Guildford is a town of many wonders, offering all sorts of wild and wonderful things for people to enjoy when they’re visiting. Whether you want to go to a concert, have a look around the shops, or take part in a fun-filled run, your options are plentiful. One such thing you can get involved in is a Vintage Kilo Sale, which is where you pay for how much your clothes weigh rather than how many items you’ve bought. The clothes aren’t individually priced, so you can pick yourself up some real bargains at the biggest Kilo Sale in the country.
What on Earth Is a Kilo Sale?
You might be really keen on buying yourself some vintage clothing, but have little to no idea what a Kilo Sale is when it’s at home. Don’t worry if that’s the bracket that you find yourself in because you’re extremely unlikely to be on your own. The experience is pretty much exclusively linked to second-hand clothes, at least when it comes to buying clothing rather than, say, sweets at a pick ’n’ mix. The clue of it is in the name, with the price of your clothing depending on how much it all weighs once you’ve selected all of the garments that you wish to take home with you.
What this means in practice is that you can end up getting some decent items for a relatively cut-down cost. Imagine a world in which you find an unworn, branded item, for example. If you were to buy that in a charity shop, the fact that it has a brand on it means that you might find the price has been raised a touch. At a Kilo Sale, however, it will almost certainly weigh the same as some tatty old Adidas t-shirt that someone has thrown away because it’s got too many holes in it. That can absolutely result in a bargain price for you.
The Guildford Vintage Kilo Sale
Scheduled for the 29th of March 2025, the Guildford Vintage Kilo Sale is getting ready to take place at Guildford Cathedral. It costs £3 to enter early and £2 to get in after 12 p.m., with under-12s able to go in for free. Anyone who wants to go along can get themselves a ticket slot ahead of time or, if you’re not sure what time best suits you, can just turn up on the day. When you’ll actually be able to get inside will depend entirely on how busy the sale is when you’re there, with a potential requirement for it to quieten down until you can start searching for bargains.
The very fact that you’re taking part in the Vintage Kilo Sale means that you’re giving permission to be photographed and recorded by event organisers, who might then use any images that they’ve captured for publicity purposes. The good news in terms of finding a bargain or even just something cool that you’d love to wear in the future is that stock is replenished throughout the day. That means that what you’ll find in the morning isn’t going to be the same as what’s on offer in the afternoon, with nine tonnes of clothing brought along to the Kilo Sale.
There is no minimum or maximum amount that you need to spend, so you simply pay for what it is that you’re going to buy. In other words, if you find yourself that amazing branded t-shirt you were after and nothing else, with the t-shirt weighing 0.05 kilograms, then you will only end up paying £1. If your items add up to a kilo, then you’ll pay £20 for it, with heavier items capped at £20 regardless of how much they weigh. That is to say, you could find a gorgeous leather jacket that weighs 1.6 kilos, but you’ll only have to pay £20 for it.
Unsurprisingly for a sale of second-hand goods, items are sold as seen. If you get it outside and discover that the jacket you love has got no pockets or the jeans you adore don’t fit, that’s on you. The items are cable-tied, which should remain the case until you leave as that is your proof of purchase. The good news is that you will be able to pay for your stock with cash or card. Peruse the entire venue, see what you can find, and put it into the supplied bag, then head to the weighing stations and find out how much it’s going to cost you.
Is It a Good Value Sale?
If you have never been to a Vintage Kilo Sale before but think it sounds fun, you might well be asking yourself if it offers good value for money. Obviously, that is a really difficult thing to answer because it will depend entirely on what it is that you decide to buy. In truth, though, for most people, it will be a resounding ‘yes’. There will always be an element of good fortune, as you’d expect with any second-hand sale, with the people who get there as early as possible being the ones that are the most likely to bag themselves a bargain.
The best way to approach Guildford’s Vintage Kilo Sale is to have an idea of what it is that you would like to buy, but also to be willing to adapt. You might not need a leather jacket, for example, but you might try it on and feel as though you look like a young Joan Collins or imagine yourself to be as cool as James Dean. There is also something quite romantic about the overall experience, which is why it is that the organisers can get away with charging an entrance fee. After all, if you imagine you’re part of something that can be a bargain even if you don’t buy a thing.