Mark Franks v Philip Serrell - UK Antiques Fair Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

This is Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is,

the show that pitches TV's best-loved antiques experts

against each other in an all-out battle for profit.

Let's make hay while that sun shines.

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

Who's there?

Each week one pair of duelling dealers will face

a different daily challenge.

The original cheeky chappie.

Lovely!

Putting their reputations on the line...

And I'm truly rocking!

WOLF WHISTLE

And giving you their top tips and savvy secrets

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

Today cheeky charmer Mark Franks takes on awesome auctioneer Phil Serrell

at an antiques fair in Sussex.

Coming up, Mark gets revved up over a little red number.

Not many things make your heart stop beating.

Look at that. That is sensational.

Phil gets a bit jumpy.

I mean, you would have just basically sat on there.

Oh, lord above!

And Mark just can't help himself when it comes to the ladies.

Mwah!

-Oh, stop that.

-A taste of lavender.

This is Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.

Fasten your seat belts and adopt the brace position.

Two of this nation's finest antiques masters

are about to launch into a head-to-head battle

of gigantic proportions.

They're on the hunt for the most tantalising treasures

that will pull in the premium profits.

Along the way they'll face knocks and blows at every turn.

Only one man can conquer this collectibles competition

and emerge victorious.

First up, a shrewd expert with an eye for a deal.

He's the geezer with the gift of the gab

and a killer instinct to boot.

He's everyone's mucker, our South London gem,

it's Mark "Franksy" Franks.

We'll have to really concentrate now and find something wonderful.

And, thundering through the aisles, an antiques colossus,

a steely dealer, always on the end of a smart sale.

He's razor sharp, he's cunning and few can outwit him.

It's the warrior from Worcestershire.

It's Phil "The Fox" Serrell.

It is an antique dealer's heaven.

Today's battlefield is at Ardingly in West Sussex.

With well over 1,000 stalls,

it's the largest antiques and collectors' fair

in the whole of southern England.

Our prize fighters have brought £750 of their own money to spend.

Once they've sold their haul,

any profit they make will go to their chosen charities.

So, gentlemen, get ready.

Mark Franks and Phil Serrell,

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

-Mr Franks.

-Ah, Mr Serrell.

-How are you, mate?

-Welcome to the Ardingly Antiques Fair.

-I'm looking forward to this.

-How much money have we got?

-750 smackers.

-And you are going to buy?

A van full of stuff! What are you going to buy?

I'm going to try and buy profit, which is a rarity for me.

-I've got a plan today.

-Have you?

-Yeah.

-Go on, what is it?

Well, I always seem to sucker myself into buying things that I like,

-which no-one else likes.

-Ah!

So today I'm going to really concentrate on trying to buy

saleable things.

In that case, I'm going to buy things that you like today

just to make you jealous and make more profit.

-Good luck, mate.

-Come on, let's get going.

So Mark leaves Phil hanging and shoots off like lightning.

Phil, as ever, has a plod and a ponder.

You see, all these great ideas and plans are actually fantastic,

but the real problem is you can only ever react to what you

see in front of you and then buy it.

All plans then go flying out of the window.

Let's get this straight, Phil's plan is to scrap his normal plan

and go with a new plan so that he can beat Mark's plan,

even though you can't really plan.

Confused? I don't blame you!

Thankfully Mark is much more straightforward.

Ardingly is fantastic for buying.

It's a big old fair and there's a lot of stuff here.

I'm going to try and move around very quickly

and get a few purchases under way as quick as possible.

Come lunchtime, I want to be sitting down with a nice cuppa.

Well, he'd better get his skates on, because this place is enormous.

Our pair of profit seekers hit the ground running

and Mark doesn't miss a beat.

Now have a look at this.

-Can I ask the price of that sign, please?

-Yes, £60.

-Do you mind if have a look?

-Certainly.

-You might as well come with me, come on.

-It's lovely.

-It's lovely.

It's old. It's probably Victorian, or turn of the century.

-Yeah, it's got to be 100 years old, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

What I don't want to do is make you a bad offer and upset you.

Would you tell me your very, very best price and I can say yes, or no?

-50.

-50.

-50, OK.

-You've got a deal. I'll buy that.

-OK.

-It's lovely.

What a gent!

Mark has sped out of the blocks and secured his first item,

but will the sign show the way to a profit?

So the market has now officially been open five minutes

and I've made my first purchase.

What is it?

Now this sign dates from the late Victorian period,

turn-of-the-century, 1900-ish.

It's made of glass.

Just imagine the sun is not shining,

it's now night time.

A couple of little lights behind it and the light would go through

the glass and this would be an illuminated sign.

As you can see, City of Westminster, Smith Square SW.

This is before it became SW1, or SW4.

This was just South West.

As I said, this is made of glass.

The chance of this surviving is pretty remote.

These are quite unusual items.

50 quid, I think it's a snip.

Franksy looks like he's on top form,

so can Phil keep up?

You have to keep your eyes on your watch doing this job,

because before you know it, time flies.

And it's not just the time that flies. Mark is racing along.

He's on the trail of some pails.

Each bucket is priced up at £10

and Franksy is straight in for the kill.

-Can I have two for 15, please?

-Yeah.

Always say, "please", it helps.

Right, them two, I'm having. Brilliant!

So you're wondering, aren't you, why did I buy a pair of buckets?

I'll tell you what, picture the scene.

A beautiful, beautiful flower shop,

florists, buckets, big plants coming out,

flowers, stems. They're going to look really nice.

I think selling these will be very easy and,

if not, I've kicked the bucket!

And he stays in the floral frame of mind.

His next purchase is a pair of watering cans and they cost him £25.

You've got to get these sold while the sun is shining

because as soon as it's winter, these are back in the shed.

Yes, Mark Franks always thinking.

He's now bought three items while Phil's sitting on a big fat zero.

But that could be about to change as our Fox is closing in on a frog.

It's a really fun child's fairground ride.

It says here that it's American. I would think it dates from the '50s.

I just think it would look so cool today, either in a garden,

or in a bedroom. I think it's a good, fun thing.

He's asking £150 for it.

Having said I'm not going to buy what I like, I've just made the first cardinal mistake

and I'm going to buy what I like. I'll have a word and see what I can get it for.

So as sure as eggs is eggs,

Phil Serrell decides to do what Phil Serrell wants.

Anyone surprised?

Anyone? Anyone?

So this would have been bolted onto a fairground ride.

-It would, I believe.

-Then you would have just basically sat on there...

Oh, lord above.

He's a bit of a bucking frog, isn't he?

I think it's cool.

Hundred quid buy it?

I think that's pushing it a bit too much.

I know, I thought it was a good starting point.

Well, you've got to start somewhere, haven't you?

It's where you finish is the important bit.

-120.

-I think you're being really fair to me.

But I've got to bid you 110, haven't I?

110.

-Go on, then.

-You're an absolute gentleman. I love that.

I love that.

Phil finally leaps into action, notching up his first purchase,

but he needs to bounce off and scour the stalls

because, across the fair, Franksy has still got his horticultural

hat on and has spotted some pots.

Pots with a difference.

-OK, give us a price, birdie, bicycle?

-40 quid for the two.

-Give me a price on the drawer full.

-30 quid. 60 quid the lot.

I'll go 50?

-No, no, no.

-55?

-55.

-Gentleman, thank you.

-Done.

Let's do that one again. I enjoyed that one more.

It's another gamble on the weather from Mark.

Let's hope the sun keeps shining for him.

In the meantime, he's thundering towards his next deal.

Look at this.

How nice are they?

Oh, bonnet de douche.

Bonnet de douche, as we say in France.

That must be Franks French for "I can smell a profit".

These are lovely.

What have we got?

We've got a piece of timber, been put on the top,

the frame's been made up. You've got these lovely, old trays.

Now, I like anything where you refabricate stuff

and re-use stuff that otherwise would get chucked away.

Let's see if we can get a price. I want to buy one of these.

What will you do for one of those in the white and sling

in a couple of nice trays to go with it?

120 is the best, really.

Go on, then, you've got a deal. I can't say fairer than that.

No need for a haggle and even though he's storming out in front,

something's playing on Mark's mind.

I've bought a lot of gardening stuff.

If I've got this right, I'm going to crack it.

If the weather changes, and this beautiful sunshine goes,

I've got a dead duck on my hands.

Let's just hope Philip Serrell is not thinking about the weather

and he's thinking about boring, brown furniture.

Mm, Mark's like a mind-reader.

What do you know, Phil IS looking at some brown furniture,

but he wouldn't describe it as boring.

He's getting all the info on a pair of mid-20th century sun loungers.

And they've got the wheel, you think they should've had wheels?

They should have had wheels, unfortunately...

They were wooden wheels and the wooden wheels rotted.

-60 quid a piece?

-That's what I'm asking.

I think they're quite fun, those things.

Even without the wheels.

Would 40 quid a piece buy 'em?

If we split the difference at £50 a piece,

we'll definitely have a deal.

-What about 45 quid?

-OK.

So Phil shakes on his second deal, two sun loungers for £90.

What I've just bought is a pair of 1950s wooden sun loungers

that have got no wheels and new timber in them.

That sounds really good, doesn't it?

The '50/'60s, it's very hard to date timber like this

that's been left outside because it gathers moss and lichen, it ages it and dates it.

I think they would look really cool outside a pool or on a patio.

These would have been expensive in their day.

I'm just hoping they're going to be expensive in my day.

So he's bought another thing that he likes.

That plan really is out of the window.

No time for our Fox to lounge around though,

Phil needs to crack on to keep up with Franksy.

I'm from Worcester, and one of the tricks of this business is trying to place things.

Now, just outside of Worcester are the Cotswolds,

and the capital of the Cotswolds is Broadway.

Just there is a sign that says, "Broadway."

I need to know that it's an old one, but if I can place that

to someone who lives in Broadway, that's got to be a winner. I hope!

-How old is the sign?

-It's a Victorian one.

-How do we know that?

-Just by the casting...

-Can we have a look?

-Yes, certainly.

HE GROANS

So basically what we're doing is we're looking at the back of it.

We are, yes.

This isn't the name of a town, is it?

-It's the name of a street, or somewhere?

-It is, yes.

-How much is it?

-It's 85.

I was hoping I can get it for 50.

No chance. No way.

The very best would be 70.

What about 60 quid?

I want to buy it off you.

I'm going to buy it off you if I can find some money.

That was a tough one for Philip. He must like it.

So both our experts have now bought a road sign

and garden paraphernalia. Maybe they're not so different after all.

How close are they on the figures?

Both our boys arrived at the fair with £750.

Mark has surged ahead.

Five purchases for £265,

leaving £485 in his kitty.

Phil has finally picked up speed.

He's still only done three deals, but spent almost exactly

the same as Mark, £275,

meaning there's £475 left.

So how are our closely-matched masters feeling?

How are you getting on?

Well, dear boy, can I just say, "Oo-ah, oo-ah, oo-ah, oo-ah."

Throat? Problem?

No, I've bought a lot of garden stuff, that's what I've been up to.

Not everyone in the garden goes, "Oo-ah, oo-ah, oo-ah, oo-ah."

I got to be honest with you, Foxy,

since I bought it, the sun has gone behind the clouds.

-Perhaps the summer is over.

-What's the best thing you've bought?

-I'm not telling you.

-Oh, go on, no, tell me.

A street sign, a London street sign, made of glass, all hand-painted.

-Lovely.

-I bought a frog.

-You bought a frog?!

-I bought a frog.

-You bought a frog?!

I bought a frog.

-HE CLEARS THROAT

-I bought a frog.

-Why? What, what?

-Ribbit!

I know the noise they make.

-Ribbit!

-I wish you would hop off!

I'm going to have to do some more.

Did that make any sense?

Anyway, our boys jump to it.

They've both got about the same amount left to spend

so things could get pretty competitive.

After that little chat, Phil's left Franksy flummoxed.

He's bought a frog.

I've gone for the gardening theme and he's bought a frog.

How can I compete with somebody who buys a frog?

I think Mark Franks has spent too much time out in the sun,

because he seems to have bought nothing other than gardening stuff,

which I hope is going to find him in his very own compost heap!

Very charitable of you, Phil.

But Mark's not muckraking, no.

Instead, his finely honed dealer senses are stirring.

This is a Globe Wernicke.

Globe Wernicke is a manufacturer.

Basically, it's a book case...

They slide out, the books are then covered with a glass front

and they slide back in.

Each piece comes off so the top will lift off,

then they come in sections.

It's kit form.

1920s/1930s kit form.

So you buy the base, which is this piece down the bottom,

and you buy as many sections as you want and then you buy the top.

If you buy more books, you buy a bigger one.

Lovely, perfect condition, Globe Wernicke.

and the best price is 340.

Mm, what did that little flick of the eyebrows mean?

Our master tactician has clearly got something up his sleeve.

Now that Globe Wernicke, in perfect condition,

340 quid is too much for me.

But earlier on I spotted one in kit form.

He made the mistake of telling me he only paid 20 quid for it.

If I can buy this one a bit cheaper, I can make a profit.

This is the Cinderella that wants to go to the ball.

It's unloved and it's tired.

It needs about a fiver's worth of glue spent on it.

The big question is, does Tom want my money,

or does he want a project for himself?

It looks like he's got enough work on his hands. Let's find out.

What is your very best for that horrible kit form monstrosity?

-Give us a ridiculously cheap price...

-80 quid.

-Will you take 50?

-I'll take 60.

Don't do this to me.

-How about we toss a coin, 50 or 60.

-Go on, then.

Heads.

Tails, it is.

HE LAUGHS

Tom, you've got a deal, 60 quid.

So even though Mark didn't win the toss,

he's won the kit and it seems Cinderella could go to the ball,

after all. Judging by the price of the bookcase he saw earlier,

he could make a packet.

Mark is blazing a trail here.

Phil followed his lead in buying a sign and something for the garden

and now, just like his rival,

Phil's bought a bucket, paying £45 for it.

I bought this really nice oak coopered bucket.

It's got the Royal coat of arms on it

and these brass bands around here.

What it should have, where these lugs are on the side,

it should have a rope handle.

This is a fire bucket.

It's probably from the early part of the 20th century.

I think it's very much a decorative thing.

In the 18th century/19th century fire buckets were made out

of leather, they would have been sat around the house, had sand in them.

You know, things evolved.

I actually doubt whether this has ever been used to put a fire out

but it really is a decorative item.

I think it's quite a cool thing and would definitely decorate a house.

Taking the bucket into account, there is now only a fiver

between our fearsome fighters but that all could change very soon.

Mark is totally captivated by a car,

even though this roadster is missing the back half.

Joe, what I want you to do is tell me the best price you'll take,

the lowest price you'll take and it gives me chance to think about it.

What is the bottom you will take cash, pound notes today?

-Give me a bottom price, it gives me something to think about.

-270.

270...

Give me a little time to think about that. OK.

The thing is when you go to an antique fair,

quite often you see this, you see that.

Not many things make your heart stop beating.

Look at that, that is sensational.

I don't know what it's worth, I've got no idea.

Philip Serrell has got a lot of contacts in the car world.,

If I can tap into his contacts I can make a lot of money.

I'm going to have to buy it. I've got to go and buy it.

All right, Joe.

-Has it got an MOT?

-Yeah, it's definitely got one.

-Any service history?

-Yeah, full history.

I'll tell you what, give me a tenner back for luck, 260 and I'll give you cash.

Deal. Good man.

Look at this.

Whey!

Philip Serrell! Whey-hey!

What were Franksy's two plans for the day?

Things Philip Serrell would like...

Tick.

And things that would fill a van.

Another big tick.

While Mark's rolling along, dodging bumps in the road and taking corners

at full speed, Phil has found somewhere to rest his weary legs.

It's an artist's easel and it's really, really cool.

You'd sit here with your easel or your oil canvas up there like that

and then all your paints would be on here and you'd be...

There you are, look.

I think it's a really cool thing. There's no great age to it.

This is probably, what, '50s at best, '60s at worst.

It's made in a decent quality timber.

This is not pine, this is out of a really good quality hardwood.

Priced up here at £135

and £58. That is a chunk of money, it really is a chunk of money.

That is a combined total of £193

but, if anyone can get a discount...

Good sir. How are you, all right?

What's the real finish that you can help me out on?

-Absolute rock bottom, 125.

-125.

Go on, do you know what, I love them to bits.

Let me find some money.

The Fox has slashed more than a third off the original ticket price

and it spurs him on.

He's barely put his money away before he spots something else on the same stall.

This is a galvanised header tank.

You can turn it upside down,

cut some legs out of here with an angle grinder,

lower it a little bit and you've got a really funky table.

Yes, the old Serrell special,

take something you think no-one wants, stick some legs on it

and voila, you've got yourself a foxy little table.

-It's a header tank, isn't it?

-Yes, a header tank. 35 quid.

This is 20/30 quid's worth.

That's what it is.

The real best I can do is 35.

Right, what we'll do is toss a coin, right.

You call, if you win it, 35 quid, if I win, it's 30 quid.

-Are you ready?

-Yeah.

-Tails.

-Getting!

It's just cost me 30 quid.

Look at his little face.

Have you ever seen Philip Serrell more pleased with himself?

And, his header tank signals an end to our superb spending spree.

How much have they spent in total?

Both our dealing dynamos started out with £750.

Phil finished up with six purchases and spent £475 in all.

Mark went one better,

seven deals done but it cost him £585.

So they've hunted their haul, bagged their bargains,

what do they think of their opponent's items?

-Runs quiet, doesn't it?

-I've just had it tuned, that's why, yeah.

HE CHUCKLES

-I like this.

-Would you have bought it?

-Yeah, I would.

-I love it.

-Thank goodness for that. I was worried.

-No, no, no, I love it.

-260 quid.

-Shall we have a look at the rest?

-I want to see what you've bought.

I do like that froggy frog, mate.

That's cool. How much was that?

That was 120 quid, roughly, with the two trays

and it's a bit of reclaimed, I like the reclaimed.

-I'll tell you what, it's not a patch on the old froggy.

-Isn't he lovely?

-He's smashing.

-He's American. Yeah, 110 quid.

-There's a good profit.

-I don't quite know where I'm going to go with him.

-Do like my petite pheasant?

-Oui, oui.

Yeah, it's different that, isn't it?

Then the little push-bike potter.

Yeah, I had a gardening theme going on there

and I'm hoping that I'm going to do well.

-Anyway, do you want a lift home?

-Go on, then.

-Come on, let's go.

-Right, after you.

-Thank you so much.

-You can drive.

-Ah...

So now our big kids must man up as their mission turns on its axis

and they move their mindset from buying to selling.

More specifically, making maximum profit.

They must work until they're blue in the face

to keep their balance sheets out of the red,

using their extensive contacts and skills,

they must find new homes for everything and, in doing so,

turned their opponent green with envy. The winner is the man

with the biggest pot of gold at the end of the Put Your Money rainbow.

Our tremendous traders can set up all the sales they like but

until they have shaken on it, and the money has changed hands,

no deal is truly sealed.

Both our battlers head home to analyse their wares.

In South London, Mark is in his yard checking out his haul.

Ardingly Antiques Fair...

It all started off so sensibly, pots, buckets,

watering cans, this lovely thing. Really nice.

These are old, this is new, it looks fab

and I think I've got a chance of making money.

The street sign is about 100 years old and it's made of glass

and then...

The front-end of an AC Cobra. Is it a profit?

Is it madness, or is it genius?

I'm hoping it's absolute genius and this will make me wipe the floor.

Well, he's sounding pretty confident.

Mark must also sell his bookcase, once he's glued it together,

and our Worcestershire warrior is back in his saleroom in Malvern.

He's also feeling positive about his purchases.

I think I've bought quite well. I love my frog.

I think he's going to do quite well.

There's a big area of collecting around fairground-type stuff.

This easel, that's going to tell a story because, I think,

I'm going to find an artist to buy this.

I'm in Worcestershire and there's only one place you'll sell a Broadway sign

and that's in Broadway, just at the foot of the Cotswolds.

This water tank, I think I'm going to have to do something with that.

Quite what, I don't know, other than put water in it.

You know, put a glass top on that and it's a really funky table.

Honestly...

Mm, such an honest face. Phil's workload won't stop there though.

He also needs a hot profit from his fire bucket

and his pair of 1950s sun loungers.

Mark is the first to hit the road.

He's heading to Banstead in Surrey with his large

collection of terracotta pots.

He was thinking beautiful plants all along

and it doesn't come more beautiful than a lavender field.

Lavender!

Lavender, everywhere?

I'm at Mayfield Lavender here in Surrey

trying to sell my terracotta pots.

I paid 55 quid for the lot at the antiques fair

and I'm going to try and get as much money back as possible.

I've kept aside a couple of the stand-y bits, see how I get on.

Back on his feet, Mark meets farm owners Brendan and Lorna,

but will he see the colour of their money?

-We've got roughly 45 of these in total.

-Right.

Terracotta, I want to sell them, I'm thinking lavender plants,

lavender cut, whatever.

-Shall we see? Do you want to stick some lavender in there and see how it looks?

-OK.

Let's get a couple of short-stemmed ones, then.

Let's pop them in and see what they look like.

Lorna, what do you think, they do look nice, don't they?

Well, I mean, people are after vintage things.

I think we would definitely be able to sell them.

How much we would be able to get for them, I'm not sure.

-I don't know, either.

-That's down to you, Brendan.

Why don't you two, right, I'll do this.

You two discuss what you want to offer me

and then we'll see where we go.

You have a chat.

-What do you reckon?

-A pot.

-Shall we offer him 75p a pot and see what happens?

-OK.

-We've had a think about it...

-Yeah.

We think they are worth about 75p each.

We thought £35 would be a fairly safe price.

Yeah, very safe.

Why don't you just round it up to 40, how does that sound?

-OK, I think we've got a deal there.

-Are you happy?

-Yeah, very happy.

-Are you happy?

-Thank you very much. Good... Oh...

-Stop that.

-Tastes of lavender.

Straightaway, Mark's into a purple patch.

He goes on to sell those distinctive planters to a pub for £30.

In total, his pots and tubs sprout a profit of £15.

And he prances off to plan his next sale.

Phil's selling spree is about to kick off

and he's warming up with his fire bucket.

He's brought it to Bringsty in Herefordshire

to a vintage furniture shop.

I've brought my bucket to Nick.

Now he buys all this sort of stuff and I hope he buys it off me

and doesn't just kick it.

Small profit, that's the way forward.

Well, have I brought you a bucket or a wastepaper basket?

It could be either.

My guess is it's probably 1920s

and it would have had originally a rope handle

that would have been knotted on there.

It's a good 1920s country house thing. It's cost me 45 quid.

What's the best you can do for it?

-I think we could see you doubling up on that.

-Really?

-Yeah, we could do 90 quid.

-You are a gentleman.

Thank you very much. I'm going to go and celebrate now.

Well, that couldn't have been easier.

And, instantly, Phil's way out in front of Franksy.

He wastes no time lining up his next potential buyer.

It's time to flog the frog.

He paid £110 for it.

If you want to sell a fairground frog,

there's only one man in Worcester and that's my mate, Lawrence.

Look at what he's got.

'Someone Wins, Why Not You?' Well, why not me?

-Morning, Phil.

-How are you?

-Nice to see you. Yes.

You are the fairground man, aren't you?

Well, it's my hobby and I've a bit of a leaning towards it, yeah.

I bought this down at Ardingly.

It's a fairground frog. I think it's lovely. What do you reckon?

Erm...

There's some writing on it, let's have a look at that.

Lichfield, Michigan.

I would think it's 1950s.

I would imagine it's from a children's playground.

Does it fit in with the rest of your fairground-y type stuff?

Well, my origins are junk

-and I've got...

-Don't be horrible!

-Don't be horrible.

-I've got a slight leaning towards junk.

It cost me 110 quid, Lawrence, and I was thinking it was worth 300.

Straight offer, 200 quid.

-210, and that gives me £100 off it.

-Right.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yes.

We'll shake on that.

-That's not a fairground ride?

-No, but this is a proper fairground ride.

So Phil's frog finds a home with a friendly fair man

and £100 goes into Philip's profit pot.

He hops further out in front by selling his easel

and paint pot in the Cotswolds.

His painter friend, Edward Noott, pays £145.

You're a gentleman. Thank you very much.

Brushing in a picture perfect profit of £20.

Now, in London, Mark is in his warehouse doing man stuff.

On closer inspection he's discovered his bookcase isn't Globe Wernicke.

It was made by the Gunn Furniture Company

which made similar sectional items.

But Mark's not bothered. He's in reconstruction heaven.

I paid £60 for it, and I'm sure that when it's done I'll see a profit.

Right, are you ready to do some DIY?

Yes, Mark Franks, flatpack king, not even an instruction manual in sight.

Now...

I've got to squirt some more bits of glue in, put a couple of more screws

and nails in it, but I've now got a usable bookcase.

As they say in the trade, job's a good 'un.

What a turnaround from a broken bunch of bits

to a brilliant bookcase.

And, because Mark did all the work himself,

using glue and materials he already had,

there's no extra renovation costs to add to his £60 purchase price.

So he takes his masterpiece to Gav,

who owns an antiques shop in Epsom.

Was all that elbow grease really worth it?

That's quite a nice Globe Wernicke bookcase.

It's actually made by the Gunn company, if you look in the back.

When I bought it it was flatpack, so I glued back together...

-Nice movement, isn't it?

-What are you looking for for the bookcase?

Nice and simple, £200. How's that? Let's go and get the cheque book.

-Gav, you haven't followed me.

-No.

-Is that a no?

-I think that's a little bit too much.

-All right.

Come and have a look round here.

OK, I've done a starting price, it's now up to you.

-I'd like to pay about £80 for it, Mark.

-Wait there...

Do I need to sit down?

150.

110.

-110?

-110.

-I'll take your money.

I know you far too well, Gav. If I said 150 you'd say no, wouldn't you?

Absolutely no.

So, some glue, a few screws and a little bit of know-how

just earned Mark a profit of £50.

Down the road in Carshalton, Franksy sells his table and trays

to a fruit and veg shop owner, Mark.

-135. Are you happy with that?

-Absolutely.

-Can I have one apple to take home?

-You certainly can.

We've got a deal. Brilliant! Apples and pears. Everyone's a winner.

The sale bears fruit and a £15 profit.

It's all going pretty well,

but they're far from finished.

As our selling supremos hit the phones once more,

let's tot up their trading tallies.

Mark "Franksy" Franks is well on the way.

He's done three deals

and pocketed a profit of £80.

Phil "The Fox" Serrell has also completed three transactions,

but his profit is more than double

Franksy's - £165.

There's not much time left to off-load their objects,

and the Sly Fox has taken on a mission within a mission.

When he bought his Broadway sign for £75, he knew exactly where to

take it - one of the most beautiful corners of the Cotswolds.

He's lugging it around the shops,

but finding a buyer is proving tricky.

I was hoping to get close to 200 quid for it,

that's the truth of the matter.

OK... I don't think so.

Probably not a lot I can do with it, but I like it.

-Um... I don't think so.

-Really? No good.

-How much do you want to play?

-I'd give you £90 for it.

Poor old Phil is down on his luck and he's not used to that.

Will his persistence ever pay off?

What do you reckon to my Broadway sign? Do you fancy a Broadway sign?

I think I do, yes.

It's very appropriate, for where we live and where I do business.

-It's 19th century.

-Yes.

-Old thing. Now...

-What's your best price?

-I was hoping to try and get 150 quid for it.

-What about...

65?

Nigel, at £65 you cannot be serious.

Well, I'll push it up to £100 if you like.

-The thing is, you're going to have to pay more money.

-Yeah.

What, 110?

I think another tenner, it might just be yours.

Well, split the difference, 115, then.

-150, that's lovely.

-15!

-Sorry?

-115.

-You caught me out there!

-Go on. You're a star, mate.

Thank you very much indeed.

Thankfully, Phil finally conquers in the Battle Of Broadway

and his sign signals a profit of £40.

And that puts The Fox way out in front.

Mark must redouble his efforts if he's ever going to catch up.

And if anyone will put in the legwork, it's Franksy.

He's off to Chichester to meet Steph the florist.

He's hoping she'll like his buckets and watering cans.

They stand him at £40.

-These are the perfect display items.

-Yeah, they're lovely.

-They look very fitting with our shop.

-Rustic, rustic.

-Yeah.

-I can see alliums...

-Yeah!

-I know plants!

-Hydrangeas...

-Yeah, hydrangeas would be good.

-They are very fitting with your shop.

-Yeah.

-I think they'll look really nice.

-70 quid the lot - how does that sound?

-40? Sort of like a tenner...

-Tenner apiece, yeah. I see what you're saying.

-What about 15 quid apiece - 60?

-60? Um...

-50?

-50...

-That gives me a tiny profit.

-Yeah.

-55.

-Deal!

-OK!

-What a lovely lady. Mmmmmwah!

The deal is sealed with a kiss.

Mark's green-fingered skills plant a profit of £15.

But he still has a long way to go

to catch up with Phil.

The Fox is back in Malvern

and has a makeover master plan for his header tank.

So this really is the ultimate green recycling business,

because I'm now going to take a redundant galvanised

hot water tank and turn it into a table.

Hopefully.

Now, I want to turn this into a table.

And I want a piece of glass, if you can cut me one,

that just drops in there.

What do you reckon?

Um... Yeah, it can be done, no problem.

Everything is possible, but at a price.

Again, you've got to have a piece of safety glass in there.

Clear glass, coloured glass... frosted glass?

What do you intend to do?

I assume you're not just leaving it like that.

Well, I was thinking initially, there's a bung just down there -

you could feed a flex in and put a light there.

If you do it in diffusion, the laminated, the white,

you're looking at around 47 plus VAT.

I've got a favour to ask - could you do it for 45 quid all in?

-Yeah, no problem.

-You're a gentleman. Thank you very much.

I've got to watch this.

-All right, Phil?

-That looks fantastic, doesn't it?

-Doesn't that look good?

-Yeah, pleased with that.

-What's that worth?

-Does that look like it's worth 75 quid and more?

-Oh, plus.

-Sold!

-Well done.

-Thank you very much indeed.

I'm really pleased with that, really pleased. Thank you very much indeed.

So, as Phil suggested, including the glass top,

he's now paid out £75 for the table.

The good news is he found a buyer for his one-off creation.

The bad news is, the buyer was only prepared to pay £75,

so he made absolutely no profit.

And that is a massive help to Mark, who's trailing.

He's in central London for his next potential sale, a street sign,

and he has just one location in mind.

Do you remember at the antique fair I bought this sign?

I spent a tenner using some old scrap timber, making this frame.

I think it's improved it hugely.

See if you can guess where I'm going to sell it.

You haven't got to be a mastermind, just look above.

The cost of the new frame takes his total investment to £60.

Right in the centre of Smith Square is a building with

an interesting history and Mark's meeting its director, Richard.

What is this fantastic building? It looks like a church.

Well, it was a church. We were built 300 years ago, in 1714,

but we are now a concert hall.

It's a church that suffered from bombing in the Second World War,

and in the 1960s local people raised the money to buy the church

and turn it into an arts centre,

and since 1969 we've been a concert hall, St John's Smith Square.

How lovely. What a beautiful building.

I bought this sign.

It's made of glass and as you can see it's got SW,

which sort of predates the more modern signs.

I think it about 100 years old. What do you think of it, Richard?

-Is it nice?

-Is a lovely piece of work

and it really shows some of the history as well of Smith Square.

It's nice to have things that relate to where you live

and where you work and so on. It's a lovely piece.

I was hoping...I don't know, 150 quid for it? How does that grab you?

That might be pushing me a little bit.

I think we'd be looking at 50 quid.

What about 100, would that be too much?

-What about if we met somewhere in the middle?

-Go on, then, try me.

-Something like 75.

-What about 80? Can I squeeze you on to 80?

-I could just about manage 80. You've got a deal.

-You've got a deal.

It's been a pleasure. Thank you.

The Victorian sign adds £20 to Mark's total profit,

which leaves him, like Phil,

with just one item left to sell.

Phil gets in there first.

He's taken his sun loungers across to Ledbury to meet David

at his salvage yard.

They cost him £90,

but the big problem for Phil is they are in terrible condition.

Only you, Philip, could bring me some steamer chairs, um...

after we've just finished the nicest summer we've had for ten years.

-Oh, dear, dear...

-But look, look, look.

Look what happens.

This gets better - watch.

-Look at that.

-Drinks tray.

-Drinks tray.

Now, David is renowned as a tough negotiator,

so how many flaws will he spot?

These are dead ropy.

-You're not really trying to sell me these?

-Yeah, yeah!

-There's a bit of woodworm here.

-No, that's darts.

I'm absolutely rubbish at darts.

That's... That's bad.

-That's repairable.

-This isn't good.

That's paintable.

I don't think he's noticed the worst bit yet.

The only bit that's good is the drinks tray.

# Alleluia! #

I think you're beginning to realise that you dropped

a bit of a clanger with these, didn't you?

-You'd better mention a price.

-Well...

I thought they were worth 75 quid.

Each.

Shabby chic.

-Just to see off the premises, I'll give you £100.

-Done!

Thank you so much! Done!

Well, it's not a massive profit,

but it's a profit nonetheless. £10.

Phil is all sold up and sitting

very comfortably in the lead,

which means it all comes down to Mark's half a car.

The fibreglass fake cost him £260,

so he could make a lot of money here.

He gets it delivered to Hainault in Essex.

He's visiting a company that specialises in this particular type of car.

So will Michael help him drive home a deal?

-This is quite...

-Oh, my God!

I'm quite happy to do a straight swap for anything in here at all.

Yeah, I'll bet you are! Where's the other half?

MARK LAUGHS That's instalments, mate!

The guy I bought it from was telling me that it

was built for a guy with a swimming pool as an icebox.

-That's some icebox!

-Yeah, it is, isn't it? It's a bit of fun, isn't it?

Well, hit me, what are you looking for?

Well, I've had a quick look round and these are all sort of

10, 15, 20 grand.

I'll be happy with 500 quid. How does that grab you?

-It doesn't get me too excited.

-I knew you were going to say that.

Hm, there could be a bumpy road ahead.

We'll find out in a moment if the mocked-up motor wins him the race.

But before we do, let's remind ourselves of how much they spent.

Both our boys went to the market with £750.

Mark made seven purchases

and, including the costs of framing

his sign, paid out £595.

Phil only bought six items and,

adding in the cost of transforming

the water tank, he spent £520.

All of the profit that Mark and Phil have made from today's challenge

will go to charities of their choice.

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

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is champion.

-Franksy, how you?

-Hello, Mr Serrell.

-Are you well?

-Yeah, not as well as you look.

You look fantastic. Have you been away?

-Yeah, it's amazing what surgeons can do.

-LAUGHTER

How did you get on with that pile of wood you bought?

Why do you always do this? It was antique in kit form.

-Antique. Right.

-A bit of superglue, a bit of this, a bit of that...

-A bit of a lot.

-Yeah, yeah...

-Did you make a profit on it?

-A small profit.

-Your frog, what was all that about?

-'Opping.

-'Opping.

-'Opping.

Ribbit!

I met a lovely man, he's got a fairground ride.

Sold it to him, it was fantastic. Anyway...let's see.

Three, two, one, go.

-Oh!

-Ugh!

-How did that happen?

-You beat me, Philip. Well, I think what it is...

you've got experience, knowledge...

Yes, Phil walks away today's winner.

So what happened with Franksy's car?

Our maximum price that we'd want to give for this would be 300 quid.

You squeezable for another tenner, perhaps? Or is that where you're at?

-£310 would spin the deal, if you want to go with that.

-Yes!

You've got a deal. Every penny counts, mate. I really appreciate it.

And that means the car only

brought in a profit of £50,

not enough to overtake Phil.

Whoo, that was a close one.

At the end of the day, my hopping frog just saw me home with £100.

I'm really pleased about that.

I enjoyed the antiques fair in the UK,

but Philip Serrell did show his experience,

knowledge and wealthy mates, and he wiped the floor with me.

Oh, Mark mustn't be downhearted,

because he has every chance of getting his revenge tomorrow,

when our boys do battle again at a car-boot sale in Romford.