Boot fairs - why so early?

[Sam]

A culture question rather than a record-specific one...

Why do car boot fairs start so early - 7am or even earlier in some cases? I've never really understood this. Is it something to do with avoiding queues, or is it because they traditionally were events that had something else happen after them?

I guess there may be something here in the history of car booting that I'm not aware of...

[babycart]

I asked this a few years back, but no one knew. It´s obvious why food markets open at the crack of dawn, but as far as I´m aware most boot sale tat isn´t perishable.

I did this find this thread elsewhere, though, which has one explanation for the madness.

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1114744

I´ve never seen a street market of any kind start before 9 in Spain and 8 was about as early as it got in Hamburg when I was there.

[emperor tomato ketchup]

I remember the previous iteration of this question. Gues some kind of early brid gets the worm thing.

[candiman]

I have wondered whether it's a traffic thing. Councils, police(?) like them to start and finish early so they don't snarl up the roads in the area.

Having said that my perception is that Saturday boots generally seem to start later than Sunday boots and Saturday is probably a busier day traffic-wise. So I've just shot down my theory straight away!

I wish they would start later, I am not a morning person.

[The Divine One]

I am mostly likely wrong, but I think it's just a simple case of: if they start at 7.00am, everyone gets there for 6.30am to set up. So they start it at 6.30am. Then since it starts at 6.30am, everyone gets there for 6.00am etc etc etc. The big fair in Glasgow, in summer to be guaranteed a spot people arrive with cars at 3am, so to make sure of a good spot, people arrive at MIDNIGHT and sleep in their cars. Crazy!

[Head Gardener]

the Milton Keynes Bowl car boot is on every Sunday all the year round, I have been there in snow and rain
(but not for a while as it's too far to go now) and folk are queuing up to set up at 5am. It's pretty nuts
but the people come so who am I to tell them they are doing it all wrong? fuckem, I'd rather stay in bed
til 6.30am and then hit the others - the alternative MK boot at Super Sausage started again yesterday and that's at a nice 8.30am

[cratedigger]

Most boot fairs here have one official start time and one unofficial. The unofficial seems to be a few minutes after the sellers are allowed in, with some grippers running around asking "Any x?" where you can replace x with watches, fishing gear, video games, cameras or records. No reply=it's probably OK to open up boxes and dig freely.

One boot fair goes against the tide, opening at 10AM, with the manager having surrounded the seller's area in crime scene tape running around trying to stop grippers from entering before he has given a sign. It was comical once when he inadvertently raised his hands to make a point with his colleague and was confronted by the bull rush.