Paul Hayes v John Cameron - Car Boot 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.

I think I see a bargain!

Each day, one pair of duelling dealers

will face a mighty challenge...

Oh, yeah.

..putting their reputations

on the line.

Ready for battle.

They'll give you the insider's view of the trade...

I'm a big boy.

-I'm a player.

-..along with their top tips

and savvy secrets...

It's not all about what you spend, it's about what you make.

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

It really is war.

..from buying and selling.

You've got to be in there like a whippet.

Coming up...

Paul's negotiation attempts are derailed.

I'd be well chuffed.

-Yeah, I know you would.

-Yeah, full steam ahead. No?

-You're on the right track.

-35, that's it.

John gives a lesson in changing interior trends...

20 years ago, I wouldn't even have looked twice at this.

I'd have left it in the house when we were clearing it,

but now these are all the rage, this whole industrial thing.

..and Paul attends a postmortem for one of his beloved buys.

The violin has suffered a fairly catastrophic blow to the back

of the head which has wrenched the neck out of the block.

This is Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.

AS DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: Welcome, antiques enthusiasts,

to a war of the watering hole,

as two sleek and sinuous specimens of the natural world

square up to each other

in a battle to prove who is king of the bargain-hunting beasts.

And today's alpha males are poised to pounce.

First up, with his lion's mane of blonde hair,

he's been sniffing out and stalking down a deal

since the age of six.

He's the big cat when it comes to collectables.

It's...

Well, I'm not one to blow my own trumpet,

but I really feel I'm in my element here.

His competition is a lean and speedy hyena

who hopes to beat him to it in the hunt for priceless prey.

A ruthless scavenger, it's auctioneer...

MONKEY WHOOPS

Paul, I think I see some trouble BREWING for you.

Their natural habitat, the sunny plains of Essex,

and Marks Tey car-boot sale

where they will have £250 of their own money

to spend on the tastiest objects.

They'll then have to sell the lot,

with all the profits going to their chosen charities.

So let's see how our beasts size each other up.

-Ah, good morning, John.

-Good morning, Mr Hayes.

-How are you, all right?

-I'm very well.

Early morning, the sun is out, and you can smell that fresh-cut grass.

-Do you know what I can smell?

-Go on.

Bargains, and lots of them, hopefully.

-Have you got any tactics for today?

-I think buy quality.

What I've made a mistake for in the past

is buying things that are damaged or poor-quality items.

So I'm going to try and hedge my bets and buy nice things

that don't need any work, basically. What about you?

Well, for me, I've got a tendency to buy things

I can't then get in my car,

so I'm going to try and keep it small, if you see what I mean.

If I can't pocket it, don't buy it.

Sounds a good one to me. I tell you what there is here - a cup of tea.

-Do you want one?

-Why not? A good way to start.

-Do you take sugar?

-No, I'm sweet enough.

There's no time for a cosy cuppa, Paul,

when you're fighting to be top of the food chain.

John may have revealed his plan to be the first to the booty,

but has he pulled a fast one on Paul already?

I said to Paul my strategy was not to buy big things,

but that's a little bit of a white lie

because you don't always have a choice,

and time isn't always on your side at a car-boot,

because if you're too hesitant, you browse,

you think, "I might come back to that in a minute and have a look,"

it's usually gone, so get those bargains bought.

So, "He who hesitates is lost," says wily John

who is going for the impulse buy,

while gentleman Paul is aiming for a more measured approach.

Now, it's really easy to get carried away

and buy any old tat cos it's all here.

So I'm trying to set myself a strategy today,

which is to buy quality and to buy things

that don't need any work, and to beat that John Cameron.

Let's hope his simple strategy plays out

because John is already on the scent of his first bit of car-boot booty -

a vintage lorry.

Got a few interesting toys here.

Are you particularly interested in the toys? Do you collect?

-Yeah, I do collect.

-You do. What's the price on this?

£30.

£30 for it? And do you know if it's all there?

-Yeah.

-Definitely all there, yeah?

Shake my hand, sir. Thank you very much. £30.

MUSIC: Highway To Hell By AC/DC.

We were too poor.

I never had anything quite like this, only the little ones.

So maybe I'm taking a bit of a trip down Memory Lane here.

Ah, he may be a bit misty-eyed over this childhood toy,

but John still knows a good deal when he sees one.

Matchbox is a typical British company, early post-war, 1950s.

This would have been a real, real quality toy at the time.

You can see exactly what this does.

It's a big, long lorry here with a folding bridge.

It's something that the engineers would have used during wartime

to bridge the rivers there.

Great thing about this is it's in absolute mint condition,

and that the box doubles up as part of the actual toy.

While John motors into an early lead with today's first purchase,

Paul's hunted down a very different kind of bridge.

Now, then, a little interesting item here. It's an old violin.

-How much is that one, mate, sorry? Oh, yeah, 45.

-45, mate.

I've got to ask, is that the best price or can you do any better?

40 quid. You can't do £30? Just for cash, no?

It's got a bow with it, a case.

It's got a bow with it and everything?

-You can't do 35 quid and I'll take it with me?

-Go on, then.

Thank you very much. I'll have that.

-What's that? Is that 30 quid? Is that right?

-35.

Did we say 35? Oh, sorry.

HE LAUGHS

Yes, you weren't trying to fiddle him there, were you, Paul?

All right, all the best now. It's a do-it-yourself busking kit.

Thank you. Cheers now.

Well, that's one way to top up your profits, Mr Morecambe,

but is there more to this instrument than meets the eye?

I was laughing to myself, actually,

because the stallholder was saying, "I wish it was a Stradivarius."

Believe it or not, while I was on the stall there,

if you have a really quick look inside here,

it does actually say Antonio Stradivarius,

the greatest violin maker ever.

But of course, round about the year 1900,

they started to make versions of them, or copies of them in Germany.

This is 100 years old.

If it was a genuine Stradivarius,

we are retiring and living in the Maldives for the rest of our lives.

But do you know what? I play by ear. It's starting to hurt now.

HE LAUGHS

I thought it was funny.

Yes, well, Paul is happy with his mysterious instrument...

Let's see if John is sticking to his strategy of spot it and buy it.

-How much is that, out of interest?

-£20.

-£20

Hm. OK.

I'll bear that in mind. Thank you.

So John goes against his own strategy by being hesitant,

while Paul, back at the violin store,

and throwing caution to the wind,

uncovers a couple of tasty Chinese antiques and pounces.

I've spotted some other bits and pieces here. A little red box.

-It's quite pretty, isn't it? So how much is that?

-£12, mate, for that.

That's £12. And what's this other one here?

I'll do that for a tenner.

I'll do that for 12.

So 22 quid.

£22, well, I don't think I can argue with that, I don't think.

I'm not going to argue with you. I know it's hard.

It's an early morning, isn't it? 22 quid? Right, I'll have those two.

I'll give you some money. Thank you very much.

£22 for the little Oriental cup and box and Mr Morecambe is Mr Happy.

These are textbook items. This one is Chinese export market porcelain.

It dates from the 18th century.

This is some time in the 1700s.

And it's been hand-painted in underglaze blue

in a form of the Willow pattern.

The Willow pattern was actually an English invention,

but the Chinese copied it, believe it or not.

So this one, what a fantastic thing. It's a bargain, really.

You wouldn't get much tea in it, would you, I don't think?

The carved box is early 20th century. This is cinnabar lacquer.

When it's applied in real humidity, all the peels and layers,

they come with this wonderful sort of embossed design.

This one's on brass.

Beautifully done, very highly prized in China and very saleable here.

That's a great buy. These are absolute bargains.

They're worth twice as much as what I paid for them.

I'm very happy.

And so off he goes with a spring in his step.

But watch out, Paul, you're being stalked.

Oh, look, I can see Mr Morecambe, Paul Hayes there,

mooching amongst the stallholders there.

No doubt looking for the tea store here.

Well, I can't believe Paul Hayes hasn't seen this.

I mean, this guy drinks more tea

than the annual Women's Institute meeting. Look at that.

Nice modern thing, but I think this is right up his street.

It's no good finding items for your own rival to buy.

Anyway, he's not struggling.

While John's bought only once,

Paul is eyeing up a potential fourth purchase.

Now, one thing that's really collectable

tends to be naval memorabilia,

and what we've got here is what looks like a ship's bell.

It's got the date 1839 on the front.

But it's got some sort of inscription on the back,

and I can't quite read it.

These days, I've got to wear glasses, I'm afraid.

Let's just have a look. Excuse me, sir. I'm really sorry to bother you.

Do you know anything about this bell?

You've got something that says D Row or something on the bottom, or is that...

-I don't know.

-You don't know anything about it at all?

-You don't know what this is?

-No.

-And how much have you got on it?

-£40.

-£40. It's too much. Can I make you a little cheeky offer?

-Yeah.

Could it be £20?

-Yeah, go on.

-Smashing, right, there we are, I'll have that one.

Thank you very much, sir. All right, thank you.

And just like that, pack-leader Paul slashes the asking price in half.

OK, so I was drawn to this because it looks like it could be

off a ship, a ship's bell.

It's got the date 1839, and it has some sort of crest

which does look a little bit like Liverpool.

And I'm hoping that it's going to be off a Liverpool boat.

That would be fantastic.

Good naval items are really, really collectable.

So I'm hoping this one will ring the bell when I come to sell it.

Aye, aye, Captain.

That purchase leaves John trailing four buys to one

and he's the one who said he was going to spend quickly.

But he has had his interest piqued by a set of crates.

These are quite interesting. I've never seen them before.

They're ammunition boxes. Wooden crates.

I'm kind of thinking of the whole upcycling thing.

How much are they?

15 each.

And what they're doing, they're actually putting little legs on

-and they're turning them into bedside tables, coffee tables...

-OK.

Yes, The Hammer can smell a potential deal.

Time to go in for the kill.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.

If I bought all nine...

Would you do them at a tenner each?

-Done.

-There we are.

John spends £90 on nine empty boxes.

I hope he's got a plan in mind.

Absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with this,

but I'm hopeful we're going to make some EXPLOSIVE profits.

SHE LAUGHS

Do you like that?

Second deal done,

John's confident his ammunition boxes will go with a bang.

I think these boxes are a great purchase, and I can see

a whole host of things that one could possibly do with these.

I think that a bottle of wine would fit absolutely perfect in there.

So maybe they'll end up in a restaurant.

But Trish is pretty confident some of her customers sell these

for £40 each, probably in London.

But I'm confident we can get a little profit out of these.

So we've reached the halfway point. Let's see how the figures stack up.

Both our dealers arrived with £250 of their own money to spend.

Paul has bought four items and spent £77 so far,

leaving £173 in his kitty.

John, however, has bought two items and spent £120,

leaving him with a lower £130 for the rest of the day.

-How are you, The Wanderer?

-Mr Hayes, how is it going?

Yeah, all right, actually. Do you know what?

I saw nothing, and then three things came at once.

-Like waiting for a bus, is it?

-Exactly, yes.

-What about yourself?

-Well, it's been pretty good.

Typically, a great mix of goods,

so you've got your regular serious professional car-booters

-that know a bit about antiques and collectables...

-Yeah.

You've got the people selling brand-new stuff, pot plants

and all that sort of stuff,

and then people genuinely clearing out the house.

That's right. And what I'm surprised about, actually,

there are some very expensive items,

and they do seem to be able to sell them.

Fair play, you know. People asking hundreds of pounds for things

and we're in a field in the middle of Essex.

What you did wrong, you've dressed too smart.

They're looking at you and thinking, "Money."

No-one's ever looked at me and thought, "Money."

They might think I owe them some. Come on, we'll keep looking anyway.

-Good luck.

-I'll see you in a bit.

Hm.

So John thinks perfectly-turned-out Paul

is just a little too dapper for his own good.

Or is he just trying to rattle an opponent

who's racked up more deals than he has?

Well, I think he's overtaken me a bit in the purchase stakes,

so I've got to get my head down and catch up with Paul

as far as the buying is concerned.

Now, the office is not The Hammer's usual hunting ground,

but he does like a nice set of drawers.

So, John, you've got 65 quid on it.

-Can you do anything a bit better on it?

-Yeah, I'll do 60 quid.

-Can you do 60 on it?

-Yeah.

-Is that all right?

-You wouldn't do 50 for me, would you?

£50?

-It's giving it away, isn't it? I worked hard on this.

-Did you?

-Yeah, go on, have that.

-50? John, you are a gentleman.

There's something about Johns. They're all really decent people.

Hm, our Paul might have something to say about that.

I'll give you the money before you change your mind.

20 years ago, I wouldn't even have looked twice at this.

I would have left it in the house when we were clearing it,

but now these are all the rage,

this whole industrial thing.

This filing cabinet, the design is a design classic,

it's been around since the early post-war period.

Millions and millions of these would have been made.

Lots of them now discarded, rusted, scrapped.

But the ones that are remaining are now being eagerly sought out

and stripped back to this bare metal and then lacquered,

and at £50, this buy is straight out of the top drawer.

And there's no holding our predator of precious things back now

as John quickly sinks his teeth into a tasty modern metal creature,

spending £25.

I've just purchased this pretty much brand-new stainless steel

faux springbok skull. It's an item with impact, a decorative item.

Could be in a home, a nice modern home,

or even in a rather swish restaurant or something like that.

At the moment, taxidermy is very much in vogue,

which is interesting because I think, as a nation,

we've never been more conservation aware.

So this will appeal to those that are a little bit

more PC about that sort of thing.

I think, at £25, should see me leap in front of Mr Morecambe.

Actually, John, you've leapt exactly beside him.

Both our dealers are now level pegging with four items apiece.

Now John takes the weight off his paws.

All this buying up is making me rather tired.

I think I'm going to have five minutes just to top up the tan.

HE LAUGHS

Across the savanna, Paul's tracking his next purchase

and it's a blast from the past.

I've come across some vintage table soccer here, which I think

are fantastic games, these, and there's quite a lot of them.

The gentleman wants to sell them individually

and he's asked me sort of £10 or £15 a box.

Could you do a price if I took the lot?

It would be bottom line, to be honest.

-You can't do £30 and I'll take the lot?

-No, I can't.

-You can't, no.

-35 and that's my lot.

-You can't do 30 quid?

No, I can't. Definitely not.

35 is it.

Do you know what? I'm not going to argue over a fiver.

I know you've been here since five o'clock this morning.

Shall we shake that?

OK, the final whistle has gone. 35 quid. Thank you very much.

Extra time, that's it.

I do the jokes. You tell him. Right.

Well, the footie puns are coming quicker

than you can say eat my goal,

leaving no doubt that Paul is over the moon.

OK, cast your mind back now to the 1970s.

I bought this table football game. Fantastic.

I remember hours and hours with these bits and pieces

and what's nice is that these have turned up in pretty good condition.

If I just open the box of this little one here,

there is the actual playing field, and there are all the teams there,

the two nets and everything.

There is hours and hours of play here.

My theory was the gentleman wanted to split them

and sell them individually, which came to about 45 quid.

So I said, "Well, how much can you do for the lot?"

I managed to haggle him down to £35. I think that's a great buy

and I've got more chance of making two or three good sets

out of this lot.

Across the fields, John's been fishing

for something with a little more of a European flavour.

These look rather nice. These are genuine French faience

or pottery oyster plates.

You've got half a dozen oysters there

and then a little receptacle in the middle for either your Tabasco

or something else, a little shallot.

They've got France printed on the bottom there.

And that gives us an idea about age.

There was an act passed in America called the McKinley Tariff Act,

which stipulated that goods being imported into America

had to be marked with their country of origin.

And that's when you start to see the name of countries printed on there.

It changes to Made in England, Made in France or Made in Germany

between the two world wars

and certainly more so after the Second World War.

So I'd say this would put them at the kind of 1890s, 1910,

that sort of period.

Hiya. You've got 12 plates there.

You've got £5 a plate on them. What can you do on those?

OK, one-time offer. I'll do them at 40 for the lot.

-40 quid for the lot?

-Yeah.

-How can I possibly say no?

And as they come from France...

-BOTH:

-Mwah. Mwah.

Merci beaucoup, Madame.

Thank you.

FRENCH ACCENT: Ah, what a little smoothie you are, John!

12 of those, all in good condition,

and there's plenty of seafood restaurants

down on the south coast that I should be able to pass these on to.

£40. Mwah!

Voila.

So with five purchases made and just £15 left in his kitty,

The Hammer calls it a day.

The fun part is now over.

The hard work is about to begin.

But, first, I want to see what Paul's bought.

Uh-oh.

Paul's strategy of swerving the tat and sniffing out the quality

has left him item-light.

Well, I must admit, time is really running out now.

A lot of the stalls are going home

so I'm really up against the clock now.

Luckily, he spots some light at the end of the tunnel.

TRAIN HORN BLARES

Are these old train plates, yeah?

Which one is the North of England? Have you any?

-That one, Great Northern.

-Great Northern Railway.

That sounds like more me. Can I have a look at that one?

-You don't mind, do you?

-No.

Do you know what? It always helps to ask

-cos you know far more about these things than I do.

-I'm not an expert.

So that's a genuine bridge plate from the Great Northern Railway,

some time in the early 20th century.

-So that would be bridge number 158, is that right?

-Yeah.

And what would be your best price on that one,

if that was for a young lad from the North, bringing it home?

NORTHERN ACCENT: Aw, Paul, love,

he's really playing t' Northern card now.

-I'll take 40 quid for it.

-You'll take 40 quid for it.

-Yeah.

-You couldn't do £30, could you?

-No.

-I'd be well chuffed.

-Yeah, I know you would.

-Yeah, full steam ahead. No?

You're on the right track.

35, that's it.

-We can't do £30 and we'll shake on it?

-No, 35.

-35 quid. Go on, then.

We've got the same train of thought there.

-Do you want more jokes?

-No.

-No.

All right, fair enough. I don't blame you.

# All aboard the night train. #

Paul's puns may have hit the buffers with this stallholder,

but he's certainly not going to let that dampen his spirit.

I'm delighted that I bought this bridge plaque.

It's a bit of a punt, this one.

But railwayana is a massive collecting area.

There is somebody out there for all these sorts of things,

and I'm delighted I got this one.

In fact, I'm well chuffed. Woohoo!

So Punny Paul runs out of steam.

The sellers start to pack up

and our likely lads have completed their search.

But before they show each other their loot,

it's time to tot up the totals.

They both started the day with £250 of their own money to spend.

Paul is aiming to be top of the heap with his six items costing £147.

But John has splashed his cash further with five items

that cost £235.

And it'll be the most profit that wins the day.

What amazes me, all those stalls, and this is what we come back with!

-THEY LAUGH

-It doesn't say a lot for us, Paul.

We've got some interesting things. What's your favourite?

I think it has to be the filing cabinet.

I mean, it's just so now, it's so current, and it was £50.

All the work's done.

Do you know what? It's that new market, industrial chic.

Well sorted, that's all I can say,.

-Anything of mine that you seem to like?

-I like your Subbuteo.

-Oh, do you?

-Make sure all the pieces are there.

-Check the limbs, that sort of thing.

-Yeah.

One thing I didn't understand what you bought

are the ammunition cases, what's going on there?

That's not the sort of thing I'd have gone for.

Well, I think there's an irony there because someone like Banksy

would take something like that and turn the whole thing on its head.

An ammunition box from which now grows flowers, something like that.

That's a nice way to look at it.

-You're quite an old romantic, aren't you?

-I am at heart.

-What's your least favourite of mine?

-The least favourite

would be the cinnabar lacquer box and the Chinese cup.

-I probably would have steered away from those.

-Right. Interesting.

So, you've got your ammo boxes, I've got my little boxes here.

It's one box to another. It's a boxing match, come on!

-Round two. Oh! Nearly broke...

-BELL CLANGS

Nearly broke the cup then.

So, our experts make a dash for home

to produce their foolproof plans for selling at a profit.

This leg of the competition is tough,

but it can produce some dazzling deals.

They'll need to match the right buyer to the right item

and reap sky-high profits for their chosen charities.

At his auction house in Portsmouth,

John is sizing up his car-boot collection.

Now, overall, I'm fairly happy with the things I've bought.

But the profits are the things that I think are going to really be

the real test here.

My Super Kings Matchbox lorry-building, bridge-laying set.

What I will say is at £30 there's probably only about

a £10, £15 profit in there if I'm lucky.

So I will sell it, profit's not going to be fantastic.

This is the interesting piece, my polished metal filing cabinet.

Oh, how the antiques world has been turned on its head.

But I'm starting to get a bit concerned,

the rust is coming through.

So I might need to give this another little rubdown

before somebody lacquers it.

I'm not going to be doing any upcycling to it, though.

My oyster plates here, a set of 12 of them,

from Sarreguemines, very well known for just this sort of thing

and they are in excellent condition and I only paid £40 for those.

So I think there's going to be a good profit there.

Anyway, I'm going to have some fun selling.

I don't have any regrets.

Not many.

So, John's up for the challenge

and he also has to line up buyers for his munitions boxes

and metal springbok skull.

Up in Morecambe, Paul is casting his eye over his treasure trove.

Well, first of all, every little boy's dream, a vintage Subbuteo set.

Not just one but four or five.

I love these items, I think they're very collectable, 1970s vintage.

What's not to like? Even if you're not a fan of football.

My violin. Stradivarius,

Antonio Stradivarius was the most famous violin-maker ever.

This, I suspect, is a late 19th-century,

early 20th-century copy of his work.

It needs a bit of restoration,

I've got an idea what I'm going to do with that one.

The one big development is this ship's bell with the date 1839.

I wasn't sure what that was.

But, upon research, it works out that it's from the Amistad,

which is a very famous transatlantic schooner during the slave period.

It's a copy of that, it's a commemorative piece

so it's going to be quite interesting what I can do

with that one, really.

I must admit my least favourite item

has to be the Chinese export porcelain mug.

I made one fatal error,

I didn't have my glasses with me.

And what I've found since is a very tiny crack in this one.

I'm gutted, to say the least, but it'll teach me the lesson,

bring my glasses, no matter how silly I look.

Indeed. And along with his glasses, he also needs to remember

to find buyers for his cinnabar box

and his railway bridge plaque.

It's time for our dashing dealers to explore all avenues

in their quest to accumulate the most money

for their chosen charities.

Their means of transport may be very different,

but they'll both drive a hard bargain.

And, remember, until they've shaken on it and the money's changed hands,

no deal is truly sealed.

Keen to start his selling journey, John heads to Southsea.

He's had the mid-century cabinet that cost £50

delivered to local restaurant owner Andy

and hopes to file away his first profit.

-Andy, how are you doing? Good to see you.

-How are you?

-Very good.

Well, I have to say, when I bought this,

I was thinking of somewhere exactly like this bar.

-Everything's bare metal and wood.

-Yeah, it's quite on-trend, isn't it?

Seeing the cabinet here in the place,

for me, it fits perfectly, this look.

And when I first bought it,

this rust wasn't so... It's starting to come through now.

I've actually seen some people that have stripped a vintage Vespa

back to the bare metal and then allowed it to start rusting slightly

and then lacquered it to kind of capture that look.

We don't mind a bit of rust.

You've got to find a balance between an antique

and something that is workable everyday.

-So, you like the cabinet?

-Yeah, not bad, not bad at all.

It depends how much it is, really.

I think something like this has got to be worth

a couple of hundred quid today, what do you think?

The place is quite full, as you can see.

I think I'm down a bit, going 120, maybe, start there?

120, oh, it's a little bit less than I'd hoped. It's a nice thing.

The cheapest one you'll find online is 175 quid.

Would you do 150 on it?

-Er, 130 and a burger?

-Ha-ha, 130 and a burger!

-A couple of beers after.

-130 and a burger. I don't know about the beers

because I've got a lot of work, a lot of selling to do.

But 130 and a burger? I think you've got yourself a deal there.

-Perfect.

-The burger definitely swung it.

Yes, the way to a deal with John is through his stomach,

and he makes a profit of £80, even though he didn't tackle that rust.

A nice sale and a meaty profit.

So, while John's relishing his first deal,

Paul is embarking on his maiden selling voyage.

He's hoping a maritime museum in Merseyside

will want the replica ship's bell that cost him £20,

particularly as it has a famous tale to tell.

This is a replica of the Amistad bell,

which was on board a transatlantic slave ship.

On 2 July 1839, 53 African slaves broke free from their chains,

ended up in America, and there was a massive court case at the time

which pitted president against president

and the end result was they were set free.

It's why I've come to a fort right at the edge of the Mersey.

This place has been in the same family for the last 40 years

and, hopefully, this is something that's going to be of interest here.

Stephen Spielberg even made a movie about the famous mutiny

and Paul hopes owner Stuart can find a home for the bell

amongst his other naval exhibits.

-Wow!

-Yeah, this is where we keep all the artefacts

and the knowledge of the fort, bits and bobs like that.

It's very interesting.

-It's an amazing old building, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Do you know roughly how old the actual fort is?

-Yeah, it was built in 1826.

-1826.

-Yeah.

Which is actually just a few years before this, this one is 1839.

-Yeah, yeah.

-This is off the Amistad,

or it's a copy of the bell that used to be on the Amistad.

-The Amistad was quite a famous transatlantic schooner.

-Mm-hm.

It had captured African captives

who mutinied and they were actually let free.

And I'd like to think that this might be something

-you'd have here at the fort.

-Yeah, we'd like to create something

along them lines, I think it would take great pride of place in here,

-it's a lovely piece, lovely piece.

-Right. Well, if I was to ask you

£60 for it, how does that sound?

-I tell you what, we'll keep it at 60.

-Are you sure?

-Fair enough.

-It's too much of a nice piece to negotiate.

-Really nice of you.

-OK.

-Very nice of you. I'll put that in your capable hands.

Thank you very much.

-I hope it's the start of a massive exhibition for you.

-Yes, thank you.

Yes, Paul rings up a very respectful £40 profit with his bell

and leaves behind a piece of history.

That bell will stay on exhibition here

and lots of people will see it for generations to come

and it will tell the story of what was happening at that time.

I think it's quite uplifting, really.

And there was a bit of profit there for me as well. Brilliant.

After that ringing success,

Paul turns his attention to his oriental items,

selling his cinnabar box to dealer Ian in Stratford-upon-Avon.

I wouldn't mind giving you £20 for it. Does it give you a profit?

A little tiny bit, yeah, a little tiny bit. Shall we shake on that?

-Thank you very much, Ian.

-Making a profit of £8.

And his cracked 18th-century Chinese cup

went to antiques dealer George in Brighton for its cost price of £10,

meaning Paul managed to break even and didn't suffer a loss.

With Paul leading three items to John's one,

The Hammer really needs to play catch-up.

He's hotfooted it to the pretty south coast town of Emsworth

with his early 20th century oyster plates.

They cost him £40 so can he shuck a profit from restaurant owner Tom?

-How are you doing?

-Very good to meet you. Good to see you here.

So, the Emsworth village, it has or it had

a very well established tradition with the whole oyster farming.

Yeah, I believe so.

I believe so, I believe fishing here dates back probably

200, 300 years if not more.

So, here we have 12 oyster plates

that date to the turn of the last century.

So, probably around the height of oyster production in the area,

-it's when these plates were produced.

-OK. Yes.

They were made in France by a factory called Sarreguemines.

It's marked on the bottom there.

And the factory itself had a wonderful tradition

in the production of ceramics.

And they actually produced a lot of the tiles for the Paris Metro.

We've got 12 of them here. Are they of interest to you, do you think?

I think so, John, they fit in well, what with the history of Emsworth

and the oysters and us selling oysters.

I know online you'd be paying anything from £20 to £30 a plate.

-OK.

-I was hoping for something around sort of £15 a plate,

12 in there, it would be about 180, something like that.

-How does that sound to you?

-Um, not too bad, John.

Would you go for 150?

-150 for the lot?

-The lot, John?

-Um...

Yeah, that's a fair price.

-And a plate of oysters.

-And a plate of oysters?

-Yeah.

-Well, I can't shake your hand quick enough!

-Thanks, John.

Once again, a plate of food seals the deal for John

and he takes a pearly profit of £110.

But has he bitten off more than he can chew?

-They look quite big. Are they meant to be that big?

-They are, yes.

We want to get the best in here, John.

-I haven't got to eat all of that, have I?

-No, we'll share them.

-Right, OK.

-If you don't mind.

-Bon appetit.

-Cheers.

-Very good.

-Thank you, John.

Having trouble swallowing, John?

That deal brings us to the halfway mark,

so let's see how the books are looking so far.

Paul has sold three of his six items,

stacking up a halfway profit of £48.

John has only sold two items so far,

but has netted a bigger profit of £190.

So, John has wheeled and dealed himself into an early lead

and he's not done yet.

He's in Southsea with his vintage truck set that cost him £30,

having cunningly tracked down a local toy expert, Geoff,

who deals in nostalgia from his Aladdin's shed.

Wow, look at this. This is the man cave, Geoff, is it?

It certainly is, yes. It goes back quite a long time now.

-There's stuff here from, well, 1940.

-Wow. I've got something here.

I have a price tag in mind,

but first of all I want you to have a look at it

and see if it's of interest?

-This is really very early '70s.

-Yeah?

The box is reasonable.

It's not mint. The item looks as if it's all complete, is it all there?

Well, I haven't had it out but you've even got, I can see, unused,

and a couple have dropped down,

you've actually got the stickers still in there.

It would be nice if it was a blue closed-top box.

Today, you would probably look for £250, £300.

Wow, just if it was mint, in a closed top, like a solid box?

In a closed, just a solid box.

And all you would have is a printed picture on the front.

To be honest, I think I would offer you about £30.

Mm.

Well, you're near where I need to be. You're near where I need to be.

I need little bit better than that, Geoff.

Could we do sort of 45 quid, anything like that, do you think?

Could we do £40?

£40 gives me a small profit

and I'm hoping it gives you a small profit too there as well, Geoff.

We'll probably wait and see.

It's not his biggest profit, but John adds that £10 to his coffer.

And, not content with taking Geoff's money,

The Hammer takes his advice too.

Have you got any tips on preserving things, keeping them mint?

I would suggest that they keep these items

in the bottom of the airing cupboard

because not only is it warm, but it is constant at one temperature.

And John's boxing clever when he takes his munitions cases

that cost £90 to interior design shop owner Keith in Southsea,

complete with a list of upcycling ideas.

Could you have yourself a nice little garden icebox?

Actually, there probably is enough room to pack some ice around there.

Also, possibly sort of a little cabinet on a wall,

-a bathroom cabinet.

-Yeah.

-Perhaps a little shelf in there.

Keith takes the boxes for £135 and John banks a profit of £45.

With that, John is in the lead with four deals to Paul's three.

But Mr Morecambe has many strings to his bow.

He's in Wallingford to meet violin shop owner Peter.

Well, do you know, they say that love is like a violin

and I hope this gentleman really loves this one.

This gentleman buys violins, restores violins.

There isn't anything he doesn't know about violins.

Hopefully, he can shed some light on this one

and we can play a sweet tune together. Who knows?

The would-be Stradivarius cost Paul £35.

But will it play a profitable melody?

-Hello?

-Hello.

-Is it Peter?

-It is indeed.

Very, very pleased to meet you.

Look at this, this is wonderful. I can see I am in the right place.

-We've got one or two.

-I want you to tell me,

have I bought a genuine Stradivarius violin?

-Fingers crossed.

-There we go.

So, first of all, who was Antonio Stradivarius?

Stradivari is probably the world's most famous Italian violin maker

and he was of fantastic quality and craftsmanship

and still revered the world over.

Unfortunately, I can tell

even before I take this violin out of the case,

-this is not a genuine Stradivari.

-OK!

-It's that easy, is it?

-It is that easy when you've seen thousands.

So, the Stradivari label inside instrument would just indicate

that it's made in the manner of, maybe the shape or the outline.

It doesn't mean that it's a fake

or they were trying to pretend it was a genuine article.

-A casual glance indicates that this is French.

-Really?

This type of instrument is generally referred to as Caussin school.

So Francois Caussin was a French copyist.

He replicated earlier instruments.

So, in fact, he was antiquing violins, but beautifully done.

That wear on there is deliberate? That isn't where somebody has...

Some and some. So this instrument, I believe, dates from about 1890

so it has, you know, 120 years' worth of genuine wear

on top of the antiqued wear that was applied when it was originally made.

So, it's not worth millions and there's more bad news.

A postmortem reveals a history of mistreatment.

Some quite nasty damage here.

The violin has suffered a fairly catastrophic blow

to the back of the head which has wrenched the neck out of the block.

Oh, looks like the edge has been smashed off.

And you can see there that the fingerboard is just flattened

on top of the instrument.

Is it something that you'd be interested in taking on yourself?

We do restorations like this all the time.

The instrument goes back to pretty much as good as the day it was made.

It gets its voice back, it finds a new home, and everybody's happy.

In that condition, I think I'd be prepared to offer £80.

I'm not going to argue with that. Shall we shake hands on that?

-Absolutely.

-OK. Thank you.

-It's been a real honour and a pleasure to meet you.

-Thank you.

Wow. Can you teach me how to play it, that's the hard thing!

-THEY LAUGH

-Maybe not!

And Paul hits the high notes with a healthy profit of £45.

Peter's a real genius, in my view, what he's doing there

and I'm delighted that he found a use for that violin.

It's a nice feeling, that. It's music to my ears in fact.

But it's not entirely full steam ahead for Mr Morecambe

who sells his railway bridge plaque to Philip,

an antiques dealer in Yorkshire, for £30, making a small loss of £5.

Now, you'll never guess where The Hammer is. Yes, Portsmouth, again.

And he's chasing down his fifth and final deal.

I've come to the historic Castle Road in Southseam

which is the real centre of the renaissance in vintage shops,

collectables and upcycling.

I've come to see dealer Lorraine with my faux springbok skull

hoping to make a profit that will put a spring back in my step.

So, will Lorraine jump for John's springbok

which cost him £25 at the car boot?

-Hi, Lorraine.

-Hello, John.

Well, I'm hoping that what I've got here you're going to like.

It's the springbok skull. What do you think of it?

-He is actually quite funky, isn't he?

-It's nice, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-I do quite like him.

-The nice thing about this is it combines

that industrial look with the whole taxidermy imagem

but without offending anyone.

It will fit with pretty much any style, I think.

-Its clean lines, it's tidy, it's nice.

-OK.

-So, are you interested?

-I am.

-That's good.

-I'm sure I could move that on.

-It's the sort of thing that my customers would like.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Price, obviously, is key.

-Mm.

-You need to make a profit.

-That's true.

I need to make a small profit, too.

How does... How does £80 sound for it?

I was thinking more along the lines of about 40.

Could you do 60 for it?

50?

55?

-55.

-55, thank you.

-OK.

John leaps away with a profit of £30 and can rest on his laurels.

Well, that is me all sold up and done and dusted.

I think I'm going to kick back,

enjoy the sunshine and count my money

and hope Mr Hayes isn't having such success.

In Morecambe, Paul is down to his final items,

the vintage table football sets that cost £35.

He's match-fit and ready to pitch one of the sets

to keen football fan Peter.

I don't know about you, Peter, but I am eight years old again.

-How fantastic is this?

-It's absolutely superb, Paul.

-It's superb.

-Did you have a set like this when you were younger?

-I did.

I did have a set. Um... I think probably the last time I played

probably was in about 1978.

I picked out the best one that I thought you might be interested in.

It's in almost mint condition.

It comes with a box, everything with it.

Is this the sort of thing you can imagine buying

-just for yourself to use?

-Oh, yes, yes, definitely.

It would be a good laugh. Something different on a Friday night, yeah.

So, if I was to ask you £30 for this, how does that feel?

Maybe 20 and a game?

You can have it for £20 if you can score a penalty against me,

-just for old times' sake.

-That's fine, Paul.

-Does that sound all right to you?

-We'll have a go.

It's a last-minute cliff-hanger for Paul's profit margins.

If this goes in, it's 20 quid, If I save it, it's 30.

-Oh, it's in!

-PAUL LAUGHS

PAUL LAUGHS

-£20.

-£20.

-£20.

I thought you'd win as well.

Thank you very much, Peter.

Paul settled the remaining game sets to Yorkshire antiques dealer Philip,

scoring a small overall profit of £5.

And that brings us to the end of our selling spree.

So, which one of our plucky twosome

will be crowned the Prince of Profits?

Before we find out, let's take a look at what they've spent.

From a £250 budget, Paul bought six items costing £147.

John purchased five items and spent a total of £235.

But who has made the most profit?

All the money that Paul and John have made

will go to charities of their choice.

So, without further ado, let's find out who is today's

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is champion.

Ah!

-Mr Hayes.

-How are you?

Do you know what? Don't you walk miles round those places

-before you find something you want?

-You know what, I love them.

Something about rooting through other people's cast-offs, isn't it?

I had a great day, I really enjoyed it.

My ship's bell turned out to be from a very prominent ship.

But I think I did well with the violin,

the violin was probably my favourite item. What about you?

I think the metal filing cabinet did prove to me contemporary upcycling

-is the way forward.

-Proves you can sell anything.

It was easy to sell it. That was the thing. I could have sold it twice.

But I think the best profits I've made were on those oyster plates.

-Oh, right!

-I went down to a former fishing village

and managed to turn a decent profit. And had some wonderful oysters, too.

-Somebody shelled out for them, then!

-THEY LAUGH

-All right, do you know what?

-Shall we?

-Shall we? OK.

-Good luck to you.

-And you.

-Hooray!

-Those oysters must have been very expensive.

-They were!

A decent profit on there. But, do you know what? We had a great time.

-Not bad profits, either of us.

-Yeah, well, I really enjoyed it as well.

Tell me more about these oysters, I'm getting a bit peckish.

Yes, John "The Hammer" Cameron triumphs and he's delighted.

I'm really happy to have won the car boot challenge.

There's something really interesting about rooting through

other people's rubbish to make money.

As Paul Hayes would have said, where there's muck, there's brass.

A little bit disappointed I haven't made a lot more money.

But I'm in the black and that's all that matters.

But tomorrow is another day and will be a chance for Paul

to fight back when he and John visit a French antiques market.