Charlie Ross v Katherine Higgins - 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'm a double-your-money girl.

And gives you the insider's view of the trade.

You've got to be in it to win it.

Each week, one pair of duelling dealers will face

a different daily challenge...

Lovely! We've got some work to do. Let's go.

..putting their own money and their hard-earned reputations on the line.

As they see who can make the most money from buying and selling.

Get in there!

Today, super-suave smoothie Charlie Ross

takes on right royal rummaging redhead Katherine Higgins.

Coming up -

Katherine heads to foreign climes

to uncover the truth about a long-lost treasure.

This is the moment of truth. I'm going to unveil this photograph.

Charlie takes on a world champion in his bid for top profits.

Good stuff, Charlie.

And proof that if you snooze at a car boot sale,

you most definitely lose.

I don't believe it!

I saw this stall, and now it's gone.

It's Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.

Take your marks, as today the athletes of the antiques trade

will be going head to head in a thrilling race to see

who can make the most profit from buying and selling antiques.

It's Charlie 'The Charmer' Ross,

the fine furniture fancier from Oxfordshire,

who's a master of persuasion when it comes to doing a deal...

Does that come free with it?

..versus Katherine 'The Great' Higgins, the queen of collectibles,

who takes no prisoners when she spots a bargain buy.

Katherine The Great is going to win again.

They're hoping for a championship performance today

at Battersea car boot sale in London.

Their goal is to swiftly swipe the trusty treasures

that they can sell for the most money.

How much is this fine tome, madam?

They've each got £250 of their own cash to spend

and all the profit goes to their chosen charities.

I've got to stay focused here.

Charlie Ross and Katherine Higgins,

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

I can't make up my mind!

-Miss Higgins!

-Charlie.

-Lovely to see you.

-And you.

Well, we're at Battersea car boot. Are you feeling comfortable?

-Not in the slightest. But you are!

-I'm feeling quietly confident.

You look very perky, with your £250.

I'm feeling this is the place I'm going to find

all my Georgian brown furniture.

You've heard about my reputation, then?

I think I can feel a race coming on.

We're on a racetrack. On your marks, get set, go!

As they burst off the starting blocks,

both our crafty contenders know that strategy is

as important as speed when it comes to winning this contest.

This is a big, big boot fair.

Most of these cars have been unpacked for half an hour or so.

The new cars that are arriving are up the other end.

Get the goods while they're fresh.

I'm going to try and put aside all the things that I really like

and buy things that I think will make a profit,

which is part of the game, really.

But I do get a bit waylaid. Higgins likes fashion.

I bet Katherine's buying handbags and things like that. Girly things.

Dresses, boots, shoes.

Mr Ross - just your shape and size.

Perhaps surprisingly, Katherine homes in on second-hand denim.

I know someone who does very clever things with jeans.

They're probably not going to stay as they are now.

I think they're going to be scissored and cut up a little bit.

These will turn into something you've never seen in your life before.

And Katherine gets two pairs of jeans for a snip

at just £1.50 for both.

Thank you.

She's done the first deal of the day and is right at home

in the bustle of the boot fair,

but our fine furniture fancier is way out of his comfort zone.

I've got to try and move away from my usual train of thought.

I've got to think modern

and buy things that people can use in their houses or their gardens,

because I don't think it's going to be full of antiques here.

Katherine is going to be in her element here,

and I'm, frankly, like a fish out of water.

The Charmer may be struggling,

but he isn't giving up at the first hurdle. Oh, no.

He soon spots something which he hopes

will pack the opposition a real punch.

If I were to buy those and get them signed,

people collect things like that,

signed by famous sportsmen.

-How much are your boxing gloves, sir?

-Only a pound.

-A pound?

-Yeah.

One pound boxing gloves!

One pound is a steal.

Charlie gets the boxing gloves for a knockout price.

One pound!

One pound.

But Katherine The Great is also fighting hard

to find treasures that may turn a tidy profit.

-I hate to say it, but I would do a pound.

-Two pounds.

Got a bit of dirt in it! Needs cleaning.

£1.50?

A clear bargain, the glass dish is Katherine's for just £1.50.

It's made by pressing the glass into a mould,

so you get this fantastic almost-faceting

that you get with cut glass

in a very kind of humble way.

Cupcakes galore would look lovely in there.

Yes, The Great One has shifted into top gear,

and hopes to stretch her early lead

by doing a deal on a 1960s tableware set.

-65 for the lot.

-Yeah, that's too much.

I don't think it is.

You can have it for 55.

I'll do 50. Yeah, perfect, OK.

-I'll have the whole lot of it.

-Sure.

Even that broken bit.

I'm sure I can find a sugar lump to go in there.

A nifty haggle

and our Great lady dishes out £50 for the set of tableware.

Our mistress of modern design reckons she's on to a winner.

Look at that for style.

You cannot beat it.

Cylindrical shape. So what does that say? We're into the 1960s.

It's Magic City from Portmeirion, one of my favourite, favourite designs.

The power of dreams is in my hand,

and I'm going to make my dreams come true.

Yes, if she rubs hard enough,

she might just get her wish of victory over Charlie.

This is more my scene.

The Charmer just can't seem to focus today.

There's so much on offer at the boot sale,

but none of it is his kind of thing.

Desperately looking for antiques.

It's not going to be easy.

Plastic toys. You know, you might be able to buy something for a pound

and sell it for £2. I need to buy something for a pound or £2

and sell it for £30 or £50 in order to beat that Miss Higgins.

Katherine The Great has found her rhythm buying here at the boot fair,

and is now determined to get a deal

on a pair of stainless steel coffee pots.

Can we do a 30, 30-ish?

-40, 40...

-30...

The 35?

-35. That's a deal.

-35. Perfect.

And we've done a samba in the transaction.

Katherine's done a piping hot deal,

getting both the coffee pots for £35.

Welcome to the wonderful world of stainless steel.

They're designed by Robert Welch,

a great, great stainless steel designer.

I'd like to think I could find a very appreciative home for them,

someone who has a great bond with stainless steel, just as I do.

Katherine's dancing for joy, but Charlie is in big trouble.

He's now three items behind his rival and has only spent £1.

Perhaps he can break his bad run with a set of chairs.

Those are stylish, aren't they?

Really stylish. They're nice.

They're probably quite comfortable, too, aren't they?

-What have you gone for?

-100.

-100?!

Don't be silly. That's why you haven't sold them, of course.

HE LAUGHS

£100 is just too much for The Charmer,

and he turns his attention to a tall stand or torchiere.

How much is your torchiere?

-That is 20.

-Is it £20?

They're very saleable objects.

I bought one at a boot fair quite recently for £5

and I sold it very well at £15.

-Trebled my money.

-£15 would be good.

I think then we've got a proper deal.

A tenner, and I'd take it away now.

-A crisp £10 note.

-You can take that for 10.

Ten of the best.

-Thank you very much.

-Did that come out of your house as well?

-Yes, it did.

-Is there anything left in your house?

-Yes, the stairs.

-The st...

-HE LAUGHS

And I'm going to come back and buy those chairs off you later,

but at my price.

At last, Charlie's done a deal.

He touches down with the torchiere for £10.

He's starting to find his form.

The History Of Music?

That is pretty optimistic, isn't it, really,

to sum up the history of music in a tome that size?

HE LAUGHS

There's a song here entitled To My Mistress.

HE LAUGHS

Right up my scene, that one.

To My Mistress.

How much is this fine tome, madam?

-£5.

-£5?

Is it really?

Mmm.

Might be tempted by that, you know.

Might just be tempted.

At £5, the book on music history

isn't quite hitting the right note with Charlie,

but he's determined to get a bargain in the bag and catch up

with race leader Katherine The Great.

Can I have look at this badge, sir, please?

What's that come off?

-I like that.

-I think it's off a racing team car.

It could be off a racing team car, couldn't it?

It's plated and enamelled. How much is this object?

I was wanting a fiver for it, but...

But? You know, I like that.

-I'll do it for three quid as it's yourself.

-Why?

What do you mean, why? Because he likes me, my dear!

Why do you think he'd do it for three quid?

-Not a lot of downside, is there, at £2.50?

-No.

-£3!

-What? Is that what he said?

Yes, he said £3.

Nice try, Charlie, but no cigar.

So he tries a different tack by adding another item to the deal.

-What does it say on the bottom of it?

-Royal Canadian Engineers.

The Royal Canadian Engineers.

If I bought this thing, would that come free with it?

-Let me see. Which one is that?

-It's that.

-What about...

It's the Royal Canadian Engineers.

-We'll do the two for five.

-Here you are, that's four...

-He said four!

-OK, four, then.

Go on, darling. I love you.

Charlie eventually pins down a price of £4 for both badges.

Oh! Marvellous.

Well, I'm going to research the Royal Canadian Engineers

and I'm also going to find out what racing team

that car mascot comes from.

It's been a hard-fought first lap around the car boot sale

this morning, but now it's time to see how the score cards stand.

Charlie and Katherine each started the day

with £250 of their own money to spend.

Charlie 'The Charmer' Ross has only scored small money buys.

He's done three deals and spent just £15,

leaving him with £235 in his kitty.

Katherine 'The Great' Higgins is on cracking form.

She's bagged four buys so far and spent £88,

leaving her with £162 to spend.

Charlie The Charmer needs to dig deep in his hunt for a bargain,

and spots a character jug

which he hopes will give him a sporting chance of making money.

There we go. The Hampshire Cricketer.

Actually, I thought it was Geoff Boycott when I first looked at it.

It looks very like Geoff Boycott.

One of the most famous opening batsmen ever to play for England.

This will be a Doulton character jug.

They made thousands and thousands of character jugs,

and some of them, the rare ones, can be worth a lot of money.

This they would have produced a lot of,

and this was produced to celebrate

100 years of county cricket at Southampton. Limited edition,

but not that limited, because they made 5,000.

And this is number 3842.

How much is your character jug, sir?

-£20, sir.

-£20, sir.

-There's the certificate.

-And the certificate.

-And the box.

-And the box.

-Yep.

-Are you susceptible to an offer?

-15. There you are.

There is, as they say, no downside.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Thank you.

As a cricket lover,

I can't profess to like that,

but I certainly can sell it, I reckon.

-I think so.

-Thank you very much indeed.

Charlie backs the Toby Jug for £15,

but only time will tell

whether he'll clear the profit boundary with it,

or just be trapped leg before wicket.

One Hampshire cricketer.

With her rival making a comeback,

Katherine Higgins needs to keep on track

in her hunt for a bargain buy.

I've got to stay focused here.

And it's not long before she sniffs out another potential purchase.

Now, just bear with me here,

because I know we're looking at something

that is pretty tatty round the edges

and the frame isn't great,

but I'm in the middle of London

and I've seen something from home and I've got a bit kind of nostalgic.

This is a rather nice portrait of a football team.

The Worplesdon Football Club from the 1930s,

the '31-'32 season, for £4.

Katherine The Great hopes to score with her photo of the footballers.

This match may be entering its final buying stages,

but she knows it isn't over until the final whistle.

You know, you've got to keep hunting till the very end,

till the sun goes right down, it gets totally dark,

the prices come down -

that's when the real sleuths are out.

Katherine The Great is going to win again.

Very, very famous hatmakers, Lock & Co.

Charlie has only managed to find small-money deals so far today.

But no hat!

So it's time for a change of tactics.

I have seen something earlier which was too much money,

but by this time of day, it's probably got cheap enough.

Hello, my dear! Back again.

Charlie's hoping to narrow the gap on his rival

by doing a deal on a silver buckle,

which is up for sale at £40.

-You see, if it were Victorian... but it's 1909, isn't it?

-Yeah.

I just think the chaste decoration, hallmarked.

-It's very pretty, though, isn't it?

-It's lovely.

But you don't want to go home with this, do you?

SHE LAUGHS

You do not want to go home with this object.

You want me to go home with it.

Come on, Charlie,

you can't hypnotise her into giving you a good deal!

What about 25 quid? Go on. Do it for 25 quid.

-Aargh!

-You on your knees?!

Yeah. Not often I get on my knees to a young lady.

-25 quid.

-Go on, then.

25.

-I lurve you.

-And The Charmer's persistence pays off.

-25 quid of my hard-earned cash.

-..hard-earned cash.

And I am thrilled with that. Thank you, my dear.

You're welcome.

Quick, while the old man's missing!

SHE LAUGHS

-Thank you!

-OK.

At five deals apiece, this race is now neck and neck.

He's a real charmer.

He sure is!

Katherine is thinking crafty creativity might just be her way

to stay a step ahead of her rival.

I bought some jeans earlier that I think

could be transformed into something else,

and the same girl also transforms vinyl into something else.

All will be revealed.

But I'd have to get these really cheaply to make it work,

so I'm going to ask some prices.

I don't really mind what I'm buying.

That's not what's important.

It's the price that I'm buying it for that is.

You've got an array of things here. What generally...?

Yeah, they're all very rare records from the '70s.

-Oh, I don't want them to be rare.

-They are pretty rare.

-I want non-rare...

-Non-rare.

..cast-offs.

The Great One pinpoints and buys four LPs for just £1.

Just watch, wait and see what happens to them.

It's going to be a real adventure.

The boot fair is beginning to wind down,

but The Charmer is still after a big money buy.

He heads back to the chairs he saw earlier,

hoping that they might now be cheaper.

Oh, no! I don't believe it!

-I'm afraid they were sold.

-You sold 'em!

-I did indeed.

You good man. My four chairs.

-You see, he who hesitates is lost!

-Absolutely.

Tell me you didn't sell them for 20 quid.

-80.

-80 quid?

Tough luck, Charlie. You're too late, old bean.

Really stylish. They screamed '60s at you.

Is Katherine about to take advantage of Charlie's mistake?

That's quite quirky, isn't it?

Little brush for the fire.

That's rather nice, with the Victory on top. Isn't that sweet?

Katherine sweeps away Charlie's chances of catching her

-by bagging the hearth brush for just £1.

-Thank you.

Thanks very much.

I know collectors of brushes, strangely,

so that might appeal as well.

Five minutes left.

Just five minutes.

To do more buying!

Time is running out, and having missed out on the chairs,

Charlie hot-foots it back to the stall with the music book,

hoping that this late in the day, he might get it for a song.

It's still here!

I'm still absolutely tickled to death that a volume that size

can purport to be the history of music.

-Would you take a couple of pounds from me, sir?

-I'd take three.

-Three.

-Yep.

-I should have gone in at a pound,

-then you'd have taken two!

-As it's the end of the day.

Three quid. I'll have it.

The Charmer's offer late in the day

hits the right note with the seller, and the music book is his for £3.

Pleasure to do business with you.

Bye-bye.

The car boot sale is drawing to a close

and many sellers are shutting up shop,

but our queen of collectables is desperate for that one last buy.

I saw this stall and now it's gone,

and it had teacups and saucers on it and I don't know where it's gone.

And it's getting very dark and I'm slightly worried

that people are kind of packing up their things

and I might have missed my moment,

so I'm going to carry on hunting.

But even the disappearing light isn't going to stop The Great One

bagging a final purchase for £2.

It feels like it's almost midnight

cos it's completely dark around me

and I can barely see the design on these little tea plates,

but they are very sweet.

Tulips and an anemone by Shelley,

so we're talking lovely 1930s tableware,

and I'm really pleased with them.

I think they will go very, very well, actually,

with my glass bowl that I bought earlier.

The sale is over, and with daylight swiftly departing,

our sparring Spartans cross the finishing lines

with just moments to spare.

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

Charlie 'The Charmer' Ross mounted a late charge after a slow start

and finishes having done six deals and spent £58.

Katherine 'The Great' Higgins ends the day with eight purchases,

spending a total of £96.

But this game is all about who will make the most profit.

Our experts have gone the extra mile in search of a bargain,

so now they get a chance to size up each other's car boot buys.

Are you finished?

Well, not really, but the world around me has sort of vacated.

Everyone's gone home and I can't shop any more.

Neither can I, because I can't carry anything.

Why can't you carry anything?

Cos I can't pick anything up!

Oh, God.

What a boy's toy.

Did you find any antiques?

I did see antiques, but I didn't buy them.

-Oh, that's lovely!

-Do you like that?

-Yeah, very, very nice.

1909, so not quite Victorian,

but it's beautifully decorated

and I think I can sell that.

I rather fell in love with this,

and I find seeing things out of context is extraordinary. London,

but it's something from home, my local Surrey area.

-Well done, you!

-So it's unlocking the past for me.

Have some lovely research.

I'm going off to find a boxer.

Have fun! Bye.

Our antiques athletes must now swap their running shoes

for thinking caps, as this is

where the going gets really tough.

Buying their boot fair booty was just the start of today's challenge.

Charlie and Katherine must now go all out

to sell their hard-won wonders

in an all-out battle for the biggest profit

and the winner's crown.

Over in Oxfordshire,

Charlie The Charmer is plotting over his prize purchases.

There weren't many antiques per square inch in that boot fair.

I think in front of you, you see one item, or possibly two,

that could be called antiques.

But I'm quite intrigued by the boxing gloves.

I'll get those signed, hopefully, by Barry McGuigan,

ex-world champion boxer, which will transform their value.

Cricket I can never resist.

It's Royal Doulton, it's a limited edition,

so it has a collector's value.

The book will not be difficult to sell.

It's fascinating, with its historical content.

So we've got half a dozen things. Some will be easy to sell.

Some will be a bit harder. But overall, I think I'll make a profit.

How big will the profit be?

Anybody's guess.

Charlie also needs to sell the two badges,

the belt buckle and the torchiere.

But there's a certain queen of collectables,

Miss Katherine Higgins,

who hopes to put a stop to Charlie's profit plans.

I went completely mad,

bought everything in sight and here it all is.

I'm going to put the jeans and the LPs together.

I think they would go to a girl I know

who will take them from what they are now and transform them

into fashionable accessories

that you have never seen in your life before.

Stainless steel.

It's such a design statement.

I've also got the Shelley plates

and this lovely pressed glass bowl,

and these two sets of things will be perfect for vintage tea parties.

I can just see them, lovely little muffins coming out of them

and little bon-bons in here. It's going to be glorious.

Charlie, you could be in for a little bit of an adventure

when it comes to competition with me, cos, you know,

I think I'm ahead of the game so far, and the ladies are going to win.

Katherine may have thrown down the gauntlet to Charlie,

but she also needs to find homes for her hearth brush,

her Portmeirion tea and coffee set,

and the vintage photo of the footballers.

Our duelling dealers must now hit the phones

and contact potential buyers, knowing that no deal is truly sealed

until they've shaken on it and the money has changed hands.

It's Katherine The Great who's first off the blocks.

She's come to Watford with plans for the LPs and the jeans.

She's hoping to sell them to Selina,

who transforms old items into arty accessories.

Wow. Hang on, I need time to adjust.

I'm in, like, Aladdin's cave of customisation.

Yeah, it's all scraps and recycled bits and pieces from everywhere.

From friends, charity shops, car boot sales.

Katherine paid £1 for the LPs and £1.50 for the jeans,

but will Selina offer her more?

We can make all different sorts of things out of them.

We can make cushions or handbags.

-Really?

-Skirts.

A lot of things you can do with denim.

It didn't stop there, the shopping.

I bought you rather a nice selection of vinyl,

but I can see you've got some here.

I'm absolutely taken away with that.

-Isn't that spectacular?

-Thank you.

-So my records could become this.

-Absolutely, yeah.

-I'm just astonished.

OK, so, maybe for the jeans, £15,

something like that for the pair.

-OK.

-And then the records, about 10?

I'd do 15 for the two.

What about 20?

-That's in the middle, isn't it?

-OK. £20.

You're a star.

It's a crafty first deal from Katherine,

making a combined profit on both items of £17.50.

And her car boot booty will find new life as customised accessories.

Charlie Ross - could you sell your second-hand jeans for a profit?

I don't think so.

And Katherine The Great isn't stopping there.

She's headed to Staffordshire,

hoping for a sale of the stainless steel coffee pots that cost her £35.

Katherine's done her research and tracked down the grandson

of the founder of the company that made them.

So what will Nigel think of Katherine's car boot finds?

Oh, my goodness! How beautiful.

This is the Camden Coffee Set, 1957.

The first time anybody had ever put teak and stainless steel together,

so we've got a teak knob and a teak handle.

The left-hand one is for hot milk,

and this is for the coffee,

and the idea is that you pour them both at the same time.

So it's been well looked after, so you did well to spot it.

So what does that mean the price is?

I'd like to think around about £70.

That does justice to it.

If the sugar bowl was there...

Oh, yeah, you see, I knew when I bought it I was missing something.

I would think at least 50.

Well, I'd be happy with that sort of figure.

If we could get up to 55, I'd be even more happy.

We're not going to fall out over £5,

so 55 will be fine, Katherine.

Cheers.

Nigel gets to add the coffee pots to his collection,

and Katherine clears a £20 profit.

It's time for The Charmer to fight back

against Katherine's money-making ways.

He's come to Burlington Arcade in London

with plans to sell the belt buckle that he paid £25 for.

So will dealer Daniel like what he sees?

-What do you think?

-Buckles aren't the greatest of sellers,

but this is just superb engraving.

-It's gorgeous.

-It's really not worn at all, is it?

And it's nice marks. It's Edwardian.

-I think it's about 190...

-1909?

Yes, sounds about right.

-And that's gorgeous.

-Would you buy it?

-I would.

That's the sort of thing one of my dealers would come in

and offer to me for about £75,

-if you want to sell it for that.

-£75.

-I don't know

-if that shows you a profit.

-Put it there!

-It does.

-Fantastic. That was easy.

-Stick a cheque in the post.

-I will.

-I've got to go.

-Right.

-All the best.

-That is the quickest visit ever!

Fast work from The Charmer,

and he dashes off with a tidy profit of £50 on the belt buckle.

That was the quickest sale I've ever done in my life,

and I've trebled my money!

And faster than a speeding bullet, Charlie's off

in pursuit of his next sale.

-Lord's, please, sir.

-OK.

-Thank you.

He's headed to Lord's cricket ground in north London

with plans to sell the Toby Jug of the Hampshire cricketer

to a former England player.

Not only is The Charmer a dealer with a plan,

he's also in seventh heaven here at Lord's.

Oh! I can almost hear the sound of leather on willow.

CROWD NOISE

Charlie paid £15 for the jug at the boot fair,

but will former cricketer Chris Cowdrey be bowled over by it?

Now, the Hampshire Cricketer.

-Limited edition.

-Of how many?

Only 5,000.

THEY LAUGH

You shouldn't have asked that question!

Have you got a house full of these sort of things or not?

-No, I've got a similar one, of Fred Trueman.

-Oh, have you?

-Yeah.

We use it for celery sticks and cheese straws.

You know, you can see in the top of it.

Why would you have a hole in the head as such?

Presumably they're expecting you to put something in there.

-The earlier ones had a lip on them and used as jugs.

-Multi-purpose.

Royal Doulton, one of the great names of porcelain.

-50 quid?

-50 quid?!

-I was thinking a little lower than that.

-I'm a flexible man, Chris.

-£40?

-I think probably I could run to 30.

-35?

-35 it is.

-Settle for that.

-I can do that.

-Very good.

The Charmer's made a profit of £20 on the jug,

and hopes he's batted away

Katherine's chances of winning today.

Oh, what an innings!

Well batted, Ross.

35, Cowdrey gone.

But our Great gal isn't out for a duck.

Katherine's come to a company in Warwickshire

which specialises in matching discontinued china,

hoping to sell her Portmeirion tea and coffee set.

So will the director of tableware, John,

be willing to offer her more than the £50 she paid for it?

I love Magic City.

It's one of my favourite patterns from Portmeirion,

and I think it's incredibly creative.

The problem with Magic City is that

it can easily mark and chip,

so we must look very carefully at it

before we negotiate a price.

OK. I fear that there might be one here which is not at its best.

-No, that's not at its best, no.

-Not at its best.

Are you going to break the news to me

of how much you're going to ask me to pay for this wonderful stuff?

I think about...130?

-I'm thinking more of £80.

-Are you?

-Mmm.

And how do you arrive at that figure?

By being very generous.

SHE LAUGHS

OK.

Do you think a sort of meeting in the middle,

about 95, is...are you feeling comfortable with that?

95 I'll go with.

-95. It's a deal.

-It's a deal.

I want to know now where's it going to go?

Oh, it's going to go with the rest of this,

cos we have masses of it down here.

And John ain't joking!

There's china here as far as the eye can see.

But Katherine's got a reason to smile.

She's made a £45 profit on the price she paid.

It's midway in this battle, and time to see

whose money-making plans are in bits

and who's dishing up big profits.

So far, Charlie 'The Charmer' Ross has done two deals

and he's made a profit of £70.

Katherine 'The Great' Higgins has done three deals,

and she's slightly ahead with a profit of £82.50.

Now, our Katherine's a creative sort

who isn't afraid of using her ingenuity and imagination

to generate a sale. But has she just fallen down a rabbit hole?

Here I am in Wonderland, and it is slightly mad,

because I'm sitting here having tea in the snow.

But there is method in her madness.

She wants to sell the glass dish and the plates to Julia,

who runs a business hiring out vintage china.

I'm not just here to drink lovely cups of tea.

I've actually come to do a bit of business, and I've brought you

two plates which haven't got anything to match with them.

-Sorry about that.

-That's not a problem, actually,

cos lots of people that we hire to specifically want everything

to mismatch, so they would look perfect with anything.

It's a very different shape, isn't it? It's the Eve shape,

it's Shelley, and dates to about 1935.

-That's lovely.

-I thought you'd like that as well.

That's really pretty.

It's a pressed glass dish, so it's actually pressed into a mould

and then sectioned together,

and those are very humble, but actually now,

I love the reversal.

It's actually used at the top end, you know, being on a wedding table.

Yes, pressed glass is just really popular at the moment,

and it actually looks a lot more vintage than a cut glass would.

Julia is keen, but will she offer Katherine more than she paid?

£1.50 for the glass dish and £2 for the plates?

How much would you like for them?

12, 15 for the pressed glass,

and perhaps £10 for the plates?

So where does that leave me? About 22, £25 in total.

How about 20? Would that be OK?

Yes, 20 doesn't sound completely Mad Hatter-ish.

-That sounds ideal.

-OK, that's lovely. Thanks very much.

Wonderful. Thanks, Julia.

This tea party is far from nonsense.

Katherine's made a cracking combined profit on the glass dish

and the plates of £16.50.

The Great One also hopes to sweep away

The Charmer's chances of victory with an impressive profit of £49

when she sells the hearth brush to client Katie.

-Wonderful.

-Thank you.

The queen of collectables is a selling tour de force.

Is Charlie going to need divine intervention to seize victory?

Well, I'm in the Catholic church in Bicester,

and I come here every Sunday night.

No, not for a service, but to rehearse.

It's where my choir sings, the Akeman Voices.

And tonight, I've brought along The History Of Music,

which I'm hoping Martin Quinn, our musical director, will buy.

I bought it at the boot fair. What did it cost? £3.

I can't help but make a profit.

Love the optimism, Charlie,

but will the book on the history of music

hit the right note with Martin?

-Oh, wow.

-It's got some great questions in it.

-I'm going to ask you one.

-Oh.

Approximately when was Mozart's Requiem written?

1797.

Ooh! 1791.

You have passed the test! Congratulations.

1941, this was given.

Can I interest you in this?

-I could add it to my collection, yes.

-You could.

-I could.

I'd like to get £20 for this book.

Maybe 15?

-HE GASPS:

-Do you know, I thought you might come in at 10!

-10?

So 15, I'll shake you by the hand.

It's a substantial profit, and I'm thrilled to have bought it.

A £15 sale price is music to The Charmer's ears

and nets him a profit of £12.

And his plans are in harmony,

as he also makes £23.70

selling the badges, one to a dealer and the other at auction.

And he makes a further £25

selling the torchiere to a local theatre group.

Time is nearly up on today's competition,

and our antiques athletes are preparing for the last big push.

Katherine thought she had just one item left to sell,

the photograph of the footballers.

But when she took the back off the print,

she was in for a bit of a surprise.

She discovered that there was another photo underneath it,

of a group of soldiers.

What this picture shows us

is the Black Watch Regiment in the mid-1880s.

And then I noticed this signature.

R Ellis Photo, Malta,

and that has set me on a completely new course.

Richard Ellis, as I discovered

when I spoke to the Royal Photographic Society,

is one of the great Victorian photographers.

What's the next part of the story?

I think I really need to take it to Malta and find out.

And Katherine pays for flights out of her unspent kitty

in order to do just that, on a quest

to find out more about Richard Ellis.

Richard was an Englishman who arrived in Malta in the 1860s

and had a long career as a photographer on the island.

The archive of his work contains some 40,000 images,

and is curated by his great-grandson Ian.

Katherine has agreed to meet Ian, along with local photographer

and archive researcher Patrick.

Here we go.

This is a photograph taken at Fort Saint Elmo,

and I believe the regiment is the Black Watch,

which would have been the 42nd, 43rd or 44th.

The regiment was stationed here between 1886 and 1889,

so we can begin to date it, and what I love is that we've got

the signature there that brings it back to here.

Not only has the print been returned to where it was taken,

Ian has also dug out the original negative,

but it's suffered over the years.

It does have slight damage.

The negative has gone through a bit of mishap and handling,

so we're pretty happy to have the print,

which looks still in very good condition.

As the original negative's damaged,

Katherine's print would be a valuable addition to the archive.

But what will Ian and Patrick be prepared to pay for it?

I do have to make a modest profit somewhere along the line,

and I'm thinking around about the £300 mark.

The print would complement the picture.

-Would you be prepared to accept 280 sterling for that?

-Do you know what?

I would be delighted to take 280.

Can I shake hands with you both? I don't know how a girl does that.

I'm going to multitask.

Katherine's done a terrific deal

on the rediscovered Richard Ellis print,

and the photograph of the footballers,

her original purchase, finds a new home

with the modern day Worplesdon football team.

..the early 1930s...

With the cost of Katherine's flight to Malta

deducted from the sale, and her reframing costs,

the photographs still prove a magnificent car boot discovery,

providing The Great One a profit of £221.47.

What a result!

SHE SHRIEKS

Katherine The Great is all sold up,

but Charlie The Charmer has one last item to do a deal on -

the boxing gloves.

And he's got big plans for them.

Well, I'm here with one of the greatest world champions

that these islands have ever produced, Barry McGuigan.

Now, Barry, when did you win your world championship?

-I was 24 years old. I'm now 50, so work out the maths!

-Yeah.

-So it was 15 rounds?

-15 rounds.

One of the last 15 rounders that there ever was in this country,

and then from a medical point of view

they reduced them down to 12 rounds.

-Right.

-So tell me about these gloves.

-I bought these in a boot fair for £1.

-OK.

And I thought with a signature from the great man,

they could be worth hundreds of pounds, really,

to a collector of sporting memorabilia.

You can tell me...these are probably rubbish, aren't they?

They're not rubbish. They're really from the '80s/'90s.

These are eight-ounce, ten-ounce gloves.

These would have been sort of kiddie gloves.

-So at a pound, I bought them well?

-Yeah, you most definitely did,

and I hope that by adding my signature to them,

I will put another bit of value on them.

-However...

-Yeah.

-You don't get it that easy, Charlie.

-Oh.

You've got to do a few rounds on the punch pad with me.

-What, I have?

-You have to. Well, that's the deal.

If you don't, I don't sign them.

HE LAUGHS

So where do I do that?

-Down in the cellar. Let's go.

-Come on(!) Oh, God.

Uh-oh. Barry's going to make Charlie work for that signature.

What are The Charmer's chances?

OK, try the jab. Again.

Again.

BARRY LAUGHS

Again. Again.

Oh, I say, he's not bad!

Nice uppercut, Charlie.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Now I'll sign the gloves.

-How do you feel?

-You'll sign the gloves?

I'm absolutely knackered.

A noble effort from The Charmer,

and he's got that all-important signature from Barry.

Will the gloves now turn a knock-out profit?

Will it be enough to beat Katherine The Great today?

All will be revealed.

Oh!

Each of our duelling dealers started out with

£250 of their own money to spend.

Charlie 'The Charmer' Ross did six deals at the car boot sale

and spent £58.

Katherine 'The Great' Higgins bagged eight buys,

spending a total of 190.53 including flights and framing.

But the only thing that matters now is who has made the most profit.

All of the money that Charlie and Katherine have made today

will be going to charities of their choice,

so let's find out who is today's

Put Your Money Where Mouth Is champion.

Ah! You're coming down to my level, I see.

Katherine The Great from on high.

I have been somewhere hot.

You've been abroad!

I heard a rumour.

-Yes, it's true. All the way to Malta.

-Malta?

-It was great, yeah.

-Well, you didn't invite me, did you?

Do you know, I wasn't allowed any old baggage?

Old baggage?! You're looking at a champion boxer here!

-Really?

-Remember my gloves?

-Yeah.

I took them off to Barry McGuigan and he signed them for me.

Not before he'd made me box for about half an hour.

Nearly killed me. But the profit, as you will see, is well worthwhile.

OK, I'm sure it is.

Three, two, one. Let's see.

Hey! Yes.

Yes!

Close, but not good enough.

You've got me on the ropes.

So, Katherine is the winner, and why?

Well, although the boxing gloves packed a punchy profit of £159

when Charlie sold them to a sporting memorabilia collector,

it just wasn't enough to beat The Great One.

Well, I thought I'd done really well. Thumping good profit.

But can you compete with someone

that buys an old photograph of some footballers

and finds a priceless treasure behind them?

Nothing you can do about that.

Well, I couldn't be happier.

Charlie, I think you did pretty well, only, better luck next time.

He may have been beaten by Katherine today,

but things could all change for Charlie tomorrow,

as our experts go all out for victory

in the Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is showdown.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd