Car boot markets take off

THE weekly My Car Boot Sale in Pretoria east is a way of reusing, re-purposing, and recycling goods and material for the betterment of the environment.

The weekend boot sale brings sellers and browsers together, who sell and buy items at affordable prices.

On Sunday many said most of the items there were valuable.

At the Groenkloof and Faerie Glen markets, stalls were filled with old clothes, antiques, valuables, food, books, toys, crochet dolls and collectables, and some of the sellers used the opportunity to get together to socialise.

One of the founders, Helga Roper, told the Pretoria News they have been booting for four years, and had accommodated the resale of tons and tons of second hand goods.

Roper runs the Groenkloof market at the Pretoria Rugby Club, which is the main market and is open from 8am until midday, while the one at Faerie Glen, headed by Robert Armstrong, is on from 7am until 12 noon, and is behind the BP garage at the corner of Solomon Mahlangu and Old Farm road.

Armstrong said the concept was started by four friends who bought each other’s things and did not have customers.

“People have that stigma that second-hand items are cheaper, but that’s not true. There are items that are very valuable being sold at the sale,” said Armstrong.

Due to Covid, some people lost their means of income and had to find other ways to make ends meet, and among them is Carol Francis, who has a stall at the boot sale, and who said selling at the boot sale was her only source of income.

She joined the car boot sale last August, and sells clothes she no longer needs.

“I injured my femur last year and lost a lot of weight, so I am not able to wear my old clothes. That is why I am selling them at a cheaper price.

“This is a nice environment and we get to socialise while selling. We also buy from each other and we even have regular buyers that visit the sale often,” said Francis.

Brett van der Walt, who is also part of the boot sale, said markets were a good way of saving money now that Covid has made it hard for many people to survive.

He has been doing the markets

for the past two years, and recently became part of My Car Boot Sale.

“It is a good idea to buy second hand items because you reuse and re-purpose them, which is very good for the environment,” said Van der Walt.

The markets have sellers who are looking to downscale, those who are getting rid of stuff they do not need anymore, and those who do this as a source of income.

There are also sellers who buy to resell somewhere else at a different price, and, the organisers said, interested people could contact them on mycarbootsalepta@gmail.com or 083 299 8930.