Medieval Trade Your Way to the USA

I'm businesswoman, Saira Khan.

I started trading when I was just a teenager.

Now, I'm looking for the next generation of budding entrepreneurs,

who are fantastic at trading and know how to make a profit.

I'm looking for Britain's best young traders.

Can you do three for £2?

-Can I interest you in only 50p for the jumbo sword?

-Yes.

-No!

From over a thousand applicants

14 teams have made it through to the heats.

-Would you like a pick-and-mix fruit dessert?

-Very nice, lovely.

They will be tested in a range of tough trading challenges.

I don't know how I'll survive this challenge.

You look amazing!

Each team will be given £75.

They must decide what to buy...

-I think we need to look for a cheaper...

-Cheaper option.

-..negotiate the lowest prices...

-Deal!

£8.40?

You drive a hard bargain!

Nice doing business with you.

..and then they must sell, sell, sell.

-Any ring you want.

-Yeah. £10.

Come on - glitzy glam!

The team that takes the most money wins the challenge.

But only the teams that top the leaderboard

can be in with a chance of competing in the Grand Final in New York.

Go play, USA... U-S-A!

Watch them in action and listen out for my top trading tips

and one day you, too, could Trade Your Way To The USA.

Let's meet today's two teams.

ALL: We are the Three Profiteers, and we're going to trade our way

to the USA!

3 Profiteers are from Kent.

They're wizards with facts and figures.

We are the 3 Profiteers.

We chose this name because we think it's original

and we aim to make a profit on everything we sell.

Hi, my name is Henry.

My friends say I'm competitive, and I hate losing,

and that's one of the reasons why

I want to get stuck in to the competition.

The reason we need Rob on our team is because he's a great bargainer.

I usually trade

all cricket stuff, because I'm into cricket.

Hi, my name's Angus,

I like coming up with cool new ideas to do with trading.

For example, I've been growing plants - tomatoes, courgettes -

and trading them for other produce.

I think most of us aspire to go into business and trading

when we're older.

But 3 Profiteers are up against tough competition.

Yay-hey!

ALL: We are Impulse and we are going to trade our way to the USA!

We are Team Impulse because we feel, to earn that money from business,

you need the impulse, you need the instinct.

Impulse are from East London

and they're convinced they'll be great at the selling.

To me, Honour's like a knife -

he's sharp and he cuts

straight through to business.

And I like to talk to people a lot.

Geraint is the person

who spots the bargains,

what to do, what not to do.

I think Jason is like the number-cruncher,

the mathematician, he knows how to work everything out.

Hopefully we'll get far in life with business.

So it's pioneering 3 Profiteers

taking on Impulse, the deal-makers.

I'm going to put their trading skills to the test.

Which team will take the most money and win today's challenge?

Where are we? A mediaeval castle?

Hundreds of people on a battlefield, fighting?

Others dressed up as knights and jesters?

What's it all got to do with buying and selling?

Let's reveal today's Trade Challenge to the teams.

Welcome, everybody.

Your trading challenge is to set up

a historical hats and accessories stall at a massive mediaeval fair

set in the grounds of a 900-year-old castle.

But first, you've got to buy products for your stall.

That's why we're here at Party Packs.

They sell all types of historical hats and accessories,

from shields to plastic swords.

There's so much choice here at the fancy-dress warehouse,

so the teams have to pick the right products

to sell at the mediaeval skirmish.

There'll be thousands of people stepping back in time,

but what will they be interested in buying from our traders' stalls?

This is your trading fund.

Please spend it wisely

and make sure you buy enough good stock for your stall.

So, what will Impulse and 3 Profiteers spend their £75 on today?

The first rule of trading is research.

They now have 15 minutes to decide.

They're not too badly priced.

This sword over here, rather than this one.

These goblets are good.

THEY LAUGH

Not the best look for you.

3 Profiteers go straight for the hats.

So what do you think of these Roman helmets?

Yeah, shall I try it?

It's not very comfortable.

-I think the wizards...

-And if we're talking about a mediaeval skirmish.

The Romans weren't around that much in mediaeval times.

You're right, Angus. You do know your history -

the Romans weren't around in mediaeval times.

I think the axes and the swords will sell really well as a family.

-I like these swords.

-These swords will sell.

-Swords with shields.

-OK. Quite popular, swords.

So, Henry, what's caught your eye?

Um, quite a lot of things, but we've enjoyed looking at the axes,

we think that this is quite fun for five, six-year-olds to play with,

especially boys. They enjoy those type of things.

Impulse aren't thinking about what boys would buy.

Cleverly, they're focusing on the girls.

-THEY LAUGH

-So like, 57p...

-Are we going to be doing silver too?

-We should do silver and gold.

-Yeah.

My top trading tip is, when buying your product,

consider other people's taste, not just your own,

because customers love variety and choice.

3 Profiteers are looking at lots of different products.

Cats might attract adults a little...as a garden feature.

-Yeah...

-Not that it's got much to do with mediaeval times.

Yes, Angus, plastic cats aren't very mediaeval.

Will people buy them?

-Oh no, we definitely have to get these.

-Yeah, yeah.

OK, so these wizard hats...

There's an attraction for these. However, they are rather expensive.

-£3...

-86.

-I don't think it's worth...

Whether it's worth the price.

It looks like both teams think hats will be popular

at the mediaeval skirmish, but which ones are they going to buy?

-It's not bad.

-I think it looks really attractive.

-Yeah.

-What, so this?

-Yeah.

That's it, enough time looking - now it's decision time.

Kate runs this warehouse.

She knows all about the fancy-dress business.

Impulse and 3 Profiteers have to get the best prices from her.

In terms of negotiating price, what is your strategy?

Well, of course, we'll put in a low offer,

they'll probably go a bit higher than our offer,

then we'll try and be only a gradual step up

and see if they'll buy it.

Give me an example of something that you've seen.

-Well, the tiara. For the gold one it's about 52p for 10 pieces.

-Yeah.

We're planning to sell it probably at 60p,

so we get like an 8p-increase in the price.

Now they've got to negotiate with Kate.

Remember, they've got £75 to spend.

They need to haggle for the best prices now,

so they can take the most money when they sell tomorrow.

-Hello.

-Hi, how are you getting on?

3 Profiteers are up first.

They go straight for the jesters' hats.

Would you be willing to sell them for ten for £22?

The lowest I'll go on these is £2.40 each,

that would make it £24.

Are you sure you can't do £23.50?

-£2.35, isn't it?

-23...

-Go on then, I'll do £2.35,

but that's the lowest I'll go on them.

-How many do you want?

-Ten, please, at £2.35

£23.50 - that's a lot.

It's a third of their trade fund on ten jester hats.

Now for those plastic cats that could be a risky strategy.

-I would do three cats...

-Yep.

-..OK, for £8.50.

Three cats for £8.40?

You drive a hard bargain, you guys!

Go on, then. Three cats for £8.40.

Please can we have three wizard hats for £11?

Well, the price was £3.86 and you only want to give me £3.66,

so let's say £3.75.

-£3.72?

-£3.72.

-That's lovely, so three of those.

-Shall we pay you?

3 Profiteers are haggling over pennies here,

but every penny counts when it comes to making a profit.

We'd like to buy the inflatable St George hammer, 20 in all...

-20 in all, yes.

-..and we'd like to get an offer of £5.80.

I'll do them for you for £6, OK?

-£5.85?

-£6 is my best deal. That is a really good price.

So it's £6 for 20 hammers.

Now it's the turn of Impulse to negotiate.

Hi, so how are you getting on? Have you made your choices?

-Yes.

-What are you going for?

-We've decided on your hero warrior shields...

-OK.

So, tell me, what are you prepared to pay for them each?

We're planning to, kind of, get 30,

-but we're planning to only pay for 20 of them.

-Oh!

I'm not sure that's going to work!

So Jason's tactic is to buy in bulk and get ten for free.

The price if you buy ten plus is 25p each which is a good price

because I think you can make a reasonable profit on these.

We're prepared to buy each one for 20p each.

20p? Mm, I don't think I can do 20p.

23p is going to be my absolute rock-bottom price on those.

-That's like 40p off.

-OK.

-Does that sound good?

With that 40p reduction, they buy 30 shields for £6.90.

Jason, with his head for figures, is still leading the deal-making.

How much can you do the Viking helmets for, Kate?

-How many were you thinking about buying?

-15 for the price of 13 or 14.

He's at it again, wanting freebies for a bulk buy.

Kate's not playing the game.

-Well, let's say you can have 15 at 75p each.

-Thank you.

Impulse now launch into their big trade strategy.

They want to sell girls the idea of being a princess for a day.

We want to buy both plastic tiaras in gold, and also the silver.

-Good idea.

-13 each.

-13 of each. What did you want to pay for them all together?

-£12.22.

£12.22. That's 47p each... Yep, that's fine. Yep, 47p each.

That's £12 on 26 tiaras.

They want to buy rings to go with them.

We're planning to buy 50 for £4.

-So you want to buy 50 rings for £4.

-Yeah.

That's making them 8p each,

which is more than I was going to sell them to you for.

Oh dear, Impulse didn't see the rings are 6p each

and they've offered to pay Kate more.

It says 6p each or 7p each.

They're 6p each. If you buy ten or more, you can have them for 6p each.

-So how many did you want to buy? 50?

-Yes, please.

So, 50... That's going to cost you £3 for 50 rings.

That's absolutely fine.

Although they offered her a higher price,

Kate's let them have those rings for 6p each.

Top Tip to all traders...

You must know your cost price before going into a negotiation,

otherwise you could lose out on making a profit.

# You're hot and you're cold... #

So, the deals are done. What have each team bought with that £75?

3 Profiteers spent £35 on hats - three wizard and ten jesters.

That's a lot.

Buying three plastic cats for more than £8 could be risky.

And they've gone big on lots of inflatable hammers, flags and axes.

Impulse want to sell a "princess for a day" idea.

They ended up spending £20 on tiaras and rings,

the rest of Viking helmets and warrior shields and swords.

So it's expensive hats, fit for a king,

versus everything that glitters, for the princesses.

Now it's all about who sells the most at the mediaeval skirmish.

Only one team will win and still be in with a chance

of trading their way to the USA,

to become Britain's best young traders.

Let the battle commence!

It's the selling day.

A day of fun and frolics and blood and guts and gore.

We're at Berkeley Castle in Gloucester,

where thousands of visitors are dressed up, for a weekend

of mediaeval fun and battlefield madness.

Charge!

But what will people here be looking to buy?

Well, here we are at Berkeley Skirmish.

It's big, isn't it?

ALL: Yes.

Both teams have exactly three hours' selling time.

The team that takes the most money wins today's challenge

and has a shot at one of our semifinals.

Win that and you'll be trading in our Grand Final, in New York.

-Are you ready to sell?

-ALL: Yes.

Well, hurry up, then! Time is money! Come on!

THEY LAUGH

With just three hours to sell,

which team will take the most money?

The pressure is on to get their stalls ready.

How are you getting on with blowing that up?

Yeah, done!

-The jester hats look brilliant, don't they?

-Yeah, fabulous.

Both teams are setting up their stalls and I think

they have a real opportunity to make lots of money.

There is lots of children here, but no other stall like theirs'.

What they offer is unique

and I just hope they get their pricing right.

3 Profiteers have gone big on expensive headgear.

Wear the jester hats.

They bought those jester hats for £2.35 each

and want to sell them for £5 - a profit of £2.65.

Put them on top.

Yeah, that's the idea.

Those three plastic cats cost them £8.40.

I'm not sure they were a purr-fect buy.

The cats we can put down here, so they are prowling around.

Sure they'll be a good garden feature.

Angus... We've got four.

They are giving everything a price tag.

This is what I like to see -

clear pricing on products, to make it easy for customers to shop.

Well done, The 3 Profiteers.

Impulse have a sparkling trade strategy.

They bought the tiaras for 47p and the rings for 6p each.

They want to sell them as a multipack.

We're giving one tiara and any section of five rings for £6.

£6? That's expensive.

Will they get any buyers?

The Mediaeval Skirmish at Berkeley Castle is open.

The visitors are arriving

and it's crunch time.

Impulse...

The 3 Profiteers...

-BANG!

-..start selling!

£3.50 for one axe.

Sword and a shield, we'll give it to you for £7 only.

Usually it's £12.

Hello, guys, can we interest you in any swords, axes, shields?

-£3, if you buy an axe and a shield.

-OK.

-OK?

3 Profiteers' first sales are axes and shields, for £1.50,

but there's no interest in those expensive hats.

Impulse haven't started selling yet.

Blocking their stall sword fighting

isn't going to encourage the customers.

Spotting a selling opportunity coming towards them,

Henry and Angus pounce.

Are you interested in a jester hat or a wizard?

I'll swap you. You put on that.

Oh, it's heavy.

Here's my Top Tip...

Always try and demonstrate your product, because customers

love to try before they buy.

-How's that?

-Brilliant!

-Oh, it's great. Suits you.

-Would you be interested in buying, sir?

-Tell you what,

I might have one of these Merlin hats.

-The Merlin hats, uh...

-How much are they?

They are only £4.99.

-Once our bit's done, I'll come back.

-Are you sure you'll come back, sir?

-I'll be here all day.

-OK.

-You can't miss me.

-OK, thank you.

3 Profiteers, you didn't close the deal there.

Will the man really come back later?

Over with Impulse, it looks like their

Princess For A Day idea is taking off and they are doing a deal.

I'm interested in one each of the tiaras. How much are these?

-Buy one tiara, you get one free.

-Sounds all right to me.

'We're really trying to attract the girly customers -'

the ones who are princesses inside.

We are trying to find their inner spirit and reach out to them.

-Can I have these three tiaras, please?

-Three tiaras?

-And five rings.

-Five rings.

-OK, which ones?

-You can pick any ring you want.

-That one.

It's an hour into the selling challenge

and 3 Profiteers have a problem.

They have had no buyers for their most expensive items -

their jester hats and black cats.

Time to take drastic action and take them to the battlefield.

Jester hats and rubber cats, anyone?

-I'll have a sword.

-Cheers.

I think my garden needs a rubber cat.

-It does.

-Every garden needs a rubber cat.

At last, a cat is sold, for £4.

That is a profit of £1.30.

How much are the wizard hats?

-We're doing it for £2, with the beard.

-With the beard?

-Yeah.

-I don't need the beard. I've got one already.

'Wandering around away from the stall,

'we've sold a couple of items.

'We sold a sword and a jester hat, which have got some good money in.'

-Yeah, why not?

-You look brilliant.

'This jester hat was the first we have sold'

all day, so it's quite good.

Suits you. It's the newest fashion.

They made a profit of £2.65 on that jester hat, selling it for £5.

Impulse are sticking with their stall and keeping prices high.

They bought those flags for 20p each

and a lady wants to buy a lot of them.

-How much are they?

-We'll give them to you for £20, altogether.

-£20?!

-But we'll give it you for 15, as a special offer.

-Because it's you!

-Because it's me!

-You're a princess.

-Oh, thank you, so much!

Can you do something slightly better for me?

-OK, £10...

-£10?

-..for 12 flags and one big flag.

-It's a deal.

They've sold 13 flags for £10.

-Enjoy your day.

-Thank you very much, indeed.

Wow! That's a £7 profit.

-Well done, lads.

-Thank you very much.

With just 30 minutes of the selling challenge left,

3 Profiteers have a new strategy -

sell more for less.

Right, how many have we got?

We have...16.

And your hammer and your shield?

-Hammer and shield, as well?

-Yeah.

We'll do that all for you for £3.

Yeah, have a nice day.

-Thank you.

-Bye.

-I'll find some lucky kids now to give them out to.

That's 16 flags for £3.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Are you interested in anything?

3 Profiteers, OK. How's it going?

Brilliantly, actually. Really good.

We managed to shift the more expensive stuff.

The hats and the cats.

So what's your strategy now, to get rid of this stuff?

-Sell it cheaply.

-Yeah, trying to...

-Try and still make a profit

but go a lot down.

They're selling a lot of things, but does dropping their prices mean

they're going to take the most money?

Shields, only 20p! Only 20p!

I'm worried they're selling things for less than they bought them for.

Can I interest you - only 50p for the jumbo sword.

-Yes!

-No!

10p for a flag!

10p for a hammer!

There's just 15 minutes left.

Impulse have kept their prices high, but have a lot of stock left.

They now pick up the pace and get out to sell, sell, sell.

-There you go. Good luck.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

You have ten minutes left! You've got to get rid of everything. Go!

And look - 3 Profiteers have found the dark knight

who said he'd buy the wizard's hat.

-Here you go. Keep that.

-Thank you very much.

They close the deal, making a profit of £1.30.

With just minutes left, Impulse drop their prices.

-Can we see the shield?

-They're three for £1.

They bought those shields for 23p each.

Now they're selling them three for £1.

Three shields for £1!

It's a race as both teams push for those final sales.

I'll have a helmet, then!

Can we have two?

14 rings for £1!

-50p?

-50p?

Their selling time is over.

CANNON BLAST

That's it. Stop selling.

Impulse do have products left. 3 Profiteers have sold out.

Which team has taken the most money?

The winners today could get through to the big New York final,

where they will compete against another team

to be named Britain's best young traders.

Your challenge was to sell historical hats and accessories

at Berkeley Skirmish.

If your takings are good enough to get you through to a semifinal,

what will you do differently?

I think we'll improve our customer services and our tactics.

We also have to realise

that there is more than one customer, when it comes to selling.

And the 3 Profiteers, how do you think you've done?

I think we did really well out of our £75, making a lot of profit.

What were your highlights?

Well, the cats seemed to sell very well, but we didn't buy enough,

so we were sold out after a while.

Do you think you've won?

I think we've got a chance.

I was quite happy with what we sold.

Well, I've been watching both teams

throughout the buying and selling process

and these are my observations.

Impulse, you bought some really good stock.

When you were buying your stock,

I was concerned that you weren't haggling enough with Kate.

3 Profiteers, you spent your money across lots of different categories

and I was a little bit concerned about that,

because I thought you weren't focussing

on thinking about who would be there at the event,

and who your target market would be.

The team that makes the most money wins the challenge

and has a shot at one of our semifinals.

Win that and you'll be in our Grand Final,

trading in New York.

So, who has won the challenge?

3 Profiteers...

You took...

£98.05

Impulse, you took...

..£98 and...

..15p.

'So, Impulse look shocked. No wonder - they've just won by 10p.

'Such a close result.'

Wow! That was a close one.

-Well done. I thought you would have won.

-Well done.

-So close!

Ten pennies!

Guys, high five, cos that is a winning result! Well done.

Henry, is there anything you could have done better?

I think if we raised our prices a tiny bit,

but on hindsight, you do think like that if you lost.

From their £75 trade fund, Impulse took £98.15.

That's a £23.15 profit.

Let's look at the leaderboard.

Impulse are now in first place, in front of the OAPs.

Remember, only the four winning teams who take the most money

get through to the semifinals.

The two best will go on to compete in the grand New York final.

Trade Your Way To The USA!

But only one team will be named Britain's best young traders.

Next time on Trade Your Way To The USA

there's fruit to be picked...

Really nice.

..and haggling to be done...

-£1.

-£1. £1.50?

..as two teams of traders battle it out at a busy farmer's market.

Would you like to chose?

Anyone want any Eton Mess?

Thank you very much.

Come on, glitzy glam!

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