Surrey Bargain Hunt

Mm! Delicious!

Anyway, back to the day job. We're in Camden Passage

with over 200 stalls for our teams to unearth the old bargains from.

So, what's on the recipe today?

On the Bargain Hunt menu we have £300, one expert, one hour shopping

to find three bargains and if they make a profit at auction, they get to pocket it.

Otherwise it's egg on face all round and a few chips.

Or should I say inexpensive fried potatoes?

Well, that's enough cookery for me.

Let's meet some people who really do know about food.

Both of our teams have a cookery connection.

Both of our teams are made up out of good friends and where better place to meet a good friend than in a pub?

Which is where we happen to be today.

First up, it's the Reds, Alan and Sheila.

Now, Sheila, how do you know Alan?

I know Alan because we work at the same place, Eton College.

I've been there for 12 years and I've known Alan for eight years.

-And what do you do there?

-I am a chef.

-And how many little kiddiewinks do you feed?

-600 plus.

-600 plus! Three meals a day, that's 1,800 meals.

-Yes.

-Would you call yourself an experienced collector?

-No, but I do visit car-boot sales.

-You've got nicknames for each other as a result of that?

-Yes, I call Alan "Troika".

-Troika?

Because he likes a bit of Troika.

-What do you call Sheila?

-"Clarice".

-Because she likes a bit of Cliff?

-Yes.

Now, Alan, or should it be "Troika"?

What exactly do you do in the great college?

I'm just a general porter in the same building as "Clarice"

and I just run around, cleaning up after them all day.

-Do you? Running round after these girls making a big mess.

-Yes.

Good luck. I think you're going to do well. Over to the Blues.

Jen and Steve. Now, Steve, you're a pukka cook too, aren't you?

I'm a trained chef but I don't do that any more.

I have chefed for Crisis, the homeless charity,

but I'm actually back at Roehampton University now, studying Early Childhood Studies.

-And how did you two meet then?

-I actually met Jen at Crisis and Jen saw me there and she said,

"Well I'm a chef, I've been doing it for a number of years now, come with me and I'll look after you."

I call her my surrogate auntie, so, I've known her since.

Apart from that, any experience buying and selling?

Online, I do it a bit now and again.

-Will you be any good at buying and selling?

-I'll give it a go.

That's the attitude we like.

-What do you collect?

-I collect elephants.

-Elephants?

-Yes, not real ones, just small elephants.

-How many have you got?

-About 50 or 60.

-That's a whole herd!

Now we're going to come to the money moment.

£300. 300 smackers, there you go. You know the rules.

Your experts await. You'd better get out there and off you go!

Goodness knows what we'll find out next!

She's no featherweight when it comes to antiques.

The Reds' expert is Anita Manning and stalking the streets for

bargains, the Blues' helper, Kate Bliss.

Ahh!

Ah, Anita, there you are!

We've been looking for you everywhere. We found this.

-How appropriate!

-What do you think?

-Yes.

-There's only one thing wrong. It's empty!

We thought you'd help us with that.

Tell me what you liked about it.

I think they've come back in date now

with the size of the shot glasses. It was an attractive piece.

-Do you know what period it is?

-No.

-1950s.

-Yes, you're absolutely right.

Now, this is quite interesting because the '50s is becoming very, very popular.

If we look at the gilding here, it's in good condition.

So I doubt if this little decanter set has been used very much.

We have different names and recipes of cocktails.

We have a Paradise, we have a Hula Hula and we have a Corpse Reviver,

which is what I'm having just now.

You two obviously think it's bags of fun but it will depend on the price.

-The price.

-He wants £110 for it.

£110?!

No, no. That's crazy.

It's got bags of style, I like it, but to have any chance of a profit,

we've really got to get that right down.

Before we go though, I think I'll finish my wee dram.

Would you two like one?

Top notch haggling!

They got the cocktail set for £60, and, by the way, mine's a gin and tonic.

-Can you see anything?

-Hopefully a lot of profit, Kate.

No, seriously, does it work?

I think so, yeah. I just need to adjust the focus on it.

-What do you reckon?

-Let's have a closer look. It's been used a lot.

The leather's really quite worn.

But it gives it that nice period look.

Turn of the century, perhaps a little later.

-But there's a name. I think it says F Davidson & Company, London.

-Well spotted!

That's nice, having a London name and the patent number just gives it a little bit extra.

-OK.

-That's quite nice having that.

What do you think, Jen?

-It's a bit of a boys' toy.

-I do. It's different.

Now, it's 65, that's quite a lot for auction.

I can see this really at sort of £30, £40.

So, if you like it, why don't you go and see what you can do?

Yeah, I do like it but I agree it is a little bit pricey. What do you think, Jen?

-I think if you can get them down a bit.

-You reckon?

-Try.

-It could be quite quirky, shall I try?

-Yeah.

-Go on, give it your best.

-OK, here I go.

-So, is he any good at bargaining?

-Oh, yes! He likes that sort of thing. He's not shy about things.

Aye-aye!

The brass telescope came in at £45.

I found this. I think it's great.

-Oh, isn't that lovely?

-It's full of postcards as well.

I think this is a lovely thing and I love these. People love to browse

through and look at photographs from bygone ages and it's a wee bit of social history.

They like to look at what people are wearing, their hairdos.

It's quite interesting to see, that's the sort of hairdo that folk

had in late 1800s, early 20th century, and a young soldier.

And what year would these be?

Well, the book dates from I would say the 1880s to the early 1900s.

So, late Victorian, early Edwardian,

and you can tell this by the dress that they're wearing.

-Yeah.

-If we close it, let's have a look at the exterior.

Now, these are normally in leather. This one is in a purple velvet. I like that.

-I really like it.

-What do you think?

-It's lovely. It's a lovely book.

But the condition, would it make any difference?

There is some damage here on the spine but that back spine is quite easily repaired.

-It fits well, it fits back together well.

-Uh-huh.

-How much are they looking for it?

-£90.

-£90.

I think we're going to have to get that down substantially.

-Come on, chaps! We've work to do. Let's go!

-Let's go!

The Reds snapped up the photo collection for 70 quid.

-Here, do you like this? It's brass, a letter clip.

-Yeah.

-What do you think to this? I really like this.

-What's that, Jen?

It's an inkwell but it's a double one, which I think is quite unusual.

I don't know if it's silver but Kate will know.

Let's just have a little look and I'm looking for a hallmark for English silver.

Around here and around the rim and I think this is silver plate.

-I'm sure it's silver plate.

-Right.

-Right.

-Which makes a big difference to the value.

-Of course.

-Yeah.

The nice thing is the quality of the embossing which is what we've got here on the lids.

It's a neat piece for a desk.

And we've got initials on this one and the date, 1899, on this one.

So we know its right at the end of Victoria's reign and it's quite nice

because it just gives it a bit of character.

It may well have been a present from husband to wife or a marriage gift.

Isn't there a chip on there?

-I did notice that.

-Well spotted.

That does really let it down and the fact it's silver plate rather than silver.

You've got to really take that into account into the price.

I could ask him if we could get something off the price. It's £75, which I think is high.

I do agree. £75 is a bit steep.

-What should we go for?

-What do you think?

Well, at auction, I can really see it at £30 to £50.

-It's your item, I think you should go for it.

-OK, here we go.

-Let's go.

-Come on!

And go for it she did, haggling the inkwell down to £45.

Look at this, bits of money.

What does that remind you of?

You're right! Leftover lolly, those bits of money which the teams don't spent when shopping will

be given to their expert to find a bonus buy, which they'll sell later

at auction and hopefully boost their team's profits. How about that?

Anita, what do you think of this? I love the colour.

-Sheila, I think you and I have the same taste, I think this is wonderful.

-Lovely, isn't it?

Yes. It's Poole pottery, one of my favourites, and they made some wonderful pots in the 1930s.

In the 1960s they changed their style again, and made these

wonderful colour, modernistic pots, chargers, plates and so on.

In the 1980s they came back again, and did this type of ware.

Now, this particular pattern is called Volcano,

and we only need to look at it to know why.

And I think that this type of thing has potential.

Tony, what do you think?

If it's that age, it's an antique for the future,

so if somebody wants to start collecting, start here. It's lovely. You couldn't miss it.

-You couldn't miss it, yeah. How much?

-£65.

-Do you think we can get it down a wee bit?

-I already have.

-Oh, you are a clever girl! How much did you get for it?

-£50.

I think we've got a chance. Let's go!

So, will the Poole pottery Volcano dish erupt at auction? £50 paid.

There's a lot of silver plate along here, but this

is in a completely different league.

-Look at the decoration on that.

-It's really beautiful.

-Yes, it's pretty.

-What year is that going to be then?

This is typically Victorian.

And really, it shouts quality to me, it's a really nice piece of silver.

You've got pierced decoration here, which is engraved and beautifully traced.

You've got this trellis flower and leafage work,

and then some engine turning on the borders here, all really beautifully done.

Beaded border at the bottom, and then the handle would have been made separately in a silversmith's

workshop, but you've also got a hallmark on that to match.

Can you see? There's a little mark on the inside there, and then the mark on the outside, just here.

It's in amazing condition, really, considering its age, and is this dated for 1864.

Well, it's a fantastic item, but how much is it?

Well, there isn't a price on it, but I think...

Let me go and see if I can find the dealer, see how much they want,

see if I can negotiate a good price, but at auction I can see this making anything from

£100 to £150, maybe more if two people really like it.

I think we should go for it, if it's not too expensive.

Kate's very keen on the sweet basket, they ended up paying £150 for it.

Time's up, shopping's over.

Let's remind ourselves as to what they bought.

Our reds, Alan and Sheila, are hoping to shake up the auction with this cocktail set for £60.

The old photo album and family snaps set them back £70, and that

explosive-looking Poole pottery Volcano dish, a bargain at £50?

I "lava" hope so!

Jen and Steve started with the brass telescope, bought for £45.

They hope the double inkwell will be something

to write home about. It cost £45,

and the most expensive item of the day was this silver sweet basket.

£150 paid.

It's extremely nice to be at Lawrence's sale room in Bletchingly

in Surrey with Robin Lawrence, our auctioneer. Good morning, Robin.

-Good morning, Tim.

-Now, first up for Alan and Sheila

is this truly hideous decanter set.

I agree with you, it's not doing anything for me.

Not even sure that the glasses and the decanter

started life with the tray that they're on.

Just a cobbled-together thing?

I'm afraid it is rather, and we think £20 to £40 might be possible.

£60 paid, you see.

The next item happens to be something that I really hate,

what I really hate is the texture.

It feels grubby and dirty. When you open it up... Boom!

The whole back falls off it.

It's full of very boring photographs of somebody else's relations.

Nothing interesting in the way of photographs, it's a filthy cover

-and it's falling apart.

-I think you've summed it up entirely.

-Would you pay £70 for that in the hope of making a profit at auction?

-I wouldn't, no.

I'm thinking £20 to £40.

And if that happens? I tell you - nobody's going to blame you.

It's unbelievable that £70 could have been paid.

-It does seem a bit strong.

-On the other hand, to complete

the trio, at least we've got a bit of Poole pottery here which seems to be in reasonable nick.

It's in very good condition, and a nice funky modern-looking design.

-There's a bit of hope for that one.

-And it's a known product too.

Yes, it's Poole's Volcano pattern, you can see there the fiery colours in the palette.

We think £50 to £80 should be possible.

Fantastic, well, they paid £50 for it, so there is at least a little light at the end of the tunnel,

that they might make a small profit on this, but the other two items are pretty certain to be dead losses,

so they'll need their bonus buy, and we ought to go and have a look at it.

Now, Sheil, Als, you gave Anita £120, what did she spend it on?

-OK, Anita, reveal all, darling.

-Aaah!

Not what I expected!

What is it?

It's nice to have a surprise.

-Yes.

-Well, it's a lovely little Victorian

box set of silver-plated salts and spoons, period about 1880,

1890, it's nice that it's still in the original fitted box.

We have these bucket-shaped salts, which I think are very nice,

they're in good condition, they may have been regilded.

And you've got these sweet little shell-shaped spoons.

-It's an attractive little outing.

-It is.

-They'd make a nice gift,

and they wouldn't be out of fashion, to make a gift now.

-I don't think so, no, I mean, we all need to eat salt.

-How much did it cost?

-I was thinking that!

Straight to the point, Sheil, eh?

-How much?

-Sorry.

I paid £35 for them.

-You paid £35? Well, that's a pretty good buy, isn't it?

-Would it make a profit, though?

-I would hope so.

-What, £10 or £15, do you think?

-I would estimate them perhaps

-at £40 to £60.

-But anyway, it all depends on quite where you are after the sale of your first three items,

right? That's the moment you'll decide,

but for the audience at home, let's find out what the auctioneer thinks.

So there we go, nice little cased up set, look.

Little set of silver salts. If they were solid silver, we could probably expect

£100 to £150 for those, but unfortunately, this set are silver plated,

and the fourth spoon in the set is in pieces inside one of the salts there,

so on that basis we're thinking only £20 to £40.

-She only paid £35, so there is a little bit of hope?

-There may be.

I think they're rather sweet, but it may well be all the money.

So, that's it for the Reds, now for the Blues.

The leather and brass telescope. That has a military feel to it, doesn't it?

I think very much so, yes. The leather covering to the barrels

would indicate perhaps First World War period, a gunnery site of some kind.

-It's in a reasonable state though, isn't it?

-Yes, and there's usually interest

-in scientific and military items, so we think £20 to £40.

-£45 paid.

Next is the double inkwell, quite nice to have two pots in one.

It is. Unfortunately there are a few problems. Firstly, we would expect it to be silver,

but the lids on this are silver plate, and on close examination it appears

that they don't quite match, so I'm wondering whether it's a made-up item.

-Couple that with the fact that there's a rather nasty bruise on the corner here.

-Yes.

-Bruise is an auctioneering word for a chip?

-Yes. I think only £20 or £40 is going to be achievable.

OK, £45 paid. Now, what about this little pierced sweetmeat basket, Georgian in style, isn't it?

Georgian in style, but Victorian period, has its original blue glass liner,

it's a good solid thing and should find a ready market at around £80 to £120.

Oh, dear, £150 they paid for that, that's not so sweet.

-No.

-No, absolutely not. OK, fine, well, there's a bit of a hole there.

They may not do too badly, but I think they'll need their bonus buy. Let's have a look at it.

Now, Jen and Steven, you spent £240, you gave Kate 60 smackers, yes?

Let's see what she spent it on.

OK, there it is.

-Oh, wow!

-Now this is a Victorian little sovereign case, and if I turn it over like that,

we can see we press the top, and it opens up,

and that's where the Victorian gent would keep his sovereign,

that just depresses, and the little coin would go in there.

Now this one is particularly nice, because we have the head here

on the inside, which is a little bit more unusual.

-It looks like a sovereign, doesn't it?

-It does.

It looks as if there is one in there, which is a nice feature,

and not one that you see on every sovereign case.

Typically Victorian decoration, we've got embossing here of leafage scrolls,

what we call a little vacant cartouche,

this could have initials engraved on it, just to personalise it.

-Lovely.

-It is nice.

-So you spent the £60 on it?

-No, I spent £40.

-Not bad.

-I like it.

-A bargain.

Let's find out what the auctioneer thinks about it.

The big question is, how many sovereigns will it bring in the auction, do you think?

It looks like it has one inside, but this is a dummy coin, which is a nice little decorative feature,

but the thing which is going to affect the value of this is,

-unlike most that you come across, it isn't silver.

-No.

-It's gilded metal.

You can pick silver ones up for £40 or £50, so I think perhaps this might only bring £10 or £20.

Really? £40 paid. Now, Kate is usually pretty hot on her little silver items.

I wonder whether today she's actually going to dig herself a little bit of a hole there?

Anyway, the sale will start in a moment. Good luck up there on the rostrum.

Now, Al, Sheils...

-Feeling all right?

-Yes.

-Confident?

-Yes.

I'm afraid the auctioneer doesn't think that the decanter and glasses match the tray

and he's been a bit sniffy about it, he's put £20 to £40 on it.

you paid £60, so that could be a bit of a problem, frankly.

And here it comes.

A 1950s glass and gilt metal liqueur set.

£20 to start me on this? 20? 10?

-10 I'm bid at £10, at 10.

-Got £10.

14, 16, 18,

20, 22... £22...

On the front row at 22, all done?

Oh, no, £22, Sheil, I don't believe it!

That's eight shy of £30, you're minus £38 now.

Here comes the photo album, you paid £70.

And a Victorian plush and applique decorated photograph album,

20 to start me? 10? 10 I'm bid,

at 10, 12 anywhere?

12, 14,

16, 18, 20,

22, 24,

26... £26?

In the front row, 28,

30, 32,

-34.

-They want them photos!

£34, still in the front row at 34, all done.

You are minus £36 on that. Now, the Poole.

A large Poole pottery Volcano patterned charger, 40 I'm bid here,

at £40, 42,

44, 46,

48, 50,

55, 60,

65, 70,

75, 80,

£80...

bid's on commission at 80? 85, 90,

95, 100,

and ten, 120,

130, 140,

at £140?

Going to sell at 140? All done.

ALL: Yes!

£140!

I don't believe that!

-That is so fantastic!

-I know!

You got £90 profit out of that!

£90 on one item! Plus £90...

That is absolutely superb, which means, overall, you are plus £16, you are £16 up.

That is such a result. Right then. The bucket and spoon set, what are you going to do?

-Do you fancy a bit of a flutter?

-How much was it?

-£35, Anita paid.

-Ah, I think it's worth every penny.

-Yes.

-You think so?

Well, hold on here, cos £16 is £16, it may not sound a lot of money, right?

But to make a profit on Bargain Hunt is a considerable achievement, and with 16 notes...

-are you certain you want to risk it?

-Yes.

-And here it comes

the set now, here we go.

A case of four Victorian silver-plated bucket forms, salts,

30 to start me on them? 20?

-£10 then? I'm bid 10.

-Come on!

At 10, 12,

14, 16,

18, 20, 22,

22? 24.

She's bidding, look.

26, 28, £28?

That's going at £28. All done?

£28, I don't believe it. £28!

You're £7 off that, which means you are plus £9, all right?

-Wow!

-Not so bad, is it?

That's £9, £4.50 each!

So how are you feeling, you kids?

-Erm, excited? Nervous.

-You're excited?

Well, the telescope, the auctioneer thinks is something military,

he thinks a kind of sighting scope, because you've got tremendous magnification.

He's put £20 to £40 on it, you paid £45 for it.

It's your item, Steven. You never know though,

it's a handy piece of equipment, here it comes.

Early 20th-century leather covered brass telescope,

start me at £20, 20 I'm bid, at 20,

at 22, at 24,

26, 28,

at 30, bid's up here with me at £30,

32, 34,

36, 38,

40, and 42, £42?

On commission at 42, 44?

46, 48,

at £48, at the back of the room now at 48.

£48! plus £3.

I love it!

A Victorian silver plate and glass double inkwell,

and I'm bid £20 here, at 20,

22, 24, 26,

28, 30,

32, 34,

36, 38, 40,

42, 44,

-46, 48...

-You're in profit!

55, £55...

All done at £55?

£55!... that is plus £10, you are a genius,

well done, girl! This is the one now, the basket.

Victorian silver pedestal sweetmeat basket, Sheffield 1864,

and I'm bid £50 for this, at 50,

55, at 60,

65, 70,

75, 80,

85, 90,

95, 100,

and ten, 115,

120, 120, 125,

130, five,

140, and five,

150, 160,

170, £170...

bid's in the front row at £170. All done?

-£170, did he sell it for £170?

-£170.

-£170!

That's plus £20 on that, this a peach, what a team!

Look at that, £20 of profit for each of them, £20, £33!

£33 up, how good is that?

-That's great, amazing!

-What do you mean, "That's great!"?! It's great-great, that's what it is!

Well done, well done, girl, that is fantastic.

What are you going to do about this sovereign case then? Listen carefully, £40 paid,

you have £33 in the bank, that could be a winning score,

are you going to risk your £33 and go with the £40 sovereign case, or what are you going to do?

-Shall we leave it? We'll leave it.

-You're not taking it?

-You're not taking the bonus buy, you sure?

-Yes.

-You're not taking the bonus buy,

-but we're going to sell it anyway, here it comes.

-£20 to start me?

20 I'm bid, at 20, at 20...

two anywhere?... at 22,

£22, 24,

24, 26,

26, 28,

28 in the centre,

all done at 28?

He's sold it for £28. Dear, oh, dear, how close was that?

Minus £12, that was minus £12.

Dear, oh, dear, that was a close call, wasn't it?

-Well resisted! You were determined not to take that, weren't you?

-Yes.

And you were absolutely right, well done, Jen.

That's superb, well done, Steven.

-We're in profit.

-So, you are £33 up.

-Amazingly so!

Which is unbelievable, that has taken my breath away, I'll tell you, on two or three counts.

-Anyway, don't tell the Reds, all right?

-No.

-How exciting was that!

-Great, fantastic!

-Thank you.

How lovely is this, to be handing out profits to both teams, but which team is ahead?

-Have you been having a little natter? Comparing notes?

-No.

-Honestly not?

-No.

-So when I tell you the Reds today are the runners-up,

is that any great surprise to anyone?

To be runners-up by only winning £9 is a considerable achievement on Bargain Hunt, I have to tell you,

and you have made that fantastic volcanic profit on the old Poole plate, right?

You sold that for £140, making a £90 profit, which is amazing,

which effectively mopped up all your other losses!

Anyway, I do send you home with £9, which is lovely, thank you, that's £5,

and I've a few more here. Is that nice or is it nice?

-You are going to split it, between you? You're not?

-Fair enough.

Anyway, there we go. But the victors, by dint of making solid profits on each of your items,

it is, of course, the Blue team. Plus £33.

-Pretty good, isn't it?

-Very good.

-Did you think you were going to make a profit today, Jen? Honestly?

-No, not on every item.

Not on every item. You managed to resist the bonus buy,

-which turned out to be quite a reasonable thing to do too.

-Fat lot of good I was!

They really did choose their items though, so well done.

Fantastic result. I'm going to hand you your £33 now,

-what are you going to do with it?

-Theatre, maybe?

-Probably.

Probably theatre tickets, well enjoy a great show, cos we have enjoyed a great show today.

-Join us soon for some more bargain hunting, yes?

-ALL: Yes!

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