We normally don’t get out much apart from essential shopping, etc. but as a treat we might attend a boot fair if its not too far away and during good weather. These two requirements do sometimes come together. This morning we tried the long established CBJ one at Bulat Pestivien. In the past we have enjoyed the atmosphere and taken a pitch ourselves to offload some of our stuff. We have made new friends as a result. More and more often the professional junk dealers have invaded and steadily pushed out the private sellers. The organisers only charge €1 for a pitch, not limited to so much a metre. The dealers come in at say 4am or even the night before and take a huge space leaving nooks, crannys and fields for the private sellers. This is taking the p*ss as far as I can see and from comments I have heard from private individuals there is a lot of discontent. Some have approached the organisers to complain but they are met with indifference. I am very much in favour of letting people have a pitch at a fixed price/take what you need, but allowing the dealers to take huge acreage to display their rusty, broken, overpriced crap is simply not on. If they are a commercial entity (which their signwritten vans attest to) they should pay the going rate. So much a metre.
Totally agree Sh-sh. I enjoy a browse around a VG and, like you, have, on occasion, taken a pitch myself to do a bit of clearing out. What used to be a pleasant pastime to wander and sometimes see a little treasure is more and more becoming a quick whizz past all the traders to find the few householders tucked in amongst them to browse their wares. The traders are always overpriced, and mostly it’s the same stuff that they must drag with them to each VG.
When I have taken a pitch and got there at what I would think an early enough hour (about 7 am) I have been mobbed by traders asking me if I’ve got different things before I’ve even set up my stall, let alone got anything unpacked! I know they have a living to make but, if they are going to become more and more evident at the VG’s perhaps organisers could section pitches off and allocate an area specifically for traders?
By the way, your outings are on a par with ours, essential shopping and an occasional treat (for me anyway Mr. F. can’t do the walking so much now) of a local VG.
I do wonder if those professional dealers are doing a lot of money ? I’ve been visiting a lot of VG those last few years, and noticed a lot of them have desappeared, replaced by new faces.
I can’t ever understand how they do make money Babeth, I often see the same ones at different venues and still with all the same stuff! I know Bill likes to find a treasure, doesn’t he? (Well, of course, he’s found one in you, I meant a nick-nack treasure!)
We went to the Bulat one yesterday, having missed a few due to rain and chickenpox etc. However whereas I usually think the Bulat one is the best (it’s a beautiful town, and the winding centre makes for lots of pitch opportunities and little lanes – I wonder how a Christmas car boot would look, with mulled drinks and lights in the trees? Anyway…), yesterday I hate to say it but we didn’t stay long at all as it was mostly tat. I mean, I don’t go to a car boot expecting an outdoor version of Harrods, but most of the stuff was tipworthy! Even the chap with the van and the large assortment of garden tools (possibly the one people mean?) didn’t have any useful bits and pieces like usual (saw as drill bits, hole saws etc).
Plus… they’ve put in weird new verges, meaning a lot of the stalls had wooden posts in the way and you had to cross a muddy bank to get to them.
Used to like going to the Bulat VG but this last year find it to difficult to attend having poor mobility if I am forced to park way away find carrying any purchases limited and as said some of the stalls now taken over by more professional sellers and seem to display very expensive tat. I used to like the stalls selling off excess plants etc and even this has become expensive/garden centre prices compared to home grown.
The one in The Hippodrome at Loudéac has become more and more commercialised, I still go as it’s local but to be honest it’s not worth the entrance fee a lot of the time.
The one by the lake at La Cheze is still good as there still seems to be a lot of householders stalls and the fish & chips are good!
Thank you fruitcake for your kind offer not sure how or where to send mess to you I am quite a distance from you and at the moment stocked up many of the rescues do not use bedding because of the laundering but smaller rescues often do especially with the oldies. I have to say lovely that you thought of us.
Hi everyone , I’m just using this thread to pass on the information that the vide grenier at Bulat Pestivien tomorrow 15 March has been officially cancelled due to CV . Feel free to have a lie- in
Just an update to say that all CBJ ( Central Brittany Journal ) vide greniers ( at Bulat Pestivien , St. Nicodeme , Plusquellec and Calanhel ) have been temporarily suspended until further notice .
“It can stay cancelled until they rethink their strategy with regards to tat traders pitch allocation.”
I fully appreciate the difficulties, but how do you tell a French rusty tool seller that they cannot have a pitch on a vide-grenier in France. We went to one last year and there was fistycuffs at 0400 because one Frenchman was in a pitch that another Frenchman considered his own, when the organisers to whom you pay rent, state that all pitches are first come first served.
We used to enjoy going to the vides and having a look round at all the different stalls and buying a few bits and pieces but now it is just the same old rusty tools as the last time you went. If there is anything new and half decent, they want to charge you more than a new one would cost. I cannot understand how they sell anything but clearly they make enough to make it worth their while.
Author
Posts
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies on the united in brittany website. more information
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.