Car Boot Sale: 30th June 2013

Threepenny-Bit Tin:  £1

Yes – Ted has found the perfect container for some of his 3d bits. He uses these to play his two Bally Bingo machines.

He was expecting the seller to ask silly prices for his tins (as they usually do), but was pleasantly surprised to find that they were all priced at a most reasonable £1.

Filled Threepenny-Bit Tin

It was just after Ted had made this serendipitous purchase that he actually heard a WIFE asking her HUSBAND how much something was to be sold for – a rare occurrence indeed given that husbands are nearly always under the control of their better half.

3 Riveting Books:  £1

Have you noticed how many modern books are filled with white space? Some authors write chapters consisting of less than one page, resulting in a book of, say, 370 pages containing something like 110 chapters. Each chapter typically starts a third of the way down a new page, meaning that, on average, five-sixths of a page is wasted for each one. Moreover, the top, bottom and side margins are larger than they need be, and a larger-than-necessary font size is used to boot. Those 370 pages would have been around 150 at most in the past.

Well, these books are real ones: long chapters, small margins and smallish print, and should provide a good read, not one that takes a single morning.

Iroko Box:  £1

Ted must have had a weak moment here – he really didn’t need this. It was probably caused by the pleasantness of the seller.

As we all know, iroko is a large hardwood tree from the west coast of tropical Africa, sometimes referred to as African Teak, though it is unrelated to the teak family (thank you, Wikipedia).

It would have been a good purchase were it not for the odd blemish and the fact that some filler is missing from the inner section.

Ted will no doubt stick a label on the bottom saying ‘Hand-made in Africa’, together with a price saying ‘£19.95’, wrap it in some nice paper, and then present it as a gift.

Shortly after this unwise purchase was made, just after Ted had passed a stall where a man was trying to sell his late mother’s collection of elephants, he overheard an interesting conversation:

“How are yer, mate?”

“Pi**ed off,” was the reply, “I placed an each-way bet on the Irish Derby, and I must’ve picked up the credit card slip but not the f***ing betting slip! Can’t collect my f***ing win.”

It reminded Ted of the case a few years ago where a chap lost his winning lottery ticket. £3m was at stake. The lottery-operator Camelot’s rules are clear: a lost ticket must be reported within one month of purchase, and claims (with the ticket) must be made within six months, otherwise no pay-out. Even though Camelot were ‘110% sure’ that the claim was genuine, it was refused.

The moral of this is that if you’ve made a gamble, KEEP THE TICKET and REMEMBER TO CHECK IT!

Car Boot Sale – 2nd June 2013

Moroccan Lamp:  £13

Ted’s wife was with him this Sunday, and she spotted this wonderful 6-feet-tall lamp which would fit in with their general colour scheme at home.

The lamp is made of leather, or perhaps some kind of skin.

The sellers had only just put it out, and Ted asked what they were asking for it (not how much it was, note – there is a subtle difference).

“£15,” the young lady said.

“Will you take £12?” asked Ted.

“Hmmm… I’ll take £13,” was the reply, and the deal was done.

Most sellers know that haggling is for later on, not when the item has just been put out, but perhaps they were just keen to get rid of it.

Two OWL Energy Monitors:  £5 and £1

Ted saw the first one of these just after the seller had put it on the table. The sellers – a husband and wife – didn’t know what it was or how much to charge for it.

Ted explained that its sensor was to be put round the electricity cable near the fuse-box, and a remote device displayed how much energy was currently (ha, ha!) being used. Honest Ted also said that they cost around £30 new.

“How about £8, then?” said the wife.

“Hmmm…,” said Ted, “That’s a lot for a car boot sale – you’d need to put it on eBay to get that much.”

The couple’s facial expressions meant that eBay was a foreign concept, and the wife said, “What would you offer?”

“I was thinking of around £3,” said Ted.

“How about £5,” responded the wife, and Ted settled for £4.

When it transpired that the monitor was brand new and had never even been removed from the box, generous Ted decided that £5 was a fair price, and handed over the moolah.

Shortly after this bargain, Ted saw another one. The seller had used it briefly but didn’t like it, and he only wanted £1 for it!

Ted decided to reduce the average cost per monitor by buying this one too. This may be strange, but there’s a kind of logic to it… isn’t there?

Da Vinci Catapult:  £1.50

Once again it was Ted’s wife who spotted this. It was for her 7-year-old grandson.

It is a model of a trebuchet, and since, when completed, it would hurl objects across the room, Ted decided that it would be better housed at the grandson’s home rather than his. Who knows, the little boy might end up hurling bits of blood and bone across the living room…

Child’s Toytown Tin:  50p

This little gem was from a 50p table.

Ted bought it because it invoked childhood memories.

As an added bonus, it contained lots of plastic toy woodworking tools.

Deluded Ted will be selling this at the auction house Sotheby’s in years to come.