Car boot bargains 'worth £890m'

People are encouraged by the exploits of TV antiques shows

Goods bought at car boot sales have proved to be worth an estimated £890m more than people realised, according to a survey from Halifax Home Insurance.

The research suggests hundreds of Britons have snapped up bargains at car boot sales in the five past years, but also that many have been disappointed.

A survey of 1,031 buyers found 12% had bought a cut-price product which turned out to be far more valuable.

But 30% said they acquired faulty goods like computers and vacuum cleaners.

Bargain hunting

According to Halifax, people are now spending more than £1bn a year at car boot sales.

But, the research does not indicate whether overall expenditure has risen or fallen over the past five years.

Adding up the value of all goods bought and subsequently revalued suggests that people now own items worth a combined £890m more than their purchase price.

However, the survey also suggests that people spent an estimated £64m on items they never used or that did not work.

CD sales accounted for a third of such "wasted" purchases while 21% of people admitted to buying clothes they subsequently never wore.

Halifax said the research showed people were eagle-eyed when it came to finding a bargain, motivated partly by the proliferation of TV shows on the subject.

"More Britons seem to know what they are looking for," said Vicky Emmott, the firm's senior manager of underwriting.