Philip Serrell v David Harper - Showdown Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

This is Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is,

the show that pitches

TV's best-loved antiques experts

against each other

in an all-out battle for profit.

Let's make hay while that sun shines.

Each week, one pair of duelling dealers

will face a different daily challenge.

I've got a heavy profit here.

Putting their reputations on the line...

-Who's there?

-GAVEL BANGS

..they'll give you

the insider's view of the trade.

HE GROWLS ..along with

their top tips and savvy secrets...

That could present a problem for me.

..showing you how to make the most money...

-Ready for battle.

-BUGLE CALL

..from buying and selling.

-Get in there.

-LIGHTNING CRASHES

Today, the going gets tough as the tough get going.

Yes, it's the finale in this week-long,

dog-eat-dog dealing drama.

Hold on to your hats, or your brightly-coloured shirts,

it's time for the mighty Showdown.

Coming up, David turns to villainy...

Would you risk being shot by two peas?

..Phil shows us an expert's trick...

Good tip for you - just run your fingers round it.

And if you open it up, you can see where it's been filled.

..and will our dealers make a profit

selling at the hair-raising Showdown Auction?

-Five, ten.

-No! Philip Serrell.

£15.

This is Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.

HORN BEEPS

Today, our collectable crusade climaxes

and swords are drawn

in the ultimate battle of the bargaineers

as our two marvels of merchandise take on the final antiques adventure

in this all-out bout for profit.

Whoever can sell their spoils and collect the most cash

will be crowned supreme dealer.

First up is our top drawer from Durham.

His calm exterior masks a ferocious appetite for finery

and the dealing desire to win at all costs.

It's Devilish David Harper. APPLAUSE

I'm in it to win.

And taking David on is a worthy adversary of wares.

He's a tenacious treasure hound with a nose for knick-knacks

and a bloodlust for bargains.

It's Phil The Fox Serrell.

How I buy today might just decide who wins this.

Today, our antiques aces embark on a four-part challenge

which sees them take on an auction...

..an antiques fair,

a car boot sale and a foreign market.

They'll have £1,000 of their own money to spend

and eight precious items to procure.

But there's a twist.

Half our dealers' purchases

will be thrown into the Showdown Auction,

where they're at the mercy of the bidding public.

This last roll of the dealers' dice

could give them the profit to prevail

or losses which will crush them.

So, this is it.

David Harper and Phil Serrell,

it's time to put your money where your mouth is.

-Philip Serrell.

-How are you?

-Very good. Very excited.

-I'm very nervous.

-Oh, stop it.

-No, well, you know, this is the culmination of our whole week.

-Yeah.

And this is where it's either up there or...

-But don't you love it for that?

-No.

-Because anything can happen today.

-It normally does.

-That's why it's so exciting.

-Come on, read the rules.

-All right. "Welcome to the mighty Showdown.

-"The rules are simple."

-They'll need to be.

"You must each buy two items

"at every one of your regular Put Your Money challenges."

And we know we've got £1,000 to spend.

"You can sell up to four items wherever you want.

"The rest..." This is the bit I don't like.

"..will be sold at the Showdown Auction..."

-I love the Showdown Auction.

-"..in direct competition

-"with your opponent."

-I love that.

-Really?

-It's my favourite bit.

"The winner is the expert who makes the most profit."

And then it says, "Good luck," but in my case, bad luck.

THEY LAUGH

Yes, we all know that fortune favours the bold,

and our dealing duo are raring to get going.

So, we head straight into round one, the auction.

Our pair gather for some gavel action

at Locke & England auction house in Leamington Spa.

There's a great turnout for today's auction

and 360 lots to sort through.

And it seems Phil isn't horsing around in this competition,

as he's already spotted a fine filly.

Frank Paton is a really good equine artist,

and there's two watercolours here.

There's a massive difference between the two.

This one is completely faded.

There's nothing you can do to put it right.

So, ignore that one, buy that one.

With an estimate of £100 to £150,

Phil is hoping to look this gift horse straight in the mouth.

HORSE WHINNIES

Close by, David is looking to propel himself to victory

with a lot he spotted that has an upper estimate of £150.

You know what? That is a very big propeller.

The last one I sold for a client in auction only a few weeks ago

with a bunch of other things

was about half the diameter and made £140.

You can do loads of things with these.

You could be really funky

and make it into a nice piece of modern structure.

It would look the business and a load of money.

While David's got his eye on some heavy metal,

Phil has found a brass box

which is slightly more refined and with an estimate of £70 to £100.

This is a really lovely brass tobacco box.

Good tip for you is when you're holding your item,

just run your fingers round it.

My fingers are just catching

on a little break just there.

And if you open it up, you can see where it's been filled.

So, Phil only has eyes for the most perfect of items today.

And as the auctioneer takes to the podium,

our pair of coiled springs are ready for some auction-room action.

First to get their hand up in the air is Phil,

as his 1903 horse portrait hits the saleroom.

Bid at £90. Any advance? 100. 110.

Whoops! Hope you didn't need that.

Yours at £130.

Well, that was a fast and furious race to the finish.

Phil secures the painting for £157.30 with fees.

With The Fox bagging his precious pony,

David has clocked the 18th-century tobacco tin

that Phil looked at earlier,

and without running a finger over it, decides to bid.

18th-century Dutch brass tobacco.

£40, thank you. 40, we've got.

40 bid. 50?

That's a lot of money for a broken box.

Caution, viewers. Smugness alert! ALARM BLARES

If you take it to the repairers, he should be able to fix that hole.

-I haven't seen it.

-HE CHUCKLES

Let's hope David doesn't regret that blind bid,

which cost him £60.50 with fees added.

But now he's got his hand on it, what does he think?

It's a big one. They're often much smaller than this.

The decoration is well and truly rubbed,

but that's just sign of wear. That's been used for generations.

Well, despite the repair, David's happy with his purchase.

Cue Phil.

What bothered me was just that little dent just there.

-Doesn't worry me.

-They're old, aren't they?

It was repaired when it was used. I love it.

Well, against Phil's best efforts,

David still thinks he's got himself a smoking purchase.

So, put that in your pipe, Serrell.

Our dealers are now level pegging on one item each.

And it's The Fox who's next to strike,

securing a vintage leather bag for £181.50.

These Gladstone bags are named after our great prime minister,

Mr Gladstone himself.

I can just imagine someone rocking up

at a cricket match in the 1930s.

But what a great, decorative lot.

It would look fantastic in the back of an old car.

Next up is the bronze ship's propeller

that David's been waiting for.

It has an estimate of £100 to £150.

50. 55. 60. 65.

That's a cheap ship's propeller.

-It's a ship and you'll be all right.

-HE LAUGHS

Yes, David sails away with his propeller for £78.66 all in.

So, our auction room avengers made it through round one

of today's Showdown challenge.

Let's see how much they've spent so far.

From a £1,000 budget, David has spent £139.16,

so has over £860 in his kitty.

Phil has spent a lot more - £338.80 -

meaning he has just over £661 for the next three rounds.

Round two of today's epic Showdown

is at the International Antiques & Collectors Fair in Newark.

And as this merchandise mission continues,

our pair will need to utilise every trick in the book

if they want to win this race of riches.

This, I've got to tell you, is my favourite venue of all.

You've got everything you want - people, goods, cash, bacon butties.

It's a dream come true.

Indeed. And for many of the traders, these fairs are a way of life.

Many come in their caravans and tents

and sleep in their vans overnight.

In fact, our duo are here so early,

some of the traders aren't even fully dressed yet.

-Are you not a bit cold?

-Erm...I'm told I'm weird.

-Really? Yeah?

-Yeah.

-What are they off, then?

-I don't have a clue, to be honest.

-Can you split it back into two tyres again?

-Yeah, no problem.

There's just some screws holding them together.

What's the best you can do them for?

To you, 25 quid. How does that sound?

That sounds like you've just got a deal, my friend.

See, I'd have tried to bring you down to 20 quid,

but I'm sort of kind of thinking

that you can now go and buy yourself a shirt.

Yeah, you're all heart, Phil.

Our slick Fox is first off at the fair with his tyre table,

and he's got some upcycling planned for these old slicks.

I've got some old, 1960s, period motorsport magazines.

Cut some adverts and some photographs up,

put them underneath, give it a really good, vintage feel

and I think there's a tidy profit in this.

Across the fair, David is making himself at home

with a vintage leather recliner.

-What do you know about it?

-It's '50s. Late '50s.

-It's very tall, isn't it?

-Yeah. The other person sat on a stool...

-So, you've got to have a slave?

-That's right, yeah.

-I see.

-That'd be right up your street?

-Absolutely.

-Don't we all have servants?

-Erm, no, Devilish.

Hello!

-The frame will clean up nice.

-Why haven't you cleaned it?

I could clean it and then you can come back later and I'll ask...

-Would it be cheaper?

-No, it'd be more expensive.

Actually, talking of price, I might be wasting my time here.

I'm looking for about 140, 150 for it.

-I was thinking sub 100.

-120.

Shall we do what we always do best in this business?

-Meet halfway?

-Thank you very much.

-OK.

So, he secures this reclining rarity for £110,

successfully negotiating a £40 discount.

It's a treatment chair of some sort, but it's got loads of potential.

It could be a chair for an office, for relaxing.

It could be a posh hairdresser's or a salon.

It could be an artist's chair.

And at 110, I think it's a stonking buy.

With David snaring his first item,

Phil is on the hunt for his second purchase

and comes across a vaulting horse, although it appears rather lame.

It's a pity the stitching is just coming away.

-How much is it?

-120.

-Would £80 buy it?

-Bit more than that, really.

-81? 82?

-HE LAUGHS

-83?

-Nice try, Phil.

-Would 85 quid buy it?

-Go on, then.

Phil knocks 35 quid off the vaulting horse,

but it's not just the prices that have been tumbling.

You're going to find this hard to believe,

but a long, long time ago, I used to be a PE teacher,

so I spent my formative years jumping over these things.

I think you've got a really funky, low coffee table or a stool,

and for me, this is the ultimate bit of upcycling.

The real test is if I can upcycle 85 quid into about 150.

So, it's knees up and tuck in

as Phil somersaults over his final purchase

and calls it for round two.

Meanwhile, David has also managed to track down his second purchase -

a Victorian table that set him back £30.

It's called a Pembroke table because of its design.

That very long drawer here with a blank drawer at the back

and two folding leaves.

Where am I going to go with it? Nobody's buying them any more,

so I think you've got to think of it as a useful thing.

It can be a piece of...

It can be a worktable, it can be an artist's table,

it could be a homework table - it could be anything. Who cares?

I need to make a profit.

And with that, we're halfway through our Showdown buying bonanza,

so let's see how our dealing duo are doing.

From a £1,000 budget, David has spent £279.16 so far

and has over £720 in his kitty.

Phil has spent considerably more - £448.80 -

meaning he has just over £551 for the next two rounds.

So, it's round three, the car boot sale,

and the amphitheatre for our bric-a-brac spectacular

is Twin Oaks in Chesterfield where our foragers of finery

must uncover the best this boot has on offer.

But before they get down to the rummaging,

let's see how they're bearing up at the midway point.

-Do you love car boots?

-No.

I mean, we've just come from an antiques fair.

Much easier environment for buying.

-What are your tactics for this?

-Oh, absolutely none at all.

-I meander, really.

-Yeah.

-I think we need all the luck we can get here.

-Yeah.

Catch up later.

So, Phil plans to take it easy today while David says he has no plan.

But there is something playing on his mind.

Now, this is, for me,

one of the most difficult environments for spending money

because you can buy hundreds of thousands of things,

but you can't spend very much cash,

and I've got quite a lump of cash to spend,

so wish me luck.

So, David wants to spend big.

Phil, on the other hand, has his own idea.

My wallet might be bulging,

but I can't see me spending too much money at a car boot sale,

so what I've really got to do

is focus my mind and try and find a bargain.

And true to his word, Phil motors on,

trying to track down the best bargains of the boot

and soon discovers a vintage fuel can.

But it seems he's in no mood for negotiating today.

I think that's, like, 15 quid's worth.

No, it's original. It was made in '39.

I know, but I still think it's 15 quid's worth.

You can have £20 for it. That's my best offer.

-Well, he's been told.

-25.

Again, Phil's not up for bartering,

so decides to take on Lady Luck instead.

-I'll toss you for it. You win - 25 quid.

-Yeah.

I win - 20 quid.

-DRUMROLL

-You call.

-Heads.

Oh!

Ah. The dealer's coin toss can be a cruel mistress,

so The Fox surrenders £25 for his canister.

I really like this cos a lot of these,

by dint of the fact that they're nearly 70 years old,

have rusted through.

So many of them have been repainted

and I love the fact that this is just the way it was.

Off with a bang and taking an early lead,

Phil continues to motor round this car boot

and darts straight over to a potential purchase.

-How much is that, then, please?

-£8.

-£8?

I'd like to bid you for it.

-I've got a feeling I know where we're going to end up.

-Go on, then.

Oh, Phil thinks he's some sort of Derren Brown.

This should be fun.

-I'll give you £2 for it.

-No.

-£3 for it.

-No, go a bit more.

-£4 for it.

-Fiver and it's yours.

ALARM BLARES Caution, viewers. Smugness alert!

Told you.

Anyway, his mind control technique appears to have worked,

and £5 later, he's secured his second buy,

but he also wants a freebie.

-Do I get the dog as well?

-Oh, you've not got enough money to buy that.

Whilst this has got no pretence to being old,

I've got a few mates who play darts

and I'm hoping that this ends up with me

having a bull's-eye or double tops.

So, Phil has won his two items

and stuck to his plan of trying to get the best bargains,

which means he can dart off.

David, however, wants to spend big,

and it appears he's hoping that the finest dressed man

at today's car boot will have the finest merchandise.

-That is a cracking hat.

-Thank you.

-Now, these are not real weapons. They are toys.

-Peashooters, yeah.

-Quite rare things, these days. What do you reckon date-wise?

-'30s.

-What sort of money are they?

-70 for the pair.

-70?

Would you risk being shot by two peas?

-HE LAUGHS

-OK, 40.

50. Meet in the middle.

Good man.

And at £45, David certainly feels he's got bang for his buck.

The toy market is absolutely booming.

You've got online bidding

with people all over the world going crazy for toys.

I think these things are destined for auction.

David then locates his second buy -

a ladies 1920s wristwatch which sets him back just £25.

Dating certainly to the early 1920s with the lovely red 12.

People often confuse it with the Rolex.

Rolex did use the red 12 prior to marking the face with Rolex,

but it wasn't peculiar to Rolex.

Almost all watchmakers at that time were using the red 12.

And that will look delicious on a lovely lady's wrist.

With our car boot curtailed,

let's see how much they spent after round three.

From a £1,000 budget, David has struggled to spend at the car boot,

which means his total so far is just £349.16,

leaving him with a whopping £650 to play with.

Phil, however, has spent much more - £478.80 -

leaving him with just over £521 in his kitty.

So, it's the final round,

the foreign market, and our dealers convert

their remaining pounds to euros and head to Maastricht, in Holland,

where 50 stalls of wondrous wares await their eager eyes.

David is keen to stand out from the crowd today,

and not just in his choice of trousers.

Any sort of strategy has to involve

buying something that looks really different.

Very, very continental and stylish.

Yes, trust Devilish to push the boundaries and go for the unusual.

But when looking for the unique,

it's often a good idea to know what it is.

That's a very unusual piece of structure, isn't it?

-What does it do?

-It's a bowl - a fruit bowl.

I see. I've never quite seen that shape before.

-How much is it?

-85.

-Would 50 euros buy it?

-65.

-60 euros.

-Go ahead.

-Good man.

So, David secures a unique fruit bowl

for a repetitious £44.44 when converted.

So, is he happy with his first purchase?

It's very heavy and it's very the market right now,

this 20th-century design.

And rightly so. That is super-duper.

Uber cool, baby.

Yes, he definitely likes it.

Meanwhile, Phil is also looking for something different,

and has ventured upon some metal tribal figurines

being sold by a Dutch couple.

-Where are those from?

-The Congo.

-And how much are they, please?

-30 euros.

What's the best you can do them for?

-29.

-THEY LAUGH

Yes, Phil's probably looking for a bigger discount than a euro.

-Nevertheless...

-Right, I'm going to buy those off you.

I have absolutely no idea what they are. More importantly,

I've got absolutely no idea what they're worth.

So, Phil turns down the one-euro discount

and pays 30 euros or £22.22

for the figures he hasn't got a clue about.

The question is, why did he buy them?

These days, African tribal art is very, very collectable.

This is Congolese.

I suspect it's very much 20th-century,

but I think these little chaps have got a really good look,

and I feel that these will find their own level in an auction,

and I'm hoping that they're going to find a little profit for me.

So, Phil bravely believes his figures will do well at auction.

He's certainly no chicken.

In fact, today, he seems to be cock of the walk,

picking up a stone cockerel statue for 70 euros or £51.85.

This is a really lovely stylised garden cockerel.

I think it's a very, very cool thing.

The key for this is finding out who made it.

If I can decipher these initials down here,

there could be a very tidy profit in it.

# Lay a little egg for me... #

And with that, Phil's finished his buying

and has something to crow about.

You know what they say - it's not over till the fat lady sings.

# La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. #

Yes, well, obviously, David didn't hear you

as he's still burning brightly and on the hunt for his second purchase.

# Feeling hot, hot, hot... #

I love the idea of a stove,

particularly for an artist or a sculptor or something,

and they can warm their studio. How much is that one?

-275.

-Oh, 275.

-Yes.

-OK, right.

-Anything a bit cheaper? I mean, what about this little one?

-130.

Can it be used as it is, without the...?

No, you need a pipe and a chimney.

-Oh, I see. It has to go up the chimney.

-Of course.

I don't know, you see. This is all new to me.

-This is not a barbecue.

-Yeah, and that told you, David.

-It couldn't be 100 euros?

-No.

-How about 110?

-115.

115, we have a deal.

And the wood burner is his for £85.19.

You know, it makes you wonder why we don't make radiators

and normal, everyday objects as beautiful as they could be.

They did in the late 19th and early 20th century

and it's very grand and very, very stylish.

It's got loads of weight and it's going to kill me carrying it.

I hope it's going to be worth it.

And with that, our epic battle of buying is over.

There's been a whirlwind of haggling and a downpour of dealing

and our pair have secured their eight items

ready for the final battle.

But before they head back to Blighty,

let's see what they spent across the four locations.

From a £1,000 budget, David struggled to spend early on,

but a final splurge in Maastricht

saw him spend £478.79 on his eight items.

Phil, however, held back towards the end

and spent a little more - £552.87.

I've enjoyed buying for this, have you?

It's been, I tell you what, brilliant.

Out of everything we've bought, which are your two favourite bits?

-One I bought today, and it was a bronze bowl.

-Yeah.

I've no idea who made it, but it's late-20th-century,

so it's got that look. I really, really love it.

My other favourite is a little silver ladies' wristwatch.

-What about you?

-I bought two racing car tyres.

I'm looking forward to turning those into sort of like a funky table.

But for me, I bought a dartboard and I've got a mate who plays darts,

so I'm looking forward to a good game of darts.

-You know, nearest the board.

-HE LAUGHS

-And a pint or two?

-Good luck, my friend.

-See you at the auction.

-See YOU at the auction.

Well, dealers, there's an uphill selling struggle ahead

before that Showdown Auction.

First, they have to target the perfect private buyers

for half their items.

The other half will enter the terrifying Showdown Auction

where our pair will relinquish all control

and place their destiny in the hands of the bidding public.

So, choosing those auction items is of utmost importance,

and up in Barnard Castle, David's had his thinking cap on.

My four auction objects. I think I've chosen them wisely.

My first three lots are all very small

and would look great in catalogues.

So, we've got the tobacco box,

we've got the little peashooters here, which are great fun,

and then that lovely 1920s wristwatch.

The fourth item for auction is the stove.

I think it's ideal for the home sector.

So, David needs to line up private buyers

for his vintage therapy chair, early-19th-century Pembroke table,

his late-20th-century fruit bowl

and his three-blade bronze propeller.

Over at his Worcestershire lair,

Phil has formulated his auction action plan.

Whenever I've gone to auction before,

I've burnt my fingers,

so I'm going to put the cheapest lots I bought into the saleroom

with one exception - the dartboard.

So, my auction lots are going to be my garden cockerel,

my petrol can, my tyre tables and my little Congolese figures.

And the next time you see my tables,

I'm hoping I will have improved those.

So, Phil needs to find buyers for his 1903 watercolour,

his gymnastics vaulting horse, his modern dartboard

and 1930s leather Gladstone bag.

Our buying behemoths must now become interstellar sellers.

And remember, until they've shaken on it

and the money's changed hands, no deal is ever sealed.

Keen to rev his profit potential to pole position,

Phil has split his tyre table into two

and is decorating them with a technique called decoupage,

cutting sections out of his beloved car magazines

and gluing them onto the tabletops.

All I've got to hope is that wherever the auction is,

it's full of people who like cars, too.

Cos if they don't, I'm in trouble.

That doesn't look too bad, does it?

It doesn't, although you could have put a bit of glass

on the second one, Foxy. Hmm.

With his focus on dealing rather than decorating,

it's Devilish David Harper who's out first,

hellbent on getting sale number one under his belt.

He's cunningly pinpointed

Barnard Castle furniture restorer Luke

as a possible buyer for the Pembroke table

that he bought for £30.

But will he make his opening Showdown profit here?

-Luke, how are you?

-How's it going?

-So, lovely Pembroke table.

-Yeah.

So, we know that they were designed in about 1750,

but what's your opinion on the date of this one?

Well, I mean, it's got a very Georgian look about it,

but a typically Victorian stalk.

And the handles are wooden,

which almost certainly says we're going beyond the 1830s.

-So, early 19th century.

-Yeah.

-Somewhere around there.

So, what would you do with this thing, then?

-Well, maybe not as saleable as what it was ten years ago...

-No.

..but still very saleable cos it's a usable table.

-Functionality rules in antiques now.

-Yeah.

We can get it cleaned, see what it looks like,

then possibly add a tint of colour.

It's nice and sun-bleached and I wouldn't want to lose that.

If I start to strip this off, the mahogany would go bright red,

as it was when it was first made, and no-one wants to see that.

I think it's oozing character.

-It's been a well-used and well-loved table.

-Yeah.

I need to make a margin,

but I think I'm going to still make it really cheap.

-£90.

-That is cheap.

-I don't need to haggle on that.

-Thank you, Luke. I'm delighted.

It's a phenomenal opening for David

as he leaves his table in the caring hands of Luke,

triples his money and pockets a profit of £60.

And in a bid to propel himself even further into the lead,

the Devilish one sells his bronze propeller

-to local antiques dealer Glenn.

-140.

-Let's have a deal. Put it down.

-Yeah, OK. Yeah, thank you.

Cutting himself a speedy £61.34 profit,

it's a blinding start from David.

But look out. Phil is limbering up in Oxfordshire.

He's heading deep into the beautiful Cotswolds

and he's hoping to score a perfect ten

with his vaulting horse.

I'm in Burford to see Manfred Schotten.

Now, as far as I'm concerned, he is THE man to see

if you're buying and selling sporting accessories.

I've already had my vaulting horse delivered to Manfred,

so he's had plenty of time

to see whether my horse is a race winner or an also-ran.

Remember, Phil paid £85 at the antiques fair,

-but can he land a profit?

-Philip.

-Good to see you.

-Good to see you again.

-Yeah, absolutely.

-Here's the little beast.

-Yeah.

-Interesting things, aren't they?

-They are interesting.

-Nowadays, they don't have a lot of youth.

-No.

Quite a nice label on there. Spencer, Heath & George Limited.

I'm not sure how well known they are,

-but it's just nice having that.

-And how old do you think it is?

-It looks to me like it's just sort of prewar, really.

-Yeah.

-It could be '30s.

-Yeah.

I don't think this is going to end up in a great collection.

It's not hide. It's suede, so you can't polish it.

-Is it of interest to you?

-It's a question of price.

Well, Manfred, I was hoping I might get close to 150 quid for it.

Well...

That's where we get that customary silence in this business.

I tell you what, I know you're a fair man.

You bid me your best price and I'll take it.

-I'll go to 110.

-You're a gentleman.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Thank you.

That's a starting profit of £25 for Phil.

And galloping on from his hobble horse

to his watercolour horse,

he sells the 1903 painting to Worcestershire art dealer Colin...

-240.

-Go on, then.

..trotting out a profit of just under £83.

With both our dealers neck and neck on two sales each,

David has decided a bit of spit and polish is required

to pull ahead.

He's lined up possible buyers for his therapist's chair,

but as it was made in the 1950s,

it doesn't meet current fire safety standards,

so can't sell it on the domestic market.

Instead, he's found furniture dealers Tim and Sophie Harper,

who are experts in reupholstering retro furniture.

But will they love the chair enough to put in the work

and give David a profit on his £110 investment?

-Tim, lovely to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-And you must be Sophie.

-Hi.

So, it's an unusual chair in this environment,

but I'm cleaning it and tidying it up.

What do you think?

I don't think I've ever seen a chair like this before.

I don't think I have, to be honest. Very nice indeed.

So, it's some sort of a posh therapy chair.

It's incredibly comfortable.

It must be a therapy chair or something.

If you had this chair,

you'd have to, by law, restore it, wouldn't you?

We have to replace everything

to adhere to the current fire regulations.

We need to replace all the fabric and also the inner...

-Interiors.

-Yeah, the foams and...

But you're adding value anyway, aren't you?

In a new leather or a leatherette, it would look the business.

I love it, personally.

I think it's a really unusual and interesting piece.

For me, as a turnover, I need 220.

I think, for us, realistically,

we'd be looking at around the 120 mark.

-Would you go 180?

-160.

-I'd be happy at 170 if you're happy.

-Yeah, go on, then.

-Brilliant. And you haven't even had therapy.

That's £60 in the bag,

but Devilish Dr David hasn't finished with his patients yet.

Now, which one out of you two needs the most therapy?

Probably me. I didn't get a bike when I was five.

-Get in the therapy chair. Seriously.

-Oh, crikey!

Now, Tim, I want you just to relax and think back to the age of five.

And in the interests of maintaining doctor-patient confidentiality,

we'd better leave it there.

With one private sale item to go

and keen to capitalise on the fruits of his labour,

he moves swiftly onto housing his retro fruit bowl

with local interiors shop owner Alison...

-What about 80?

-I'll meet you halfway at 90.

I think that's fair.

..adding another £45.56 to his profit pocket.

That is it. That is all my sales done.

Good margins. That was a double bubble.

That's what we call it in the trade when you double your money,

or thereabouts. Now I'm excited for the auction. Wahey!

Yes, David may have beaten Phil to the end of the private sales race,

but it doesn't mean he's the winner in this game of profit.

With the clock ticking, Phil sells his dartboard

to friend and pro darts player Terry The Bull Jenkins,

doubling his money and spearing a fiver profit.

So, he has just one thing left to sell privately

before the terrifying Showdown Auction.

He's packed all his hopes into his 1930s Gladstone bag

and brought it to show Worcestershire antiques dealer Ian.

It's very on trend now. Serious, serious bag.

It's the biggest Gladstone I've seen.

I was going to hope that I might get around 300 quid for it.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-What does it owe you?

-It owes me the thick end of 190.

How about if we said 230?

235, you've bought a bag.

-Top man.

-Thank you very much indeed.

That's a tidy final profit of £53.50, and Phil is all sold up.

With all their private sales accounted for,

the mighty Showdown Auction is almost upon us,

so let's check the figures so far.

Both our experts have now sold four items.

David is leading at this stage.

His private sales have earned a profit of just under £227.

Phil is also doing well with a profit so far of £166.20.

And now there's nowhere to run, there's nowhere to hide.

Our dealers need to muster all their courage

and face the petrifying Showdown Auction.

HE LAUGHS EVILLY

This is a twisted place

where our dealers are no longer in charge of their sales.

Their future is in the hands of the team and bidders

at Keys Auctioneers in Norfolk.

So, are our brave little soldiers ready for this?

Oh, Phil, we do meet in the most romantic of locations.

-It's raining, that's for sure.

-Can't see a thing.

OK, what you need is a hat like that, you see.

-That's made the world of difference.

-There you go.

-It's fantastic.

-I'm a bit nervous about today.

-It's out of our hands now.

We've all sold up, done our bit. Now it's the auctioneer's bit.

-How do you think you'll go?

-Terrible.

I'm normally incredibly confident,

but today, I'm feeling very unconfident.

You know what they say, don't you?

-If you want to get ahead, get a hat.

-Oh.

Well, can I have my hat back, then?

So, both our experts claim to have the Showdown jitters,

but are they faking it to throw the other off the scent?

Only time will tell.

Before the auction starts, there is one last chance

to look over each other's lots.

Well, look at this.

Philip Serrell has gone all creative.

He's taken his coffee table, made them into two coffee tables.

But I think, by splitting them, he's killing them. They're so low.

Who on Earth is going to sit here?

The smallest people on the planet? No!

I really love these. They're a real boys' toy.

Now, someone has described them as a peashooter.

I can tell you that David is hoping that P stands for pounds

and I'm hoping it stands for pence.

Well, here I am manhandling two of Phil's

Congolese metal figures made for the tourist market.

But they're fun things and it might be a clever buy, this,

cos these are the kind of objects that,

in a little saleroom like this, people might just take a punt.

Out of all the lots that David and I bought,

I think this is the best in terms of pure antique.

There are, however, two issues.

Brassware is very, very much out of fashion and vogue at the moment.

And secondly, if you look inside just here,

there are some old repairs there,

so you've got condition and out of favour.

I think it might just cost David today.

You've got to look very closely at that model of a cockerel

to understand what it is,

but its shape, I've got to say, is absolutely fantastic.

I love that 20th-century modern design,

which is so on trend, it is unbelievable.

So, I've got to tell you, I'm quite jealous of that thing.

-HE CHUCKLES

-I tell you what,

I absolutely love this.

I think these cast-iron French stoves are lovely.

The real problem with this one is it's got some damage down here,

so I hope that crack just doesn't pour cold water on David's fire.

Or is that exactly what he hopes?

Well, there's no turning back now because we're off.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

And the first item under the hammer is indeed that very stove.

-Well, how do you reckon you're going to get on?

-Very badly.

I paid £85 for that stove because, aesthetically,

it's incredibly pleasing, but I think it's in the wrong place.

Hmm, David fears this may not be the right auction

to get a profit on his stove, but will the bidders warm to it?

Here we go, here we go, here we go.

12, I'm bid here for that, then. At 12. 12. 12. 15. 18.

At 18. 20. Two. 22. 22. 25.

Is David about to be proved wrong?

-45.

-Come on!

Five. 70. 85. 90.

-95. I've got 100. £10.

-Go on!

-110.

-Yes!

-110.

I'm absolutely astonished.

A positive start for David.

It may only amount to a small profit of £2.61 after fees,

but at least it's not the loss he predicted.

David, I have to tell you that I am so, so pleased for you.

Cos you're my mate, Phil, you're pleased for me.

That's what I love about you. You're such a genuine guy.

-I feel like kissing you.

-HE LAUGHS

Yeah, steady on there, fellas. There are a few more lots to go

before there'll be time for smooching.

Anyway, Phil's upcycled tyre tables that cost him £25

are next under the hammer.

I like them, I must say,

but I preferred them as one coffee table.

-I don't mind what they do with them.

-You've given options.

As long as they give me the money. Let's not be mercenary about this.

-No, let's.

-Yeah, absolutely right.

I'm ever hopeful that they'll do really well.

Hmm, but will they put Phil on the track to victory? Time to find out.

-Five, I'm bid there.

-£5.

-Five quid.

-Going well at the minute.

Five. Five. Five. Five. Six anywhere? No? At five.

-GAVEL BANGS

-At five quid?

Those were my big hope,

and I've just careered off the first bend with those.

Yes, that's a catastrophic £23.30 loss after fees for Phil.

And to add insult to injury, his vintage petrol can

fails to engulf the room in flames of profit...

We're losing money again, but not quite that much.

..making The Fox a miserable £11 loss.

Will his garden cockerel statue fare any better?

I've lost money on my first two lots

and this was the one that was really worrying me.

I'll wish you luck with this

because I think it was a really well chosen thing and I really like it.

Going to start down here at £15 for that here. At 15.

It cost just over £51, so Phil needs those bidding hands in the air.

-30.

-30.

-30.

-30. 30. 32. 32. 35. 38.

-GAVEL BANGS

-Ouch!

-I think my chickens have just come home to roost.

I think they've fallen off the cliff.

That's Phil's third loss in a row

and takes £23.09 from his profit pot.

Oh, Phil, that is absolutely devastating.

-Absolutely amazing.

-Excuse me just one moment.

With all thoughts of kissing well and truly forgotten,

it's David's turn back in the spotlight

with the 1930s toy peashooters that owe him £45.

Start me on those. £20 for them. Tenner.

Ten. 12. 15. 18. 20.

-Come on!

-At 20.

-I'm joining your club, aren't I?

-Yeah.

-The loser club.

-Yeah.

Oh, dear.

David took aim but failed to hit the profit target,

ricocheting him into a £31 loss.

And it seems his losing streak has only just begun

as his early-1920s watch...

-15.

-Oh!

..makes an untimely loss of £15.10 after fees.

David has just one item with which to redeem himself -

the 18th-century tobacco tin.

-Here we go, here we go, here we go.

-Last one, Phil. Wish me luck.

It cost him just over £60

and David really needs it to smoke out a profit.

-£10 for it. Ten, I'm bid. Thank you. At ten.

-Phil.

-Lady's bid, then, at 15.

-No!

-GAVEL BANGS

-£15.

-That's upset me, that has.

-Aw, thanks.

Sorry, no, was that you being...? Are you crying or laughing?

-Are you crying?

-I'm just brokenhearted.

Aw, thanks, mate. He's so nice.

And with neither expert knowing whether to laugh or cry,

David chalks up another heartbreaking loss,

and this time, it's a big one - £50.60.

Phil's last chance of making an auction profit

lies with the little metal Congolese figures

that he bought for just over £22, and the bidding is about to start.

Ten for them anywhere? And I'm bid, thank you, at ten.

15. 15. 18. At 18. 20.

At 22. 22. 25. At 25.

Well, any hopes Phil had of making a profit here today

are well and truly squashed.

After fees, that's a loss of £4.12

and The Fox is feeling deflated.

As auctions go, I've had better days.

Should we say it's been disastrous?

-Now you come to mention it, yeah.

-Yeah.

It seems our eminent experts met their match today

in the shape of the merciless Showdown Auction.

Just run away as fast as we can.

Well, they can run, but they can't hide

because we'll be revealing the results in just a moment.

But first, let's remind ourselves of what they spent originally.

Both our experts started out with £1,000 of their own money.

David spent under half his budget - £478.79 -

while Phil spent more - £552.87.

All of the money that David and Phil have made

from today's challenge will go to charities of their choice,

so let's find out who is today's

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is Showdown champion.

-PHIL LAUGHS

-Oh, what are you laughing at, you?

-Well, do you know what?

-Oh, you're confident.

No, I'm not. I'm still reeling from that auction.

Oh, my gosh. Was that a wash-out or what?

It was just like intercontinental thermonuclear meltdown

-for me, that.

-I can't believe it.

The worst-performing 18th-century tobacco box

I've ever seen belonged to me.

What was your favourite bit otherwise?

It was lovely to go and buy a real antique -

that lovely, early-19th-century Pembroke table - in rough condition,

but it was a cracking thing,

and I took it to a wonderful restorer

and he was all over it, inspecting it top to bottom,

and I three timesed my money.

-Really?

-Yeah. I know!

-Anyway, look...

-Are you confident? I think...

-I think you've got this.

-Do you reckon?

-I do.

-Three.

-Two.

-Two, two...

-BOTH:

-One.

-Go!

-Oh, you've beat me!

-Yes!

-Oh, my gosh.

-Goodness me.

Yes, David triumphs, but it doesn't end there.

Both our experts have been building up their profit pots

over a week of challenges, so who is the overall winner?

This is going to be really, really close. Shall we?

Oh, my goodness. What is that?

-£63 or something?

-That is close, isn't it?

I'll tell you what, it's been a fantastic week.

-I've enjoyed it. I've enjoyed your company.

-I loved it to bits.

-Loved it to bits.

-Lovely.

-I tell you, I can't believe it was that close.

-Amazing.

It was a close one, but Phil Serrell is triumphant.

Between them, they've made over £2,148

and every penny of that will go to good causes.

My charity is the Friends of Darlington Memorial Hospital

who help and support patients and the hospital itself.

My charity is ABC - Anorexia & Bulimia Care -

which offers support for people with eating disorders.

It's been a week of no-holds-barred combat.

Our excellent experts have really

put their money where their mouths are

and shown they can make a profit from buying and selling antiques

when their own money is on the line.