A day selling at Sunbury Antiques Market

~ Tuesday 30th July ~

Sorry this post is a bit behind, we are moving home today and life has been a little hectic over the past few days!  Tuesday saw us once again sell our wares at Sunbury.  There was a beautiful sunrise around 5am and we thought the rain would hold off but we were wrong!

Around 9.30am the heavens opened and it started to rain quite heavily. Luckily for us by this time we had managed to sell the majority of our wares.  As we started to unpack the van at 6.30am there was a swarm of people asking how much items were.  We meet a lovely guy who bought up all our garden furniture for his 10 pubs that he owns around Camden and Walthamstow.

Was bit disappointed that the lovely shutters didn't sell as they are beautiful but that's the way it goes sometimes...

SOLD ITEMS...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FOR SALE...

 

 

 

 

 

The above stock will be going onto my ebay store very soon...

Please click the link which will take you straight to my store:  BV Ebay shop

Au revoir pour l'instant mes amis

Vanessa xx

My French Brocante Buying Trip #2

~ Saturday 6th July ~

 

Off to France we go, this time without my little Ayla - and for only 24hrs! Another 5am early start was had but this time it did not seem as bad partly due to the fact that the sun was shinning and it was warm! Yes, warm for once.  After a two hour drive to New Haven ferry port we waiting patiently in the cue to board the ferry (which was now running 30 minutes late). Problem with this is that it affects timings but that's how it goes...Where would I be without my trusty hubby who would be the driver!  

 

 

The sun glistened on the water as the ferry pulled out of the port whilst avid fishermen cast their rods out from the end of the pier.  Bye bye Ayla see you soon! 

 

This is the first time I have been apart from my Ayla she is 18months now, I knew she was safe at home with auntie but you never stop worrying do you. I must admit, I was looking forward to a bit of me and hubby time though.

 

Fast forward a 4 hour ferry crossing and we zoom straight to our first dealer where we find two galvanised baths, a lovely little wooden stool and a soup tureen...Normally we buy quite a bit from this lady, however this time she only had a few bits, that's the way it goes sometimes - you never know what you're going to find or not in our case.

 

 

 

Then straight to our next dealer who is always a delight to see! By the time we arrived it was 6.30pm - we caught her just in time as she was busy packing things away into her little shop which closes at 7pm.

Luckily for us she took us to her warehouse where we found quite a few things...

 

 

 

Lovely set of 5 vintage café folding chairs with metal table in dusky blue

 

Two vintage white metal tolix chairs with little matching stool

 

Set 2 vintage white metal garden chairs - (both have different seat & back designs)

 

Set 2 matching vintage white decorative metal garden chairs (with beautiful scrolling handles)

 

 Set 2 matching vintage white decorative metal garden chairs (with beautiful scrolling handles)

 

White metal large folding café chair

 

Set of 6 individual French shutters

 

8pm and time to head for the B&B. We stayed at the same B&B as before and was greeted once again by the lovely Aude. We made our dinner and sat in the grounds as the sun went down. Its so peaceful here and was a great opportunity to unwind and recharge our batteries for the next day.

 

~ Sunday 7th ~

 

Up at 5am again but I was up like a shot! After a lovely breakfast we set off for the vide-greniers and fories a tout.  As we hit the road the sun just starting to make an appearance...

 

 

We drove 30 minutes to our first fair where we picked up a vintage croquet set, galvanised bottle holder, a galvanised bucket, and a set of vintage wooden skittles.

 

 

 

The fairs were so busy and the temperature was rising steadily throughout the day. A one point it became so hot that we had stay in the shade for a while.  We decided that we would spend the rest of the day soaking up the sights. We found a lovely spot and had some lunch.

 

 

Here's Burt who finished up my apple...

 

 

And so it was time once again to head back to the ferry port.  On our way driving back we came across two other Brocante shops so we'll be visiting them on our next trip.  The weather really has been lovely which made cueing at the ferry port all that more bearable...

 

 

 

Once on-board we headed for the very top deck, grabbed a seat and watched as the cars and lorries pile onto the ferry one-by-one.

 

 

 

6pm and we finally set off for home - Ayla is very much on my mind and I cant wait to see her but with a 4 hour crossing and another 2 hour drive it seems like forever! Hubby and I get some rest.  Next time I am contemplating going over via the Le Shuttle which will be much quicker!

 

We will be selling our wares at the Sunbury Antiques Market on the 30th July.  If you are interested in any of the items featured here please email me at - brocante-vintage@hotmail.co.uk

 

Thanks for reading me and I write soon!

 

Au revoir pour l'instant mes amis

 

Vanessa xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

A day selling at Sunbury Antiques Market...

An interesting and excited day was had yesterday selling our wares at the International renowned Sunbury Antiques market in West London.

The night before some of the dealers that have been coming to Sunbury for years and years who came from Europe and the UK had been waiting since 10pm the night before, so they would be allocated the best spot. They were all parked up, head light off and as we approached we could see some happily sleeping away in their vans. Fortunate for us we were given as one steward put it ‘royalty’ an excellent spot right alongside some of these best dealers!  

Even though our arrival was at 2am that morning and sleeping upright wasn’t the most comfortable we managed to grab 4 hours sleep. As the sun started to break through around 5am we started to ponder on what would lie ahead. Luckily rain was predicted much later in the day, so as 6am rolled around we had a cup of coffee and a bacon and sausage roll and started to watch the dealers emerge and start chatting with one another.  This was a great opportunity to take some snaps of all the vans lined up, 700 in total!

At 6.30am on the very dot, one of the organisers waved the union jack flag and a gunshot was blasted to let us all know that trading was now open.  A very excited hubby and I stared to upload our van.

 

 

 

 

 

The rules at Sunbury are very strict! You must not unload one item until 6.30am; failure to comply here could see you banned one seller told us. As I glanced about it was great to see what stock the other dealers had and to chat with them.

It was now only 7am and by 8am we had sold half our stock which was fantastic!  The remainder will go onto my EBay store, click here

 
To say things got frantic was quite an understatement, we had buyers left right and centre asking ‘what is the price of this please?’ and at one point it became quite overwhelming with heads looking inside the van – but what a buzz!! At 9am things started to settle down and only a few people were mulling about.  One seller who was next to us said by 11am it’s all done, and she was right! All the buyers come between 6.30 – 8am, these were obviously our best buyers, they liked what we had and didn’t quibble on price then Joe public roll in around 9am looking for bargains and it’s a totally different story.

I had a little wonder around at 10am, walking around taking in the sights with so much to look at, soooooo many items caught my eye, but this time I was here to sell not buy.  Another opportunity to take some pictures of the other sellers wares.

We did succumb to the most delightful little set of four 1960’s vintage children’s chairs – Johnny couldn’t resist and bought them off a dealer opposite us.
 

By 11am the wind picked up and I felt drops of rain, by this time there was hardly anyone about so we decided to pack away and thank goodness we did as the heavens opened. Cold and wet but happy with what we were able to sell we set off back home were we greeted with a huge smile, kisses and hugs from our little Ayla.

Thank you for reading me!

See you soon.

Vanessa xx