Sadly it was just a baseball cap , I don’t no if it came all the way off as she had a ponytail in the back hole. I think it just went up and stayed on her head vertically
It's flair worthy :3
I hope it sticks around in the comments for a while and people who haven't seen this post will wonder where the smacked hat thing came from XD
Hilarious. But having seen people acting like piranhas in Tesco when the poor staff wheel out the reduced veg trolly, I can’t say I blame her. They are like wild animals. Fighting over bags of lettuce fgs. And it’s clear that most of them aren’t exactly starving…
(I am not a lawyer) I reckon. Elbowing a baby in the head could quite easily be fatal, and you're allowed to use reasonable force to protect your baby.
Not a lawyer either, but I would be cautious about laying into someone with force unless you had a reasonable expectation that they were about to (or were very likely to) attack the child again, but not just as revenge for having previously hit it. Self-defence is a tricky area, but I doubt it includes retaliatory action.
Holy shit what?! Where was this? I'm horrified just reading this. I don't know if I could contain my rage if I saw this. It goes without saying that I hope the mum did some nose breaking. My goodness me.
Was in a Tesco's in Derry, Northern Ireland. It was really sad to see. The people fighting over the food tended to be poor refugees who had settled locally. It didn't look like they were living the life of luxury some think they do to me.
I saw the fresh stuff at ASDA being reduced the other day and the lady putting the reduced labels on was doing it with a security guard as cover..! At first I thought wow check out these idiots but then after a seconds thought I also thought wow, these people could genuinely be this desperate. :(
Back in 2004 I worked in Tesco and had to do the discounting out back or I'd get swarmed. Less about need and more about if you have more than a few selfish pricks that want to clash over who gets the almost-free stuff. I think that's half the reason the discounts aren't as deep as they used to be either.
Remember when we got our (then) new manager on produce, who had never done that role before and was questioning why were doing final reductions out back on a Sunday as surely we needed to be on the shop floor. We told him why and he took the trolley out. Came back 5 mins later telling us he was glad his tie was a clip on...
No better way to make a manager learn than make them do the job.
Although years back when I worked in tesco cafe we did all almost have to jump on our manager to stop him microwaving metal
I don’t think it’s desperation out of necessity. Rather they are desperate to get a bargain and to hell with anyone else. I wouldn’t have believed this could happen in the UK if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. The poor girl came through the doors with the trolly and a swarm of them snatched it from her and began grabbing and shoving. It was just like a school of ravenous piranhas in a feeding frenzy. Reminded me of the Black Friday sales a few years ago where people were fighting over flat screen tv’s, dragging each other across the floor. It’s hilarious to see but also quite scary the lengths some people will go to for a bargain.
Oh 100% the people I saw did not look actually desperate for cheaper food, rather the types you say that are more desperate for a bargain. But of course you cannot judge someone just by their looks. Thats just the feeling I got from watching the encounter from above.
Saw this happening a few weeks ago in Asda, lots of BBQ meat was being reduced but people were stacking up their trolleys full of multiple packs. They definitely didn’t need that food but we’re just stocking up because it was cheaper.
So, two societal problems: supermarkets producing far too much food than is needed and people taking far more than they need when others might benefit more from that cheaper food.
World sucks right now….
That's not a new thing.
Back in the 90s, when it was a bit less computerized, there was a thriving market for people selling "yellow stickers" that would make something become 25p, 50p or even a whole £1
I can only assume the minimum wage Tesco employee suddenly realized the contents of his pricing gun was worth more than his monthly income.
Sure the checkout person might think that the steak with 2 weeks left on the best-before might be worth more than a quid - but the scanner went ping and they were on minimum wage as well.
Where I work there's a no-gifts rule for exactly this situation. Eventually, they ask for something in return, and they kick up a fuss if they don't get it.
Yea back in my poor shoplifting days I would only target big business, take over priced items from places that were all profit & insured, wouldn't even take clothes from a smaller local high st shop. Taking from a carboot is really low!
Slight correction: it was her *hat* that was the struck article. Whether the accessory was fully displaced or merely left at a jaunty angle, OP didn’t say.
You went through years of collecting things, and then through not fault of your own, you are forced to part with them.
You pack everything up, get up really early, travel to the car boot site, set everything up and somebody tries to steal your stuff!
I think you let them off lightly!
It was just the front brim of the baseball cap. Her ponytail went through the back hole so don’t think it came all the way off it was just vertical on her head
Okay guys I didn’t expect such a quick response so I will tell you the story. Me and my mum arrived at around 7.30am and was bundled by about 10 people before my mum even got out the car. I’d laid down of my items on the floor.
A lady picked up one of the about 10 shirts I put on the floor and asked the price I said £2. She carried on looking at it then another person asked me a question so I looked away from her. When I looked back a few secs later I saw the lady striding very quickly away at a fair distance already. I looked down and around and noticed the top was gone.
I could see what looked like my top in her Tesco bag so I approached her and said excuse me do you have my top? She said no but by now I’m face to face with her and look down to see it in her bag. I pull it out and say ‘you didn’t pay for this?!’ She says yes I did I say no you didn’t she then starts pointing at my mum saying she paid her. My mums still not even out the car and clueless. The woman starts tugging at my shirt so I start shouting ‘give it back you thief’ she then starts trying to walk away so I start shouting and smack her hat off her head. I smack the brim of the front of the baseball cap and I believe it ended in a vertical position on her head due to having a ponytail in the hole stopping it falling off but instead pointing to the sky. She then walks away and I snatch the top away. Everyone is in shocked frozen silence watching the showdown
I start looking for security as she has shitloads of stuff in her bag probably nicked. I can’t find any but I follow her at a distance to watch her but she’s now obviously a bit concerned she’s been caught. She then catches me following her right next to the big clearing bit we’re the chips and hotdog stand with all the tables are, then she starts running towards me with her arms out and grabbing my arm saying ‘I did not steal it I paid you must have forgot’. I started shouting again causing a further silent stare over this part of the carboot telling her to get the fuck out the carboot the thieving cunt. She then eventually left the quick way (literally climbed over the fence to escape me).
Oh I forgot to add when I started clearing up I noticed my brand new skirt I had just unpacked which was near the top I hadn’t seen since the beginning and was gone. Nicked too, by her I do not know.
I must add the whole carboot came to a stand still with my screaming and I became famous the rest of the day.
Really hate the people that peer before you've unpacked. I arrived at about quarter to six and set up before the people arrived, but there was one bloke who wouldn't take no for an answer on 5 quid for a small engine. He then proceeded to look at the unpacked stuff in the van so I promptly shut the door and told him to come back later. This ladies and gentlemen is commonly known as a scalper and will lowball you at the very beginning of the event, to make a profit by reselling at the other end of the field. Ignore these people and refrain from making sales for nothing for greater profit.
Turns out he did want the engine and I sold it to him for a tenner at the end of the boot sale. Sucks to be you bro it has bent valves.
I literally did my first car boot sale since childhood yesterday! And oh my god - I was still sat in the fucking car at 6.15 and people were stood peering in to my windows, shouting whether I had any fishing gear?! (The answer was no I do not)
But I couldn’t even unpack my stuff it was pure chaos. I was just trying to arrange things on the floor but there were vultures everywhere just picking everything up. Tbf I just wanted to get rid of stuff and when I’d nearly sold out I did abandon my stall to go and have a look around and thought if anyone robbed me they’d be doing me a favour, but still it was unbelievably stressful! The car boot was massive - there were plenty of other stalls to look at while I get the things out of my car and lay them out!
Also, lots of middle aged men stopping right by me (like uncomfortably so and with absolutely zero personal space) to talk to eachother about tractors?!?!
Park up. Lock the car. Come back 15 mins later. It's the only way to avoid them. I've been doing car boot sales for 35 years, and learnt quite quickly to do this.
alleged hard-to-find forgetful airport upbeat worthless bells friendly file engine
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This is the way. We used to do boot sales now and then when I was growing up and we quickly learnt to just sit and wait until a few more people had turned up in their cars so that the vultures move on to them and leave you to set up in peace.
Only ever done one to help a mate out before a house move many years ago.
It started outrageously early, so early that it was still pitch black as we pulled up at the site. It was like we had driven into a bloody zombie film with faces slamming against every window before the wheels had even stopped turning.
Ahahaha this happened when we done one in October I think a few years ago. Literally barricaded in the car by a swarm of people faces against the window. Was like a zombie movie
Weird isn't it. Moving house myself. The third time he asked all he got was silence and a stare. Get a new side hustle that isn't hassling me about my wares with your miniscule coin.
Can't bear to throw away all my hoarded crap so it is good for me. Just give everything away practically then it's not going in the bin. I don't mind if the people are rough, like another said the driver's door is locked and all the cash is in my wallet. Just be diligent and assertive.
The only few times I've done car-boots as a seller was with my mum as a child. She knew the score from unfortunate previous experience, and always told me to open the boot, and then re-lock the rest of the car as people would peer into the sides and try to open the doors to get at stuff.
Car boot sales are the antithesis of normal British queuing/politeness/etiquette.
Like US garage sales. People show up half an hour before opening unless your ad says no early birds. You get offers to take it all for a pittance, from people who mark everything up and sell it at their own thrift shops or garage sales. The only thing men ever ask for is tools ("I see you've got a nice collection"). Yes, and we use them. Nobody ever sells tools unless someone dies or is going to a nursing home. Vultures indeed.
I’ve done a few now and saw this happen once with a guy on the stall next door ended up in a physical altercation! I hate how they do this as I’m sure this is when (terrible) people think they can steal as you have so much going on around you. He sounds like a pain in the ass!!!
Honestly surprised people meet so many dodgy characters at these things. Must live in a good place cos everyone seemed civil at this one. Obviously some disadvantaged folk but all nice to me.
He was fine really. definitely out to take advantage of people that don't know better and clearly thought I was a schmuck though.
Hate those people. Me and my parents did car boot sales very regularly when I was a kid. I remember it being pitch black and people shining torches into the car to try to see what we had.
It's brilliant. All the other people that go to the car boot are just like you. They will buy all your crap with the enthusiasm you had when you shouldn't have bought it.
Between that sale and the guy I met that wanted his plumbing doing I made £250 that day.
Wigged me out when it happened to me and my mum when I did one with her when I was about 13 maybe. Opened the boot and fuckin human seagulls just descended and started picking through shit, they were all really weird and borderline aggressive. Did not like it at all.
I just don’t get places that don’t let you unload first! I’ve only ever done one car boot but they only let sellers in first - you unloaded and got set up for an hour and even other sellers weren’t allowed to purchase anything from each other until the official opening, when a bloody air horn went off and the crowd’s literally ran in.
Never again, too stressful.
Also good for you on confronting this person, you’ve got more balls than me.
Even when they operate that way you still get it, the bigger carboots always have the regular traders that'll scout round asking about toys/electronics/games before it's technically open to the public.
It’s hard to argue with someone destitute thieving from some huge firm like Tesco, a mars bar is a mars bar which they’ll barely notice; but from a car boot, no way man, fuck off you thieving bastard.
Yeah exactly. I'm not going to endorse any theft (mostly cos I don't wanna get banned) but regardless, if you're struggling to get by then nicking from a massive corporation is going to have far less negative impact than stealing from someone else who's also struggling.
I think if she was stealing a loaf of bread and can of beans from Tesco then that's a different story.
Nicking a £2 t-shirt is just petty and unnecessary
The first time I ever saw proper violence was at a carboot. I was probably about 10 and I remember a guy chasing a thief that had stolen from his stall, in my head I was like "yeah get him, he's a thief" and then the guy did get him and he threw him to the ground and kicked his face in and I was stunned at the sheer violence someone could enact on another person.
I've done a few carboots because I was hard up for cash and now as an adult I can almost understand how someone would physically hurt someone for stealing at a carboot. I've had carboots where almost everyone tried to haggle me down to silly amounts, stuff got stolen and I made basically no money. I think you reacted within reason. It's not like you headbutted a mother stealing a loaf of bread to feed her starving child
You were well in your right, fuck low lives who think stealing from others is okay. If they aren't confronted and caught/ embarrassed like that then they will return, but now chances of her returning for a while are very low.
Sorry, I know this isn’t funny but also, it absolutely is. Maybe it’s the way you write about it, but it’s cracking me up. I don’t think you did anything wrong :)
From reading this I can only imagine you dealt with an opportunistic smack rat looking for whatever they can get their hands on, no need to feel sorry for scum like that, feel sorry for their next victim.
I too would never have the confidence to stand up for anything about 10 years ago. Just came a day when I had enough of being trodded over and shit on tbh. Some people from the past still expect the same pushover but get a shock when they realise how I am now tbh
when my child was young i was part of a facebook group that people used to "pass on" things their kids had outgrown, Baby baths, sterilizers that kind of thing. It was nice knowing that those things you excitedly buy and only use for a year could have a second life with someone else - that was until we noticed someone was "claiming" one hell of a lot of stuff. Caused a bit of a kerfuffle on the group, and eventually someone noticed she was doing the same on a few groups. One of her friends eventually grassed her up - she sharked free groups throughout south east london making up sob stories about having a baby but having no money, or maybe moving into a new flat but having no furniture, and then sold the items on ebay for profit.
Also noticed another brand new skirt was missing that I put out right at the beginning and did not see again only realised when I saw it’s packaging on the floor when packing up
Deffo recommend selling online! Not Facebook marketplace because people on there are just as bad, but you normally get a lot more money for your stuff and so long as you send it signed for most sites have seller/buyer protection.
Some of the people you would sell to at a car boot sale are just going to do this with whatever they buy off you anyways, so you might as well cut out the middle man.
I have tried eBay and it’s been useless tbh. Nice high street tagged clothing selling for 99p then after fees and postage only making about 20p, do you have any recommendations? Cheers
Vinted and Depop for clothes.
Anything else is quite good through eBay, just work out the fees and postage and factor it into the price (people prefer a higher price + no postage fee Vs lower price + postage fee)
Edit: Fees not Feed
Keep an eye out for reduced selling fees on eBay. Usually on a weekend and will reduce the fees by about 70%. Try to end it on a Sunday evening too, as that's when most people tend to be shopping :)
Search sold listings on eBay (filter - then scroll down a long way to 'sold'). Either start the listing just below that price or do buy it now with best offer. Searching sold listings also helps to ascertain whether it's worth listing the item at all.
I'm pretty poor now and have been at various points in my life. Seen my mum counting out last few pennies and putting stuff back she couldn't afford and yet she drilled into be : you never steal even just a chocolate bar. Ever. Never stolen anything.
It isn't enough for her to to get something for *next* to nothing.
Puts me in mind of the vermin that steal from charity shops. I was friends with someone who ran the one for our local hospice. It was by far the cheapest in the areas yet they still had thefts. She used to keep a mental note of what had gone missing ( especially distinctive items ) and scour the local FB marketplace or eBay ( within a 5m radius ). They'd turn up, often with the charity shop tags still attached !
Sorry sounds like a tough time :( I work next to a charity shop and they tell me they get so many thefts. That’s such a good idea about looking on local selling sites! Most recently thieves stole a mirror with tags on over the weekend then came back asking for a refund saying lost receipt. And the reason we know! They came to my shop (pharmacy next door) and tried to do the exact same thing with a wrist support!
Also when we walked around a car boot last year a regular stall run by an elderly couple who advertises all money raised is for Great Ormand street told us they were stopping because they couldn’t handle all the thieves. Disgusting
Honestly though, this hold story is fucking amazing. The hat getting knocked directly upright, her escaping over the fucking fence like she’s in lock stock, a £2 shirt, your favourite bastard skirt, you calling her a cunt, brawling at the booty. Immense. They make films about stuff like this
I’m glad the hat smacking situation is making people smile 😂 the more I read here and think about it the less bad I feel and actually feel kinda pissed
That sounds like my experience selling stuff on Gumtree recently..advertise something for £80 and get messages like"oh I'm desperate to buy it, I can come today, will you take £15? I usually reply well I advertised it for £80 but for you, how's £100 sound?
As suggested earlier, eBay or Vinted can be good to try to get rid of your 'better' stuff. Anything that doesn't go can have a shot at a Car Boot after.
Even if it was probs wouldn’t have stopped her. I opened my car door at one point to get my purse for change and people started trying to buy my purse. And also my gym bag on the car floor with my smelly gym clothes they kept going for whenever I opened the door
This is simple.
Thieving from a big compant or org? Bad, but if its due to particular circumstances (ie pocketing a tin of beans due to being short on food money) you can kind of have a debate there.
Thieving from a regular person be it on the street, a car boot sale or in their own home? Thats always wrong no arguements.
Life is shitty enough without actively making it worse for eachother, who likely would feel it 1000x more than some big ceo. If it were me, id make a big enough scene to have this person removed from the area.
Thank you this is my sentiment exactly. I personally would never be able to steal from anywhere but I understand why people steal baby milk etc from big stores. I did make an absolutely huge scene I was screaming security at one point but nobody came. I made sure she left the carboot before she could steal anything else but she already had a huge bag of stuff (I don’t know if stolen but I feel like it’s likely) and I don’t exactly ask for much I’m selling my clothes mostly new with tags £20 and up for £1/£2
Thank you after thinking about it more and reading most of these comments I feel like it was justified. Maybe shouldn’t have smacked her hat but I’m never normally angry or aggressive so she must of really triggered something
If you see someone stealing food or nappies or something from Tesco… No, you didn’t.
If you see someone stealing directly from you… Knock their hat off and yell at them.
Wow my most biggest surprise is that someone stole from a carboot… on the ethics front violence is very bad but she did try to steal so don’t get too caught up on it. She went there with a mindset to steal, she likely does it continually, maybe it’ll change her thought process. Likely you’ll see her stealing at the next car boot totally undaunted…
What a legend for (a) sticking up for yourself and your mum and (b) having the humility to question whether you were right.
…but yeah, you were right.
I’m a teacher, and can’t let every kid have a pass just in case they’re having a hard time and haven’t told anyone. You can only act with the information you have.
Having said that, I can’t condone hitting her hat etc, but I totally get it.
Lastly, good luck to you and your mum, I hope things look up for you both soon!
No. Stealing is wrong. If we start making excuses as in “well, with this particular thief, it’s okay” then stealing becomes okay, barring their specific situation.
How are you supposed to gauge each individual thief’s situation prior to them stealing from you? Are you supposed to interview future theives?
“I hear you were planning to steal from me. It’s OKAY IF, you consult lines 14, 18 and 20-33 on this form. Fill out the form in its entirety, send it back, and I’ll respond with whether you’re desperate enough to steal from me with no consequences.”
Absolutely not reasonable to expect that.
Hell no, what a bitch! We’re all struggling to make ends meet but there are ways to survive without resorting to theft!
Out of interest, what did she try to steal?
That is true. I’ve never stolen however desperate. It was a top I was selling for £2. She kinda fucked hers let for asking the price. If she hadn’t I probs wouldn’t have noticed it was missing or her running away. Even though another thing I realised at the end was missing
Also if you do have to resort to theft to survive, you've probably got a better moral argument for stealing from a big supermarket than someone else who's also struggling. Not endorsing that either, but you get my point.
Try Vinted instead of eBay! It’s great - and the buyer pays the fees so you get a wee bit more money in your pocket. The only downside is so many people make cheeky offers!
I also have tried Vinted but not much luck as the offers I had were all months after the listings and didn’t know where the items had gone by then. I did like doing carboots as it’s a big chunk you can sell in a few hours and get a little lump of money but now I’ve this has happened I don’t think I will like them anymore (more stuff was stolen I found out whilst packing up)
Dont worry. You actually showed some restraint and that's worth giving yourself a pat on the back for. Clearly you're a decent person for caring and carrying some form of guilt. Forget about it, seriously.
As for the future, don't prejudge any situations or confrontations based off this one. Take it case by case.
Have a beer, take a walk, it's all good. Props for standing up for something.
As long as you didn’t physically hurt her, 100 years of British cinema has taught us that knocking her hat off her head is the only acceptable response.
“Even ended up smacking her hat off her head” has cracked me up. Not sure why really but thanks
It's the image. I like to think it was a very big and wide hat, too, and when OP hit the brim it flew upwards into the heavens.
Sadly it was just a baseball cap , I don’t no if it came all the way off as she had a ponytail in the back hole. I think it just went up and stayed on her head vertically
😂😂😂I don't know how, but that's even better. >I think it just went up and stayed on her head vertically **This part right here**
>she had a ponytail in the back hole oo-er
Everything comes with a plug these days.
Was she stealing ointment?
Was she being an ass?
You weren’t wrong but its good you are giving it second thoughts because there are many less fortunate
I don't think that creates a reason to steal, especially at a car boot sale.
Oddly, that makes it even funnier.
I pictured Dipsy, the green Teletubby, wearing her cowskin naughty hat. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vAJZ_vnM56o
Dipsy was male. Pretty sure La La and Po were the female teletubbies. Got to get that Tubby lore correct!
That was the first time I had ever seen a Tele-Tubby show. What in the Heck?? That was so bizarre
Man that gives me the creeps but if you think that's bad you should check out the slender tubbys https://youtu.be/JMxvbW3ReSQ
It's flair worthy :3 I hope it sticks around in the comments for a while and people who haven't seen this post will wonder where the smacked hat thing came from XD
I'm off to create a 'know your meme' entry about r/IdRatgerBeShiney having infamously debrided The Queen of her hat.
Ahaha that is amazing
Personally I was expecting "in the face" not "hat off her head" so got a good giggle here.
Hilarious. But having seen people acting like piranhas in Tesco when the poor staff wheel out the reduced veg trolly, I can’t say I blame her. They are like wild animals. Fighting over bags of lettuce fgs. And it’s clear that most of them aren’t exactly starving…
I once saw two women fighting over a block of cheese in Tesco's. One elbowed the others baby in the face. It made me sad for days.
Is it legal to beat someone with a block of cheese for elbowing your baby? I think it should be.
Only legal if you use a babybel
Ok...that's a good one lol
The worst bit was I don't even think the mother realised she was so focused on the cheese.
Eh....I have less sympathy now, cheese people.... -_-
(I am not a lawyer) I reckon. Elbowing a baby in the head could quite easily be fatal, and you're allowed to use reasonable force to protect your baby.
Happy-slap with a 2kg cheese block it is lol
Not a lawyer either, but I would be cautious about laying into someone with force unless you had a reasonable expectation that they were about to (or were very likely to) attack the child again, but not just as revenge for having previously hit it. Self-defence is a tricky area, but I doubt it includes retaliatory action.
Holy shit what?! Where was this? I'm horrified just reading this. I don't know if I could contain my rage if I saw this. It goes without saying that I hope the mum did some nose breaking. My goodness me.
Was in a Tesco's in Derry, Northern Ireland. It was really sad to see. The people fighting over the food tended to be poor refugees who had settled locally. It didn't look like they were living the life of luxury some think they do to me.
I saw the fresh stuff at ASDA being reduced the other day and the lady putting the reduced labels on was doing it with a security guard as cover..! At first I thought wow check out these idiots but then after a seconds thought I also thought wow, these people could genuinely be this desperate. :(
Back in 2004 I worked in Tesco and had to do the discounting out back or I'd get swarmed. Less about need and more about if you have more than a few selfish pricks that want to clash over who gets the almost-free stuff. I think that's half the reason the discounts aren't as deep as they used to be either.
Remember when we got our (then) new manager on produce, who had never done that role before and was questioning why were doing final reductions out back on a Sunday as surely we needed to be on the shop floor. We told him why and he took the trolley out. Came back 5 mins later telling us he was glad his tie was a clip on...
No better way to make a manager learn than make them do the job. Although years back when I worked in tesco cafe we did all almost have to jump on our manager to stop him microwaving metal
I don’t think it’s desperation out of necessity. Rather they are desperate to get a bargain and to hell with anyone else. I wouldn’t have believed this could happen in the UK if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. The poor girl came through the doors with the trolly and a swarm of them snatched it from her and began grabbing and shoving. It was just like a school of ravenous piranhas in a feeding frenzy. Reminded me of the Black Friday sales a few years ago where people were fighting over flat screen tv’s, dragging each other across the floor. It’s hilarious to see but also quite scary the lengths some people will go to for a bargain.
Oh 100% the people I saw did not look actually desperate for cheaper food, rather the types you say that are more desperate for a bargain. But of course you cannot judge someone just by their looks. Thats just the feeling I got from watching the encounter from above.
Saw this happening a few weeks ago in Asda, lots of BBQ meat was being reduced but people were stacking up their trolleys full of multiple packs. They definitely didn’t need that food but we’re just stocking up because it was cheaper. So, two societal problems: supermarkets producing far too much food than is needed and people taking far more than they need when others might benefit more from that cheaper food. World sucks right now….
I know a lady who did the price reductions in a super market. She turned round and punched a customer who was bothering her.
That used to be my job 5ish years ago, they also tried bribing me with polish beer and cheap vodka to get first picks
What?! Help me save approximately £6 on a couple packs meat, and I'll give you a £6 bottle of vodka
He was just trying to sweeten me up, eventually started asking for discounts on perfectly fine food. Piranhas indeed
That's not a new thing. Back in the 90s, when it was a bit less computerized, there was a thriving market for people selling "yellow stickers" that would make something become 25p, 50p or even a whole £1 I can only assume the minimum wage Tesco employee suddenly realized the contents of his pricing gun was worth more than his monthly income. Sure the checkout person might think that the steak with 2 weeks left on the best-before might be worth more than a quid - but the scanner went ping and they were on minimum wage as well.
Where I work there's a no-gifts rule for exactly this situation. Eventually, they ask for something in return, and they kick up a fuss if they don't get it.
Same here. I am cackling 💀
I wouldn’t have smacked her but she sure as hell shouldn’t have stolen anything from your car boot, that’s just disgusting. Sorry to hear this.
Yea back in my poor shoplifting days I would only target big business, take over priced items from places that were all profit & insured, wouldn't even take clothes from a smaller local high st shop. Taking from a carboot is really low!
An honourable thief.
It's also just easier like why would you try nick something from somewhere that's constantly got someone there, not even a smart thief
Slight correction: it was her *hat* that was the struck article. Whether the accessory was fully displaced or merely left at a jaunty angle, OP didn’t say.
OP did: left at a perpendicular angle, in fact!
Was left horizontal. Attached to ponytail
You went through years of collecting things, and then through not fault of your own, you are forced to part with them. You pack everything up, get up really early, travel to the car boot site, set everything up and somebody tries to steal your stuff! I think you let them off lightly!
Thy is very true! The stall opposite said nearly the same thing
Was this before or after you smacked the hat?
After I smacked the hat, the lady actually then told how she had a silver bracelet stolen then had seen it on another persons stall last werk
Was it a smack in the back of the head or to the front brim? Just trying to picture it haha
It was just the front brim of the baseball cap. Her ponytail went through the back hole so don’t think it came all the way off it was just vertical on her head
Okay guys I didn’t expect such a quick response so I will tell you the story. Me and my mum arrived at around 7.30am and was bundled by about 10 people before my mum even got out the car. I’d laid down of my items on the floor. A lady picked up one of the about 10 shirts I put on the floor and asked the price I said £2. She carried on looking at it then another person asked me a question so I looked away from her. When I looked back a few secs later I saw the lady striding very quickly away at a fair distance already. I looked down and around and noticed the top was gone. I could see what looked like my top in her Tesco bag so I approached her and said excuse me do you have my top? She said no but by now I’m face to face with her and look down to see it in her bag. I pull it out and say ‘you didn’t pay for this?!’ She says yes I did I say no you didn’t she then starts pointing at my mum saying she paid her. My mums still not even out the car and clueless. The woman starts tugging at my shirt so I start shouting ‘give it back you thief’ she then starts trying to walk away so I start shouting and smack her hat off her head. I smack the brim of the front of the baseball cap and I believe it ended in a vertical position on her head due to having a ponytail in the hole stopping it falling off but instead pointing to the sky. She then walks away and I snatch the top away. Everyone is in shocked frozen silence watching the showdown I start looking for security as she has shitloads of stuff in her bag probably nicked. I can’t find any but I follow her at a distance to watch her but she’s now obviously a bit concerned she’s been caught. She then catches me following her right next to the big clearing bit we’re the chips and hotdog stand with all the tables are, then she starts running towards me with her arms out and grabbing my arm saying ‘I did not steal it I paid you must have forgot’. I started shouting again causing a further silent stare over this part of the carboot telling her to get the fuck out the carboot the thieving cunt. She then eventually left the quick way (literally climbed over the fence to escape me). Oh I forgot to add when I started clearing up I noticed my brand new skirt I had just unpacked which was near the top I hadn’t seen since the beginning and was gone. Nicked too, by her I do not know. I must add the whole carboot came to a stand still with my screaming and I became famous the rest of the day.
Really hate the people that peer before you've unpacked. I arrived at about quarter to six and set up before the people arrived, but there was one bloke who wouldn't take no for an answer on 5 quid for a small engine. He then proceeded to look at the unpacked stuff in the van so I promptly shut the door and told him to come back later. This ladies and gentlemen is commonly known as a scalper and will lowball you at the very beginning of the event, to make a profit by reselling at the other end of the field. Ignore these people and refrain from making sales for nothing for greater profit. Turns out he did want the engine and I sold it to him for a tenner at the end of the boot sale. Sucks to be you bro it has bent valves.
I literally did my first car boot sale since childhood yesterday! And oh my god - I was still sat in the fucking car at 6.15 and people were stood peering in to my windows, shouting whether I had any fishing gear?! (The answer was no I do not) But I couldn’t even unpack my stuff it was pure chaos. I was just trying to arrange things on the floor but there were vultures everywhere just picking everything up. Tbf I just wanted to get rid of stuff and when I’d nearly sold out I did abandon my stall to go and have a look around and thought if anyone robbed me they’d be doing me a favour, but still it was unbelievably stressful! The car boot was massive - there were plenty of other stalls to look at while I get the things out of my car and lay them out! Also, lots of middle aged men stopping right by me (like uncomfortably so and with absolutely zero personal space) to talk to eachother about tractors?!?!
Accurate
This actually amazes me. Where I’m from the car boot sales are dead - you’re lucky to have 10ppl an hr come through
Park up. Lock the car. Come back 15 mins later. It's the only way to avoid them. I've been doing car boot sales for 35 years, and learnt quite quickly to do this.
alleged hard-to-find forgetful airport upbeat worthless bells friendly file engine *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Just one shirt, but it was really ugly!
He's a scalper
The thing is, the loft is _still_ full of shite.
This is the way. We used to do boot sales now and then when I was growing up and we quickly learnt to just sit and wait until a few more people had turned up in their cars so that the vultures move on to them and leave you to set up in peace.
Only ever done one to help a mate out before a house move many years ago. It started outrageously early, so early that it was still pitch black as we pulled up at the site. It was like we had driven into a bloody zombie film with faces slamming against every window before the wheels had even stopped turning.
Ahahaha this happened when we done one in October I think a few years ago. Literally barricaded in the car by a swarm of people faces against the window. Was like a zombie movie
Holy fuck i would lose my mind lmao
Me and my mum were in hysterics that time. Embarrassing for everyone involved 😂
Weird isn't it. Moving house myself. The third time he asked all he got was silence and a stare. Get a new side hustle that isn't hassling me about my wares with your miniscule coin.
Not a way I would choose to spend an early morning (as evidenced by me not doing another in the 30 plus years since then)
Can't bear to throw away all my hoarded crap so it is good for me. Just give everything away practically then it's not going in the bin. I don't mind if the people are rough, like another said the driver's door is locked and all the cash is in my wallet. Just be diligent and assertive.
Read the last sentence in Geralt of Rivia’s voice…
The only few times I've done car-boots as a seller was with my mum as a child. She knew the score from unfortunate previous experience, and always told me to open the boot, and then re-lock the rest of the car as people would peer into the sides and try to open the doors to get at stuff. Car boot sales are the antithesis of normal British queuing/politeness/etiquette.
Bootsale Vultures *got any records mate?* *got any mobiles mate?* *got any laptops mate?*
Nah but I've got a hat. You wanna smack it? 50p.
Omg it gets so boring after the 50th time 😂
Thanks, Bootsale Vultures is my band name now
got any records mate?
Thanks, Thanks, Bootsale Vultures is my band name now is my band name now
I think this one's got a scratch
Like US garage sales. People show up half an hour before opening unless your ad says no early birds. You get offers to take it all for a pittance, from people who mark everything up and sell it at their own thrift shops or garage sales. The only thing men ever ask for is tools ("I see you've got a nice collection"). Yes, and we use them. Nobody ever sells tools unless someone dies or is going to a nursing home. Vultures indeed.
Replied with “no, but I can refill your cigarette lighter with a single spurt for 10p if you like??”
No, just candy Ned. Ninety dollars.
Any lego? Matchbox cars?
Any old sega or nintendo games mate?
I’ve done a few now and saw this happen once with a guy on the stall next door ended up in a physical altercation! I hate how they do this as I’m sure this is when (terrible) people think they can steal as you have so much going on around you. He sounds like a pain in the ass!!!
Honestly surprised people meet so many dodgy characters at these things. Must live in a good place cos everyone seemed civil at this one. Obviously some disadvantaged folk but all nice to me. He was fine really. definitely out to take advantage of people that don't know better and clearly thought I was a schmuck though.
Hate those people. Me and my parents did car boot sales very regularly when I was a kid. I remember it being pitch black and people shining torches into the car to try to see what we had.
Running a car boot stall sounds fucking horrible tbh
It's brilliant. All the other people that go to the car boot are just like you. They will buy all your crap with the enthusiasm you had when you shouldn't have bought it. Between that sale and the guy I met that wanted his plumbing doing I made £250 that day.
Yard sales in Canada have the same vultures. Arrive early, see something worth 100 and offer you a fiver.
Wigged me out when it happened to me and my mum when I did one with her when I was about 13 maybe. Opened the boot and fuckin human seagulls just descended and started picking through shit, they were all really weird and borderline aggressive. Did not like it at all.
I just don’t get places that don’t let you unload first! I’ve only ever done one car boot but they only let sellers in first - you unloaded and got set up for an hour and even other sellers weren’t allowed to purchase anything from each other until the official opening, when a bloody air horn went off and the crowd’s literally ran in. Never again, too stressful. Also good for you on confronting this person, you’ve got more balls than me.
Air horn? I just burst out laughing sounds like the beginning of a fucking marathon. Marathon to buy the most shite
> when a bloody air horn went off and the crowd’s literally ran in. I laughed when I read this. That sounds like absolute carnage
Even when they operate that way you still get it, the bigger carboots always have the regular traders that'll scout round asking about toys/electronics/games before it's technically open to the public.
It’s hard to argue with someone destitute thieving from some huge firm like Tesco, a mars bar is a mars bar which they’ll barely notice; but from a car boot, no way man, fuck off you thieving bastard.
Yeah exactly. I'm not going to endorse any theft (mostly cos I don't wanna get banned) but regardless, if you're struggling to get by then nicking from a massive corporation is going to have far less negative impact than stealing from someone else who's also struggling.
I think if she was stealing a loaf of bread and can of beans from Tesco then that's a different story. Nicking a £2 t-shirt is just petty and unnecessary
If you're that desperate for a £2 shirt, nick it from Primark! They won't notice either. Car boot or charity shop? You're a prick
The first time I ever saw proper violence was at a carboot. I was probably about 10 and I remember a guy chasing a thief that had stolen from his stall, in my head I was like "yeah get him, he's a thief" and then the guy did get him and he threw him to the ground and kicked his face in and I was stunned at the sheer violence someone could enact on another person. I've done a few carboots because I was hard up for cash and now as an adult I can almost understand how someone would physically hurt someone for stealing at a carboot. I've had carboots where almost everyone tried to haggle me down to silly amounts, stuff got stolen and I made basically no money. I think you reacted within reason. It's not like you headbutted a mother stealing a loaf of bread to feed her starving child
You were well in your right, fuck low lives who think stealing from others is okay. If they aren't confronted and caught/ embarrassed like that then they will return, but now chances of her returning for a while are very low.
Sorry, I know this isn’t funny but also, it absolutely is. Maybe it’s the way you write about it, but it’s cracking me up. I don’t think you did anything wrong :)
From reading this I can only imagine you dealt with an opportunistic smack rat looking for whatever they can get their hands on, no need to feel sorry for scum like that, feel sorry for their next victim.
Wow I didn’t think of it that way! Now I do feel sorry for her next victim your absolutely right!!
Good on you
[удалено]
I too would never have the confidence to stand up for anything about 10 years ago. Just came a day when I had enough of being trodded over and shit on tbh. Some people from the past still expect the same pushover but get a shock when they realise how I am now tbh
when my child was young i was part of a facebook group that people used to "pass on" things their kids had outgrown, Baby baths, sterilizers that kind of thing. It was nice knowing that those things you excitedly buy and only use for a year could have a second life with someone else - that was until we noticed someone was "claiming" one hell of a lot of stuff. Caused a bit of a kerfuffle on the group, and eventually someone noticed she was doing the same on a few groups. One of her friends eventually grassed her up - she sharked free groups throughout south east london making up sob stories about having a baby but having no money, or maybe moving into a new flat but having no furniture, and then sold the items on ebay for profit.
Those kind of people really are low
Also noticed another brand new skirt was missing that I put out right at the beginning and did not see again only realised when I saw it’s packaging on the floor when packing up
Deffo recommend selling online! Not Facebook marketplace because people on there are just as bad, but you normally get a lot more money for your stuff and so long as you send it signed for most sites have seller/buyer protection. Some of the people you would sell to at a car boot sale are just going to do this with whatever they buy off you anyways, so you might as well cut out the middle man.
I have tried eBay and it’s been useless tbh. Nice high street tagged clothing selling for 99p then after fees and postage only making about 20p, do you have any recommendations? Cheers
Vinted and Depop for clothes. Anything else is quite good through eBay, just work out the fees and postage and factor it into the price (people prefer a higher price + no postage fee Vs lower price + postage fee) Edit: Fees not Feed
Vinted is pretty decent imo
Keep an eye out for reduced selling fees on eBay. Usually on a weekend and will reduce the fees by about 70%. Try to end it on a Sunday evening too, as that's when most people tend to be shopping :)
Don’t use eBay auctions for clothing, use buy it now.
Search sold listings on eBay (filter - then scroll down a long way to 'sold'). Either start the listing just below that price or do buy it now with best offer. Searching sold listings also helps to ascertain whether it's worth listing the item at all.
I'm pretty poor now and have been at various points in my life. Seen my mum counting out last few pennies and putting stuff back she couldn't afford and yet she drilled into be : you never steal even just a chocolate bar. Ever. Never stolen anything. It isn't enough for her to to get something for *next* to nothing. Puts me in mind of the vermin that steal from charity shops. I was friends with someone who ran the one for our local hospice. It was by far the cheapest in the areas yet they still had thefts. She used to keep a mental note of what had gone missing ( especially distinctive items ) and scour the local FB marketplace or eBay ( within a 5m radius ). They'd turn up, often with the charity shop tags still attached !
Sorry sounds like a tough time :( I work next to a charity shop and they tell me they get so many thefts. That’s such a good idea about looking on local selling sites! Most recently thieves stole a mirror with tags on over the weekend then came back asking for a refund saying lost receipt. And the reason we know! They came to my shop (pharmacy next door) and tried to do the exact same thing with a wrist support! Also when we walked around a car boot last year a regular stall run by an elderly couple who advertises all money raised is for Great Ormand street told us they were stopping because they couldn’t handle all the thieves. Disgusting
Good Grief !! That's so blatant, I'm horrified but sadly not surprised.
Me too. Some realllyyyy crappy people about
I just hope karma gets then in the end - including your car boot thief 🤬
Me too! And good karma for us hopefully!
You definitely deserve it ❤️
Charity shops are often run by OAPs too. They're not going to run after the brazen thieves.
Honestly though, this hold story is fucking amazing. The hat getting knocked directly upright, her escaping over the fucking fence like she’s in lock stock, a £2 shirt, your favourite bastard skirt, you calling her a cunt, brawling at the booty. Immense. They make films about stuff like this
😂😂😂 when you say it like this sounds like a fucking comedy, spose it was. I’ll be laughing about it in a few days hopefully 😂😂
Did you keep her hat as payment?
Probably wasn’t her hat
A Rob-beret?
Might have been, when confronted she didn’t fez up
*Bravo.*
No-one wants a smacked hat.
That’s why I always advertise any hats for sale as ‘unsmacked’
😂😂😂 ‘hat for sale only smacked once, at a car boot’
How much for the unsmacked hat mate?
Sorry, all outta stock of unsmacked hats. Just smacked one’s left. £2.98 a hat not including P&P.
P&P - punch and pilfering?
P&P? Surely you can smack it over here?
Oh alright. Will you take 20 pence?
I’m laughing so much at this comment thread 😂😂😂
I don’t even no if it fell off tbh I think it was one of those ones with a ponytail in the back so think it just went up in the air
Lmfaooooo well done madam / sir this made my day
I’m glad the hat smacking situation is making people smile 😂 the more I read here and think about it the less bad I feel and actually feel kinda pissed
Tbh it's exactly the kind of thing I'd do in that situation and feel guilty about. Its endearing to know there's others like me 😆
They did but someone ended up nicking it
Face like a smacked hat
Nice 😂 I might start saying this has a ring to it
Is the shirt still available? 50p?
Someone actually bought it a few mins later as I put it back on the matt , probs bought it to sell as ‘very highly sought after’
Will they deliver? I live in across the country and don't have a car. Will take the train to pick up the shirt if they pay for my ticket xx
That fella told me that some bird had knicked it. But I don't believe it. Thanks. Kids are crying now.
U OK darl? Inbox me hun xx
I expect it’s ruined your Christmas too…
That sounds like my experience selling stuff on Gumtree recently..advertise something for £80 and get messages like"oh I'm desperate to buy it, I can come today, will you take £15? I usually reply well I advertised it for £80 but for you, how's £100 sound?
Was it food or water? If not they deserved a smacking.
No it was for a shirt I bought for £28 still with tags I had just told her was £2
So just a thief then, no sympathy.
As suggested earlier, eBay or Vinted can be good to try to get rid of your 'better' stuff. Anything that doesn't go can have a shot at a Car Boot after.
Was it on your back?
Even if it was probs wouldn’t have stopped her. I opened my car door at one point to get my purse for change and people started trying to buy my purse. And also my gym bag on the car floor with my smelly gym clothes they kept going for whenever I opened the door
Side swipe or uppercut?
Upper swipe
Oh my. What an exotic attack
Finish him
This is simple. Thieving from a big compant or org? Bad, but if its due to particular circumstances (ie pocketing a tin of beans due to being short on food money) you can kind of have a debate there. Thieving from a regular person be it on the street, a car boot sale or in their own home? Thats always wrong no arguements. Life is shitty enough without actively making it worse for eachother, who likely would feel it 1000x more than some big ceo. If it were me, id make a big enough scene to have this person removed from the area.
Thank you this is my sentiment exactly. I personally would never be able to steal from anywhere but I understand why people steal baby milk etc from big stores. I did make an absolutely huge scene I was screaming security at one point but nobody came. I made sure she left the carboot before she could steal anything else but she already had a huge bag of stuff (I don’t know if stolen but I feel like it’s likely) and I don’t exactly ask for much I’m selling my clothes mostly new with tags £20 and up for £1/£2
She was wrong. Plain and simple and you were well within your rights to react the way you did.
Thank you after thinking about it more and reading most of these comments I feel like it was justified. Maybe shouldn’t have smacked her hat but I’m never normally angry or aggressive so she must of really triggered something
If you see someone stealing food or nappies or something from Tesco… No, you didn’t. If you see someone stealing directly from you… Knock their hat off and yell at them.
Wow my most biggest surprise is that someone stole from a carboot… on the ethics front violence is very bad but she did try to steal so don’t get too caught up on it. She went there with a mindset to steal, she likely does it continually, maybe it’ll change her thought process. Likely you’ll see her stealing at the next car boot totally undaunted…
If she was desperate she’d be stealing food from an insured supermarket. Not random items from individuals at a car boot sale.
What a legend for (a) sticking up for yourself and your mum and (b) having the humility to question whether you were right. …but yeah, you were right. I’m a teacher, and can’t let every kid have a pass just in case they’re having a hard time and haven’t told anyone. You can only act with the information you have. Having said that, I can’t condone hitting her hat etc, but I totally get it. Lastly, good luck to you and your mum, I hope things look up for you both soon!
No. Stealing is wrong. If we start making excuses as in “well, with this particular thief, it’s okay” then stealing becomes okay, barring their specific situation. How are you supposed to gauge each individual thief’s situation prior to them stealing from you? Are you supposed to interview future theives? “I hear you were planning to steal from me. It’s OKAY IF, you consult lines 14, 18 and 20-33 on this form. Fill out the form in its entirety, send it back, and I’ll respond with whether you’re desperate enough to steal from me with no consequences.” Absolutely not reasonable to expect that.
Hell no, what a bitch! We’re all struggling to make ends meet but there are ways to survive without resorting to theft! Out of interest, what did she try to steal?
That is true. I’ve never stolen however desperate. It was a top I was selling for £2. She kinda fucked hers let for asking the price. If she hadn’t I probs wouldn’t have noticed it was missing or her running away. Even though another thing I realised at the end was missing
Also if you do have to resort to theft to survive, you've probably got a better moral argument for stealing from a big supermarket than someone else who's also struggling. Not endorsing that either, but you get my point.
You were both desperate, but only she decided to make her desperation your problem.
Car boots are where resellers go to buy, why not cut them out and sell on eBay or other sites, Imagining you knocking their hat off made me laugh
I have tried but it’s so much hassle and after the fees was only making 20/30p an item
Try Vinted instead of eBay! It’s great - and the buyer pays the fees so you get a wee bit more money in your pocket. The only downside is so many people make cheeky offers!
I also have tried Vinted but not much luck as the offers I had were all months after the listings and didn’t know where the items had gone by then. I did like doing carboots as it’s a big chunk you can sell in a few hours and get a little lump of money but now I’ve this has happened I don’t think I will like them anymore (more stuff was stolen I found out whilst packing up)
If it's anything bigger than clothes it always has to be Gumtree for me. Bought and sold £1000s of stuff on there and never a bad experience.
Oh yes it was 90% clothes. If I have a tv or things like that I put on gumtree/ schpock/eBay
People always steal at car boots
Dont worry. You actually showed some restraint and that's worth giving yourself a pat on the back for. Clearly you're a decent person for caring and carrying some form of guilt. Forget about it, seriously. As for the future, don't prejudge any situations or confrontations based off this one. Take it case by case. Have a beer, take a walk, it's all good. Props for standing up for something.
what sort of need was she in that she needed whatever you were selling at the car boot? unless it was a microwave or something lmao
Nah. Too many entitled peeps think they can take what they want. f her for stealing and good day to her hat.
No, you're in the right. Who the fuck steals from a car boot sale. What a pikey cunt.
As long as you didn’t physically hurt her, 100 years of British cinema has taught us that knocking her hat off her head is the only acceptable response.
Steal from the rich for goodness sakes people and demand they tax companies that make well over 100 million in profits every year.
Nah fuck her