James Lewis v Mark Franks - Foreign Antiques Market 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...

Hey-hey!

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

I'm on the case.

Each week, one pair of duelling dealers

will face a different daily challenge...

I'm a cheeky chancer. Lovely!

..putting their reputations on the line and giving you top tips

and savvy secrets on how to make the most money from buying and selling.

-Let's go and spend some money.

-Get in there!

Today, it's Battlefield Belgium, where the savvy, streetwise salesman

Mark Franks takes on the auctioneer extraordinaire James Lewis.

Coming up, Mark demonstrates a novel way to get the best deal.

Have you ever seen John Cleese in Fawlty Towers?

-The programme Fawlty Towers?

-Yes.

-He did this, right?

-Flustered James is like a bull in a china shop.

-Whoops!

And they both face some formidable buyers.

-How many have you struck?

-Honestly...five?

That's a fiver you knocked off straight away, before you started.

Rust, schmust. Come on, it's a lot of railings there.

No, but it's gone, it's gone, it's had it.

This is Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.

Today's bargaining blitzkrieg

rattles the stalls of Belgium's

world-famous Waterloo antiques market.

Our titanic trinket traders have crossed the Channel

and need all guns blazing

in their battle for ultimate antiques glory.

These marauding dealers will hunt like savages and use

their wily ways to bag premium pieces for the best possible prices.

First up, the mercenary musketeer, Mark "Franksy" Franks -

a mighty man with his own unique charm.

Is it me, or does that really look like James? Look at the teeth!

But his contender is not to be messed with.

It's the Derbyshire dynamo, James "The Lionheart" Lewis,

a rip-roaring rummager

who has mastered the art of aping his adversary.

I'm Mark Franks!

They have a steep hill to climb in their search for the best

Belgian antiques and, once they reach the summit,

they must sell on their items for the highest profit,

but only one can peak and be crowned the conquering hero.

Both our boys have converted £750 of their own money into euros

and all the profit they make will go to their chosen charities.

So, Mark Franks and James Lewis,

it's time to Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.

-Morning.

-Bonjour.

-Bonjour. Ca va?

-Mangetout.

-Del Boy's guide to French!

-Yeah, exactly that.

Now, what a great fair, I do love this fair. It's a bit early for me.

I like my beauty sleep, but it is a nice fair, isn't it?

So what are you looking for? That's the question.

-What are you looking to buy?

-Anything cheap really.

Anything cheap?!

I didn't think you were a cheap person, I thought

-you were a man of style and quality.

-Of course, CHEAP style and quality.

Well, I'm going to be looking for stuff

that you just cannot buy in the UK.

If you find something that they underrate here

that we rate in the UK, it's a good policy.

-You know, there is one thing we should do.

-What's that?

Get on with it.

They seem full of bonhomie, but this is a struggle for supremacy

and cheeky Franksy has sold James a big, fat, red herring.

Now, regardless of what I said

when I was talking to James earlier on,

the reality of it is that I'm here to buy industrial items.

That's what I've got in mind.

I'm thinking of big, big flats in London,

where they've got the room to have big, oversized items.

Franksy may have kept his cards close to his chest,

but the Lionheart is a formidable adversary

and is already sharply focused.

When you come somewhere like this,

the idea is to keep a very broad mind.

You're going to find something that you would never have

expected to find in a million years.

So, with the battle lines drawn, our fearless finders advance and

it's James who pounces straight away, buying a statue of a spaniel.

Well, that's my first little purchase in the bag.

It's a 19th-century bronze.

Every bronze starts life, in a way, like a brass colour.

The finish that you see,

is a finish that's patinated over the base metal.

So you either get gold-plated bronze, which is ormolu,

silvered bronze, dark-patinated bronze

or, like this one, brown patinated.

Unlike brass, if you clean it, you ruin it.

Luckily, this has still got loads of dust and all its patination left.

But for 35 euros, that, in my opinion, is a bit of a bargain.

And converting that money back into sterling,

the dog costs the Lionheart £29.91.

Franksy is barely out of the trenches

and James has already fired the opening salvo.

And the Lionheart wastes no time loading up with his second purchase,

a 19th-century Italian table sculpture.

This would have been brought back by a tourist, who had gone to visit

the original that is housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

The story goes that Spinario, this little boy,

he was sent with a message from the Roman Senate and he ran and ran

and ran and didn't even stop to take a thorn out of his foot

until he had delivered his message and then he arrived in Rome,

sat down and removed the now very deeply embedded thorn.

Out of respect for a very courageous little boy,

they carved a figure out of marble.

Having paid 45 euros, that is a dead cert.

45 euros works out at £38.46. James is off and running.

Still early and already two items tucked neatly under his belt.

It puts Franksy well and truly on the back foot,

not that you'd notice. He's off making new friends.

He's as cute as James is uncute. Aren't you, eh?

Look at your wiggly tail, little wiggly tail.

Yes, you need to get a wriggly on, Franks.

The Lionheart is pawing another potential purchase,

an early 20th-century walking cane with an ivory head

and the stallholder is willing to do a deal.

Maintenant, 80.

Merci.

He's saying normally it would be 100, now he's saying 80.

Oh, well, it's the third object

and the pressure is off, isn't it? So, merci.

And James walks off with the cane for £68.38

and, because it's over 100 years old,

it predates the laws restricting the sale of ivory.

Three items up and there's no stopping the Lionheart

but, true to form, Mark has found his feet

and he's fallen for a biscuit barrel.

This is absolutely lovely.

Combien, s'il vous plait?

Combien?

-120.

-What's your dernier, dernier prix?

-110.

Oh, gosh!

-You'll never find...

-No, I know, it's lovely. I love it.

Listen, I love it. You don't need to tell me, I love it, it's beautiful.

-It's from... Where is it from?

-From Belgium, from Belgium.

And it was from a shop, from a magasin?

From a shop, yes, from a shop.

I'm in a real bad place here, a really bad place,

where my heart is going, "Buy it, buy it!"

My brain is going, "You won't make a profit,

"you won't even get your money back!"

Have you ever seen John Cleese in Fawlty Towers?

-The programme Fawlty Towers?

-Yes.

-He did this, right?

STALLHOLDER LAUGHS

And that is exactly how I feel. OK,

-cent...cinq, dernier prix.

-OK.

-It's yours.

-You are a gentleman.

Franksy is finally off and no Fawlties there.

The barrel cost him £89.74.

It's not exactly industrial,

but it's definitely something he won't find back at home.

Franksy's first find doesn't faze his foe

because James has been approached by a fan.

He just said, who am I up against? I said, "Mark Franks,"

and he went, "Ha! That's going to be easy!"

Ooh! Let's not underestimate Mark too soon.

He's already off searching for purchase number two.

James gets back down to business and reveals a clever tactic.

He has come to Belgium with a short shopping list

for a guaranteed buyer back home.

I've got a friend who is just opening a hairdressing salon in Nottingham

and he's got lots of gilt mirrors

and he wants a chandelier, a clock and something to hang the coats on.

That would certainly work with his gilt mirrors.

Right, I've taken a photograph of it.

I've sent it back to the UK.

Let's just see what he thinks of it.

James must play a waiting game,

but he can't hang about because even though his friend also wants

a chandelier, the Lionheart could be about to miss out.

Franksy has found one first.

I can hear you laughing.

I think that's smashing.

Right, lose that, the little Chinese hat or whatever, that's horrible.

These, you have to unscrew, but what can we do with this?

Yes, I can take this apart. This is lovely.

Now, the big question is the price. Combien, monsieur?

-180.

-180.

Cent euros, s'il vous plait?

-MAN SPEAKS IN FRENCH

-He says, "Pardon, it's 120."

So, I've offered him 100 and he said 120.

OK, 110, finis.

-Complete.

-OK.

-OK?

-Allez.

Merci beaucoup. OK, je retourne! Hooray!

And a manly bear hug seals the deal.

The chandelier sets him back £94.02

and he's pretty pleased with himself.

I'm guessing it's probably 50, 60 years old.

It's hard to put an age on it.

You have to take into account electricity,

which came in about the 1920s into most homes,

so it's newer than that.

The antlers are natural and natural substances are really good.

This, I'm really pleased with. All I have to do now is sell it.

Yes, that's the hard bit, Franksy,

but could James already have a leg up in the selling stakes?

The verdict is in from Blighty

on the 19th-century-style clock for the hairdresser.

"Oh, my God, I love the clock. Is it expensive? It's fab!"

Right, I'm going to go and get the clock.

Bonjour.

I'll take the clock.

50 euros, yes? I'm not going to negotiate hard.

These guys have got to make a living, too.

A fourth item for the Lionheart.

He pays 50 euros or £42.74.

All that's left is to find

the other items on the salon's shopping list -

a chandelier and a coat stand.

While James peruses on, Franksy has got waylaid again.

Brace yourselves, people.

# Roll out the barrel

# We'll have a barrel of fun. #

-Thank you.

-Yes, maybe stick to the antiques, Mark, and quick to it.

The unstoppable Lionheart Lewis has spotted yet another item -

a classic piece of French oak furniture,

it's marked up at 280 euros.

-What would be your best price on that?

-250.

-It's a 17th-century piece.

-Yes.

He's tempted, but it's too much money,

although as soon as he's walked away, he is back.

-Would 200 be OK?

-230.

-230...

-It's the middle.

-220, a better middle for me.

-225.

OK, you've got a deal.

And James closes the deal on the Normandy cabinet.

At £192.31, it's more than a quarter of his entire budget.

And that barnstorming buy brings us to the halfway stage

in this tremendous tussle.

Time to see how our battle-hardened beasts are getting on.

Each of our sabre rattlers started the day with £750 worth of euros.

The demon dealer Mark Franks

has notched up two purchases for £183.76,

leaving £566.24 in his collectables kitty.

But the awesome auctioneer James Lewis has spent twice as much.

Five items for £371.80, meaning he has £378.20 left to spend.

So there's no time to lose, particularly for Franksy.

He needs to buckle down, up his game

and trawl the stalls to claw back the advantage,

but juggernaut James is off and running again.

He soon finds a modern mannequin that could tick off another item

on the salon's shopping list - somewhere to hang coats.

But it's 100 euros, which I think is an awful lot of money for it, but...

-What's your best price on that?

-80.

-80.

-80.

-No, 50.

-OK, 50, that's good.

-You have a deal. Thank you.

Yes, the shop's mannequin is purchase number six

and costs £42.74.

At last, Mark spies something special

and it's one of those industrial items he said he was here to find.

What do you know about railings?

I know one thing.

(They're very expensive to get made!)

Combien?

-C'est 350 euros l'ensemble.

-Ensemble? Un piece? Two piece?

-Huit pieces.

-Huit pieces?!

-Oui.

-Eight pieces, OK?

-Eight pieces of... What is that?

-Deux metres cinquante.

Two and a half metres. Le dernier prix?

250. 250 euros.

250 euros, what does that work out? 220 quid.

-210.

-220.

-225, 225.

-220.

-5!

-220!

-Allez, 220.

220 euros, roughly 200 quid.

Everyone, as they say, is a winner.

In fact, Franksy has done even better than he thinks

because 220 euros works out at £188.03.

You might say, "These are really worn out and falling apart."

I love all this. I love all this damage. These are smashing.

I love the paint flaking off, I love them!

You could do four fronts of houses, you could do a big front garden.

You could do down the side of a back garden. This is great! I'm so happy!

Nice to see him so excited

and the railings bring him right back into the game.

All of a sudden, things have started hotting up

and our bargain beagles begin to splash the cash.

Franksy buys an oversized washing powder box for £1.71,

along with a cello case in mint condition for £28.21.

I bet this is £100 new, if not £200

or £300.

£400, £500, £600...

Yes, I think Franksy might be getting a bit carried away,

but it seems big is beautiful as James fights straight back

by buying a large copper pot for £17.09.

But feisty Franksy won't be beaten.

He's found himself a nice little squeeze.

I don't think it's worth a fortune, but 25 euros...

I think it's a steal.

1930s, 1920s, it's very hard to date.

There are over 2,000 moving parts in this. I bet you didn't know that!

I think this is going to not make me a huge profit, but...

I think it will still be music to my ears.

The baby accordion presses all the right buttons.

He snaps it up for £21.37 and it brings him almost level

with the Lionheart and that puts him in a mischievous mood.

With my little eye, I spy James Lewis.

Shall we go and annoy him? Come on!

MARK PLAYS THE ACCORDION TUNELESSLY

Don't give up the day job, mate.

25 euros and I think it's absolutely charming.

What have you bought?

Just lots of bits and bobs, really,

but I've bought quite a few. How about you?

-Just bits of china and glass.

-Yes?

-China and glass really.

China and glass, yes. Well, I haven't bought any china.

And I haven't bought any glass. I've bought a mannequin!

At least it'll keep me company on the train when you've had a few beers.

A few beers?! I'm going to be going up and down trying to raise money.

Good luck. It's the only way you're going to make any money today.

Yes, it's all good-humoured now, but don't be fooled.

These men are archrivals, each with a thirst for glory.

They plunge back into the stalls and it's not long before James

stumbles upon the last item for his friend's new salon at home -

a Dutch brass chandelier - but the couple selling it

won't budge from their asking price of 100 euros.

Then, to compound James's misery, Franksy returns.

Come on, James, get your money out. Offer her 70, come on.

What's your dernier prix?

C'est 100. Ce matin, c'est 150.

It belonged to her grandmother, she says.

Get on your knees, look, I'll teach you. This is how you do it, right?

Do this, right? You get her hand and you...

Look, she loves it, look.

But her husband doesn't and he's making the decision!

I'm bigger than him!

-JAMES LAUGHS

-Good luck, James!

-Thanks, Mark.

Yes, Franksy leaves James in a fluster and it starts to show.

Whoops!

JAMES LAUGHS

Yes, keep calm, James.

How about 90 then? 90 euros.

-90?

-That's fair enough.

-90... OK.

You got a deal. Well done.

And he gets there in the end.

The 17th-century-style chandelier costs him £76.92.

I just hope he likes it. Thank you very much.

As we get towards the end of the day,

the purchases are still coming thick and fast.

Love it! Got to be 100 years old, cast iron, wonderful.

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

I just think, on the wall, with a mirror behind it,

in the garden, whatever.

The industrial wheel comes from the same stall as a glass sign

and, together, they cost 60 euros or £51.68.

All of a sudden, our boys are both on eight items each,

but not for long.

The Lionheart leaps out in front with another oversized item -

an enormous box of matches.

I'll give you 80 and meet you in the middle.

-All right, give it to me, give it to me.

-Thank you.

James strikes a deal on the novelty item - £15.38.

I love them, I absolutely love them,

but they're probably not going to be a massive profit,

but I need to find a giant to sell them to.

Well, you would think he'd bought enough for one day,

but James can't resist his passion for African tribal art.

He buys two wooden masks and a statue for £128.21.

We've got the little Punu statue for fertility.

Probably 19th-century, so it's good to have a piece with some age.

Then, secondly, the Kwele hunting mask.

So stylish, it looks really art deco in its design.

And, finally, the Fang mask, covered in white slip

and then rubbed away to show the chocolate-coloured wood underneath.

Three really good decorative pieces.

Somebody should definitely want them as much as I do.

The Lionheart's never-ending prowling

keeps the pressure up on Franksy,

but he takes it all in his south London stride

and makes his final purchase of the day.

Yes, you think I've lost them.

The fact is, I've found them. Look, look.

My marbles. I tell you what, there are a lot of marbles there.

I gave 10 euros for them, which is slightly below £10.

I think these could be a winner.

I might sell them as a whole job lot, but for a tenner, it's a gift.

10 euros converts to £8.55

and as Franksy gets reacquainted with his marbles,

James weighs in with a last cheeky buy -

a set of iron and brass scales from the 1920s. They cost £17.09.

So, it's all in the balance.

The stallholders pack up

and before our bargaining buccaneers can celebrate with a Belgian waffle,

let's see how they've done.

Both our boys started the day with £750 of their own money.

The merciless Mark Franks leaves the battlefield with eight buys,

having forked out £482.91.

But James Lewis was relentless.

He takes home 11 purchases for £669.23.

It's time to call a temporary truce,

as our weary warlords take stock of their foreign haul.

-Well, what a day!

-What a day! I went a bit industrial.

That was my plan of action, so big lumps.

And more interesting items.

I'm not looking for the stuff you can buy at home.

-I love the railings.

-Railings are good news, I like them.

-Wonderful!

Yes, but I'll tell you what I like - your mannequin is absolutely...

-Do you like that?

-Yes! He's white, he's clean, he's... Oh, fabulous!

Underneath all this, James, I'm exactly like that.

A bit thinner, in fact!

-Those are incredible!

-I know just the place to sell those.

-Yeah?

-Where is that, then?

-I can't tell you.

MARK LAUGHS

-You've got a cunning plan?

-I've got a cunning plan, like a fox.

-That's got a bit of age, hasn't it?

-Yes, 17th-century French.

-Yeah, lovely.

-She got from a farmhouse in Normandy, so she said.

Well, do you know what, I wouldn't be surprised.

It's got lovely pegged joints on it, fielded panels.

I love the way it's all sort of worn at the end there.

James, put it there, I think we've both done very well.

-Well done, mate.

-So do I. Really good day.

Yes, the good times are now over.

This is where the hard work really begins.

Our supreme soldiers have amassed their arsenals

and head back to Britain to start their selling surge

and they have one clear aim - profit and lots of it.

In South London, Mark's missiles are lined up and he is ready to launch.

Well, I'm a long way from Waterloo. Now, the old washing powder.

That's great fun and, incidentally,

the label on there is in francs, so its pre-euro.

The railings... Ooh, I like these!

I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet, but I do like them.

And this, this is great fun, very industrial.

Biscuits, I love it, I really love it,

but to find someone else that loves it

might be harder than I really imagined.

The piece de la resistance is my marbles.

I'm going to take them to James Lewis's auction

and he's going to sell them for me.

If I put them in, he has to sell them.

Watch him choke when they make a profit!

Please let them make a profit!

So that was his big plan!

Franksy also needs to find new homes for his antler chandelier,

the baby accordion, the glass sign and the cello case.

In Derbyshire, James returns to Lionheart HQ to plan his attack.

What a mix - from the mad, giant matchbox,

then sitting on top of a giant piece

of 17th-century French provincial furniture.

It just wouldn't be me shopping in Belgium

without buying a bit of tribal art.

My clock, almost a guaranteed cert.

I was asked to find one by a hairdresser.

He also already has my chandelier.

His new hairdressing salon only opened recently.

He said, "If I'm going to have it, I want it now."

So I've given it to him and we'll see -

if it's still up and lit, that means he likes it.

And the mannequin. What do you think, matey?

James must also sell the 19th-century table sculpture,

the copper pot, the 1920s scales, the early 20th-century walking cane

and the 19th-century bronze spaniel statue.

Our selling superheroes get down to business, using their contacts

and digging deep to bag some buyers,

so will their Belgian bargains provide pots of profit?

Only time will tell, but until they've shaken on it

and the money has changed hands, no deal is truly sealed.

And it's James who charges first.

He's hoping to get three sales out of the way in one fell sweep.

He heads straight over to Giltbrook, just outside Nottingham,

to see his friend, Scott,

the man who's just opened his new hair salon.

Well, I've got my clock in the boot,

I've had the company of a rather boring mannequin all the way here,

but the great news is, the chandelier is up and that is a really good sign.

As he would with any light, James has advised Scott

that the chandelier should be wired in by a qualified electrician.

-You like it, don't you?

-I love it! It's fab!

You said chandelier, clock, mannequin.

How about that for professional service?

All three of them are good, definitely.

They're definitely what I want in the shop.

Well, the chandelier first.

I know you had to have it up for your opening. How did it go?

-Really, really well.

-It was a bit grotty.

Yeah, it needed a bit of attention as well.

I had an electrician out to sort some of the wiring out

-but it's... Yeah, it's brilliant, I love it.

-Good.

-It's a great feature.

-What do you think? 300?

I was thinking more...180?

180 shows me a profit. You've got a deal on that already.

-Brilliant, James.

-I'm not going to haggle at all. 180.

James is off and running.

The chandelier lights up a profit of £103.08

and Scott's not finished there.

He also loves the 19th-century-style clock.

£100. Have we got a deal?

-Go on, then.

-Brilliant, excellent. That's two out of three.

Going well so far. The clock chimes in a profit of £57.26.

Can James get the hat-trick?

What about him? How about 100?

-50.

-Oh!

-That's harsh! He's great!

-I could stretch a little bit.

-Go on.

-Er...

-Say 70.

-80.

Go on, then.

I was going to say 75...

-I'm going to knock a fiver off, 75.

-Are you sure? Aw, bless you.

All right, brilliant.

Goodness me! James Lewis does himself out of a fiver!

The modern mannequin stands another profit of £32.26.

The shopping list has well and truly paid off,

but James's early onslaught hasn't taken a hair off Franksy.

He's already lined up his first potential sale.

Thank goodness for the World Wide Web

cos if it wasn't for the Internet, I wouldn't have found this place.

I'm in Haslemere and it's only about half an hour's drive from my house.

I've got the cello case and these guys are interested in buying it.

Come on.

The British-made case cost Mark just over £28.

He's meeting Tom, who's the shop's cello specialist.

-Look at that, that is like new.

-That is, it's practically mint, isn't it?

It's bright, isn't it? Nice and bright.

It shows a degree of age straight off the bat because

-the inside is actually a different colour in these these days.

-OK.

And, in fact, if you look down here, that barely shows a scratch

and that's where your spike would go.

How does this compare in the world of cars? Is this a Rolls-Royce?

Is this a Mini?

This is more in your sort of Ford area, I suppose.

It's a very reliable kind of device.

We've got more in the Rolls-Royce area here, this MMX model.

Wow! That's a nice colour, isn't it?

Yeah, this is the sporty number for the weekend.

-Is it carbon fibre or something like that?

-It is, yes.

Whereas these ones are made of ABS resin.

What would this retail at, the full retail on one of these?

-Brand new, out of the box, they are £700.

-Whoo! That's a lot of money!

What would one of these little boys cost?

A new one of those is around 215.

Realistically, I could offer you somewhere in the region

-of about £70, I think.

-I was hoping for a tiny bit more.

I just like round figures. I mean, £100 would...

-I'd be happy with that.

-How about £80? Even rounder, possibly.

80 is just not a very lucky number for me. What about 90?

-Go on, we've got a deal.

-You're a good man.

The cello case is in tune with Mark's game plan

and it strings up a profit of £61.79

and our music man hopes to squeeze more money

out of the accordion that cost him just over £21.

He takes it to self-proclaimed accordion-oholic John,

who owns a specialist shop in North London.

A piano accordion, am I right?

-Yes.

-And this is a baby one. That's all I know.

What do you think of that?

-HE PLAYS A NOTE

-That needs attention.

-HE PLAYS ANOTHER NOTE

-That one needs surgery.

-I should think that was probably early '50s, that one.

-Oh, right, OK.

It will need quite a bit of work on it.

Give me your best offer and I've really got to say yes, haven't I?

Round about a fiver. In the condition it's in.

-What was that funny noise?

-If everything...

-How much?!

About a fiver.

If I've got to do some work on it, I could probably get 60 quid for it.

What's your bestest offer?

Well, I was going to say 12 quid,

but seeing as how you twisted my arm, I'll let you have 15 quid.

It's a loss, John, but I'm going to take your money.

You win some, you lose some.

You've got out of it quite good, I assure you.

Yes, Mark scores our first loss of the competition - £6.37 down.

Let's cheer him up a bit. Take it away, John.

HE PLAYS A LIVELY TUNE

Dancing in defeat, he's irrepressible,

so the loss is a big letdown for Franksy,

but a big leg-up for James

who's wasting no time with his next two sales.

He takes the large late-19th-century pot

to copper collector Paul

who buys it along with the brass scales for £110 all up,

meaning James walks away £75.82 better off.

Our incredible auctioneer is raking it in.

Mark needs to pull something out of the bag.

Time to put the wheels in motion on his evil tactic

and, first, our man with the plan needs a van.

Now, do you remember the marbles I bought when I was abroad?

The best thing about these marbles are

I'm going to put them into James Lewis's auction.

He is going to have the pleasure of making me money.

Isn't that sick and twisted?

Mr Lewis, special delivery coming your way.

And after a three-hour journey to Derby...

Well, Franksy, at least you've acknowledged

who the best salesman is.

So Franksy's fate is in James's hands.

Mark's marbles originally cost £8.55.

James decides to split them into three lots,

to give Franksy the fairest chance

and, before the bidding starts, he has a message for the saleroom.

The next lot are the marbles belonging to Mark Franks.

He's given them to me to try and sell, so please bid well.

This is your way of getting all those years of revenge against me.

If you bid, I will lose. If you don't bid, I will win, so it's up to you.

And I've got an absentee bid. I can start at £10, 12 anywhere?

Give him some competition, 12 bid, 12.

15, 18 standing.

18, 20 and 2 beats it.

22 by the pillar, 25 now.

25 online. 25 on the Internet.

22, 25 online, 28, sir. 28 by the pillar. 26 if you like.

Every pound counts. Go on, 26.

At 26, gavel is raised...

Anybody else at £26? Are you sure?

As the gavel comes down on the first set of marbles,

Franksy is already winning, but it gets better.

The second lot sells for exactly the same amount.

-26 is yours, 283, thank you.

-And part three does well too.

£22.

On the Internet and selling...

Franksy, then, but he's been a very good sport.

Once the commission is deducted,

Mark still makes more than six times what he paid - a profit of £54.05.

Time to let him know the MARBLE-ous news.

FRANKSY CHEERS

He's so smug!

But James has to get back to selling his own stash

and it's his oversized matchbox next, that cost him over £15.

He takes it to John who owns a museum near Uttoxeter,

filled with all sorts of memorabilia.

Very nice.

-Good, aren't they?

-I like a full box.

-OK. I...

-I have to admit, I've...

-You haven't, have you?

-I've lit a few.

-You've devalued them. How many have you struck?

-Honestly?

-Five?

-That's a fiver you've knocked off straight away,

before you started.

Oh, right, so they're a pound each, right. One...

THEY LAUGH

I suppose, age-wise, do you think, 30, 40 years old?

-I should say so, looking at the box.

-Yeah.

-Get to the point, how much?

-What were you thinking?

-25 quid.

-60.

-Well, I'll go to 40.

Would you give me 50 quid for them?

-42?

-Oh!

-Come on.

I hate all this £2 business!

-Well, I can go 50 pence!

-45, then.

-45...

And it's not a penny less.

-Deal.

-Thank you very much, lovely.

John is a hard haggler.

Nevertheless, James makes a profit of £29.62.

The great thing about dealing with John

is he always knows exactly what it's worth.

Although, he doesn't always stick to his own rules.

And the giant items are being snapped up.

Franksy takes his washing powder box to a local launderette

and sells it for £10, giving a profit of £8.29.

So is Franksy doing enough to clean up or is he left in a spin cycle?

Time to take stock of our barbaric barterers earnings.

Fearless Franksy has notched up four sales already

for a profit of £117.76, but the Lionheart is licking him.

He's ticked off six sales and made £298.04 profit.

Even though he's behind, Franksy is not disheartened

and he's still got all his big-value items left to sell.

He heads back out to Surrey to The Stag Pub.

It's a no-brainer, isn't it?

Come on.

He paid just over £94 for the antler chandelier,

-so will pub manager Louise think it's DEER?

-So how old is it?

The antlers could be any age.

Looking at it, I would say it's probably 60 or 80 years old.

Should you want to buy it,

have it fitted up by a professional electrician,

it's all earthed and all that for safety reasons. Do you like it?

I do like it, it would be perfect in the restaurant.

I'd love £200 for it.

That's a bit steep.

I was thinking more kind of half of that.

-Oh, 150?

-SHE LAUGHS

-100!

-What about 150?

-125?

-130.

On bended knees!

-£127.50.

-I love it, £127.50.

-Deal.

-Thank you very much, you've got a deal.

Another kiss on the hand seals the deal. He makes a profit of £33.48.

Both our antiques assassins are motoring now.

James meets Michael,

who has a small collection of Serpentine statues,

and he treats himself to another.

Yes, they will all go well together.

£160 buys the figure of Spinario, giving James a profit of £121.54.

He leaves Michael and heads straight off to Alfredton

to see a local vet, Graham, who is interested in the Normandy cabinet

and James has no time to waste.

Now, the sun's setting

and I'm not really too keen to get there after dark.

He lives in one of the most haunted Elizabethan mansions in Derbyshire.

CACKLING

DRAMATIC ORGAN MUSIC

The oak cabinet cost James just over £192.

So, have a look.

Have a look at your end, see whether you think the pegs are right

-and whether it fits...

-If it's ghost friendly.

JAMES LAUGHS I was...

You're going to have these doors doing this.

-How are the ghosts?

-They're in fine fettle.

-Are they really?

They had a paddy fit on the Sunday a week ago

and there was a lot of door slamming and shutter banging.

So, back to the cabinet, this would have had a base to it

when it was originally made.

This skirt at this level, I think is 19th century,

but above it I think is 17th century.

The hinges are good, the panels are good, overall construction is good.

That's exactly what we're looking for,

-is older pieces that don't look out of place.

-Yes, exactly.

James and Graham settle on a price of £370,

giving the Lionheart a profit of £177.69.

That is quite a blow to Mark's mission,

but our chirpy chappie remains undeterred.

He takes his biscuit barrel to Natasha,

who owns a shop in Tadworth that upcycles furniture.

-What do you think?

-I'm impressed!

I reckon this would originally have been in a shop, OK?

Like a big sort of deli or something like that.

-Yeah, I see where you're going.

-I think it's about 100 years old.

-All right, now the boring bit.

-All right, OK, go on.

We've got to talk about money. 200 quid.

SHE CHOKES

Are you all right?

I'm all right, just got a bit...

Well, let's just go a little bit lower than that,

that was a brave start!

-No, well, you've got to try somewhere, haven't you?

-Let's go...

I don't know, 30? I was thinking 35?

It cost me literally pennies away from 90 quid. Give me a profit.

-I'll go to 80.

-Is that your bestest offer, Tash?

I can't go any higher than that, darling, I can't.

I would if I could, but I can't.

-We've got a deal.

-All right, darling.

You win some, you lose some.

And that is definitely another loss.

£9.74 down, but he's still got his beloved railings to sell.

James stays steady.

He heads to London to sell his walking cane

to specialist retailer Dominic.

He pays £151 - a profit of £81.62.

He keeps the pace up back in Derby.

He meets local lad John who has been dealing for five years

even though he's only just turned 18.

John is pretty keen on the African fertility figure.

A lot of people don't know about tribal art round here

and it's just something different for me to buy,

to be honest with you.

She's a Punu fertility figure.

Punu, one of the major tribes in the Congo.

Things that tell you she is Punu are these -

the hatched squares in the centre of her forehead and on the sides.

-You get that on the Punu masks as well.

-Right.

-What do you think?

Yeah, it's very unusual, yeah.

-It's got a very nice look about it.

-I think...

-My gut reaction is that's probably 100 years old.

-Right, yeah.

It's a nice early one. Did you have a price in mind?

Can we call it 50?

Oh...

I'll do 50.

-That sounds as if it's firm.

-It is. That's the death.

That's the death.

-If that's the death, that's the deal.

-Thank you very much.

The figure came with the tribal masks.

James sells those for £180 to Paul, a dealer with a passion for Africa,

so altogether it's a profit of £101.79.

So it looks like it's all or nothing with Mark's railings.

He's lumped them together with his other industrial items -

the wheel and the glass sign -

and taken them to Ray, who runs a salvage yard in West London.

-They are a lovely railing.

-Yeah.

-Absolutely gorgeous.

The trouble with that railing, as there's a lot of railings,

-there's a lot of rust with it as well.

-Rust, schmust!

Come on, it's a lot of railings. Now, what about that?

-Smashing, isn't it? Do you like that?

-It's a flywheel, isn't it?

It's like off the old presses, they spin it and slam them out.

-Yeah.

-That's nice, I like that, yeah. Can't go wrong with that.

And I've got this beautiful bit of glass.

I want to sell it as a parcel, Ray.

I'm in the right place, I'm not going back on the bus.

I can see a parcel, yeah, but I can't see that.

Right, I tell you what...

-Go on, you're the man, you are Mr Salvage.

-I may be Mr Salvage,

but I might be Mr Broke if I carry on talking to you, that's the trouble.

Yes, sounds like a good sign, so will Mark make off

with bundles of notes or will Ray leave him staring into the abyss?

We'll find out shortly. One bit of good news for Franksy, though.

James failed to find a buyer for his bronze spaniel statue,

so that is a loss - £29.91 down the drain.

Both our dealing dynamos started out in Belgium with £750.

Mark Franks came back with eight purchases for just under £483.

James Lewis went further, 11 purchases for just over £669.

They've tried their hardest and worked their magic,

so which man will be crowned prince of profit?

All of the money that James and Mark have made from today's challenge

will be going to a charity of their choice,

so without further ado, it's time to find out

who is today's Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is champion.

-Greetings! How are you?

-Bonjour.

-Bonjour. How did you find it?

Do you know, I bought that biscuit barrel with my heart,

not my head and I lost money. You, how did you get on?

Oh, yeah, I tell you what I sold really well -

-your marbles!

-Wa-hey!

-Back of the net!

-What a cheek!

-What was your biggest profit, then?

My biggest profit, I think, was the Normandy cabinet.

-Lovely 17th-century thing.

-Right, shall we see how we've done? Ready?

On the count of three. One, two, three.

-Ohh.

-What?!

Where did you get that amount of money from?

I think you've beaten me hands down. Let's have a petit croissant.

Yes, James absolutely smashes it.

So what happened to Franksy at the salvage yard?

The three items together stood him at a shade under £240.

I'll match your money, but I can't profit it.

I can't... I just can't see it.

I don't even want the glass, that's the worst of it.

Call it 260, there's my hand, there's my heart.

-260. You're a top man, Ray.

-Do us a favour -

don't come back here for at least another month!

See you next week! Cheers, Ray.

What am I going to do with this bit of glass?

The industrial items make a profit of just £20.69 combined.

The great thing about foreign markets is you find things

that you just don't find here in the UK.

And what does that result in?

Well, for me, a great profit. Sorry, Mark.

When I was in Belgium, I bought with my heart, not with my brain.

I didn't make an awful lot of money.

If I had used my brain, not my heart, I would've won.

Well, there's always tomorrow for Franksy when our fearsome fighters

take to the stalls once again at an antiques fair in Lincolnshire.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd