A CAR boot sale expert has revealed how she made £600 profit reselling people’s old junk.
The savvy mum bought £72 of old junk from a car boot – before selling it on Facebook Marketplace and Ebay for a profit.
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Mum-of-two Tess Bolton-Gould, 54, first started shopping in charity shops and car boot sales when her children were younger.
Tess uses her nifty hacks to look after herself and husband, Sam Bolton-Gould, 54, who works in IT, and their two sons, aged 18 and 15.
She now pays her family’s food bills with a series of money savvy tricks – buying and re-selling second-hand items online.
She explained: “When the boys were small, I would only have a fiver or so available.
“I would buy some bits like a nice blouse or jumper which I could flip online through eBay and make £20.
“Now, I go to a car boot sale or charity shop with £80 or £90.
“I spend half or all of it, and then re-sell what I find on eBay or Facebook Marketplace.
“Last week, I spent £72 on vintage clothes, jewellery and crockery and I made £750.”
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She added: “Once you take away the cost of postage and packaging, the eBay fees and PayPal fees, that works out to about £500 which is still really good.”
It’s not just car boot sale items that help make a profit and save cash.
Tess, who lives near Halifax, West Yorkshire, normally spends £40 to £50 on food each week.
She pays for food and utility costs by reselling second-hand goods online, WalesOnline reported.
The mum revealed: “It’s so important to be careful with every penny that you earn. You work hard for your money and it’s amazing how quickly your spending adds up.”
Her family was badly hit by the 2008 recession, during which she often had to get by on just 50p a day.
Tess said: “Shopping in charity shops and car boot sales for school uniform or toys for the kids became a way to manage.
“Quite recently, I was looking through a skip behind some shops and I found a huge box of homemade soaps – I couldn’t believe it!”
Visiting plenty of car boot sales over the years, Tess has become quite the pro.
Tess also shares her top tips three times a week on her YouTube channel for hard-hit families to watch.
She said: “I’ve always been interested in antiques, collectibles and vintage items so I can spot a vintage dress hanging up in a charity shop across the room or a 1950s jug hiding on the shelf.”
Sticking to her £40-£50 weekly budget and shopping in Asda, Tess said she can feed her family of four for just £11 per person.
She went on to say she also grows her own vegetables to make meals for as little as 30p per person for her family.
Meal planning in advance also help her to cut costs when shopping for groceries.
It comes as shoppers are turning to cheaper ways to update their wardrobe due to a cost of living crunch.
A car boot sale expert has given her top tips to help you make a fortune flogging your old junk.
Posting under the username ‘Carbootisfull’ on TikTok, the selling pro shared free advice on making some cash.
People are also looking for ways of saving cash in other ways.
B&M has slashed the price of an energy-saving item by a huge 50% and it costs pennies to run.
The discount store is famous for selling home essentials at a bargain price.
And with temperatures continuing to go up and down, we’re still looking for ways to keep warm during a cost of living crisis.
Meanwhile. here’s how to bag yellow sticker bargains at big supermarkets.
And here are 10 secrets big shops don’t want customers to know about.
How to spot second-hand bargains
Here’s the best ways to make the most of second-hand shopping in charity shops
- Head for the cabinets – the best bargains can usually be found stored in the glass cabinets dotted around stores. This is where high-value items are kept, so they can’t easily be taken.
- Bargain hunters will want to set their alarms if they want the best deals. Shopping in the mornings, or on Mondays, is often a good idea.
- Flash sales might happen off the cuff as well if a big delivery is made – so they are sometimes easy to miss. That’s why shoppers should follow their local charity shop’s Instagram page.
- If you’re wanting to bag yourself designer clothes that are barely a year old, your best bet is to head to shops near cities and universities.
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