Eric Knowles v Charlie Ross: Car Boot Sale Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

How will the country's antiques experts fare when challenged to make a profit with their own cash?

If that's £50, you've got a buyer.

There's Knocker's stuff just leaving!

From car boot sales to auction houses, our experts will recreate some of their real-life deals

as they go head-to-head and try and make the most money for their chosen charities.

-100% profit.

-£300 - that is amazing.

The challenge to our experts is clear. Dealers, put your money where your mouth is.

Today's treasure-hunting Trojans are ceramics expert Eric Knocker Knowles

and Charlie the Charmer Ross.

Charlie lives and breathes antiques, having run his own auction house for 25 years.

The first lot I ever sold, I sold under reserve by £6 and I was on £3 a week,

so it cost me two weeks' wages and I hope I've never sold anything below reserve ever again.

He travels the country as part of the Antiques Roadshow team and shows the public how to Flog It.

Eric, now you can see my daytime job.

Eric has spent 32 years working for top London saleroom Bonhams,

but has been fascinated by antiques all his life.

I grew up in a part of north-east Lancashire steeped in history -

Pendle Witches, Clitheroe Castle, Skipton Castle, Whalley Abbey. It was all there.

He too makes regular appearances as part of the Antiques Roadshow team.

I like to mix and work with passionate people.

I'm not interested in those people who are just interested. Bring on the passionates!

So we have our warriors and with their reputations

and hopes of their charities dangling by a thread,

it's time for us to find out the aim of today's game.

The iconic Mr Knowles!

The illustrious Mr Ross!

-How are you?

-I'm fine. I've got one of these for you.

-Let's swap. You go first.

-OK. What does it say?

It says, "Eric and Charlie, your challenge today is to spend up to £250 of your own money..."

What's new there? "..on antiques.

"You must resell your purchases with the aim of making as much profit as possible.

-"The winner is the presenter who makes the most cash."

-That would be me.

-Don't bet on it.

What have I got here?

"Today, you must buy all your antiques from...a car boot sale.

-"Good luck."

-Are you still feeling lucky?

-Not at all.

-And with good reason. But either way, do your best.

-Good luck.

Today, our two seasoned pros each have to spend up to £250 of their own cash buying antiques,

which they'll sell on later for a profit.

Almost everybody Eric and Charlie try to do deals with will know they're on a mission

to raise as much money as possible for charity and our experts will do everything to persuade people

to give them the best prices when they buy and sell the items they hope will drive them to victory.

They'll be slugging it out at a car boot sale in Ringwood in the heart of Dorset and, as ever,

the Charmer and Knocker have got two very different strategies.

Charlie, to no-one's surprise, will rely on his smooth talking to bag himself some bargains.

I expect Eric loves Rod Stewart.

But Eric will be snapping up any potentially profitable items he sees without hesitation.

I've got a passion for blue and white and it doesn't really matter what it is.

This is quite a well-known design

because this is referred to as the Wild Rose pattern.

Lots of factories did it - in Staffordshire and they even made it in Middlesbrough.

This one dates to probably around about 1840.

If we turn it over, what does it tell us? Number 15, but there's no maker's mark.

Doesn't make any great odds, really, because they're not worth very much.

There was a lot of 'em!

It's a little bit tired, but for £3, I'm going to have it.

It's coming home with me, is that.

He seems happy with the buy and it looks as if he's got all the right moves for today's clash.

The name is Powers.

Antique Powers.

But his plans could be thwarted by the evil Dr Ross.

Domination...

in the world of antiques. Ha-ha-ha-ha!

# Da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da

# Da-da-da-da-da... #

I'm going to steal your antiques mojo, Knowles.

Ha-ha-ha!

The doctor may be coming, but armed with a sharp suit,

bags of antique know-how and some slightly dodgy shades,

our international bargain spotter is cool, calm and collected and he's bagged himself another real bargain.

Groovy, baby!

I've just bought a pair of decanters.

He wanted 20 quid for them, but I got them for 15, so I'm feeling rather good about that.

The great thing is they are a pair and they are cut.

As for condition, there's a little bruise on the stopper, tiny thing.

And also on the base, a little bruise just on the rim.

By bruise I mean an extremely shallow little chip,

but of very minor consequence.

It doesn't show in any shape or form.

You could have it polished away and you wouldn't notice it at all.

The sad truth of this situation is that if I wanted to go and buy a cut-glass decanter of this quality,

new in the high street, I'm not going to buy it for less than £100,

so at £15 for a pair, well, something of a steal, really.

Yes, we'll drink to that and with his rival setting a blistering pace, the pressure is on Charlie,

but Mr Ross has found something that could get him into the game.

-£8 for the two?

-£8 for the two.

-I think they're a snip.

Impressive work, Mr Ross.

On the other side of the sale, Eric is feeling a tad nostalgic.

How much is, dare I ask, the Antiques Roadshow game?

-I was asking £2 for it.

-£2.

I'm going to buy it quick, not because I think it's necessarily worth £2,

but I don't want it to be seen to be going so cheap, so take the money.

-I can now retire(!)

-Thank you very much indeed.

A slice of Eric's history for just £2 - what a bargain!

Mr Knowles is on a roll and sticking to his strategy of buying anything that might make a profit.

He picks up a cocktail shaker for £12 and a trio of silk panels for a tenner.

Charlie, though, is hot on his heels.

What a "feet" of engineering!

I have found a box full of early 19th century, cast brass feet.

They must have come off some pretty good bits of furniture in their day.

I bought six or eight of these feet. The lady wanted £45 for them, but I bought them for 20.

I think these hairy paw feet will flash up a good bit of furniture.

It's my job to find a restorer who's going to be able to use these

and turn them into something wonderful.

Well, he's got high hopes, but Charlie is a furniture enthusiast.

With no actual chairs or tables here today, he's turned to furniture accessories instead.

Both our experts have got plenty of money left to spend,

and knowing Eric is a dab hand at picking out good porcelain,

Charlie's decided to take him on at his own game.

What have I found?

Early Jasperware Wedgwood in a boot fair!

It's plastic.

Dialene plastic.

Oh, bother!

No threat to the king of ceramics just yet then.

One, two. Testing, one, two. It still works.

But Charlie has managed to sniff out a few other porcelain pieces -

a collection of Goss china, two Carlton Ware dishes

and a pair of Kutani vases costing £47 in total.

Elsewhere in the sale, the maestro is eyeing up some silver.

This is an interesting little box.

Weird - double-hinged.

But a good maker cos if you look in here, you see "JD & S".

That's James Dixon & Sons.

They're a Sheffield maker and it says on here "EPBM".

More often than not, you'll find "EPNS" which is electro-plated nickel silver,

but when you find "EPBM", it tells you that it's electro-plated Britannia metal.

Britannia metal is basically a metal which is an alloy,

which, to all intents and purposes, looks a little bit like pewter, but it allows itself to be plated.

But I've never seen one of these before in my life,

so I think I need to ask the question...

-Excuse me.

-Sorry.

-It's all right. What is this?

It's a huntsman's sandwich box.

A huntsman's sandwich box, OK.

-He's watching his weight cos you're not going to get many sandwiches in there. How much is it?

-£8.

£8. And what about your copper kettle?

Well, the kettle is a Victorian kettle.

-You can tell by the tongue-and-groove base.

-Yeah.

-And also you can see tongue and grooving down there.

-OK.

-And the inside is tin-lined...

-Right.

-..which is what they do.

-So it's got all the credentials?

-It's got all the credentials, yes.

-Now, I'm asking £18 for that.

-What if I bought this and this?

Well, I'd stick at 8 for that, but you could have this for 15.

-That sounds fair enough to me.

-Thank you, sir.

-All right, well, put the kettle on(!) We'll do a deal.

-Right.

Very good.

£23 and two more sales to Knocker.

Elsewhere in the sale, his rival is in a bit of a spin.

Knocker will be wondering why I bought this.

I'm wondering a bit, because it's not old.

And it's not valuable, but a great friend of mine

Geoff Clarke, who runs Opera de la Luna,

said he's doing a production and he must have a globe

to sit on a desk.

He can't afford an old globe, because it would be

hundreds if not thousands of pounds

but this I have bought for £2.

I think he can old it up a bit, make all the bits red that used to be British

hundreds of years ago and then I can probably sell it to him

10, 20? Bit of a snip, really.

Anyway, money makes the world go round.

Indeed it does, Mr Ross, and that would be a good profit.

Whilst Charlie carries on browsing, Eric's buying is being held up

as he attracts attention from the other buyers and this is not the first time.

Having made a programme wearing a builder's outfit and a moustache,

I'm being mistaken for somebody in Village People.

# Y-M-C-A

# It's fun to stay at the... #

Whilst Eric relives his youth, Charlie, unable to find antiques, has bought books on the subject.

At £12, he's hoping there's a profit in these pages.

Elsewhere, Eric has spotted something he likes.

I couldn't resist this mirror for the simple reason that it was cheap

and that's my real criteria for buying things here today.

If I think I can make a profit, I'll buy it and I've gone and done it, but it's a nice mirror.

I suppose we're looking around about 1850, 1860.

But having paid less than £25 for it, I'm feeling rather pleased.

Eric is buying anything that he thinks will make him a profit.

With today's contest getting fiercer and fiercer, he's keen to see how his rival is doing.

-Just the man!

-Knocker!

-Blimey! I jumped out of my skin!

-How is it going anyway?

-Forwards!

-It's unbelievably hard work.

-It's not an easy one.

-You told me it would be hard. An old pro like you!

-The truth is, you being a furniture man, I think I've seen about half a dozen pieces of furniture.

-Yeah.

The best thing I've bought is a book on furniture, the nearest I've got to a nice piece of furniture.

-I bought a Victorian mirror.

-Well done. How much do you want for it?

Once I've done it up, I'll give you a ring.

Will you take 30 quid now, blind?

-I'm tempted, Charlie, but I don't want you to waste your money at this stage.

-I've got cash.

No, don't blind me with science.

Go out there. I've got a feeling there's something lurking out there for you. You never know your luck.

Luck is what he needs plenty of!

Both our treasure hunters are desperate for victory today.

You can smell the competitive spirit in the air.

They started with a budget of up to £250 each

and have both been working hard to find game-winning items.

Eric has spent £88, leaving his kitty at £162.

His opponent, on the other hand, has parted with £89,

giving him £161 to play with.

With nothing to choose between our rivals,

there is still everything to play for and finally, Charle's found a piece of antique furniture.

I've found a bit of a gem here.

Walnut, late Victorian, bordering on Edwardian

from the tramline mouldings coming up and down the door here.

It used to be part of a full length corner cupboard.

I should think it was about six foot high originally.

But what I'm going to do is convert it.

We can put a bit of marble on this.

I'm going to open the drawer and hope to find a stamp, but I don't think I will -

Edwards & Roberts or Shoolbred or something.

It's not quite of that quality, but it's not bad.

Original handles, I think. Bracket feet. I think it will clean up well.

Cut a bit of marble to go on the top of it and it would look really good even in a modern kitchen.

So I think I've got a bit of a snip here.

Knocker, watch out! This is a big profit.

Bigger than any one you're going to get.

Fighting talk from the Charmer!

It seems that both our treasure hunters are sticking to familiar ground

as Eric has picked up another piece of porcelain for just £5.

I've bought myself a vase that probably dates to some time round about 1920.

It's not by anybody in particular.

In fact, nobody's really owned up to making it, but it's made in England

and it's not bad for the money.

What I like is the subject.

I like the idea of this Japanese lady and this young girl

and I love those lanterns

and I like that semi-matt black ground.

You've got transfers for these Japanese figures.

They're basically cut out and applied on to the surface of the pot

and they're then put in the kiln and they go hard.

As for this gold decoration and the beading,

that's all actually hand-done.

And so too this scratching down here.

So it's a mixed method process -

a little bit of hand decoration and a little bit of transfer and it works.

It's just a nice design and even if you turn it round at the back...

These were meant to go up against a wall,

so most potters would pay very little attention to the back.

What's the point? Nobody's going to see it. It costs money to do that.

What I'd have liked more than anything else was a pair of them,

but for a fiver, well, yeah, I have to say that Knocker's in for a profit.

Not a big one, but I'm on the right side of an earner.

And staying with his favourite type of antique, Knocker buys an hors d'oeuvres dish for a princely £12.

He's on a roll!

But he needs to stay focused because having scoured the boot sale,

his opponent has found another piece of furniture and, at £30, he won't leave it for anyone else to buy.

Bit of weight training, actually. That's quite good.

Whilst Charlie does an impersonation of a furniture remover, Eric's ceramics buying spree continues.

It's just a Chinese ginger jar,

but I love that colour because that's a sort of famille verte,

and originally, this colour was used in the late 17th and early 18th century.

This, I can assure you, is 20th century,

but I think it looks the part because you've got these two phoenix, look.

This is all hand-painted.

It's just a decorative jar. It would have had a cover originally.

But sometimes you can get little wooden covers and wooden bases and they look a thousand dollars.

So when it comes to price, well, £2?

I just paid more than that for a cappuccino up the road.

Now, that is a bargain.

Knocker's sticking to his strategy of buying anything in which he sees a profit.

He's going to have a rather full car on the way home.

It's been a fiercely fought clash at today's car boot sale,

but Charlie the Charmer Ross isn't done just yet.

The wind's getting up, the clouds are coming in, it's getting chilly and people are beginning to leave,

but I've found a couple of gems at the last minute -

both nine-carat gold,

the bottom one, a Royal Marines bar brooch from pre-war

with the laurel leaves surrounding the world.

It's in nine-carat, as I've said, and the bugle above.

And I think this is a beautiful, beautiful brooch and in good order.

Above it, we have a naval brooch also inset with enamel, also nine-carat.

I can tell you very little, but I'll do a bit of research on it.

I managed to buy the two for £50, a nifty fifty.

Frankly, if there isn't a profit in those, I will eat my hat,

so, carry on, sir.

I'll see what I can do.

Well done, Corporal Ross. That's Charlie's most expensive purchase

and he's decided that he's got enough booty.

His rival has uncovered a bit of a gem and sealed a sweet deal.

Now, I haven't bought the table, but I have bought this lovely little sugar basket.

It's only silver plate. When I say "only", it's a little bit special.

First, it has a blue glass liner. These are called Bristol blue, but they were made all over the place.

But what makes the basket itself that little bit special is the mark on the base

because it tells me that this was made by Elkington & Co.

They are without question the premier maker, not just of silver, but also of silver plate.

And also Elkington are that little bit special

in so far as they used to put a year mark on their silver plate.

You'll find year marks on silver, but it's exceptionally rare to find it on silver plate,

so I'll check it out at home and find out exactly when it was made.

I would suspect it was some time in the late Victorian period,

but I tell you what, for £20, this may turn out to be my bargain of the day.

Time will tell.

Indeed it will, but with the stallholders packing up and heading for home,

Charlie's got harsh words for his rival.

There's Knocker's stuff just leaving.

Our ultra-competitive pair have taken today's boot sale by storm,

but with all the buying over, who has spent the most cash?

Both gents started out with a budget of £250.

Eric spent just over half with a total of £127,

but Charlie's golden charm has led him to splash the cash

and he's parted with £191.

It's been a triumphant day's buying for our treasure hunters

and before they pack up their purchases and head for home,

they can't resist a peek at each other's goods.

So, Mr Ross, this is the result of all your charm and your endeavours, is it?

This is the result of 40 years in the antique business. What have you found?

I thought I'd go for variety being the spice of life.

I see there's a Roadshow game there, presumably featuring you?

-Do you want to have a look?

-May I?

-I'll show you very briefly.

If you look at... If I just turn it upside down,

-can you find me on there?

-No.

Are you sure? LAUGHTER

-Oh, yes!

-There I am.

-You look like Groucho Marx.

Hang on, that's Hilary Kay you're talking about. That's me here!

-What's your favourite item, the buy of the day?

-The buy of the day, the brooches.

-The brooches?

-Yes. I found a bit of gold out there.

-They're very beautifully done.

-I really like those.

Charlie, if you think we found it difficult to buy here, wait till we try and sell the stuff.

Not a hope!

So, Eric's heading home with a pair of glass decanters,

the 1980s Antiques Roadshow board game,

three Chinese embroidered silk panels,

an Art Deco cocktail shaker,

a huntsman's sandwich box and sugar basket,

a 19th century copper kettle,

a Victorian, mahogany dressing table mirror

and a selection of 20th century ceramics.

Charlie will be trying to sell a pair of carved, wooden wall brackets,

a mixed lot of brass furniture feet,

various contemporary ceramics,

a small, modern globe,

three antique books, an Edwardian corner cupboard,

a 20th century Indian coffee table

and two military gold brooches.

Eric and Charlie now have to try and sell their car boot purchases

to make as much profit as possible.

Having worked their socks off at the car boot sale,

our gents will have to pull out the stops to find the right buyers for their items.

They're working their way through their little black books,

putting together deals on the phone and by e-mail,

but until they've shaken on it and money has changed hands, no deal is truly sealed.

Charmer Ross hits the road with his Goss china.

He paid £25 for the set and he's hoping to make a big profit.

Peter, when I was at the boot fair the other day,

I saw a gentleman that had quite a lot of bits of Goss china on his table.

-But I thought of you.

-Thank you.

-If anybody's going to buy a bit of Goss, it's Mr Goss.

I'm hoping that there's something here that will take your fancy.

-You've got some pieces which are the same like that.

-Oh, dear.

The smaller pieces here aren't worth quite so much, but the nice pieces are.

-That's a nice little piece.

-Is it?

-That's a little pin tray, a pin box.

Are you able to make me an offer as a punt?

Or do you want me to ask you a price?

Well, you say what you think it's worth and I'll...you know.

I think... One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine... You're shuddering now.

-I think I'd like 50 quid for the lot.

-50 quid?

-Yeah.

-How about 45?

-Oh, blimey, that's closer than I thought it would be! I'll take that.

-45, OK.

-I think that's very fair.

-OK.

-What about a cup of tea?

-I tell you what, you have the cup.

-Yeah.

-And I'll have the cream jug.

-And we'll go and make some tea.

-Fantastic.

That's £20 profit in the bag.

Buoyed by his success, Charlie heads off to another sale.

He bought his globe for just £2 and he's hoping to sell it to a friend who runs an operatic company.

-KNOCKS ON DOOR

-Morning, Jeff!

-Is that it?

-That's it.

I thought it was going to be a big one.

Well, it's the best I could do.

-Is it any good?

-It's a start.

That'll have to be a finish.

-How much do you want for it then?

-20 quid.

-No!

-I do.

I've only got 50 quid for the whole show. You must be joking!

A fiver?

What do you mean? I'll settle at ten.

-I think that's very reasonable.

-Do you?

-Yeah.

-Can I pay you in stamps?

No, you can't pay me in stamps!

£10. Bank of Scotland.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-There's some paint come off it here.

-Stop whinging!

Another £8 profit and our silver-tongued charmer is sounding confident of victory.

But don't underestimate Knocker.

He's been doing some forward planning and has sent his mirror ahead to tempt a buyer.

The mirror was Eric's most expensive boot sale purchase,

costing £23.

This lady, if I can her, has seen better days, bless her.

Her complexion's looking a bit tired. Can that be resurrected?

It's tired, but it can come up.

Is one interested in making a purchase?

Well, what sort of price are we looking at?

Well, I thought £80 for something like that would be quite a reasonable... No?

-A bit high, I'm afraid.

-A bit high?

-I'd see it more at 40, I'm afraid.

-What about 50?

-50?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-OK.

-You're a star.

-You've got a deal.

-Thanks, Nick.

Smoothly done, Knocker. Eric manages to double his money and more, banking £27 profit.

With the dealer in the palm of his hand, he doubles his money on the copper kettle,

adding another £15 to his profit pot.

-£30 and...

-Yes?

-Do you have the modern-day equivalent?

-We certainly do.

-Could you put it on? I'm gasping for a tea.

-Yeah, not a problem.

-30 quid and a cup of tea.

-OK.

He also manages to make another £20 profit from the sale of the black oriental vase.

-Shall we say 25?

-25? I'll give you 25.

-25.

-Deal.

Eric is in the zone and has struck back with three sales,

but Mr Ross is also hard at work, doing a spot of furniture delivery.

-Where is it going to go?

-Mind the paintwork. Just in the front room, in the middle.

There's an absolutely bare space where this needs to be.

-Coffee table shaped.

-Look at that.

-What do you think?

-It looks good.

-Do you like it?

-Yes, it's not bad.

She sounds keen, but will she be prepared to pay more than the £30 Charlie paid for the table?

-It looks quite good in here.

-Yeah, I need it to put my cup of tea on.

-You do.

-Yeah.

-So have we got a deal? Does it fit?

-We have to decide the price.

Of course. It's not an antique, but then it's not an antique price

because the Georgians and Victorians didn't make coffee tables.

All their occasional tables were this height. So it needs to be new. I think it's fun.

£100?

What are you laughing at?

Don't you think £100?

-I'll start at...

-What do you mean, "start"? I want to know where you'll finish. It's £100.

-I'll start at 30.

-Don't be so ridiculous.

-It's only for coffee and tea.

-You can't have it for £30.

I brought it all the way here from Ringwood near Southampton. You can do better than 30. £75?

-Oh, a deal!

-See, I wasn't that tough.

75 is a lot nearer 100...

-Than 30.

-Than 30.

-But you're the professional, so you should be.

They don't call him the Charmer for nothing.

A sizeable £45 profit on a £30 purchase is a great return.

Whilst he's out and about, Charlie also manages to sell his trio of books for an £8 profit

and bank a tidy £22 profit on his pair of carved wooden wall brackets.

With both our antiques agents on a real selling spree, this competition is really hotting up

and Knocker Knowles has headed to the bright lights of London

to find a buyer with some city chic for his stylish cocktail shaker.

-Nice to see you.

-You too, Arnold. Let me show you what I've got.

-Are you a Singapore Slinger or a Manhattan man?

-Manhattan.

A man after my own heart.

You'll need one of those if you're going to put your Manhattan together.

OK, 1930s, cracked ice glass.

Pretty good condition, I would say.

-Yeah.

-No maker's mark, unfortunately,

-but I could be interested.

-What is the price?

The price? Listen, it's "be kind to Arnold" day today. £75 to you.

Make it 50 and you've got a deal.

-OK, Arnold, for £50, give me your hand.

-Thank you very much.

-It's a pleasure.

The name's Knowles, Knocker Knowles,

and that's a £38 profit, shaken not stirred.

Our Lancashire lad sells another hot lot when his sugar-plated sugar basket yields a £20 profit.

Sweet.

Both our profit hunters have been on top selling form,

they've nade money on everything they've sold

and they're both determined to emerge victorious today.

Eric has been a profit-making whirlwind,

selling £195-worth of goods

and banking £120 profit.

Charlie is not far behind, though,

with £180-worth of goods sold

and £103 profit in his pot.

It's a closely run race, with both of them pulling out the stops to sell their pieces.

They've been going through their contacts.

Charmer Ross lines up a potential purchaser.

He's struggled to find a buyer for his antique furniture feet.

He hopes his local auctioneer might be able to get him out of trouble.

First he's trying to soften him with a military brooch.

I bought two brooches, one is an Army one.

I'm selling it to somebody related to the Army.

And this naval one, I thought you could be the man.

Indeed. Lots of collectors here.

Should do very well.

Good. Can you get rid of these for me?

How many sets do we have there?

-They're a bit random. I've got two fantastic paw feet.

-Those are indeed fantastic.

I could be seriously interested myself. I think I might have just the use for these two.

-Perhaps I could sell them to you.

-Tell me what you want and we'll work down from there.

-50 quid for the lot?

-I've only got a use for two at the moment.

-Have you?

-How about £20?

-30 any good?

-30 sounds grand. We'll have a deal.

-Brilliant.

-Thank you, Joe. I'll leave the brooch with you. Go and get me 30 quid.

-I shall do that.

-Thank you.

That's a great result - £10 profit for the feet and the brooch is going into the next sale.

Knocker is also trying to make more profits.

He's set up a meeting to try and sell his huntsman's sandwich box.

The dealer is interested, but until the money has been handed over, the deal is far from sealed.

What do you make of this thing?

I was told, rightly or wrongly,

that it's been described as a huntsman's sandwich box.

I could quite believe that. I think I've seen similar ones to this,

Shropshire being very much a hunting county, not presently, obviously.

It's small enough for them to take it on their horse and small sandwiches could come out.

-It wouldn't be a very big sandwich.

-No, it wouldn't.

-I think that dates to about 1875, 1885, something like that.

-Yes, yes.

-Would you go with that?

-I agree with that, yes.

If it's any interest, I just wanted 20 quid for it.

I think £15 is a fairer price, Eric.

Well, it is a fairer price from your point of view, not necessarily mine,

but having said that, I'm still in with a profit, so £15, yes. Go on, say, "Yes, Eric."

-Yes, Eric. Thank you very much.

-A pleasure.

Eric nearly doubles his money, banking £7 profit,

and when he passes another antique shop, he chances his luck with two of his Chinese silk panels.

-Hello there. Are you the owner?

-I am, yes.

-Eric.

-Eric, nice to meet you. Simon.

Forgive me, I've not phoned ahead. I'm just calling in on spec, really.

-Looking around, I wonder if I've made a mistake? You're mainly china, aren't you?

-Mainly china.

-I've got a couple of silk panels. Any point in me showing you?

-Yeah, I'd be interested. Definitely.

They're Chinese and they're probably mid-20th century,

but they're just so beautifully worked.

-There you go, a couple of mandarin ducks and peonies...

-They're nice quality, aren't they?

What sort of price were you looking for?

-I thought somewhere around about £25.

-25 for the pair?

-Yeah.

It doesn't leave me a great deal in it. 20 quid any good?

-20 quid, is that an offer I can't refuse?

-That's a good offer.

-It's an offer I can't refuse.

-It's a deal.

-It's a deal.

-I'll go and get some money for you.

-OK.

It just goes to show it was well worth popping in here.

Eric had already sold one of his trio of silks for £10,

so after selling this pair, he banks £20 profit overall.

Our northern warrior is pretty pleased with himself.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and I actually got a result,

so I may try a bit more of this selling on spec.

Yes, the profit gods are really smiling on Mr Knowles today

and he banks another £18 profit from his Poole Pottery hors d'oeuvres dish

and £25 profit from his pair of glass decanters.

His opponent is now trailing nearly £100 behind. Time for Charlie to bring out the big guns.

# Missiles flying over your head

# If you want to survive, get out of bed

# You're in the Army now

# Oh, oh, you're in the Army now... #

Now, the moment, victor's moment, I'm going to call this.

-OK.

-So I want an instant reaction to the brooch.

Oh, fantastic.

-Do you like it?

-It's beautiful.

-Oh, great.

The Charmer paid £50 for the pair of military brooches and with one going through his local auction,

he is hoping to maximise profit from this one.

-It's so beautifully made and it's Royal Marines.

-Yeah.

-Which fits in with your husband.

-It certainly does.

-How long has he been in the Marines?

-12 years now.

-Fantastic.

-I love the colour. It's beautiful.

-It's beautiful and it's in super condition.

We've got to talk about price.

And I think I'd quite like to get £75 for it.

-Right. It is relatively old, but that is a little more than I was anticipating.

-Was it?

-You can try me.

-How about more in the region of 40 or is that way too cheeky?

No, that's not cheeky at all.

Could you squeeze to 50 and we would have a deal?

-As five is my lucky number, I think I can do that.

-Is it?

-Yes, it is.

-What about nought? Is that your lucky number?

-I don't know about that.

-Would 50 be all right?

-Yeah.

-That's fantastic. We've got a deal.

-I'll leave that with you and head off home. Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

A satisfied customer and a satisfied Charmer.

And when the other brooch brings in another £45 in the saleroom...

..the pair give him a £45 profit.

Proving it's not just what you know, but who you know, Charlie has also persuaded a local shop

to sell his Carlton Ware dishes and Kutani vases on his behalf, netting him a combined profit of £16.

Both are desperate to win today's car boot battle

working flat out to sell their items.

Eric's hit the road with a selling plan.

The plate, the ginger jar and the board game

cost Eric £7 in total.

Despite the bargain basement price,

will he be able to sweet talk his way to a big profit?

-There's my plate.

-That's nice.

-Good. I'm glad you like it.

-Middlesbrough, do you reckon?

Probably. 1830 or 1840, something like that.

-Is £10 OK? Is that...?

-Yeah, that sounds good to me.

I've got this fella,

which is the Chinese famille verte.

-19th century, not 18th century.

-Yeah, absolutely.

But still nicely done, hand-painted.

-It looks the part, doesn't it?

-Yeah, it does.

-It matches your shirt, actually.

-Almost, doesn't it?

-25?

-25? Well, I could be persuaded to 25 possibly.

-Really?

-Yeah.

If you take that for 25, there's a bonus.

-I've got my eyes closed. Do I need my eyes closed?

-OK, open them.

-Because it is the Antiques Roadshow...

-In a box!

What's important about this... It's very personal from me to you.

If you look here, you will see...

-Man and boy.

-The boy. This is 20 years ago.

So if you paid me £35 for those two pots,

this comes virtually free, OK? Well, it is free.

I tell you, I'd give you 35 quid for that and you can throw the pots in!

So the board game sealed the deal and with £28 profit, Knocker is now all sold up.

But Charlie has still got his corner cupbaord left to sell.

Now to unveil the C Ross restoration masterpiece!

One corner cupboard, one sumptuous piece of marble.

The cabinet cost Charlie just £22,

but with a piece of marble he got for free from a friendly contact, he's hoping for a decent profit.

He's decided the best place to sell it is his local auction house.

-Look what I have got for you!

-Good morning, Charlie.

-How are you?

-What have you brought for us today?

-A little corner cupboard.

-Jolly nice little Edwardian cupboard.

-What do you think?

-It's exactly what we need.

It's sort of late Victorian, Edwardian?

Yeah, I would say 1900, '05-ish.

-We can squeeze it in the sale for you this weekend.

-Can you?

-We can indeed.

-That would be brilliant.

£40 to £60?

That would do extremely well, I think.

It cost 22,

-so any profit would be most acceptable because I managed to get the marble for nothing.

-Ideal.

Are you going to do me a deal on the commission? The profit is for charity.

-For charity, we will always talk business.

-You're my man.

-Let's do some paperwork.

-OK.

If the cabinet sells for the £40 to £60 estimate or more,

Charlie will snatch victory from Knocker's hands at the final furlong, but if it fails to sell,

it will be victory for Eric. We'll find out shortly how it fares.

Right now, it's time to tot up how much our profit hunters have made

and reveal which one of them has claimed victory today.

Eric spent just £127 at the boot sale,

whereas the Charmer splashed out £191.

Remember, all their profits today will be going to charity.

It's time to find out who is today's Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is champion.

-Charlie the Charmer...

-Knocker, how are you?

-I'm very well.

-How did you find the car boot? Level with me.

-It was my first ever car boot sale.

Frankly, I thought it was a bit of a struggle.

-What was your best buy?

-Oh, what was my best buy?

I've got to cast my mind back because I spread my money over quite a few objects.

The decanters came in at a tidy profit.

-Did they?

-But they were lovely.

-But what about your Goss?

-Oh, a real result with the Goss.

-Oh, good.

-Guess who I sold the Goss to? Mr Goss.

-No?

-Yeah.

-You know everybody, Charlie.

-He collects Goss china.

-My goodness me! Let's check out those profits. Let's see how we've got on.

-Are you ready?

-Yeah.

-One, two, three and up they come.

-Ouch!

-Ho-ho-ho!

-Ouch, ouch, ouch!

-Percy Profit!

-To say you've never been to a car boot before, were you spinning me a yarn?

-No, I wasn't.

-But I had two ridiculous bits of luck.

-Did you? Oh, my goodness me!

Well, on that basis, Charlie, I'm going to leave you

and tomorrow is another day.

Tomorrow is another day...

So it's victory for Charlie and it was the marble-topped corner cupboard

that helped him to a last-minute triumph.

It flew past the saleroom's £40 to £60 estimate, making a whopping £124

and giving Charmer Ross a £102 profit.

Charlie might have been crowned today's Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is champion,

but both experts worked hard to sell their items and all their profits will go to charity.

My chosen charity is the Prince's Trust. Now, I've been an ambassador for over 15 years.

My chosen charity is CLIC Sargent, a national charity looking after children with leukaemia.

Today's tussle is over, but the battle doesn't stop here

as tomorrow, our experts will go head to head again

as they cross the Channel to tackle a Parisian market.

Ha-ha-ha... Ha-ha-ha.

30 euro, 20 euro.

I may not have the French, but I've got the maths.

Quality, profit.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail: [email protected]