Semi 2 - Balloons Trade Your Way to the USA

I'm Saira Khan, a successful businesswoman. 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.

Could you do three for £2?

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

-Yes.

-No.

-I'm looking for the best young traders in Britain.

-Would you like a pick and mix fruit dessert?

-Very nice. Oh, lovely.

From over 1,000 applicants, four teams

have made it through to the semi-finals. They are...

They have an eye for a bargain.

Can you give it to us for £5?

-Well, you are getting a really good deal.

-£6.

-Yeah, £6, OK.

-£6.

-They're tough negotiators.

-7.5.

-7.5? What, meet halfway?

-Yeah.

And they're top sellers.

I Love London mugs and spoons!

£1 a slice of chocolate with clotted cream! Help feed the boys!

Sapphire's won a place in the final.

I can't believe I'm going to New York.

Will it be Prosperity or Aspire who go head-to-head

with Sapphire in that final?

Who will trade their way to the USA and still be in with a chance

of being named Britain's Best Young Traders?

Welcome to the semi-final of Trade Your Way To The USA.

So here are today's semi-finalists.

Prosperity from Liverpool and Aspire from Glasgow.

In the heats, Prosperity shone during their cake-selling challenge.

Queen of Hearts jam tarts, would you like one? THEY LAUGH

Proving themselves to be sharp hagglers.

You could have four cakes for £15. Does that sound fair to you?

-No.

-Maybe 3.50 would be better.

They sold an amazing £211 worth of cakes, taking a huge profit of £136.

THEY LAUGH AND CHEER

So Prosperity's one step away from the grand final in New York.

But they've got competition.

Aspire were hot-shot souvenir sellers in London's Covent Garden.

-Look at this really fancy teapot.

-And guess what? It's a cup as well.

-They bought cheap...

-How about £1.20?

-£1.15.

-Done.

-..and sold high.

I'm sure if you go down the road you'll be seeing these and they'll be selling them for a tenner at least.

They won the challenge, taking £158, a big £83 profit.

So it's Prosperity, the cool-headed, tough negotiators, versus Aspire,

the hotshot cheeky charmers.

But who will win this challenge?

Because just one team will be jetting off to New York

for the grand final. It's time to trade.

Today, we're in Bristol and everything's up in the air

at a balloon fiesta.

But our two teams need to keep their feet on the ground to win.

Well, congratulations, Aspire and Prosperity. Welcome back.

You've made the semi-final. How are you feeling? Lizzie?

I'm really excited, because I want to find out what the next challenge is.

Brilliant. And, Francesco, how are you feeling?

Really energetic. I'm just raring to go.

There's everything to play for.

The team that win takes their place in Trade Your Way To The USA's

grand final in New York.

Are you ready to find out what your challenge is?

-Yeah.

-Well, this time all the choices are down to you.

You'll have to think about marketing, negotiating and branding.

You'll design your very own product to sell at one of Britain's

most colourful and spectacular events.

We'll be at Bristol's International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta,

which attracts around 500,000 visitors.

So Prosperity and Aspire will be going head-to-head at a fantastic

hot air balloon fiesta.

They'll be selling T-shirts, bags and hoodies, which will

be printed with their own design.

So they have to create their own brand to tempt the customers with.

As it's the semi-finals, the teams' trade fund doubles to £150,

so they can design and buy their own products.

OK, Prosperity, Aspire, I have your trading funds. Here you go.

Spend it wisely. It has doubled

because you're in the semi-final, so you've got more spending power.

Now, in front of you, you can see lots of different products.

You're going to have to choose the right product for you to put

your design onto. Now, to help you, let me introduce to you Barry.

He runs his own T-shirt printing company, and today you're going to

negotiate and buy from him.

Hi, guys. I've got some samples of the products which I can offer you.

Hooded tops, T-shirts, tote bags, stickers, we've got aprons.

You've got to think of your design, what colours

to print your design in, because the more colours on them,

-the more it'll cost you.

-Which is your best seller?

The T-shirts and the hooded tops.

These are the ones where you can probably make the most profit on.

What would be the recommended retail price on the hoodies and the tops?

On the hooded tops, if you're

selling them with a print on, round about £25. The T-shirts, up to £15.

You know the "I Heart Bristol T-shirt"? Is that a big seller?

It is a big seller because

it's a simple design and in only two-coloured print.

Both teams asked good questions.

Now they've got just 15 minutes to decide what to buy.

With the £150, they've also got to budget for printing their designs.

-First up are Aspire.

-That's a large one.

I think we should get mainly men to these, because I think

more men wear hoodies than women.

No, because girls always wear hoodies, especially ones that are too big for them.

Aspire listened to Barry about which products sell best,

and want to spend all their money on hoodies and T-shirts.

£150, it might seem a lot, but when it's on paper, it's not a lot.

Next, it's Prosperity's turn to work out what to buy.

-Shall we try them on, see what they're like?

-Yeah, you try that

on to see if they fit. I think that's the smallest they go.

-That's a nice fit.

-Good idea, Lizzie.

Here's a top tip for all you traders. Try before you buy.

Make sure you're 100% happy with your product

before handing over your cash.

-Are we going to get any hoodies?

-Prosperity's also going for hoodies

and T-shirts, but they think bags might also be a top seller.

I'm not paying £3 for that!

Before they negotiate, they've got to create the design they want

printed on their products. It's got to be eye-catching.

Cos the "I Love Bristol" T-shirts go so well with

the "I Heart Bristol", a hot air balloon,

but in the shape of a love heart.

-Oh, yeah!

-On a white background.

-That sounds quite good.

-And then "Bristol".

-Simple, but it's catchy.

Aspire's come up with a strong idea,

but it looks like the "I Heart" logo has also caught Prosperity's eye.

Make it like a balloon, as a heart.

Don't make it obviously a heart.

-A heart with a basket. Just make it a balloon.

-Yeah, so it still fits in

-with the whole balloon thing.

-Yeah.

I can't believe it. Both teams have come up with almost the same idea.

It's going to make the challenge even tougher.

They have their ideas.

Now they need to get them ready to print with Mark, the designer.

-So it's balloons?

-Yeah, but we wanted the end of it flat so it

-wasn't like a complete heart.

-Right, OK. Can I put that there?

-Yeah.

-Right, OK. How's that?

-Yeah, I like that.

-Yeah, I like that.

-I like the way you've put the lines in. I like that.

-OK, that's kind of

-what you were looking for, yeah?

-Yeah.

-That's it, then, my job's done.

-That was easy.

Prosperity's really happy with the design.

Now it's Aspire's turn to get creative.

Neither team knows they are both going with the "I Heart" theme.

But has Francesco got an idea for

the writing that'll make Aspire's design stand out?

Do you know if there's a font

that's like in the kind of like style of Banksy?

Right, so like a stencil font, yeah?

Yeah. Banksy's like a famous graffiti artist.

He does lots of stencils and stuff like that, it's really good.

We can add a few dribbles of paint.

I don't know what the girls have done but I'm pretty sure it won't

-be as good as this.

-Now it's time to negotiate with Barry.

Remember, they've got £150 trade fund.

The hoodies are around £15, T-shirts £5, and bags £2.50 each.

There's a place in the New York final at stake. And Prosperity's

-up first.

-Hi, Prosperity. Have you come up with any ideas or...?

-Yeah.

-We were thinking of buying bags,

tops and hoodies, just them three.

How many T-shirts are you thinking?

We were thinking of spending about

a maximum of £50, so however many T-shirts we could get into that.

-Would you be able to go to £2.50 per T-shirt?

-No.

What about £3 at a push?

I maybe able to push to £3.

So that's a great deal. They've got the T-shirts for £3 each.

-And hoodies?

-Erm...five hoodies for like £45?

Five hoodies for £45. Is that what you are saying?

-No, I can't do that. I can do...

-How about doing nine each?

So we are doing five hoodies for £50. That's £10 a hoodie.

That gives you a fair bit to play with.

Barry won't go lower than £10 per hoodie, so Prosperity decide

to buy just four.

Now to the cost of the printing. It's £40 for two colours.

We were looking for two colours, but

-we were wondering if we could have two colours for £30.

-That's fine.

-I will take you up on that.

-What about £25?

-Can you go a bit lower?

-£25. OK.

That's a £15 discount.

What about the bags? The bags I can sell for £2.50.

-£2.50 minimum?

-Yeah, seriously.

Could you... Er...could you not go to £2?

I tell you what, I will come down, I will come down to £2.25.

£2.25? OK.

They held out for more discount and got it.

Yeah, that's £149.75.

So Prosperity has just 25 pence left, surely

-they can't get anything with that?

-Can you throw in a bag for 25p?

-I'll throw in a bag. So 12 bags.

-So that's £150 exactly. Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-They really are the queens of negotiation.

I think Prosperity did very well.

Got a very good deal. A very good deal.

Well, girls, I think you've left Barry quaking in his boots.

You were quite ferocious. How was it?

I think it went quite well. I think we got some pretty good deals.

In negotiating, we're stubborn, which is a good thing.

But I thought he was really quite tough at negotiating because

a hoodie for £10 is not cheap.

So we're going to have to work hard to make a good profit from that.

Next up, it's Aspire.

They start their negotiations with the printing cost.

You see about the printing,

could you give us two colours for the price of one?

-Yeah, that's fine.

-That's great.

Two colours for the price of one. That's £20. Prosperity paid £25.

For 14 T-shirts, that works out as £70.

Could you give us 10% off that, make it £63?

£63. I will go with that, that works out at £4.50 a T-shirt.

-Are you happy with that?

-We're happy with that.

Aspire are paying £1.50 more per T-shirt than Prosperity,

they need to haggle harder.

Would you be able to give us 15% off on the hooded tops?

That would be - five would be £64.25?

-Yeah, that's fine.

-They've paid more for the hoodies than Prosperity.

Aspire need to sell for higher prices to get to the final.

We have £2.75 spare.

See for the extra £2.75, would you throw in a bag for us, just to finish

-off our £150?

-Yeah, that's fine.

Not the best deal on that bag, as Prosperity got theirs for only 25p!

-Thanks for doing business with us, then.

-Thank you. No problem. Thanks.

They didn't negotiate very much at all. I think the girls

got a much better deal than they have from me, than the boys.

Aspire, well how was the negotiating with Barry?

This negotiating round was much better.

200 million percent better.

The last time our high prices made us win.

So we're going to keep it high, but not too high that puts people off.

So the deals are done. What have the teams bought with their £150

trade fund? Prosperity spent £25 on the printing, £60 on T-shirts,

£40 on hoodies and £25 on bags.

Aspire got their printing for just £20 and spent £63 on T-shirts,

£64 on hoodies and one bag for £2.75.

Both teams have gone for an "I Heart" theme.

Aspire has an edgy street look and more hoodies, versus Prosperity's

light-hearted balloon design with more T-shirts and bags.

It's going to be a close competition, and there's so much

at stake. Because the team that takes the most money will be in the

grand final in New York and could be named Britain's Best Young Traders.

Now it's all about who sells best.

We're at the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta,

one of the biggest hot-air ballooning events in Europe.

It attracts over 500,000 visitors for a high-flying day out.

But for two teams of traders,

this is one of the biggest days of their lives.

Just one problem: Neither knows just how similar their designs are.

Time to reveal all.

Three, two, one, turn around.

THEY SCREAM They're good as well.

They're really similar.

-Do you like theirs?

-Yeah, I'm worried, though.

Are you? Why are you worried?

-Because we want to go to New York.

-That dream's getting further away.

Are you worried looking at their design?

-Yeah, a wee bit.

-Theirs is really good.

With the wee person in the basket and everything, it's really good.

OK, teams, huddle round me. Today is down to your selling skills.

Remember, the team that wins today is on their way to the USA.

-I'm very excited. Are you ready to sell?

-ALL: Yes!

Let's go.

This is it. Only three hours to sell and win their place in the finals.

Oh, no.

With their stalls side-by-side,

Prosperity and Aspire will be fighting for customers,

so they must do everything they can to attract potential buyers.

We've only got four hoodies. So they're basically the only four

in the world, so we'll be stressing the fact that it's all original.

Clever trading from Prosperity. If people think a product

is rare or one-off, they are more likely to splash their cash.

Aspire think their quirky signs will help bring in the customers, too.

Presentation's everything.

Because they'll be like, "Oh, that looks like a lovely stall,"

and come for a look and possibly buy something.

With both teams selling similar products,

the pricing is all-important.

Prosperity is selling the hoodies at £17. T-shirts at £12 and bags at £5.

Aspire has less products, but higher prices.

The hoodies are £25 and T-shirts £15.

Which team will trade their way to the USA?

-Teams, are you ready?

-ALL: Yeah!

-Start selling!

-How much were the hoodies, sorry?

-£25.

-I'll have a white one.

The first sale goes to Aspire. But Prosperity is hot on their heels.

They're one of a kind, only four hoodies in the world. These are 12.

-What size do you want, medium?

-Yes, please.

They bought the T-shirts for £3 each and have sold two for £24.

An amazing £18 profit.

The pressure is really on

with a place in the New York final at stake - and both teams know it.

Perfect fit. I think you look amazing.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Bless ya! Bless him.

Two of them, then, please.

30 minutes in and Prosperity's stall isn't so busy.

-We'll come back later, is that OK?

-Yeah.

So Faye's on the hunt for customers.

Would you like to come and have a look at our stall?

-We designed them ourselves.

-We're OK at the moment.

OK, thank you. I think it's a lot harder this time.

We've obviously got a much harder product to sell.

Last time it was easy with the scones and biscuits.

It's a small amount of money so they buy it without a thought.

But this time it's proving harder. I'm just going to persevere.

With the stalls so close together,

selling similar products, a stall war breaks out.

Both teams want to win the sale.

-They're exactly the same. Exactly the same.

-Can we get

you some boxing gloves and get it over and done with, or what?

Ding, ding, round two and Helena of Prosperity is trying to get

customers away from Aspires' stall.

Our stall is best, basically.

-We need to win them. We need to win them.

-That's much better, right!

And Helena's fighting talk works as she gets the lady interested.

The tops are £12 and the hoodies are £17.

That's so low and desperate.

There are only four of these hoodies in the world.

-We are only selling it today.

-But Aspire is not giving in.

Here comes Michael.

I promise you, we will give them a better deal, I swear, all right.

I promise! Scout's honour, seriously.

And Michael's persistence pays off as he gets the customer back

-and they bag the sale.

-Thank you, bye.

Leaving Prosperity knocked out and licking their wounds.

She liked the hearts on theirs better than the heart on ours.

I'm pretty gutted.

An hour-and-a-half into the selling, it looks like it's going to rain

and sales have dried up for Aspire.

We might come back later.

We have to try to get more customers. It's hard because

a lot of them are not that interested in buying anything.

A lot of them are just having a wee look.

They come and you think they'll buy something

and they just go away. They just come to look.

Thank you very much.

OK, Team Aspire, how's it going?

-Bad.

-I tell you what, if I was a customer right now and I saw

you guys standing behind a stall looking really miserable, I wouldn't

buy off you. Come on, you've still got lots of time, smiling, energy,

-passion, sell your stuff, yes?

-Yep.

Do you want to pick your size? What size?

Prosperity's still got lots to sell.

Men's T-shirts and women's T-shirts!

So they decide to cut their prices in half.

£3 for a bag, £5 for a T-shirt.

We'll give you a deal if you buy more than one. Thank you.

Aspire's got a keen eye on the competition.

And they also drop their prices from £15 for a T-shirt to two for £10.

Remember these started the day at one for £25 and one for £10.

So we're in the last half an hour, so we are pushing everything.

-Two T-shirts for £10.

-Yes.

With less than half an hour to go, Francesco decides to head out

into the crowd to get people interested in buying,

and it seems to be working.

-How much are these?

-£13.

-13. I'll have these.

Brilliant, thank you very much.

Prosperity, you've got just over 15 minutes left. Feeling positive?

No, they've just had loads of customers

and they've hardly got anything left.

-So what does that mean that you've got to do?

-We need to sell.

Exactly. And so go for it.

You've still got everything to play for. 15 minutes is a long time.

While Prosperity fights for sales, Aspire starts selling out.

Thanks very much. I've got one hoodie left and that's it.

So we're really happy with that.

-What size? Medium?

-Yeah.

Francesco is really trying hard to sell that last hoodie.

-No.

-No-one seems to want it. It's not the right colour. I don't know.

I've got to sell it quickly, just get it over and done.

Come on, Prosperity, you need to clear that stall.

£3 for a bag £5 for a T-shirt.

With minutes of the challenge left, Francesco finds someone interested

-in the hoodie.

-How much is it?

-£8.

-Can he close the deal?

-Oh, OK.

-Yes!

Sold for £8.

Aspire, your time is up.

I need your cash box.

Prosperity, your time is up, stop selling, I need your cash box.

That's it. Three hours are up, which team

has traded their way to the USA?

The winners will be jetting off to the grand final in New York,

where they'll compete to be named Britain's Best Young Traders.

Well, Aspire, Prosperity, your selling day is over.

Let's start with you, Prosperity.

Negotiation. You are the team to negotiate.

You're fantastic! Selling, again, you are great at selling.

The only thing for me today was that there were less smiles

and I sensed a lack of self-belief.

-Is that a fair assessment?

-Yes.

-Aspire, let's look at you guys.

Now, negotiation, it's not always been your strongest point

and I have to say, yes, you did get some discount, but it wasn't a lot.

Your cost prices were very high. You've always been the team to beat

when it comes to selling, but overall, you had a hard job to do.

You were selling at very high prices. Well, teams, I have to say,

the standard has been excellent.

It's been very high. Remember, whoever wins today goes to the USA.

-Are you ready to find out?

-ALL: Yes.

Prosperity, you took...

..£217.50. Well done.

Aspire, you took...

..£246.70!

MUSIC PLAYS

Well done.

Well done.

Prosperity, how do you feel?

Obviously we're upset, but, I mean, we're glad that we got this far.

I've really enjoyed working with you, you have been fantastic.

I don't ever want to negotiate with you three. Aspire, how do you feel?

A bit - not a bit, very shocked, to be honest.

Well done, you're in the final.

You're going to the USA! Woo!

I'm ecstatic. I was really shocked and I'm really happy, I'm chuffed.

So Aspire win, taking £246.70,

a profit of £96.70.

They've made it to the grand final in New York...

CHEERING AND SHOUTING

..where they'll go head-to-head with Sapphire,

but which team will be named Britain's Best Young Traders?

Next time on Trade Your Way to the USA, we're in New York.

Only two teams have made it here, to the grand final.

They're Aspire, and Sapphire.

They'll compete in the biggest American trading challenge.

-Are you ready to make a deal here?

-Are you ready for us?

Come and get your cookies!

It's a useful tool.

But which team will be named Britain's Best Young Traders?

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