Are boat jumbles on the way out??

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Toutvabien

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I have just returned from Essex Boat Jumble at North Weald Airfield and it felt like being in on the fag end of something. I have not been a a Boat Jumble for a couple of years as we have been away. However I used to frequent them regularly as they were a significant source of bits and pieces for fitting out and sellers there were always very keen on price.

Today it felt like a down market car boot sail with a nautical theme. Far fewer stalls than in the past and a much narrower selection of kit. I managed to spend about £20 despite having a few £££££ in my pocket. A couple of traders that I spoke to seemed to confirm that Boat Jumbles were shrinking, presumably paying £4 to go to a boot sale is not a sustainable business model.
 
Jumbles are great places to meet people you havent seen for years and catch up with the gossip. Buying anything is of secondary importance. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
This was my second year visiting the essex jumble, and even since last year, it seems to have taken a bit of a dive. The "crunch" could of course have something to do with it.
 
[quote........... A couple of traders that I spoke to seemed to confirm that Boat Jumbles were shrinking, presumably paying £4 to go to a boot sale is not a sustainable business model.

[/ QUOTE ]I'm not sure if you made a mistake with your post but I can assure you that it costs much more than 4 pounds for a pitch, perhaps 40 pounds? There is of course the cost of fuel and vehicle as well.
 
Sorry if I was not clear, my point was that the £4 charged to the punters to walk around a few stalls is not sustainable. I am well aware of how much the stallholders are charged.
 
to my mind they lost the point when the likes of jimmy green appeared. nothing wrong wwith his business but he's a retailer and doesnt sell second hand jumble. sad consequence was that the yottie getting rid of a few bits of surplus got priced out of it - why pay £40 or whatever to sell old kit for £50?

doubt that ebay is the real problem - doesnt lend itself to the heap of unidentified old spare parts really. and if you want several shackles and a few blocks etc you can find yourself paying more in postage than you would to get in a jumble.
 
Don't care, I love boaty jumbles, my boat-owning-neighbour and I go to those around the Souton area, good fun and an endless supply of all the bits I didn't know I really needed or wanted until I saw them. Long may they continue (or at least until the garage is full!).
 
Feels like they're on the way out - possibly Beaulieu will survive. The smaller, regional ones could very well be on the way out.
Been 2 years since I last went to Essex Boat Jumble - seems to have more than halved in size.
The 'quality' of what was on offer seems to have taken a dive too.
 
Hi,
quite agree the ones we have attended recently have been poor, high admission fees and stall fees are the problem. We don't go to Beaulieu any more the admission price is way over the top
Steve /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 
Simple really, cut the cost of a pitch for private punters working from the boot of a car to a pittance, reduce the admittance fees & watch it rise from the dead.

Promoters seem to deal with falling customers by raising charges, therefore driving more punters away - Doh! In a recession, jumbles should be the way to go. I was at the NW Jumble last year & found none of the "junk" spares I needed.

I repair & sell used bikes as a Charity workshop, we are doing extremely well in the current economic climate by cutting the cost of run-of-the-mill bikes (loads of them) and holding the price of the quality items. Many people are considering used bikes who wouldn't have before, but they will pay the price of a new cheap bike for a quality used one.
 
I went to the Essex jumble today, i will not go again, the car park was miles from the jumble and there was just the one lane of stands, it must have been a quarter of the size it used to be when in its heyday at Great leighs. a lot of the jumble was old tatt not worth the fuel to cart it around.
Boat jumbles started going downhill with the advent of the profesional boatjumbler. When you have to buy your stock it defeats the object! If stand prices for private sellers were reduced it might get more sellers in!
 
Got to disagree - best jumble for years. The car park was miles away but there was a free courtesy bus. Anyway - got a £35 anchor light brand new and boxed for £5. A £75 mini breaker switch panel for £15, a Rulan rudder reference for £1!!! and loads of other bargains. There were lots of commercial stands but their presence means the car boot brigade can have a stall for £5. Charging punters a pittance to get in and charging stall holders a pittance will make the whole thing die in a week. The organisers have to make a profit - they don't do them just for our benefit. They have to pay the St. John's ambulance etc. and how much do you think the third party event insurance is?

Anyway, spent £60 and got gear worth well over £200 so a good one this time.
 
Re: Are boat jumbles on the way out??

I don't think that Essex boat jumble has ever been much good. I had a car boot space at Newark a couple of weeks ago at a cost of £20. A larger pitch, for car and trailer would have cost £35. I used to spit the cost of the £35 pitch with 3 other mates.

Very good selection at Newark. The Humberside ones are both always good.
 
Re: Are boat jumbles on the way out??

As well as people selling off their surplus kit, in days of old Boat Jumbles used to be a source of all sorts of dodgy gear, TBT Anti-Fouling, heavy duty out of date flares, bootleg copies of navigation software, they were a sort of free wheeling anarchic gathering of pirates where almost anything could be found. I guess that it is not such a surprise that they became respectable and then died.

When yacht clubs or local RNLI branches organise local jumbles they can still work.
 
[ QUOTE ]
The organisers have to make a profit - they don't do them just for our benefit.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's sort of my mine gripe with jumbles and even more so boat shows.
Why does the event have to make a profit? Just another middleman.
IMHO, these things could be better run on a break even, not for profit basis. Or maybe take a very small percentage of actual sales. No money up front.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Jumbles are great places to meet people you havent seen for years and catch up with the gossip. Buying anything is of secondary importance. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

This might not be so from a sellers point of view!
 
Glad you felt that the breaker switch was good value for money /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif.... you haggled hard enough /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Three of us went with a variety of bits, cost us £40. For the pitch, £30 for the diesel,£30 for the coffee and toasties! and we made about £750..... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Got to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, even if the toes got cold /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Best bit was when your mate said I could have it for £12 if I begged - I did consider it.....weighed my dignity and decided it was worth marginally more than £3, so I paid the £15 you said /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Thanks again, it's a nice bit of kit. Simon
 
[ QUOTE ]


That's sort of my mine gripe with jumbles and even more so boat shows.
Why does the event have to make a profit? Just another middleman.
IMHO, these things could be better run on a break even, not for profit basis. Or maybe take a very small percentage of actual sales. No money up front.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why would the owner of the land let it be used for nothing? Why would the organiser organise the event for nothing?

But your "take a percentage" proposal reflects a very charitable view of human kind. Good for you. Cynical old me believes that the large majority of stall holders would massage their sales figures to a monumental degree if you tried this
 
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