Made the mistake of arriving at Matford, Exeter City Council's car boot, too early- at 6.30 in the morning. Although some "trade" sellers had set up, all the private sellers were queuing up to be allotted their pitches. Could have gone in at 7.30 instead. Matford tends to have a better ratio of antiques to household junk than other boots, but today wasn't much cop. Found an Eliza Acton cookery book of 1863, but the vendor was a dealer, and she wanted £10 for it- the book wasn't in particularly good condition and might have been okay at £2-£3. I bought an Acme Siren from her for £6, having never seen one before, only to discover when I got back that they're still made and cost £7 new.
One dealer, specialising in books, wrapped all his stock in plastic and attached a piece of paper to the front of the bag giving a brief synopsis of the book. Since he was charging only £1.50-£2 for each book it seemed a lot of work for what must be a small profit margin (unless he gets the books free!). On the other hand, if it rains his stock stays dry- I've seen plenty of wet books at car boots, halfway to being pulped, the stallholders not caring if My Booky-Wook goes mouldy.
Another stallholder brought along a selection of brightly coloured glass vases, all new, all looking like cheap rent versions of Murano. Bankrupt stock? Nobody was buying, or even looking at them.
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