sell away. 

 

I’m looking forward to it but, hoping for decent weather. Because the tents are there there should still be good crowds and make sure you bring sheeting just in case. For normal uncovered pitches just turn up at 8am. 

 

17th November 2013 

I didn’t realise it had been so long since I wrote on here. So, what’s happened. 

 

We have moved from the field, albeit far too early, having been told that the Circus was turning up. As of today it still isn’t in our field. I’m not 100% sure it was a godd idea as it has taken a few people a little bit of time to realise we are in the Car Park. We moved, to start with, into the shops into what I thought would be great for everyone at Stonham. After all, it puts the audience in front of the shops as well. I did this because many Car Booters pop in, have a browse and burger and leave. This way, although we might lose business on the food trailer, it means that it gives everyone more time and things to see and get used to the shops at Stonham. Unfortunately, on the day in question, it was blowing a gale and raining all morning and despite all of that we still had sellers and some buyers just, not as many as we would have liked but, it had been awful weather. 

 

We then moved to the Car Park in front of the Owl Sanctuary and have been there ever since. 

 

We had complaints in with the shops and managed to get complaints for taking spaces by the Golf. I’ve said this a million times now but, what a bunch of selfish people there are at Stonham. We bend over backwards and have happily moved from place to place without complaint and have brought in numbers that Stonham has not seen for years and yet, the only thing the shop and attraction owners can do is moan and think about themselves. 

 

We have moved and tried 5 different positions at Stonham and each time we get people telling us that the couldn’t find the Car Boot but, we still carry on and hope that everyone will use there noddles and work out that if the signs are up outside the Car Boot is on…. 

 

 

 

To be carried on soon. 

 

 

 

20th October 2013 

Greetings earthlings. What have you missed. Signs have been disappearing, some have reappeared and some have been snapped. The council are still moaning about signs and that is despite the fact that Helmingham Hall seem to have more and more every week. Apparently it’s ok for them because they are charitable events…. Yer right. Nothing to do with lady Smythe Simpleton (or whoever she is) owning it. Don’t the council make you laugh. There was a lady there on sunday moaning about our signs outside. I wouldn’t mind but, I have cut down the numbers I have put out. Everywhere you go you see signs for Trinity Park, Suffolk Showground or Bulb fairs here, there or everywhere and these are out for events in 2 months time. I put ours up Friday night/Saturday morning and take them down after the Car Boot on Sunday and still it’s not good enough. What a shame I didn’t run into her… literally. Can you imagine a day in the life of a sign spotter. 

 

Anyway, the last two weeks have been quite sad. On the 13th it rained and rained and rained. I was pleased to still see 15 odd cars waiting to set up. Considering the forecasts and the actual weather that was quite a good turnout given the awful conditions. We didn’t put the covers up in the end as it really wasn’t going to stop raining. I had a good chat with everyone there and gave many a cup of tea on the house. 

 

In hindsight we could have set up in the car park but, the weather wasn’t good enough to expect many buyers to turn up. Last Sunday was a bit different as we had a lovely start to the day. This was quite surprising because it had been forecast as rain pretty much all weekend in advance so, low numbers were understood. We had the stalls and covered walkways out and they were almost full but, just as the buyers starting to turn up the inevitable happened and it poured down. I had one disgruntled seller that hadn’t sold much and wasn’t happy with me but, i’m not sure what they expected. I did have to take money from the sellers because they had a few hours of selling and we do have to pay for the field. Everyone understood the situation and knew it was a risk selling because again we all thought it would rain. 

 

To everyone that reads this and knows Stonham Barns and the Car Boot I have constantly talked about the field and how much I like being on the field but, I actually am looking forward to moving onto the Hard Ground and a few calls yesterday cheered me up as I had a few people telling me that Friday Street had stopped (we aren’t really affected by them) and they had nowhere to go. To start with i’m not saying that we run on others stopping but, we remained open last year just for this reason and i’m hoping that we will benefit this year from this. 

 

Now, despite having the stalls and covered walkways and wrap-round sides on the stalls if it’s hammering down we all know that numbers will not be as good as normal so, I am working overtime on this and desperately trying to sneak the Car Boot into the Shop area at Stonham. I’m not 100% sure that all the shops will enjoy our company but, it centralises all the people coming to one place and can only help the shops. I will have a yes or no today with regard to this as Stonham has already placed the Circus ticket office in the Car park outside the Owl Sanctuary and the field is full of big tents etc so, anyone visiting Stonham will have to aprk in the Main Showground. So, it should be quite a cosy affair and I expect quite a good one if we get good numbers at the Car Boot. I’m excited about being by the shops because it’s a safe wind-free area and with the covered stalls and walkways plus shop areas, there are enough places for people to remain dry if it does rain. 

 

I will be there sorting this all out on Saturday and as usual we will be advertising in the papers so, I think that many in Suffolk will start to realise that we are probably the only Car Boot on Hard Ground and with covers too. 

 

Covered stalls are available to hire but, they will go quickly. Don’t worry though as there will be space in both areas. We will (if allowed) fill up the shop area and also fill up part of the Car Park outside as well. If we get too many people we will use part of the road and car park outside. We have to leave one piece to allow Cars through to the showground but, we will use as much as we need to. Either way it should be fun. See you from 8am on Sunday. And remember, if it’s a success we will do exactly the same all Winter. 

 

To Be Continued 

 

6th October 2013 

My apologies again. My days seem to get shorter and shorter. I’m so eager to get the next weeks Car Boot written that the previous weeks has had to suffer. 

 

Well, In the last 2 weeks we have had the Horse Show which brough in 107 sellers and the following week had 60 plus sellers. It was a bit windy for the Horse Show but, the event definitely brought in extra sellers. Many sold well on the day but, i’m not 100% sure that having the Horse Show on the ‘other’ showground helped or hindered the Car Boot. If you read my comment on next weeks Car Boot my conversation with Mr Stonham is definitely interesting and very positive for the Car boot. 

 

We were summoned to a meeting with him for what I thought was going to be a smacked bottom for something I had done somewhere or to someone with my dry humour. I even thought it was those two women from Sudbury complaining about their faces appearing on our adverts! But, it turned out to be a really good positive meeting with the promise that events would be increasingly dramatically. I think that he actually felt a little awkward as he had allowed the circus to go on our parking & Car Boot areas but, we were actually ok with that as the hard ground is often a relief as the weather the gets worse (as I expect that it will eventually). Even so, with so many Xmas related things going on it is quite good to be in amongst everything in the main squares. As the weeks go on I will let you know where the Car Boot will be but, we will be running right up to Xmas and again hope to take advantage of the other Car Boots starting to stop as we get closer to Xmas. 

 

The Car Boot yesterday was also quite shocking as it was so warm. I always fear a Car Boot after a show but, we had good numbers and although slow to start with it eventually picked up and I had quite a lot of people saying how well they had sold or how much they enjoyed the day. Now, we all know that the atmosphere is really good at Stonham Barns and that the buying public are so friendly and quite generous in comparison to some places. My whole life is taken up with trying to get the buyers to come each week. Some weeks they turn up in hordes other weeks they decide to go to the beach. I had a good chat with a seller that regularly attended Needham. He stated that despite running for years that it is only the last three years that everyone just suddenly turned up without advertising or signs…. 

 

Now, they have been running for 20 years I think but, it’s quite pleasing to think that we have got where we are in 17 odd months. We do have the benefit of all the other goings on at Stonham but, still… we are doing ok. My only argument is that Stonham has everything you could possibly wish for in a venue so, why hasn’t it just completed taken off and we have to fend off the people turning up. Well, I suppose that it’s probably a good thing that we don’t have that situation. Many of our sellers come because they like the feeling of it and that it isn’t robust and full of people grabbing at their goods. I had another chap who regularly went to Ardleigh and yet said that he would definitely come back as he loved the atmosphere of it. Now, I do also get people that come to Stonham and then complain that they don’t sell brilliantly. That is often the case at all Car Boots. I had someone say that they did brilliantly at Needham one week and then sold nothing the next. This is also quite normal at all Car boots. I still feel that it is down to what you bring and then luck that you get a similar type of crowd compared to the week before. 

 

We do get the same old lot coming but, we seem to get a different crowd as well each week. The same that we get people selling every week that haven’t been before. I’m thinking about running a course on Carbootology because it really is a tough one to crack. Some feel that they should sell at the same place each week so that they get their regulars, others like to move around to see the different places and sell to the different crowds. This ties in with some selling great one week and pants the next. We also get people that come each week irrespective of whether they sell loads or little. Others sell lots each week. It really is a nightmare to analyse. 

 

One of our new regular sellers recently brought bikes to sell at the Car Boot. £40 and £25. It’s difficult for me to judge because I have a bike but, that has to be a matter of being at the right place at the right time. Someone coming to look round who didn’t come to look for a bike but, saw one and thought of their daughter who was after one. I’ve seen a man turn up with just a boat for sale. He left after 45 minutes having sold it for £300. How amazing is that. What is the likelihood of someone going to a Car Boot that was looking for a boat. Again, I expect that he wasn’t and just saw it and went for it. I’m amazed that he had £300 to hand. Must have used the Post Office to draw cash out. 

 

Now, I always say that I reckon I could pick a range of items to sell that I think would 100% sell at a Car boot. Naturally I wouldn’t be selling diamond rings for a pound, I mean items that I think others would definitely be interested in. I’m sure many others could do this as well but, I don’t think any of us could do this every week. It would mean spending all week looking for perfect items that you manage to buy at a price where you still have room to make a profit and still attract the buyers. An example, to me, of how this all goes out the window was a chap yesterday from Anglia Bulb Company. They always have such beautiful flowers and he turned up with Dahlias. They were huge and he was asking £4 for them. Now i’m not a great Dahlia fan but, everyone was telling him howlovely they were and how they were the best they had seen. But, hardly anyone was buying them. I don’t know if he managed to perform better throughout the day but, I have seen his flowers disappear before so quickly. Why is that… 

 

I guess it’s luck. I’ve said this before, and people that read this a lot must think that i’m repeating myself, but, there are always people that sell the same things every week and they must know, by now, that they aren’t selling the right things. Rather than blaming the Car Boot there comes a time when you have to re-think the sellection you sell. Yesterday we had a good mixture of sellers. We had some that were doing it for a living and it was life or death to them. Others just came out for a bit of fun hoping to clear a few things and maybe make some money. Others end up buying more than they sell. Others enjoy the day, buy food with the profit and go to the pub with the takings. Others know they haven’t got a great selection but, like the venue and my favourite people are the one’s that do one every 4 weeks with a great range and virtually sell the lot. Marcus is a bit like that. I met him ages ago as he swept a chimney of ours. I didn’t see him for ages (ignores chance of soot related joke) until he turned up selling antiques at the Car Boot. He does just that and always calmly says that he made £200+ at the Car Boot. The final person that I have missed out is the person that makes excuses for the Car Boot if they haven’t sold well and blames their products. I guess that these are also my favourites as we can’t lose. Seriously though, we had a few people selling yesterday that hadn’t been before and were most kind with their comments about the Car Boot. It’s always nice that people enjoy the day and even better still, sell well. 

 

One lady said that it was well run and very efficient and she loved the covered stalls. We do try to be efficient but, it can be a lot of hard work sometimes. 

 

Anyway, as the week goes on I will try and add a few more things. Thanks for your support and don’t forget that we will be open up till Xmas and if you don’t see us in the field it means that we are in the Car Park. 

 

One last thing. I keep losing boards again. If anyone sees someone taking the boards and it isn’t me. Get their number plate as it seems to be someone that uses boards elsewhere (and I don’t think it’s local people). It’s so annoying when i have to buy and make these up each week and then have to do the same thing the next week. 

 

We are still getting grief from the council despite me taking them down every week after the event and only putting them up on Friday evening/Saturday morning. I keep seeing signs out for months on ened advertising other venues and nothing is done to remove them. Helmingham Hall for example… this must have something to do with who owns the place. I may have to change my name to Lord Simon to be able to put boards out for longer… 

 

To be continued 

 

22nd September 2013 

Doesn’t time fly. I’ve missed talking about two Car Boots since I wrote last. I’ve been really busy sorting millions of things out and just didn’t get the cahnce. But, here goes. On the 8th September I have to say that it was one of those Sundays where I wished I had an aeroplane and banner. All week we had heard that it was going to be terrible, windy and rubbish and naturally Sunday morning was absolutely beautiful. The day before had been awful so, I fully understand why so many hadn’t prepared themselves for selling. We must have had about 50 sellers at most and I expect that every one was glad that they did sell as it was the same old scenario whereby less sellers means that you get more buyers per pitch. I certainly didn’t hear any complaints from anyone. 

 

It is disappointing because we have to carry on even if the weather is poor. It’s fully understandable because, everyone thinks that if it rains no one will turn up but, even in the rain 9and in fact snow) we get buyers turning up. So, come Sunday when the weather was great the buyers turned up as normal and probably left thinking that we were quieter than normal. 

 

The following week (22nd September) we had over 70 sellers but, this time we were certainly down on the number of buyers. maybe, it was because we had less sellers the week before, maybe it’s because it’s the last Sunday before everyone is paid. I don’t know. As I said to everyone as I went round, I wish I could pinpoint an exact reason but, I can’t. As you can imagine I immeditaely mentioned this Sundays double Horse Event and I hope it is going to be a big successful one as it should bring a lot of people to watch the Gipping Valley Horse Show and heavy Horse Show. Now, as you probably all know, i’m not from Suffolk so i will apologise to everyone first. And I don’t mean because i’m not from Suffolk. i mean because I don’t get why people from Suffolk seem infatuated with Steam Traction things or heavy horse shows or even Classic car Shows. i know that everyone has a hobby or love and I’m as bad as anyone else but, I can’t get excited at the thought of seeing a bloody heavy horse. I can look at one and I reckon that I can quite quickly ascertain that it must be heavy but, once I’ve seen one i think that they will all be pretty similar. I’m joking of course. My first thought will probably be that they must make one hell of a mess! 

 

I’ve read through and apparently it is: 

 

Show ring displays include Shires and Drays, Harness demonstrations, Horse and Traction Engine, Timber Snigging, Carriages, Shoeing and much more.Other attractions include trade stands and rural craft demonstrations such as pole lathing, basket making and many oher exhibits of Suffolk’s bygone era. 

 

See they have incorporated Steam Traction as well…. 

 

The Horse jumping is: 

 

The Gipping Riding Society are organising the Show Jumping side of the event which is open to members and non-members and provides competition for both novice and experienced riders. Rosettes to 6th place in all classes and a special trophy to the overall showing champion. 

Classes to include, Showing: 

Working Hunter 

Ridden and In-hand Hunters, Riding Horse, Coloured & Cobs 

Mountain & Moorland Ridden & In-hand 

For children: Lead rein, First ridden and child handler. 

Show Jumping: 

Classes from Beginners to Open for all ages and experience. 

Spectators welcome. 

Sounds great but, just not my thing. This is an interesting one for Stonham as I don’t think they have held Horsey things at Stonham before so, being totally selfish, I hope it goes really well and we get lotys of new buyers and sellers. 

 

Going back to the argument about numbers I get a lot of people asking me if we are carrying on and I always say yes but, it depends on them turning up to sell. So many people come to Stonham and look upset when it isn’t still running when they turn up at 4pm in the afternoon. Others say to me that it says all day in the advertisement they saw a year ago or it says till 2pm. I really don’t know when it will end. When we have events there we are often still there at 3pm. It isn’t down to me it’s down to the buyers being there. 

 

In Winter we will keep going until it’s just me and 3 others selling. We are not there to make fortunes but, we need a certain number to break even. Everyone has to remember this. I’ve said we will run up till Xmas but, as it gets closer to Xmas many will go elsewhere to do their Xmas shopping. I will judge it weekly and stop before Xmas if we start to lose numbers dramatically. 

 

I had someone turn up last Sunday saying: Are we on our way out now as therre wasn’t that many buyers this week. I expect that all Car Boots are affected in the same way on the same day. Last Sunday was really foggy in the morning and that keeps buyers and sellers away. Lack of money keeps people away and sometimes other events or going to the seaside or a million other things. Some weeks we get loads of buyers others you don’t. Nobody knows why. All Car Boots have this. I generally laughed when the lady said that. People are only interested in themselves and how they have done that day. The regularts know what it can be like so, they carry on coming. Others expect to sell thousands and if they don’t it’s down to the car boot and nothing to do with what they are selling. One lady turns up every month or so and she tries to sell what I can only describe as absolute junk. I’m not being horrible and nasty but, there are obvious things that you can honestly look at and think that you wouldn’t ever buy that even if it was brand new let alone second hand and looking battered. Others sell clothes that were never in fashion in the 70’s and definitely aren’t in fashion now. Plus they look dirty and second hand. I mean, why not just sell your old undies…. Hopefully, you know what I mean. There must be a Car Boot somewhere with lots of people like this all having lots of grubby people buying off of them. I hope I haven’t offended anyone but, jesus christ…. These people always tell me that they have sold £6 worth today and i’m so tempted to shake their hands and say that i’m absolutely amazed as I wouldn’t give them 6p for anything on their stalls. Am I cruel. No, course not. 

 

Naturally there are always people that love a moan at a car boot, they will always moan. I can understand disap[pointment of not selling anything but, you have to look at what you are selling and understand that sometimes these items should be skipped. On Sunday, despite there defintely being less than normal buyers i had at least a quarter of the sellers saying that they had sold well. Others said they hadn’t been before and thought it was busy (maybe being polite). My friend sold £90 worth but, they had good quality items which were definitely worth more. Car Boots are great as so many people do not know what to sell things at. 

 

 

 

To be continued. 

 

1st September 2013 

Have you missed me. What a few weeks it has been. The Sunday after the Car Show was the first Sunday I was a little apprehensive about as the weather on my little ap. had said rain on Saturday/Sunday all week. Whenever that happens I quickly turn my ipod off and ignore it. Part of me thought that we would be buzzing after the Car Show and irrespective of the weather people would know that the covered stalls mean that we will still have a show. The Saturday was awful and I know that Needham was rained off. I also had a numpty call me at 5am asking me about a car boot in Guildford. Call me old fashion but, despite me advertising everywhere, surely it’s quite easy to work out that Guildford isn’t near Suffolk. I’m still also getting people ringing up from Toys R Us asking me why we aren’t there…. I feel anger already just thinking how many are still enquiring. 

 

Something that has made me laugh, and I do apologise to all at Needham last Saturday, but… I know that lots were enquiring about the new Car Boot at Copdock and wondering where it was. Well, i’m afraid that this is down to our great friends at Radio Suffolk. I spent weeks asking them to advertise Toys R Us Car Boot. They didn’t mention us once so (when it was running) I decided to change the name to Copdock Car Boot thinking that this might work. Anyway, a few weeks after Toys R Us had closed (due to the incompetence of morons there) it suddenly appeared on the radio stating it was on at 8am… So, my apologies to all that got excited by the announcement. I did hear that many people left Needham in search of the mysterious venue. If this happens again just go to Toys R Us and feel free to set up in the shop (ha). 

 

Not that i’m bothered still by Toys R Us but, can you believe that they are denying that we were asked to even have a Car boot there. Well, this is my blog so, i’m going to call them all absolute arsewipes. Do they really think that we would have gone to all the trouble that we did if they hadn’t asked us to hold a Car Boot there. After all, we are all just silly car boot people that love advertising in expensive newspapers and then stop the Car boot before the advertised event even happens. I also, just loved driving up to the Copdock roundabout; climbing up the hill and placing numerous signs all over the place under the threat of Police arrest late at night just for a laugh. Printing signs and handing out leaflets around Ipswich…… but, i’m over it now. 

 

I will get this in the EADT soon and I will be getting some compensation out of them one way or another….. My thanks to everyone that offered manure for the entrance to the shop. As tempting as it is I hope that anyone that goes to a Car Boot simply avoids Toys R Shite and if they have to go asks the manager why he is such a XXXX. 

 

Anyway, rant over. For now anyway. 

 

The threat of rain did have an effect on the Car Boot as we had less sellers than normal although, it was always going to be difficult to follow the 110 the week before. having said that we did have a good buyer turnout and quite a lot of sellers sold well. This goes back to the old addage about less sellers means they alll do better. There was still 60 odd and considering the gloomy start and week long threat of rain it wasn’t bad. I generally check round and ask certain people how they have got on. I did promise myself not to do this but, there are certain people that are honest and you can tell from their faces how they have got on. One of the people I do check is our good friend with the bubbles. He has a habit of getting a little aggressive if he hasn’t done well. For weeks and weeks he returned with exactly the same items every week. He now changes his stock regularly and sells well now. Again, how obvious was that…. I do have a few people that always make me laugh. The Vegetable man, whenever asked, always says that it isn’t as good as he expected. Yet, he always writes a running figure by his till and if it says £140 or more or even £80 to me that’s a good morning. He has come since the very beginning of the Car Boot and I still only charge him £5 for his car. I should probably charge more but, he has been loyal. I use the word loyalty but, if he wasn’t doing as good as he expected then; he wouldn’t be there. Also, on the Sunday he has the fruit that is starting to come to the end of it’s cycle. This is fruit that would probably be thrown if he didn’t sell it at the Car Boot. Who else is there. I do watch most people at the Car Boot and generally you can tell if some haven’t sold. The same as you can also pretty much tell if they would sell judging by what they are selling. However, some of the things that you see being taken away by people always suprises me. 

 

There are some characters at the Car Boot and I do enjoy talking to a lot of them. One such chap has been loyal to the Car Boot and he is the German buyer. He nearly always has a white labrador with him. I always wondered what he did with the things he bought as he nearly always buys a lot each week. Well, apparently he buys and then goes to a Swiss equivalent in a lorry park where you can buy English antiques and things. He said that he can buy a carpet for £10 and sell it for £80 in Switzerland. I may have mentioned this before but, there was another chap who bought VW Campervans + Lambrettas from India and had them placed in containers and floated to Britain. VWs at £2000 and Lambrettas from £200 seemed a good idea to me. It’s amazing the things we do for money. I know others that buy linen in France and so on. 

 

Anyway after the rainy looking Sunday last Sunday was again being threatened with rain immediately after the 25th August but, it was soon changing slowly throughout the week. I actually had the Bank Holiday and then the following week off from work and had the pleasure of a family trip to Yarmouth to look forward to….. Hence, on the Bank Holiday Monday I spent about 5 to 6 hours doing a weeks advertising in one day. That was actually quite a good feeling. Also, now that I haven’t got the Toys R Us Car Boot to advertise (did I tell you that they are incompetent liars) i’m able to concentrate more on Stonham Barns. 

 

Anyway. The weather was good Saturday and Sunday was also pretty good too. By 7.30 it was looking pretty quiet but, again everyone seemed to listen to my take a lie in advertising campaign and arrived at 8. In fact we had 83 sellers on Sunday and I was pleasantly surprised by the numbers. Now maybe it’s a psychological thing but, with a lot more sellers there always looks like less buyers. I know that we often start slowly but, there is always a point when it does get really busy. The car park is often full and having the campsite and holiday park you know that you will always get a flow coming pretty much all day at Stonham. The only problem I have with these busy days is that you will always get someone saying it’s not as busy as last week or it’s a bit quiet today or is it always this quiet. the same as you will also get people saying that they thought it was busy and they had done really well ro that they loved it here. This is the reason I tried to stop myself from asking people. it’s difficult though as it’s in my nature to see how people do. There are always different people at the Car Boot – the one’s that like Stonham will make excuses if they haven’t sold well or know that they haven’t changed their stock. It always baffles me that it isn’t the first thing they do every week. I know it can change from week to week but, you do get regular buyers and they know what they are looking for. Of course you will get one off visitors and you could sell something that you haven’t sold at any of the other Car Boots but, it’s difficult to gauge. The one’s that are real regular Car Booters know if they have a good selection of items. The one’s that we get at Stonham that really do it well are the one’s that have a Car Boot every few weeks and have bought well elsewhere and know that they will sell. Antiques do sell well at Stonham and you always get such a good selection of items. Last Sunday I saw a man turn up with a box of 1920’s model cars. I was initially worried that he was selling these too cheaply but, he knew their value. One of the regulars sold her bike for £40 which pleased her and the gold seeking chap managed to unearth a few gems. 

 

I wonder what many of these people do midweek. Maybe they do Car Boots every day. If I could find a good venue with a covered area I could do a midweek one and keep them going all year. What a way to make a living. 

 

As a seller if you are good enough and buy well you could make a regular income but, winter is always a problem. I’d love to spend all week going to auctions and sales. 

 

This Sunday someone asked me if there was anything going on at Stonham Barns. I said no just the same old Car Boot. But, I was actually wrong. We have the G Festival at Stonham Barns on Saturday. This Starts at midday and is lots of bans playing and everthing is for St Helena Hospice so that’s a good cause. There is also a funfair and lots going on and i wasn’t aware but, it’s a 24 hour event with many camping. I did ask them how many were camping and going but, being inefficient (unlike me) I’m still waiting for a response. If it’s like the previous events at Stonham we have had lots camping and Stonham has been filled with buyers on the Sunday. Anyone camping can stay till 12 the next day so, i’m expecting that most will attend the Car Boot. So, it could be packed but, I can’t offer confirmation as they haven’t responded. I’m hoping that everyone has heard about G Festival and will atend Saturday. We will have posters up about the Car Boot so, we should get many turning up the next day (that don’t camp) and also the campers that do stay and that’s always on top of the normal car boot crowd. Keep reading the next Car Boot page as I will update it if I hear back from the organisers. I have seen it advertised on the events we advertise on and I have promoted it too so, expect a good crowd on Sunday. 

 

Finally, I will say a hello to my late arrivals on Sunday. Each week they have asked about a discount. This time it was because they were late and they also wanted a discount for the wasp that went near them and the time before it was a discount for not getting the place they wanted. They do make me laugh (genuinely). I have suggested that we hold the Car Boot in their garden so that they can get there on time but, they would still want a discount. 

 

I will need to check out the venue as I’m not sure that it will be big enough. Either way I expect a cup of tea when I pass through next time. I’m always passing through on the A12 on the way to work. 

 

To be continued as usual 

 

18th August 2013 

My apologies yet again for being so slack on here but, I do have an excuse. I was taken by the Moan Police and strip searched and made to… ok, I made that up. I actually went camping at Wickham Market and may I say I was pleasantly surprised by how good that was. Anyway, back to business. After the 4th August came the VW BUS Jam Car Boot. I had watched the Campers turning up literally on the Sunday after the Car Boot and had the feeling that it was going to be another half-hearted affair with very few coming. But, by Saturday the numbers increased and quite a few were there. I met my friend at Shows UK who has the fun job of keeping them in hand and, as usual, he said that many had enquired about the Car Boot. We know that they always enjoy the Car Boot & I was pleased that so many of them came and bought. Irrespective of that we had a good crowd on the 11th August with 82 sellers and I know that many sold well. Most sceptics will say that it’s down to the VW event being on but, Stonham is taking off. It’s like it’s getting back to being trendy to be there. 

 

As you may have gathered I’m quite forthright with my opinion and I will say that a lot of it is down to the Car Boot actually, most of it is down to us. The events have grown in stature but, we are there every Sunday and our crowd has grown and grown. We did go through a period where it started to slow a little but, it’s gone back to growth again. I don’t know, maybe the recession has eased a little… I don’t know exactly what it is but, I do know that our Upholstery Shop (Fishface) has a great reputation and this has brought quite a few people into Stonham as has the Chalk Paint™ Decorative paint by Annie Sloan with many people coming from Suffolk & Norfolk for that (only 2 stockists in Suffolk/Norfolk). That wasn’t a blatantly obvious advert for the shop :). The shop does pull in quite a lot of people to the area and most see what is on offer at Stonham and tend to come back again or stay for the facilities. The improved restaurant + Owl Sanctuary have really benefited from the Car Boot and added to that the Farmers Markets and events has lifted the whole feel of Stonham. I think that Stonham is now considered to be a much better place than it has been for a long time. 

 

It’s quite strange really because whenever I mention Stonham Barns or the Car Boot I get the same sort of response. It used to be good, had a kids petting farm, originally had an auction there but, went downhill and deteriorated. I know that the previous restaurant was pants but the one before that was impossible to get into. You had to book to get into it ages before for your Sunday Roasts and then suddenly it changed hands and was neglected. It has taken the Car Boot to get people back into Stonham and I think that everything is benefiting from the good feeling that the Car Boot has obtained. 

 

Many Car Booters used to frown when I mentioned Stonham Barns Car Boot but, we have and are getting a whole new crowd that are used to it being there and like the way that it is. It is hard work for me running it but, I think the end result has been good because everyone says how relaxed and calm it is and how nice the buying public are (as well as the sellers). I know that it will still take a little longer to win over the hardened, serious Car Booters but, I do actually like the people and the kind of sellers we get there. Many are twice a year Car Booters but, we do get quite a few regulars now and these are doing our advertising for us. I won’t ever knock other Car Boots because they all have their merits and I feel sorry for any that are struggling because it is a lot of hard work running these and a lot of personal money that has to be used to advertise them. We are only 15 months old but, really benefiting from the hard work we have put in. 

 

I’d like to think that we are considered to be a Car Boot of note now but, we aren’t an Ardleigh and I’m quite glad that we aren’t. I have never been to Ardleigh but, with so many sellers I can’t even imagine the effort to organize that. 

 

Anyone that knows me knows that i’m not just saying all this for effect. Stonham was dead when we first rented the shop here. We were lucky to get 30 people in there on a Saturday or Sunday. It really is a big change now compared to 15 months ago. 

 

Stonham still needs further investment but, it has improved dramatically. I’d like to think that the other shops there appreciate the effort we put in but, you wouldn’t notice it from all of them… 

 

If I owned Stonham I would definitely bring in kids football pitches, maybe bring back the farmyard of animals, definitely get the auction back (midweek) and an indoor Car Boot for winter. 

 

We ran last winter and we would consider it again but, we were the only Car Boot open throughout Winter and it wasn’t until decent weather days that it became worthwhile. I think it may have hindered us a little rather than helped us. I say that because we were advertising away and talking about how we had 90+ sellers in Summer and 20 or 30 were turning up in Winter. Many that gave it a go hadn’t been before and must have been disappointed by the smaller numbers. Having said that they still sold ok because buyers still turned up but, we may go up to Xmas (stopping just before) and then restart in January or February. If the weather carries on the way it is maybe we won’t see any cold weather but, I doubt it. Last year we were opening in the snow and we were all huddled around the Tea Urn. It was so cold and I was digging snow and ice away in the Car Park. We will have to have big assurances from buyers and sellers to keep going throughout. Coming up to Xmas isn’t the time to do Car Boots anyway. 

 

Going back to my previous point. I will say that we have to thank Alan at Stonham Barns. he may not get on with everyone but, he has stood by the Car Boot when he could have easily said forget it. He must have seen the potential so, we are thankful to him. Especially after the way the horrendous Toys R Us treated us at Ipswich (don’t start me off again…. I did have a reply but, they are allegedly looking into the situation…….). 

 

Anyway, after the successful VW Car Boot we were followed by the Classic Car Show and my advertising seemed to work because we were out of stalls and almost full by 7.45. We overflowed our area and managed 110 sellers which was our highest number of sellers. The first thing I noticed was the fact that despite getting everyone in place and giving everyone as much space as they wanted I still managed to upset a few people which is really unusual for us. We gave the late-comers the choice of really squeezing into the field or taking the extended piece by the pond. The one’s that took the extended piece, strangely enough, were quite a distance from the food trailer and loos but, they seemed to get everyone round to them looking at their stuff and they were happy. Whereas, the one’s that squeezed into the main square didn’t like being squeezed in and weren’t as happy as normal. I can understand their view because most weeks they fit in and there hasn’t been a tightness issue but, I was genuinely trying to help by getting them into the square. I did talk to them and they seemed to sell ok so, next week if we are 20 down on numbers they will still fit in easily. 

 

I do have the option to take both fields for sales but, it works better at the moment with buyers being next to the sellers. Anyway, despite a few comments I think that everyone was happy. We had a few new faces and some old faces turning up for the Car Show day but, when some of the sellers turned up they were stating that they were leaving at one – however, the Car Boot didn’t finally empty completely until gone 4 and at one only one person had left. Now, I had a quick chat with one of the hardened Car Boot people that appear on the Car Boot pages and she was quite complimentary of the Car Boot. Not so complimentary of the Car Show’s prices but, judging by the sheer number of people going to the Car Show they didn’t seem to mind. 

 

For ages we have been considered to be a nice Car Boot with a great atmosphere but, not good for the serious Car Booters. This is probably down to people making remarks like… you can’t sell that there or we don’t allow commercial sellers. I have never said that they can’t go I have just said that we get a lot of Antique sellers and once in a blue moon sellers. We do get people that are happy to just get rid of stuff but, we get a lot of regulars there now who wouldn’t be there if they didn’t sell. These are the same people that often go to Needham and they often complain about that as well. They do know that they have to change stock and are seeing this more and more now as they can’t surely expect to sell the same things every week. Common sense. 

 

I’d like to think that our good reputation is slowly winning over the hardened sellers although, I must admit our often strange selection of happy sellers are so much more enjoyable. I’m actually joking there as I did say to one of my readers that I was going to mention them in this as they were asking for a discount on Sunday. They came from Sudbury to sell. We do get quite a few sellers coming from quite a distance to sample the atmosphere. What is actually better is the fact that they are coming because they know or have heard that people actually are selling well there. As people are more and more now. 

 

Anyway, whilst everyone stayed longer on Sunday and most were impressed with the sheer weight of buyers I still felt that quite a lot of our normal buyers weren’t there. This was possibly down to the fact that many had to queue to get again as the number of Classic Cars held up everyone. Also the overly efficient gate people were quizzing people a little bit too much. On every other Sunday we are just the event on so, they like to be able to pop in and browse without waiting. Also, being a Car Event I thought that we were down on kids and families. We are normally filled with families and many sell clothes and games at the Car Boot. I spoke to an individual who said that they had sold loads the week before but no clothes this week. Maybe, it was just her clothes and others sold clothes well but, a valid point as I did think we had less families there. 

 

Other than that though, it was a Car Boot from 8am to 4pm. That’s 8 hours. Speaking of complaints. How many bloody wasps were there. I wonder if this was noticed at other Car Boots. Hopefully remedies by next Sunday. 

 

Generally though I thought it was an excellent Sunday and judging by the numbers there I’m hoping for the same next Sunday. We will see. One person in the general store cheered me up as he was paying for a packet of crisps with a credit card and asked for cashback as he was going to the Classic Car Show having spent all his money at the Car Boot. That cheered me a lot. I’m hoping that many of these people will be back more regularly. 

 

To be continued :) 

 

4th August 2013 I must be getting a reputation now for moaning. But, have I got a super moan for you this week. I may even get into trouble for this one but, why not. They deserve it. First though. What a good Sunday we had at Stonham. We obviously followed on from the 1200 campers the week before but, it was still a lot better than I thought it would be. Sellers ambled in, but by 9am we had over 70 sellers. We had advertised all week about the number of Antique sellers and underpriced bargains and it seemed to bring in a lot more people earlier than normal. It was also a steady flow of buyers and again, many were buying. No complaints at all from me. It was also still going past 1 o’ clock. It’s looking good at present especially with two Sunday’s with events going on. VW Bus Jam followed by the Classsic Car Show. 

 

Maybe it’s because I have left the big sign out all week telling everyone going past that it’s on? Who knows. The pleasing aspect was the fact that it didn’t seem affected at all by the Car Show up the road at whatname Hall. I managed to go through the whole day without talking too much about the day before – which was a huge disappointment to me. Moan coming. warning. 

 

Well. I’m sure I was going to mention something. Oh yes. We found out on Friday that we couldn’t have a Car Boot at Toys R Us. I tried three times to get back to the Manager at Toys R Us Ipswich (Paul Degville). He was strangely away from the phone. I even went down there and tried calling from outside too. It was probably a good thing that i didn’t get through because I was in a foul mood but, what makes it worse is the fact that you are put on hold despite the fact that I couldn’t even see his car outside so, it was highly unlucky that he was going to come to the phone. That person would’ve known he was out. 

 

Anyway, I don’t think that Paul really is the one to blame here but, he has the pleasure of having to pass the news on. It wasn’t until Saturday morning that I saw Paul (who was apologetic) but, it’s been 5 weeks of excuses and problems and one thing after another. Since the 2nd week I had been given the name of a Bob Knight as the person to deal with. First it was with regard to numbers there and then, it was with regard to how often we had a Car boot and then, it was down to paying them for the area. You have to understand that, we were asked to run the Car Boot at Toys R Us. We were told that everything had been agreed with Head Office, we would get help with a sodding Giraffe turning up to promote it and we would get logos, people wandering around Ipswich. The council were happy, everyone was full steam ahead with it. 

 

Sadly, that same manager left and we inherited Paul and the invisible Bob Knight (I wonder if he drives an electric car, black one. No, that’s Knight Rider). Anyway. I was told after the second week that their sales were up and with 35 sellers everyone was happy. 

 

Following weeks saw the numbers fluctuate but, as I pointed out to them, i’m more interested in getting the buyers in which we were doing. Numbers were increasing each week. In fact, on the day that it was cancelled I was so positive that we would get at least 40+ sellers and it was the start of the increase I was expecting. 

 

S0, it was cancelled the same day that I had £150 of advertising going out. Hence, I was up as usual in the Car park waiting for people to come in. Little did I know that Mr Toys R Us had stuck a sign up saying ‘No Car Boot Today’ I wish someone had told me as i sat in the Car Park wondering how everyone knew so quickly and hadn’t turned up. 

 

How unprofessional of them is this. How shoddy are Toys R Us. Why would you ask someone to run a Car Boot in their Car Park and not organise everything. 

 

I spent Monday trying to contact Bob without any luck. I left a message stating how urgent it was. Who are we though. He obviously deemed us as mere Suffolk Car Boot organisers. I tried again on tuesday and even text him. 

 

Finally I received two answerphone messages. Such is his importance that he couldn’t be arsed to pull over and use his phone properly. Don’t you just hate it when someone uses those useless Car Phone things that never work properly. It sounded like he was on a plane or maybe he is knightrider. I finally got through and he was everything I expected him to be. A complete XXXX. 

 

He stated that figures hadn’t increased at the shop and that he hadn’t organised any contract with us and the way they work is that they agree a price and set it up etc etc. I countered that it had been set up and we were asked to run the Car Boot not us agreeing a deal to work within his Car Park. he spoke down to me as if we were a shoddy little outfit that hadn’t served it’s purpose and that was it. He said that they do things properly and therefore had to organise the contract with the council to have a Car Boot there. He said that they had had problems with the council before over signs (not my ones) and therefore would have to take this all very seriously and blah blah blah. He also added that Penny (partner) had stated to his manager (Paul) that we would seek compensation over this but, it was in fact out of the question and probably us that had put them out with this all. 

 

When I said that we would follow this up he cut me off. At this point I need to pause and stop punching my computer. On one hand i’m thinking that maybe we could resolve this but…. what an arrogant arse. They ask us to run a car Boot and then XXXX us around. Maybe i’m old fashioned but, did we perform poorly because we didn’t have 200 sellers within 5 weeks. 

 

I’ve wandered around Toys R Us at midnight placing signs all round the place and paid for it to go on every Car Boot website and placed it in the EADT and Star plus a million websites every day and he seems to think that we will just kindly go away without causing a fuss. 

 

I’ve asked him to place everything in writing so, I know where we stand but, I have a feeling he won’t because he works for such a global company. He has 2 days before I introduce what i’m good at…… moaning. Do me a favour and open google and search for Toys R Us Car boot. I expect that you will see a few bits of advertising. This is what i’ve done for 30 years. Good advertising can so quickly turn into bad advertising. I may start with contacting the newspapers highlighting unprofessional conduct and shoddyness. I have spent a lot of time and money on this Car Boot and as well as being out of pocket it has cast a bad light on our name as Car Boot organisers. Who is going to take us seriously after this. 

 

What do I do. well, I think I deserve a few weeks off but, such was the momentum that I need to find another venue quick. I shall be seeking compensation from Toys R Us as it is totally unprofessional and appalling. I may continue to run the Toys R Us Car Boot website but, in a derogatory way. Mr knight seems to think that you can walk upon people if you work for a big company but, I will make sure that everyone knows what a poor branch the Ipswich one is. It may be the only Toy Shop I can think of in Ipswich but, I canb see why they asked us to generate interest in the shop. As I said i’m very good at generating interest. It might just be the wrong type of interest. 

 

The lady manager at Toys R Us was always pleasant. She was the one that said that sales were up. Unless of cause she came out specifically to lie to me. I wonder what price you put against discrediting our name or how do you work out the time and effort I put into promoting the shop and Car Boot over the last 5 weeks and month before. All I can say is, don’t rush to use that shop. I moved away from London to get away from idiots. 

 

28th July 2013 I know, i’ve missed a week… Running two Car Boots is hard work and although we had a great turnout on the 21st July I have to talk more about the Sunday just gone. 

 

If only every Sunday was like that. As usual, Stonham didn’t manage to make the HESFES lot move into the field I suggested but, I don’t think it mattered. Despite the late rain the night before and the horribly gloomy looking morning (at 6am) it was actually a perfect day. I think so many people really missed out on this day. So many must’ve looked out the window and decided it wasn’t the day to do a Car Boot but, how wrong were you. 

 

Also, as I drive to Stonham Barns I watch Car Booters driving past Stonham and wandering off to Woolpit or Ardleigh or wherever and it makes me laugh. I advertised for weeks before the event and even advertised in the EADT & Star that there were over 1000 Kids/Adults camping at Stonham. And I was actually wrong as there were 1200+ kids/adults and I don’t think I will be wrong by saying that everyone went to the Car Boot. 

 

I’d been asked all week by members of HESFES about the Car Boot and we were placed in their list of events at HESFES which was quite a compliment. And I mean that because I know that the organiser of HESFES asked for the Car Boot to be cancelled on the Sunday because they were there and Stonham said no. The fact that they placed us in their programme was down to the fact that so many had asked HESFES whether the Car Boot was on again this year as they enjoyed it the year before. Doesn’t that make you laugh. The organisers of HESFES are so wrapped up in themselves that they expected to come to Stonham and demand the Car Boot to close because they were probably trying to sell space within the showground to people offering services to their members. The Car Boot was taking money from them. This kind of sums up my next rant. 

 

Every time I know there is an event at Stonham Barns I write about it and promote as much as I can. I have all the shops listed on my website with links to their websites with the hope that the public will see these and they prosper from this. Naturally, anyone coming to Stonham for an event will obviously see the Car Boot (or the Car Boot advertised) and we benefit from it but, i’m genuinely happy for anyone that prospers at Stonham. With this in mind I contact the radio stations and make sure that the Owl Sanctuary have events announced the same as with the car Shows and Shows UK events. 

 

Now, next Sunday 11th August the VW Lot have their VW Dub Day (or whatever it’s called). In the past I have announced this to everyone, got it on Radio Suffolk etc etc. I’ve just had a look through their website and despite having a week of camping at Stonham before their event day we aren’t even mentioned. Equally, they are trying to offer sellers spots within the showground at virtually zero cost at the same time we have the Car Boot. Now, I can understand them offering VW related sellers the chance to sell there but, they have taken advantage of the Car Boot crowd for over a year now and every time I see the organiser he is all chummy and appreciative of my efforts selling his event but, there is a time when you just get fed up with the way some people seem to work round here. 

 

We had the same with Surplus Supplies with a certain individual that used to work there coming up to sellers and telling them that they were opening a new Antique shop up road and to come to them first before selling at the Car Boot. He also approached the girl working in fishface (our upholstery shop) to paint furniture and work from his shop. This was after she was shown how to do it. Everyone seems to watch what other people are making money on and then basically try and set up the same thing. Do these people have any decency. The girl had the cheek to tell everyone that she was the furniture painter at Fishface despite the fact that she was given the job because she needed the money and Penny helped her out by giving her the work so, she had some money. I think my moan is about loyalty. We sell Annie Sloan paint at fishface and despite it being the best Chalk Paint available I have to sit and watch companies trying to put it down because Annie Sloan won’t just let anyone sell it. I think I’ve finished my moan but, the one thing that stands out in Suffolk is that people cannot think of there own ideas so, they tend to try and do exactly the same thing irrespective of how close they are to our shop. Naturally, i’m being a little controversial as usual and not everyone can be tarred with the same brush (as we meet so many wonderful people in Suffolk every week) but, out of principal I wouldn’t open up or approach anyone within a set distance of any company doing the same thing. For example, we sell Chalk Paint in Suffolk and the only other company selling this in Suffolk is Painted Country in Bury. We would only sell to people on our side rather than approaching anyone near Bury . That, to me, is decency. 

 

The same chap that used to approach the Car Booters about his shop up the road was trying trying to open up an Auction at Stonham Barns. Guess what time and day he wanted to run the Auction. Yes, you guessed it, on the Sunday at 10am basically grabbing the already there Car Boot crowd. i wouldn’t even think about doing this. I would work on opening midweek on a day that there wasn’t a Car Boot or Auction. Everyone seems to want a leg up by crapping on someone else. Unbelievable. What next… 

 

Now, having finished my moan, I will point out that the shop in question is still running and the owner has removed this character and I genuinely believe that the owner wasn’t aware of the persons antics however, he did try and jump on the bandwagon of Antiques whilst we had a Car Boot that was starting to really bring in people into the area. But, hey ho, life goes on. 

 

I seemed to have forgotten that this is about Car Boots. Toys R Us is starting to grow. We are getting more and more buyers and is becoming a good Car Boot. Stonham has had a good number of sellers and continues to do well. The buyers coming is my problem. Last Sunday was phenomenal and will have helped us considerably. I had quite a few people asking about selling there and today had a Cheese seller and Butcher keen to start. I’m more than happy if we can gain a reputation and turn into a car Boot/Market. There is such a domination by supermarkets that I think that a good selection of produce sellers will make Stonham even bigger. It’s the buyers that worries me as we fluctuate so cinsiderably. One week we can have so many buyers and the next half the amount. Where do these people go. I know that there are lots of events and we do get a lot of visitors to Suffolk which boosts the Car Boot crowd but, to come one week and love it baffles me when they don’t come back the next. The next few weeks could really boost us as we have the Car Show coming and that should be absolutely packed. I think that having the butcher there could bring in a lot of people and i’m working on more and more produce sellers. 

 

I know I rant about sellers/buyers and all sorts but, i’m always very positive and you can’t say that I just sit around and wait for things to happen. I’m always looking at ways to improve and keep growing. I seem to forget we are only a year and a little bit old. I will eventually open a midweek Car Boot and when planning permission is granted run an indoor one at Stonham so, I can finally stop working in London… 

 

The Sunday Car Boot was pretty amazing as I can’t remember the last Car Boot where everyone sold well. The extra 1200 people at the Car Boot made such a difference and they all bought. 

 

I was asked if Stonham would hold more events like this… Unfortunately i’m not in charge of events at Stonham just the Car Boot but, if I was I would start football tournaments there, talk to the local area and hold events for them at Stonham. I’d look into bringing about the petting zoo and i’d advertise the Campsite a lot better because it has been a campsite for years and isn’t used enough. A full campsite means more buyers at the Car Boot and for the shops. It’s all common sense. I could have sopmething going on every day at Stonham and make sure events are advertised a lot better. Schools tournaments could be held for nothing as it brings in parents… 

 

Anyway, on Sunday I think we had 70 0dd sellers. i was expecting a lot more but, the weather in the morning looked poor. But, anyone that didn’t attend missed out. I did say that everyone would be there irrespective of the weather. Last year was raining terribly and yet, the kids were all swimming in the puddles….. Maybe next year everyone will remember to go to Stonham Barns when HESFES are there. Tourist season is at it’s best now in Suffolk and i’ve left the big Car Boot sign up outside so, i’m expecting a good run of busy days at Stonham Barns for the Car Boots on Sundays. 

 

To be continued :) 

 

14th July 2013 Only Stonham can get adverse weather like this. Everyone arriving was shocked to see rain and mist but, it doesn’t surprise me at all. Those strange crop circles on the grass may have something to do with it……. Seriously though, a few miles up the road and it was sweltering. 

 

I have to say that I wasn’t aware of the Summer Fayre at Needham and was pretty sure that it didn’t affect us as much last year. We did have a consistent crowd all day and by 12.30 everyone was still selling but, we aren’t getting the huge crowds we saw last year. Maybe it’s because we are a bigger Car Boot now with more to look at and it seems like less people I don’t know. I get people come up to me all the time with their words of wisdom every Sunday and Sunday was no different. I was told that a lot of people are put off because we tell the buyers that they can’t come in until 9am, an hour after the sellers. Since when has that stopped anyone turning up at 8am! I was also told that it’s because we don’t advertise that it’s free for buyers. 

 

I don’t know what people think of Stonham Barns these days but, we get a good crowd every week and although I panic, we do get good numbers. I had a few moans from sellers this week although many don’t blame us as we do advertise it more than anyone else. We did of course get quite a few newbies that loved the feeeling of it and said they would definitely come back. So, it’s swings and roundabouts. I know that many love the later start but, just as many would like to be there earlier. We have a mixture of regulars and never been before’s each week. The one’s that are emptying lofts always sell well (hugely underpriced) whereas the one’s that sell every week at a variety of Car Boots expect to sell everything at Stonham and moan if they don’t. This is despite the fact that they bring the same things every week and don’t rotate the goods. 

 

We do have a few regulars that really have Car Boots down to a tee and they spend all week offering house clearance and then sell the items at a reasonable price at the Car Boot on the Sunday. They have different stock every Sunday. We also have a few that do a Car Boot every 4 weeks and spend the time in between making sure they have good stock. It isn’t rocket science but, some really do expect miracles. We do get quite a few sellers that are doing it for fun and just enjoy being at Stonham on a Sunday. These are a real joy to me. They are obviously chuffed to bits if they sell well but, it isn’t the be all and end all. I think that these people often manage to sell because they aren’t stressed and pushy and just go with the flow. 

 

We had one man on Sunday who didn’t want to pay the fee because he had a trailer and a car and didn’t want to pay for the trailer. We had another that had a huge van and was selling 12 glass bottles on the world’s smallest table. I love all these eccentric people but, so many must have a vision and go to the car boot expecting to offer the public the world’s greatest items that no one had ever seen before. The chap with the small table was on holiday and suddenly decided to do a Car Boot. Good for him but, even if he had sold them all he would have probably only made a few pounds. I wonder if he had worked it all out before he pulled up or was he just happy to be there? Judging by the look on his face at the end I think he was expecting to make a killing despite having 12 bottles at a pound each. Plus he had a huge van which meant he should have been charged £10 for that alone. I’m too nice sometimes as we charged him £5. I’ve made that mistake before by looking at someone and thinking they look like they’ve had a hard time at the Car Boot and look like they are struggling and ignore the trailer. Seconds later they bring out the world’s largest wad of notes and then tell me how many hundreds they have made….. I try not to ask too much about how people have done now as they often tell fibbs and another thing that makes me laugh is the car that pulls up and then carries a million bags to a set up stall. I wouldn’t have the cheek to do this…. 

 

I did say I would mention the council and Toys R Us but, it changes each week. The council agreed to put up with my signs as long as I cut them down. I did this and the day after another person from the council wrote to Stonham Barns telling them they had too many signs up. I sent my emails to Stonham to send onto the council seeing as they have a selection of angry people trying to moan at Stonham…. 

 

Toys R Us is a whole new story. We were asked to set up a Car Boot there by a lady that wanted some furniture reupholstered in fishface. It turns out that she was the manager there. We agreed and discussed an on-going event in the Car Park, every week for as long as we wanted. Great. 

 

We were offered Geoffrey the bizarre giraffe for opening and wandering around Ipswich promoting. Excellent. Anyway, 2 weeks before we start she leaves but, we were told it was fine and all agreed. 

 

I was then introduced to a new manager and then another one and the week before we started the goalposts started to change. Anyway, we started and had 35 sellers in the first Saturday. Naturally the giraffe didn’t make it at all nor, in fact did a logo from them. We were told that sales in the shop went up for that day at Toys R Us and they were quite positive howvever, an Area Manager was there as was several managers plus various helpers…. to cut a long story short suddenly, it was becoming a Car Boot set up for themselves only. The manager asked if we would have one every two weeks and set up earlier and oneof the helpers told the ssellers that they would need to leave at one as the shop get’s busy. I’m quite a mild mannered chappy so, I smiled and decided to leave all of the discussion to Penny as I think I may have inserted Geoffrey the Giraffe somewhere where he wouldn’t promote the Car Boot. 

 

In fact every time we have discussed anything with the said Manager the goal posts seem to be moving on a weekly basis. We swiftly pointed out that we had an agreement to run weekly at a set time (which we chose) and that we are running the Car Boot. We also pointed out that we are advertising the event and promoting therefore it isn’t just a game it’s a serious Car Boot that will be running regularly. Even last week he said to me that he would try maybe 12 and see how it goes. After the first week and the comments he made, he was due to come back to us but didn’t until the day before the second one with the supposed OK that we could continue (even though it had been agreed before). 

 

I’m still waiting for a potentially fictitious character to contact me who is in charge of the Car Park with regard to loss! He allegedly wants payment for the Car Park and wants to discuss future use. It kind of makes you wonder why you even bother doing these things. When he does contact me I will take control of discussions and swiftly point out that the purpose of the Car Boot was to bring custom back to Toys R Us however, it isn’t just something that happens instantly and will need to be properly advertised and persevered with and not just on here and there and stopped after 12. I have already told them that charging cars to enter would not work and that if we grow to a certain size we will have to stop the buyers parking in there but, I expect that it will be a weekly row with them. 

 

It seems to be a game of power and it probably stems from the fact that the previous Manager agreed and got approval for it and now the new Manager it trying to pull back the control of it because it seems (to them) that, we are calling the shots. 

 

I expect that it will run and run but, i’m not sure what Toys R Us really want from this. Last Sunday Manager number 6 said to me that they have had more people in the store than they have for a long time. I pointed out that advertising works in funny ways. Although we aren’t advertising the shop itself we are putting the name Toys R Us into newspapers, onto the radio and all over the web. This reminds people of the name again. Toys R Us really don’t advertise at all so, they just sit there expecting everyone to go to the shops when they want Toys. 

 

Advertising does work and purely by seeing the name bizarrely does attract people to the shop. You only have to read the name and it you are brainwashed. The next time you drive past you will think about a Car Boot. Everyone knows they sell Toys but, when was the last time you went in the shop… exactly. 

 

I could bore you with how advertising does this but, another day. I shall keep you up to date with Toys R Us. I know they mean well but, it’s a win win for them as they get a lovely Car Boot in the Car Park and the number of people in the store goes up plus, we have to pay them a fee after an agreed time……. TO BE CONTINUED 

 

7th July 2013 

I’ve been pretty useless updating this and i’m really sorry to upset my reader… Seriously though, We have had fun and games with Toys R Us plus hot weather at Stonham so, it’s been a strange few weeks. Toys are Us started with 35 sellers which was great. A bit low on buyers but, first week was pretty good. The next week EADT forgot the whole Car Boot section which didn’t help but, we went down to 19 sellers. Despite that disappointment we had more buyers and one lady sold £285 worth of antiques which, was pretty good considering she sold £180 at Stonham the next day. I expect that the best bits went on the Saturday but, if only everyone had days like that. 

 

The weather was horribly warm on Saturday and I expect that many are still waiting to see how Toys R US does before they leave Needham. But, we have gained quite a few from Colchester way and will get quite a few from Ipswich who are bored with the early starting options on a Saturday. 

 

I have finally done what i expect everyone knew I would do and that was place signs around the Toys R Us Shop visible from the Road. Believe me, it wasn’t fun doing this in pitch black armed with signs too big to go in the Land Rover. It’s quite sad really the things we do to try and get people to know about the Car Boot. I was wondering what levels we would stoop to… 

 

My next big plan of action is to locate someone called Ed and a sheep and i’ll be advertising Ed Shearing at the Car Boot. OK, it’s a poor joke but, don’t be too surprised. 

 

I’ve already bored everyone senseless with my views on numbers of buyers/sellers/warm weather/rain/large Car Boots/Small Car Boots but, i’m pretty lost to know what is happening to Car Boot crowds in Suffolk. The weather is hot and under normal circumstances warm means great crowds at Stonham but, there has been loads of events that have dragged people away and Very Warm weather meaning that many have gone to the beach. We get a good crowd but, the warm has meant that many people are coming earlier and come lunchtime the Car Boots are really slowing down. This is unusual for Stonham. 

 

I think we need an event or maybe a cooler start to the day or I don’t know what. Yes, it’s holiday time coming up but, with this we should get a lot more people travelling to Suffolk (and to Stonham for the holiday homes). I think it’s because last year we didn’t have that many people coming until August so, it’s difficult to compare. 

 

This is probably the problem with Stonham. Everyone has to drive to Stonham. It isn’t attached to a Town so, we don’t get people wandering up the road. Hence, warm weather like the rainy weather means that people stay at home. Now, obviously i’m not saying that Stonham is dead I just know that we have had huge crowds there and on days when there wasn’t an event. 

 

Me being me have started a scheme where you can get discounted selling at either Toys R Us or Stonham if you attend both. I expect that many people wouldn’t have heard about Stonham at Toys so, we will be promoting there. 

 

It’s due to be a warm day again on Saturday and Sunday. If anything I would recommend paying the extra £3 because you do get shade with the stalls. Many have stated how good they were last week in the heat. We will have lots of cold drinks available but, just remember that a few weeks back everyone was moaning about cold weather so….. get yer ass up to Stonham as we always have a breeze there. 

 

See you Sunday or maybe Saturday and Sunday. Do have a look out at my signs at Toys R Us. I’ll be arrested for wandering around Toy Shops at night soon, knowing my luck. 

 

I will tell you a bit more about Toys R Us and the Council but, I have some signs to get done quickly so…. keep reading :)