'What I unearthed when I visited popular Dorchester Car Boot'

If you’re somehow unaware of what a car boot is, it’s a market sale where sellers gather to flog their unwanted items and buyers try and snap up a bargain.

Rows and rows of stalls of DVDs, unwanted clothes, toys, home produce, old technology and more, with a heavy presence of tat.

There’s no escaping the tat at a car boot sale, but you can pick up some real bargains for your home or hobbies at car boot sales. It’s no wonder that these sales are popular with thrifters and eBay sellers.

There is also a nostalgic thrill that comes with a car boot sale as you suddenly find a toy from your childhood or a collection of VHS tapes of some classic films.

Plenty of stalls at Dorchester Car Boot - but are there any gems?

Given the shoulder-to-shoulder browsing and the rummaging of boxes, there was a fear that the car boot sale may die out or at least change to become more hygienic in these Covid-19 times.

But thankfully, Dorchester Car Boot is well and truly alive.

It is fair to say it is a beloved event, given how people from all over Dorset come to visit and browse the stalls.

There was also understandable outrage when Dorset Council’s new rules on car parking charges on Sundays meant that buyers and sellers would need to pay to visit the car boot. In all fairness, I am still struggling to remember to pay to park on Sundays.

I recall coming to Dorchester Car Boot when I was younger with my family and getting some toys and other bits and bobs. Most recently I helped my wife sell some items here, but I did not have a chance to have a browse.

As a bargain hunter and canny buyer, car boot sales really appeal to me. So thank God that Dorchester car boot is still running when the traditional car boot season has finished.

What I immediately saw at car boot 

Plenty of DVDs and Blu-rays at one stall

It was 8.20am on a mild Sunday morning and I pulled up in Fairfield Car Park. I still don’t understand why car boots start so early and an early start effectively forces you to arrive early as possible so you aren’t likely to miss out on the best bargains.

I had gone in with a few items to hunt for, namely football shirts, video games, Lego and Duplo (for my niece, I promise), and any tech from some time ago. I also set myself a budget so I didn’t go mad and impulsively buy a new grass strimmer and have to explain to my wife why I bought it.

But immediately after walking into the car boot, I found some bargains thanks to an array of Blu-rays and DVDs sold by one seller. All good value, but couldn’t find films I didn’t already have. But still, a good start and hopefully a sign of things to come.

Another stall later, I found the first big bargain of the day. I spotted a third-generation 8GB iPod Nano for £15 and third-generation 64GB iPod Touch for £20 and they were both in a good condition.

As soon as I picked them up, I recalled how a school friend had the very same iPod Touch for all of his music and films which we listened to music off. This is the nostalgic buzz that a car boot sale can give you.

I got talking to the stallholder and he explained they were both working well, their batteries could hold a charge and synced with iTunes fine.

He said I could have both for £20 – a tasty bargain. I wanted to have a think about it while I walked around the stalls. 

A lot of the stalls were just full of random items. A stack of power tools and cables next to a pile of VHS tapes including The Abyss – where else could this feasibly happen?

A stall had a load of tools for 50p each. Naturally, a load of men gathered around like wasps swarming around a dropped ice cone.

First purchase made - but what else is here?

Many rows of stalls were at Dorchester Car Boot

The first purchases of the day were some jars of marmalade and blackberry jam for £2 together. I’ll be honest here and say I only bought it as the stallholder was nice and friendly and I was pretty sure I had ran out of both.

After following the many rows of tables and piles, I didn’t manage to find much else. I did find a Wii remote for £10, but without the nunchuk attachment.

I asked if there was any negotiation on the price, but the stallholder simply said: “No – she (his partner) only wants £10 for it”. No infamous car boot haggling could be done here.

I left it there thinking I could get it on eBay for cheaper with the nunchuk attachment, but I later discovered I couldn’t and I maybe should have bought it there and then.

There was also a stall with some vinyls in great condition, including some Beatles records and a Let It Be US import. I was half interested, but I just wanted to browse and have a look at the great artwork.

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Just when I thought there weren’t any other stalls, I walked inside the indoor market to see what else was in store for me.

I was welcomed by the sight of a table full of books bending inwards which made me wonder how it was still standing and I didn’t want to touch it and be the one who broke the table’s back. So to speak.

I couldn’t find much of interest here bar some books and some watches, but there was a section full of vintage model cars, CDs, and more memorabilia. A real nostalgic buzz could be had here.

Inside the indoor market. I am amazed how that table is still standing.

Coming out of Dorchester Indoor Market were more tables and stalls near to the café which I browsed. One or two things were of interest, but I left to hunt for some more treasure.

I turned and saw people gathering around one large stall with numerous boxes full of books, kitchenware, old tech, and random bits. I went for a browse and then I spotted a box full of wires and cables on the floor, almost resembling a box of tangled Christmas lights.

Shifting through the cables had the exact same experience as I tried to follow the cables to the plugs and connectors and untangle the wires to see if there was anything worth picking up.

Somehow I managed to find an Asus laptop charger, the same one I have for my personal laptop, in really good condition.

I picked it up thinking it will be handy if I need a spare charger, but I also found an electric toothbrush charger as well. Perfect for taking away with me on holidays.

A box of cables surely means there's something useful in there

I walked up to the stall seller and he said it was £1 per cable. Absolute bargain. I know laptop chargers can be at least £10-15, so to get one for £1 is an incredible buy.

This canny buying is how Arsene Wenger must have felt when he signed Sol Campbell.

There was a seller who explained to a family that a multi-plug was £2.50 because each port was 50p each. I wasn’t sure if he was being serious or having a joke, but like the family, I was left a bit baffled.

I walked around the car boot in an alternative direction to get another angle on the tables just in case I missed anything.

I did pick up some fragrance for my wife from a Body Shop stall and entered their competition to win a Christmas set. After the closure of Body Shop’s Weymouth branch, it’s great to be able to visit this stall and buy some things or place an order with the Bodyshop seller.

More canny purchases 

I am now the proud owner of two old iPods thanks to a bargain sale at Dorchester Car Boot

After another walk around the site, I finally made a decision about the iPods. I wanted them. Life is too short to overthink these things.

I walked over to the stall and I saw the seller was packing up and I assumed the worst – they were sold and gone.

I asked: “Packing up already?” and he said he was and loading up his car boot with unsold items.

He suddenly said: “Are you still interested in those iPods? I can do them for £15 together but that’s the lowest I can go”

Hurrah – sold. I gave him the cash and put them in my shopping bag.

He explained to me that he had been car booting for some time and had previously sold items at Wimborne, but enjoyed visiting Dorchester car boot.

I did feel bad for managing to get them even lower than the expected £35 he would have wanted, but this is how car boots work. The longer the day, sellers will become more desperate to flog their goods and sell at lower prices. Growing up watching Car Booty on BBC One taught me that valuable life lesson.

A satisfying trip to the car boot

After one last look around and upon seeing some stalls pack up, I thought it was time to take my bags and leave.

My shopping bag summed up the whole experience – jars of blackberry jam and marmalade, a laptop charger, a toothbrush charger, some fragrance and two iPods. Where else could this happen?

A trip to Dorchester car boot is something I had wanted to do for some time and to finally do it was great. It should be a rite of passage for people who move to Dorset.

I didn’t get the retro football shirt I sought or the retro games console for a fiver, but the experience of haggling with sellers, picking up bargains and the nostalgic buzz of going through items was enough to satisfy me.

I have been bitten by the car booting bug and I definitely want to go again. After all, why else would have I just written 1,500 words about this?