Boot it up!

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Car boot sales are held in a wide variety of venues and are advertised on the internet and in the classified columns of local newspapers. For a small fee you can sell your unwanted property for whatever you can get. Price your goods beforehand with labels but remember that haggling is all part of the experience, so expect to lower your prices.
Arrive early and bag a good position where you'll get plenty of passing trade. Take a table or clothes rail to display your goods, a chair to sit on, spare cash for change, warm clothing, rainwear and boots
in case you find yourself in a muddy field. And take refreshments to keep you going 'booting' is hungry work.

Charity begins near home

Check if your local nursery or mum-and-toddler group need cast-offs. Some groups keep a stock of spare clothing in case of little accidents or may welcome those purée-stained T-shirts to use as painting overalls.

Bring and buy

If you attend a parenting group, organising a bring-and-buy sale is one way to raise funds for new toys and equipment. Many volunteer-run groups have to run fundraising activities in order to remain eligible for local authority grants. A bring-and-buy sale is easy to organise. Give plenty of advance notice of the event, then all you need are a few large tables, a box for collecting money and spare change, plus someone to watch over your little one while you man the stall.

What are friends for?

Consider passing clothing on to friends with younger children. Or hold a clothes swapping party - a night in, with wine and nibbles when everyone brings along their unwanted clothes and takes home someone else's.

Keeping your keepsakes

Some items are too precious to part with. A friend of mine dressed a soft toy in one of those teeny newborn outfits and is still amazed that her lofty lad ever fitted into it. Another friend made a patchwork quilt out of cloth from her baby layette. If you're not handy with a needle, a classic keepsake box does the trick.

Practicalities

Car Boot Sales info: carbootcalendar.com.
eBay: www.ebay.co.uk.
NCT Nearly New Sales: www.nct.org.uk.
Oxfam: oxfam.org.uk.
Salvation Army: www.salvationarmy.org.uk.
Scope: www.scope.org.uk.

Lisa's eBay 'accident'

Lisa, from Cheshire, turned a clothing clear-out into a thriving business (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Funkymums-Funky-Boutique).
'I discovered eBay six years ago when I was looking for a breast-pump. It was in its infancy back then: when I first signed up there were about 60 items for sale in the baby section, but now there are thousands. My son was 3 months old and growing out of his clothes, so I started selling bits and bobs. In my first week I made £7, then £21 the second week and £150 the week after. I'm very proud of the business I've built, which now earns me more than my old job. I've created a business by accident, all because I couldn't bear to see my boy's clothes go to waste!'

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