Kempton antiques market: a first-timer's guide to the 6.30am Tuesday

Kempton is one of the big trade markets in the south-east. Twice a month, over 700 traders set up at a racecourse in Sunbury before most of us have had a coffee, and a fair few of the people through the gate at 6.30 are dealers buying for their own stalls.

It's brilliant, but it's also a lot. Here's how to do it without wasting the early start.

When it's on

Sunbury Antiques Market runs on the second and last Tuesday of every month at Kempton Park Racecourse. The next dates are Tuesday 27 October, Tuesday 10 November and Tuesday 24 November, then just the one in December, on Tuesday 8 December. January's are Tuesday 12 and Tuesday 26 January.

The gates open at 6.30am and it winds down around 2pm. It's been running since 1979, so it's about as reliable as markets get. They do put on the occasional Sunday fair as well, but the Tuesday is the main event.

What it costs to get in

From 6.30am to 8am it's £5 a head. After 8am it's free. Under-16s are always free, and you can pay cash or contactless at the gate. Parking is free too, and Kempton sits outside the ULEZ, which matters if you're driving an older van to fill.

Is the fiver worth it? If you're after clothes, jewellery or anything small and good, yes. The traders and the serious buyers are in at 6.30, and by 8 the best of it has usually been picked over. If you just fancy a wander and a cup of tea, come after 8, save your money and enjoy it.

Getting there

Kempton Park has its own station, about 200 yards from the racecourse's North Entrance. It's on the Shepperton line from Waterloo and Clapham Junction, with two trains an hour and a journey of around 45 minutes. Sunbury station is the next stop along and roughly a ten-minute walk if you miss one.

The catch is the hour. Getting there for 6.30 by train from the other side of London takes some planning, so check the first trains the night before. If you can drive or blag a lift, do. The postcode is TW16 5AQ, on the A308 between Hampton Court and Staines.

How it's laid out

There are two halves. Inside, stalls fill the ground floors of the Paddock Grandstand and the Silver Ring Grandstand, with power, lights and tables. Outside, traders set up on hard standing and sell straight from the backs of their vans and cars.

Start outside. That's where stock turns up that hasn't been cleaned up for a shop yet, and it's where the trade buyers tend to head first with their torches. The indoor halls are calmer, better lit and usually a bit pricier, and they'll still be there once the sun's up and your fingers have thawed.

The organiser doesn't say where the clothes traders pitch up, so keep an eye out for rails and boxes as you go. Expect vintage clothes alongside the furniture, silver, ceramics, prints and general house clearance.

What to bring

Cash, and more than you think. There's a cash machine on site, but the organisers say it isn't working at the moment. Some stalls will take a card, but don't count on it outside, where cash talks loudest.

A torch. On the November dates the sun isn't up until after 7am, and the outside pitches are dark. A head torch leaves your hands free.

Layers. It's an open racecourse car park at dawn. It's colder than you think, every time.

Bags, and a plan for anything big. A big shopper and a fold-up trolley will do for clothes and smalls. For furniture there are shippers and couriers on site who'll get it home for you, so you don't need to turn up with a van.

There's food and hot drinks on site, plus toilets and first aid. Dogs on leads are welcome outside but not in the halls.

How to buy well at Kempton

Have a look first, then go back. The first lap is for seeing what's there, the second is for buying. The exception is anything you'd be gutted to lose. At a trade market, if you put it down and walk off, assume it's gone.

Ask, don't demand. "What's the best you can do on this?" gets you further than opening with half the price. Buying two or three things from the same stall is the easiest way to get a better deal, because traders would rather do one bigger sale than haggle over each item.

Check clothes properly before you pay: seams, armpits, zips, moth holes and that musty smell that never quite washes out. There are no returns here.

And if you sell yourself, this is where your margins come from. Prices here tend to be set with resellers in mind, so buy what you know sells and leave what you'd only buy because it's cheap.

Is it worth a weekday?

If you love second-hand and you've never been, yes, at least once. Take a day off, set an alarm you'll hate and go to the 6.30 start. It's the closest thing London has to seeing where the stock really comes from, and it changes how you look at the prices on Portobello for ever.