By Rebecca Cook
June 18 2020, 13.00
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A car boot sale has gone virtual, allowing bargain hunters to rummage online during lockdown.
Peckham Carboot is selling goods and wares on its Instagram Stories every Sunday at 10 o’clock in the morning.
Hagglers can browse items on sale or send in their own belongings beforehand to feature in the virtual market.
Peckham Carboot’s organiser Erin Murphy said: “Everyone’s inside, everyone’s bored and everyone wants something to do.
“We tried it one week and got really good feedback. And then every week people just keep sending us more images, so we carried it on.”
The items sent in for the sale range from baby clothes, shoes and toys to vintage clothes, jewellery and occasional furniture pieces.
Once sold the items are posted or collected in person and, given the additional postage costs, Miss Murphy has tried to ensure prices stay at car boot sale levels.
The Peckham Carboot was a monthly event launched last year, with the last physical sale before lockdown held in January.
During lockdown, the increasingly popular virtual event has prompted a 700-strong increase in their Instagram account followers.
Given its success the virtual car boot will likely continue after lockdown, in tandem with the physical car boot sales every month.
Miss Murphy said: “I’ve always love car boots, that’s why I decided to start doing one myself. I just love going because you never know what you’re going to find and it’s super cheap.”
Given the gradual opening of markets in recent weeks, Miss Murphy foresees the physical car boot sale could return as soon as the end of the month.
In relation to the rules on restrictions being placed on market vendors and their patrons, Miss Murphy said: “Everyone usually is trying to grab stuff out of a car and that is part of trying to find the bargain before someone else does. I don’t know how it’s going to work.
“That kind of thing just sounds like it might deter people from coming, but then we just have to get on with it, because otherwise how long is it going to be before its back to normal? And I want the car boots to reopen!”
The weekend virtual sale of bric-a-brac can be found at @peckham.carboot.
