Car-Booting Hungarian Style

Buying and selling at car-boot sales are a great way to get rid of unwanted possessions and sometimes bagging a super bargain.

Car boot sales in Hungary operate slightly differently from ones in England. In England, a site is set aside (sometimes local council land or sports fields) and would be sellers buy a table or a space for a car and display their goods for the visiting public. Goods are sold at low prices to attract customers and quick sales. They normally take place on a Sunday during the summer months.

However, in Hungary large canvas tents are erected in front gardens of houses in the little villages dotted all over the country with anything and everything for sale. They are usually held at the weekends whatever the weather and throughout the year. You wander the streets, enter people’s gardens and browse the mountains of goods for sale. Nothing is priced and often goods are in very poor condition. If you have the time and the patience you can pick up some great bargains.

For us, visiting our local car boot sale for the first time was a little daunting as haggling, which is expected, in a foreign language is quite hard. Hungarians have a reputation for not throwing ANYTHING away and reusing and repurposing numerous things. The country is poor and everyone is wanting to make a little extra cash. I was fascinated with all the vintage looking items that filled the numerous shelves and tables. Unfortunately for us, it was pretty obvious that we were foreigners and prices seemed unusually high. We got lucky and managed to buy a reasonably priced BBQ but only after much haggling from Eric who at least had a little language and was not afraid to say no thank you when necessary. I enjoyed our visit but would take a Hungarian with me next time to help with translation.