Boot Sale 2021

[Barry]

Now that we have come out of "Lockdown 2", the boot sales are up and running again. Went to two on Sunday, but there was nothing of interest to me, and the weather was poor.

However yesterday we went to a large bootsale about 20 miles away, and one which tends to sell more 'bric-a-brac' (and that means records!). Got there about 06:00, and already the "vinyl vultures" were swooping down. I left them to haggle over £80 Pink Floyd bootlegs, and came back when they had gone on to molest another seller.

I rarely buy anything other than classical recording at bootsales, as I find they are usually in much, much better condition than other genres. Sure enough, there was nothing of interest to me - apart from a mint (unplayed) 2 LP set of Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood" on Decca Argo.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/519%2BSc2ALkL._AC_.jpg

I have been after this recording for a while now. It has been played on radio a few times in the past, and I once recorded a performance using my Ferrograph on 1200' of tape. Unfortunately the tape ran out about 5 minutes before the play finished! Years later I bought a copy of the play on CD, but enjoyable though it is, it was not the original version with the late Richard Burton as narrator.

Now I have a mint copy, and all for £2! :)


Later in the morning, I looked at the wares of another record seller, and although there was nothing of interest to me, I was amused to see many LPs of which I have copies, selling for £30! My partner keeps telling me to "buy to sell", but I'm not interested. Any LP I buy is for my own use, and my own listening pleasure.

[Macca]

Not much not point buying to resell when you're buying at top dollar. Where's the margin?

[Barry]

I don't buy at "top dollar". Anything I buy is usually valued (according to Amazon) at 10 - 15x of what I pay for it. That's why my partner suggested I "buy to sell".

But as I mentioned, I'm only interested in personal purchases. And they have to be in near perfect condition as well.

[Pigmy Pony]

Sounds like a lot of your purchases are records someone has bought but never played, or played just enough to decide they don't really like it. Great for those of us with "unusual" tastes :) I've given up looking for vinyl at boot fairs, it just pees me off seeing how badly some folk treat their records but still expect them to have value.

[Pigmy Pony]

I did say I'm not bothering with car boot vinyl any more, but couldn't resist a very clean and tidy "Man Who Sold The World" for a tenner.

Also got "The Beast of Alice Cooper", Eric Clapton "Unplugged" and The Cranberries "Everybody Else is Doing it" CDs for 50p each :) I've had worse mornings down there.

[Pigmy Pony]

This morning's car boot haul

CD: Tom Petty Into the Great Wide Open, Cat Stevens Tea for the Tillerman, The Smiths The Queen is Dead.

Vinyl; Carlos Santana/Mahavishnu John Mclaughlin Love Devotion Surrender, Robert Plant Principle of Moments, and Shaken 'n' Stirred.

All very nice condition, Robert Plant stuff almost like new. All for £13.50. That'll do for me :)

[Filterlab]

Nice.

I love the song 'Tea for the Tillerman'. Just over a minute of songwriting perfection.

[Macca]

'Principle Of Moments' is my favourite Planty album.

Good haul that except for the Smiths obvs

[Barry]

Good haul there Pigmy - save for all that Mahavishnu John Mclaughlin nonsense. :D

The only thing I bought recently was some 'art house' foreign language films (DVDs), bought at the last minute as the seller was packing up to leave. Oh and a charger for my phone.

[Pigmy Pony]

Nice.

I love the song 'Tea for the Tillerman'. Just over a minute of songwriting perfection.

I played this in the car coming back, as I thought it might be more 'Anita-friendly' than the Smiths. Wasn't expecting much, but really liked it. I see more of his output on the horizon :)

[Pigmy Pony]

'Principle Of Moments' is my favourite Planty album.

Good haul that except for the Smiths obvs

Never heard 'Principle', though obviously I know (and like) 'Big Log'. Gonna put it on shortly. As for the Smiths CD - I'm really sorry, I have no defence.

[Marco]

Now that we have come out of "Lockdown 2", the boot sales are up and running again. Went to two on Sunday, but there was nothing of interest to me, and the weather was poor.

However yesterday we went to a large bootsale about 20 miles away, and one which tends to sell more 'bric-a-brac' (and that means records!). Got there about 06:00, and already the "vinyl vultures" were swooping down. I left them to haggle over £80 Pink Floyd bootlegs, and came back when they had gone on to molest another seller.

I rarely buy anything other than classical recording at bootsales, as I find they are usually in much, much better condition than other genres. Sure enough, there was nothing of interest to me - apart from a mint (unplayed) 2 LP set of Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood" on Decca Argo.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/519%2BSc2ALkL._AC_.jpg

I have been after this recording for a while now. It has been played on radio a few times in the past, and I once recorded a performance using my Ferrograph on 1200' of tape. Unfortunately the tape ran out about 5 minutes before the play finished! Years later I bought a copy of the play on CD, but enjoyable though it is, it was not the original version with the late Richard Burton as narrator.

Now I have a mint copy, and all for £2! :)


Later in the morning, I looked at the wares of another record seller, and although there was nothing of interest to me, I was amused to see many LPs of which I have copies, selling for £30! My partner keeps telling me to "buy to sell", but I'm not interested. Any LP I buy is for my own use, and my own listening pleasure.

Interesting... And a good find. I watched the film recently (after having never heard of it before), and it's safe to say it was somewhat of a 'curio'!:eek:

I rather enjoyed it though, simply because it was utterly bizarre, and in many parts hugely funny, although I suspect some of that humour was unintentional:D

Marco.

[Barry]

Interesting... And a good find. I watched the film recently (after having never heard of it before), and it's safe to say it was somewhat of a 'curio'!:eek:

I rather enjoyed it though, simply because it was utterly bizarre, and in many parts hugely funny, although I suspect some of that humour was unintentional:D

Marco.

Dylan Thomas wrote Under Milk Wood as a "play for voices". It was not meant to be stage, let alone filmed. I'm not sure, but it might have been commissioned specifically by the BBC; certainly the LP set on Decca Argo were the original broadcast tapes transcribed to disc.

I have seen the film, but the screenplay doesn't do the "play" justice. Sometimes it is much better to form images of the characters in your head, than rely on visual prompts.

[Pigmy Pony]

Car boot sale this morning I bagged:

Vinyl: UB40 "Signing off", Joe Walsh "But Seriously, Folks". Both stated as NM, though I would describe as Ex+. 10 quid for the two.

CD: Suzanne Vega "Solitude Standing", Tori Amos "Little Earthquakes", Kate Bush "The Whole Story", and Corinne Bailey Rae. 50p each

Not sure if I'll like the Corinne Bailey Rae, but £12 for everything still feels like a result :)

[Macca]

'Signing Off' is a top album.

[Pigmy Pony]

'Signing Off' is a top album.

Yeah, I don't know why it's taken me so long to get it. I bought 'Food for Thought' single when it came out Easter 1980, and really liked it. I'll give a spin tomorrow, make it a British reggae (Breggae?) session by following it with Steel Pulse 'Handsworth Revolution' which is also a top album imo.

[Barry]

Bought four CDs and three DVDs yesterday. Total expenditure £3.50.

[Barry]

Steve - I have Corrine Bailey Rae's first disc, and I like it.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/34/Corinne_Bailey_Rae_%28album%29.png/220px-Corinne_Bailey_Rae_%28album%29.png

Some might think it a bit 'twee', but at 50p you won't have lost much if you don't like it. ;)

[Macca]

I've got that, it's not bad.

[Pigmy Pony]

Steve - I have Corrine Bailey Rae's first disc, and I like it.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/34/Corinne_Bailey_Rae_%28album%29.png/220px-Corinne_Bailey_Rae_%28album%29.png

Some might think it a bit 'twee', but at 50p you won't have lost much if you don't like it. ;)

Yes, that is the one.

[Barry]

Yes, that is the one.

Have you played it yet?

[Pigmy Pony]

Have you played it yet?

Damn, I knew there was something I was meant to do. Mrs. P having a nap, so I'm playing it now. I like this a lot - as you say, some may think it a bit twee, but at the end of a tough day this is just the ticket. 7 or 8/10 I think :)

[Pigmy Pony]

For the last couple of weeks there has been a stall at my local car boot selling records, many brand new, including a double album by Public Image Ltd (This is PiL) for 12 quid. But I left it as there were other more tempting choices.

Anyway, yesterday I looked on Amazon to see what information there was, and found they are selling it for £7.99 (free next day delivery)! Anyway it landed yesterday. It might be cack, but for eight quid worth a punt.

[Barry]

I tend to be wary of those sellers. Most of their stock is over-priced or of poor quality. Try to see if they have a copy of a record buyer's price guide in their car - they usually do, and that is usually all they know about their stock. They all know and trade with one another incestuously.

There are exceptions - the best of them are those that do house clearences, though often their stock is not well treated or displayed. The condition of the sleeves is a good indication of the condition of the record itself.

These days I only look for LPs of classical music - the owners have usually treated them well.

[Barry]

All the bootsales around here are not running, due to overnight rain.

Can't even cut the grass as that is too wet now. At least the car is clean! :lol:

[Pigmy Pony]

I tend to be wary of those sellers. Most of their stock is over-priced or of poor quality. Try to see if they have a copy of a record buyer's price guide in their car - they usually do, and that is usually all they know about their stock. They all know and trade with one another incestuously.

There are exceptions - the best of them are those that do house clearences, though often their stock is not well treated or displayed. The condition of the sleeves is a good indication of the condition of the record itself.

These days I only look for LPs of classical music - the owners have usually treated them well.

Funnily enough I thought of you last week when this bloke was selling a big collection of classical vinyl (seemed to be mostly "Deutsch Gramophone", (don't know if that's a good thing or not) and all the sleeves looked as good as new. You'd have been in your element :)

[Barry]

Hi Steve,

I like DG, though some don't. I'll buy anything that is on the EMI, DG, Decca and Teldec (Telefunken/Decca) labels. Though the cheaper labels such as SAGA, use recordings of old performances, previously issued on more famous such as the above, so shouldn't be dismissed. Also some of the Russian Melodiya recordings are very good (though you have to know how to read Cyrillic to identify the work and composer! :rolleyes:). I'm a little more circumspect with RCA.

All boot-sales around here were rained off, so we did a charity run instead. Bought 20 CDs (some still sealed in their film outer wrapper) - well at 25p each it would have been rude not to. ;)

[Pigmy Pony]

Never see any bargains in Charity shops up here, they seem to have become more savvy/greedy.

[Macca]

Never see any bargains in Charity shops up here, they seem to have become more savvy/greedy.

Not enough rich people up north that's why our charity shops are full of tat.

I went in one in London and thought I was in Harrods, prices to match too though mind.

[Barry]

Today's booty was five foreign-language film DVDs. Had a look at some CDs but the seller was asking £1 each.

Martin I think you are right about the content of charity shops and boot sales. Round here they are pretty good, but in London some of them are poor (and expensive).

[Macca]

No doubt about it, my mate who lives in Tulse Hill finds better stuff lying in the street than they sell in the charity shops here.

[struth]

up here its all tat tbh, bar the occasional thing. prices are higher than shops too. ive not been in one for years.

[Barry]

No doubt about it, my mate who lives in Tulse Hill finds better stuff lying in the street than they sell in the charity shops here.

Yep - you should see the stuff put out for collection where my partner lives in London. Perfectly decent and working coffee makers, blenders, sewing machines, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators/freezers etc. And all because they are too lazy to take them to a recycling centre, or to a charity shop.

[Macca]

No need to do that here, we have the 'tat man' who comes around about once a week. Got rid of an old radiator to him just last month. He's only interested in metal stuff though.

[Barry]

Yes, we get them round here about once a month. They ring a hand bell to let you know to "bring out your dead". :D

[Pigmy Pony]

Bagged at this morning's car boot:

The The "Dusk" and New Order "Republic" on CD. And Gipsy Kings' first album on vinyl (NM). For a grand total of £3.50 :)

Just played the Gipsy Kings one - really is NM, completely free of background noise and super clean. Don't own any of their stuff, but saw them live on Sky Arts a couple of years ago and quite liked them. Mrs. P left the room shaking her head, which is usually a good sign :)

[Barry]

With everyone now streaming, the cost of CDs (and DVDs, including Blu-ray versions) has plumitted. It not unusual to see CDs going for 20p, and DVDs for 50p in the bootsales around here. Yet understandably, the charity shops are still asking £1 - 2 for disks as they have to make a profit.

For LPs, the sellers will ask at least £5 for anything half decent; usually a lot more. The buyer/dealers crowding around the stall, always armed with a record collectors price guide, root through all the records, especially 7" singles, looking for that rare pressing they have seen going in auction for £1,000! I wait till they have all buggered off so I can peruse what is on offer at a more leisurely pace, not expecting to find anything of interest (though sometimes I do), and am at least amused by the prices being asked for the numerous LPs I have had in my collection for years.

Lately we have been visiting up to five bootsales in a week, so I have come away with 20 or so CDs.

[Pigmy Pony]

With everyone now streaming, the cost of CDs (and DVDs, including Blu-ray versions) has plumitted. It not unusual to see CDs going for 20p, and DVDs for 50p in the bootsales around here. Yet understandably, the charity shops are still asking £1 - 2 for disks as they have to make a profit.

For LPs, the sellers will ask at least £5 for anything half decent; usually a lot more. The buyer/dealers crowding around the stall, always armed with a record collectors price guide, root through all the records, especially 7" singles, looking for that rare pressing they have seen going in auction for £1,000! I wait till they have all buggered off so I can peruse what is on offer at a more leisurely pace, not expecting to find anything of interest (though sometimes I do), and am at least amused by the prices being asked for the numerous LPs I have had in my collection for years.

Lately we have been visiting up to five bootsales in a week, so I have come away with 20 or so CDs.

That's pretty much what I do if I arrive early, though usually the vultures have been and gone by the time I get there. Nice to find decent vinyl at a good price, but I'm not going into a scrum with that lot to get them.

As for 7" singles: a customer recently gave me several hundred singles which belonged to her deceased husband. Everything from Roxy Music through to Beatles and Stones. But condition-wise mostly rough as a badger's arse. No idea what to do with them, binning them feels somehow disrespectful. but I know I'll never play them. I should take them to a car boot sale and see what the collector/vultures make of them. If they fetched enough to get my customer some flowers or something that would be a feel good moment :)

[Barry]

That's a good idea: rarity seems to surplant condition when it comes to singles. Just make sure you at least recoup the seller's fee. ;)

[Barry]

Some classical vinyl in very good 'nick', found not at a bootsale but in a charity shop for 75p each:

https://img.discogs.com/CDwUFhS5bThlgQht4jaEbCfXM34=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():qualit y(90)/discogs-images/R-1565550-1393494176-2401.jpeg.jpg
(10" vinyl)

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71iZClg7DEL._AC_SL1024_.jpg
(10" vinyl)

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/k8AAAOSwOyVg-vGo/s-l1600.jpg

https://img.discogs.com/EqxH8JeeXyhwwGMiLJvGxlxrfyA=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():qualit y(90)/discogs-images/R-4364924-1599498220-2267.jpeg.jpg

https://img.discogs.com/cdGO3HX6u15RUUWIQI3dYAH3iA0=/fit-in/475x469/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():qualit y(90)/discogs-images/R-2114346-1282421318.jpeg.jpg

https://img.discogs.com/db2DgZGC9n2S-PedpvpZ9XxCOcI=/fit-in/600x604/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():qualit y(90)/discogs-images/R-6761924-1426091784-1999.jpeg.jpg

https://pianistdiscography.com/Images/John_Ogdon/VINYL/HMV/Ogdon-SXLP30552.jpg

[Marco]

Nice haul there, Barry! Del and I were tidying up and categorising all the classical LPs we have on vinyl, and putting them not only in main alphabetical order, but in terms of symphonies, concertos, etc, and composers - all 1500 of them (not including box sets)!:eek:

So that was fun:D And we did the same with the rest of the vinyl, amounting to 2500, of rock, pop, jazz, folk, blues, electronic albums - you name it, not to mention 500 12" singles, from the 80s, all now properly categorised in alphabetical order (of artist and/or band) and genre.

But it now means that in the music/hi-fi room, I can, at a glance and within seconds, now find everything I need, instead of the bollox it was before!:D

And the same was done with the 2500 CDs we've got, which was equally as much 'fun'!:lol: A job well done, though...

You know what it's like, when you've got that much stuff, it it's not tidy and organised, you end up never listening to half of it! I discovered about 100 brand new albums, still unopened and in their wrappers, which were buried somewhere, I'd forgotten I'd bought!:doh:

Marco.

[Beobloke]

Went to my first car boot sale in 18 months and the only thing of any vague interest was a pair of Akai SW-161a speakers, so I came home empty-handed.

Probably for the best!

[walpurgis]

Gave up boot sales years ago. I got fed up with looking at grubby toys, knackered hedge trimmers and hoovers, part used tins of paint, old clothes and all the other ugly, useless old crap! :lol:

[Pigmy Pony]

I only really look out for CDs, and the odd bit of vinyl.

This morning wasn't too bad - new and unopened copy of Mike Oldfield's "Earth Moving" for a fiver, CDs of Prodigy "The Day is my Enemy" (brand new), Radiohead's "In Rainbows" and Mike Oldfield "Platinum", all three for a quid. Making a grand total of £6.

Which was 3 quid less than I paid for a Stanley Fat Max tape measure there. I do get through a lot of tapes, getting a good one has been a lengthy procedure, so I'm hoping this Stanley one will measure up to my expectations... I'll get me coat

[Firebottle]

Measure up, lol...

[Beobloke]

Was up at 6am for a car boot sale today and we set our stall up by torchlight in the dark, which was a first!

Had a great morning - came home £150 richer and with a lot more space in the car.

Only one purchase and they could be interesting. They’re a pair of Truvox LS120 speakers which are a new one to me, although I know the Truvox name as their former service manager has run a vintage electronics shop in Southampton since god was a lad and I’ve known him for over 30 years. Anyway, they looked very 1960s and were impressively weighty and when I was told they were 50p for the pair, I grabbed them!

Back at the car, I prised the grilles off to find a brace of Celestion drivers including HF1300 tweeters. All cleaned up now and ready for testing but I’m tired and it’s beer o’clock now…

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211017/3ab9dc401db02fb5f29f1d8e91b0d92d.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211017/4c1edcb430dce5052090fed2c638e5d6.jpg

[Macca]

for ten bob that's amazing.

[walpurgis]

Similar to Ditton 10. Look good.

[Alex_UK]

Bargain!

[Wakefield Turntables]

You've done well.

[Barry]

Wow, that's a bargain and a half! :)

[Lawrence001]

They're rubbish. I'll dispose of them for you.