Gloucester 29 Bargain Hunt

Today we're in the dock and against the clock,

so sit back, relax and enjoy, as we go Bargain Hunting, yeah!

Today's Bargain Hunt comes from Gloucester,

in the Antiques Centre, situated in the heart of the historic docks.

There are over 100 stalls here, so plenty to see and plenty to buy!

Coming up, the Blues are like kids in a sweetshop.

I just love everything! I absolutely...

While the Reds are like bulls in a china shop.

Sorry. I beg your pardon. SOMETHING FALLS

Oh, God! Oh, no!

But who will clean up at the auction?

You know the rules. Each team gets £300 and an hour to shop for three items

with the help of their expert,

and they then try and make a profit over at the auction.

So let's go and meet the teams.

Today on Bargain Hunt we've got two teams of friends.

For the Reds we've got Paul and Ralph,

-and for the Blues we've got Hillie and Ruth. Hi.

-Hello.

Very nice to see you. Now, Paul, how did you two become mates?

Well, I could actually say that I found this chap wandering around the train station, but that'd be rude!

-I actually met him about 40 years ago at school.

-You're old school muckers?

-Well, mucker in a kind of way, yes.

-You're not working at the moment, but what did you do for a living?

I worked in restaurants, helped run a wine bar and a restaurant in various places on the Wirral

-and Liverpool, yeah.

-And how did you meet your partner, June?

June I met at the doctor's. I was going there regularly with various ailments

-and she was a receptionist, and she was very, very rude, June.

-Was she?

-But I found her strangely attractive.

-You go for the bossy, strict type?

-I think I do, actually, yes.

-And you're still together?

Yes, nearly eight years, yes.

-Well, that's good news, isn't it?

-Yes, apparently.

-Keep going to the doctor!

-Keep taking the pills.

Ralph, what do you do for a living?

-I'm a police motorcycle instructor.

-You never are!

-I am.

-Are you really?

-I am.

-I'm still a police officer as well.

-But you have the dream-team job, then, don't you?

-They provide this thing for you to whizz around, right?

-Yeah.

When your little cubs, or whatever they're called, do you talk to them, are you connected up?

-Yes. I have a radio, we have a two-way radio. I don't like them to talk back...

-You do all the talking.

-Absolutely!

-That is a fantastic job.

-It is, it is very good.

So, tell me, you two guys, what's your strategy today,

-what's your plan?

-Well, we actually worked out...

-our very clever plan was that we were actually going to buy cheap items at the fair.

-Really cheap?

Really cheap items, then go out to the auction, sell them for a profit,

and then the clever bit, which Ralph thought of, make some money!

-There is strategy behind it, I mean, a real thought process has gone on here.

-I know, I know.

That sounds sound to me, I must say. No, seriously, very good luck with all that.

-Good fun. Now, girls, are you quaking in your boots?

-Absolutely!

What, with their strategy and everything!

-Their well-thought out plan!

-Well, in the flip-flops, yeah!

So, Hillie, apart from being a mother and a wife, what else do you get up to?

-Well, I'm an actor, that's what I do for a living.

-Are you really?

-I am.

-Yes, darling!

-Oh!

-No, that's what I do for a living.

-What sort of bits do you like to get up to?

I suppose my bread-and-butter money is role play, a lot of the time for doctors...

-Why do doctors need role-playing?

-Say you were a trained doctor and you were coming over to the UK,

and you want to work here, English isn't your first language,

but you have to show you can communicate well...

-It is handy for a doctor, isn't it?

-It kind of helps, I suppose.

-You pretend to be gippy tummy and see how you get on.

-Various different...

-Varicose veins.

-All sorts of ailments.

-Yeah?

And apart from all this role-playing, do you collect anything at all, Hillie?

-I collect everything.

-Do you?

-Oh, good!

-I collect everything that you could ever, ever...

-I just love... I'm a complete car-booter.

-Are you an addict?

I'm an addict, yeah, I'm OCT.

This is tremendous stuff. I should think it's the boys that are quaking here

with all this experience and hands-on marketeering!

Now, Ruth, you're also another mother and wife.

That's right, yeah. I've got two kids, Luke who's 12 and Eve who's nearly 10,

and I'm married to the lovely Ed.

And it says here you have a particular liking for India.

Yeah, back in 1994, I was really fortunate enough to be able to set up a project

for vulnerable women, women who maybe were escaping from prostitution

or just were very vulnerable through poverty to get into something exploitative,

and we delivered a year's tailoring training programme

which gave women a chance to not be dependent on charity, but to actually earn their own income...

-That's a fantastic story, Hillie, isn't it?

-It is, isn't it?

-I mean, amazing, actually.

I just hope that you're going to be able to perform with similar alacrity today on Bargain Hunt,

-because now here's your money moment. £300 apiece.

-Thank you very much, sir.

-300.

You know the rules. Your experts await and off you go!

And very, very good luck!

Well, they do say that charity begins at home.

Down on the docks today we have two experienced skippers

joining the team. Navigating for the Reds is Colin Young.

On the tiller for Blues,

is Attila the Scot Manning.

-Right, what do we want to buy today?

-I don't know.

-I don't know really. Lovely things.

-Lovely things.

-What do you want to buy?

-I think something golfy, silvery perhaps...

-I would love to look at some jewellery...

-OK.

-Retro.

-Retro?

-Contemporary.

-Let's get started.

-All right. All right, thank you.

'I'm going to stop you about every two seconds!'

-I know!

-I just love everything! I absolutely...

-You love everything!

-And they are absolutely beautiful.

-I can see we're not even going to get to the top of these stairs!

Let's try.

-There's a good chance that if it takes your eye, it should take somebody else's.

-OK.

-How much is it, girls?

-185.

-185.

-Too much.

-Yeah.

-It is lovely.

-Are you in heaven?

-Mmm!

Definitely!

I'll be back!

-Spitting Image puppets.

-Yeah.

-Plaster.

-I think it's...

-Back you go, Ron.

-A bit too much money.

-It's not expensive.

-It's not that expensive, actually.

-If we could get the price down a little.

-You'd have thought that would be all right at a tenner.

-Worth coming back to if we run out of time,

-which we are doing.

-Which we are!

Do you know, yeah, that seems all right to me.

£19. If you could get that for a tenner, you'd be doing all right. Can't lose a lot, can you?

I'll drink to that! But what else is cooking?

-Colin, silver-plated warming dish.

-Yeah.

-What's this, like, 1920s, is this deco, would you say?

-No! Stylewise, you're out there. It is actually a neoclassical design.

-Right.

-But you've got the right sort of period. It's early 20th century.

-Early 20th century.

-So it's sort of 19... First World War sort of...

-Yeah, that's it.

-OK.

It's got a nice action and it's got quite a bit of weight to it.

-Can I just take it off?

-Yeah, let's have a look at it closely.

I see plenty of those, At auction, they generally make, you know, £30, £50, £40, £60...

-Some are more attractive than others.

-Yeah.

-I just like the action on it.

-I know it's silver-plated, but...

-That's where sort of some of the problems coming in now...

-Right.

-Because if you look around the edge you can see that bleeding,

and what you've got is where the silver plate has actually worn down,

you've actually got the base metal which is an alloy which is probably a brass alloy

-starting to bleed through.

-OK, right.

-But fold it over, and see how much is showing.

-OK. Ralph, I know we're just looking, but that's £36.

-I don't know...

-If you knock them down a bit.

-Even if silver plate's your thing...

-It seems...

-I'd have it my house and polish it.

-I think the problem is you're not going to make a big profit...

-No.

But I'll be honest with you, it seems like a fairly safe sort of thing to buy.

-Sort of attractive.

-Yeah.

-Could we sort of earmark that one?

-That's two pieces of silver plate we've got to earmark.

-Yeah.

Lots of potential for the Reds, but the Blues are just overwhelmed by it all.

Oh, it's so difficult! It's so incredibly difficult finding the right thing.

We need another five hours, don't we?

But you've only got one hour, so get a move on.

I would say definitely keep that on the shopping list,

-and we can always come back and ask the price on it.

-Watch yourself, Ralph!

Watch the china too!

-A knitting teddy.

-Cute.

-Do you girls knit?

-No.

Oh, well, let's leave it.

What do you think to that? How would you describe it?

Floral, fairly attractive...

-It's a nice little item.

-There's a print on there.

Well, it is actually signed. It's got a monogram on there. And apparently the maker is Lovely.

-It's a Lovely bowl!

-A Lovely bowl. It's £16.

Isn't it lovely? OK, well, it's one for the...

-Yeah, I'd... That sort of... has some merit.

-Yeah, OK.

Lovely or not, they don't look convinced. They're blokes!

-Hi, girls, what have you found?

-Some scales that we like the look of.

It's a very heavy piece of furniture. "Grocer's scales, 185".

It's a decorator's piece. It's the type of thing that would look smashing in a kitchen.

Now, what we've got here is this moulded oak base here,

and I rather like the plain glass pane here,

-and the lightness of this metal, this white metal, so I think...

-Quite contemporary.

All in all, it's a nice piece. I like your taste, girls.

-Well, Ruth spotted that one.

-Yeah, well done, Ruth.

-Surprise, surprise! Yeah.

-Well done, Ruth.

-I can't believe it!

-I think that's a miracle that's happened.

If you like these, girls, I think you should go quite strongly for them,

but you've got to see how much you can get off on them.

While the Blues track down their dealer, the Reds have spotted something else.

Will they part with some cash this time?

£85. What do you think of that? Solid silver.

Chester. 1938. If that has got its original liner in, it's OK.

If it hasn't got the liner and it's got something else in, then, don't bother.

As I say, the key to this is going to be...

Nice little piece.

-There we go! Got an original liner.

-No sign of chipping.

-That's good.

-That's quite cute, that.

-Good drum mustard. It's something we would consider,

-but it's all going to come down to how much the bottom line figure's going to be.

-Right.

I've just spoken to the dealer and the cheapest price they'll accept would be 70,

-so it wouldn't be that much off, actually.

-Right. Not much left in that, then.

-Not really.

-No. OK... So 70's as good as he's likely to do?

-Yes.

-Even with his arm twisted?

-Indeed, yes.

-Indeed.

OK. Well, thank you very much, and we'll pass.

So it doesn't cut the mustard. Are the Reds going to buy anything today?

So what's the lowest price you can offer us on this?

I could do that at 150.

Cos we were thinking... lower than that, weren't we? Ideally.

Yeah...I'd be happy at 150.

140?

Would we have a deal at 140?

Don't look at me! It's your deal, and I think that you've chosen a very interesting item.

And it's what we said before, or what you said before, "I want to buy something unusual!"

Yeah, it is unusual. I think we both felt that 140 was a good price.

I will sell it to you for 140.

-Fantastic!

-Shall we shake?

-Yeah!

-SQUEALING

-Hurrah!

-Are you happy?

-Yeah.

-Well, we haven't got very long to buy another two items.

-Quick, we better get going!

-Finally we have a buy! Well done, girls!

So often in antiques fairs and centres like this,

the antique furniture is all skewed towards the adults,

but occasionally you come across something that's suitable for children like this little baby.

Just look at that!

Isn't that charming?

I mean, it's not made of exotic timber or anything like that,

simply turned beech and fruit wood that's been stained,

but what's so clever about it is the design.

It follows the form of a traditional high chair.

Stick the little toad in there, the front rail and the side arms

restrain him or her from falling out,

and they can rest their feet

on that bottom front stretcher.

But what's clever about this thing is the form of this front support.

It's slightly bowed.

And the answer with this is

if you invert it like this and place the whole gadget on the floor,

what you've got is a seat for the little stinker to sit on.

The front stretcher from the other side

becomes a place for him to rest his feet,

and, by doing that, you induce a lovely rocking motion.

So it's a dual high chair and rocking chair.

Which is kind of clever.

So clever indeed that this design was patented. What's it worth?

Well, if you look at the ticket...

Some chair...some baby!

Back to the shopping, and it's 1-0 to the Blues.

-20 minutes.

-20 minutes?

Right, so we need to crack on, we need to buy.

-We need to buy.

-Basically, that's what you're saying.

-Yes, you do!

And with nothing in Ralph and Paul's shopping bag, Colin is taking decisive action.

Do you just want to nail a couple of these purchases, then,

-and go with your pieces of silver plate that you like individually?

-Yeah, we'll do that.

-And then we'll come up with that third and final thing as a team effort.

-In five minutes, yeah.

-Go like that?

-Yeah.

-Let's go and get those two.

-Upstairs or downstairs?

Upstairs.

Sounds like a plan, if you could ever find them again, lads.

I thought those were quite sweet.

-They're both boys.

-Oh, right, sorry.

-One's Huckleberry Finn.

Oh, he's turned around. His bottom's the wrong way round. I'll just turn him the right way.

-That is cute with the balloon.

-That is quite cute, yeah.

Avon bottles are... they're quite late, the latter part of the 20th century,

but they are collectable. They're expressing a certain period,

and these ones are sweet, they're appealing,

and we've got the balloon and the little twig here.

-I quite like these and I don't think they're too dear.

-Yeah.

Would there be any chance of getting them for 12 for the pair?

No, 15's a good price for them. They're good.

- Would you do 14 on the Avon bottles? Just another pound. - Go on.

-Thank you!

-Well done.

So they're going with the perfume bottles. Let's hope it's sweet-smelling and not a stinker!

Well, we've got a couple of things that we're after and we're really hoping for a bit of a deal,

because it's a bulk purchase,

because we're high-flying buyers that are going to spend an awful lot of money with you...

-what can you do for us?

-Say, 48.

-That's starting to sound good.

-What about 40?

-I don't think we could go to 40.

-Well, I'd say 40...40...

42, really, that's all we can do, cos we're really... That's all we've got left.

-I mean, you were thinking...?

-43?

£42.50?

-Don't do that!

-Please, don't...

-Please...!

-50p, that's loose change.

-42, then?

-42?

-How about 43.50?

-43.50, then?

-I think we've...

-I think we've grilled him as far as we can, really.

And he's been really helpful.

-He has.

-A split, then, on that price. I think we're going to put the big item in at 30,

-that's what it's cost us.

-Yes.

-And then for the tankard, 13.50.

-13.50.

-That's where we have to be with it.

-Thank you very much.

You've been marvellous.

-TIM WHISTLES

-Well negotiated!

Two in the bag at once. That's what we need.

It's 2-2, then, but time is running out for the final items.

You were supposed to be on the Reds, not the Blues!

Sorry. I beg your pardon. SOMETHING FALLS Oh, God! Oh, no!

Steady on, Paul! All breakages must be paid for...by you.

-OK, let's have a constructive two minutes, all going in different directions.

-OK.

You go to the mallet, see if you can come back with something better on that.

-I'll try something on the mustard...

-Okey-dokes.

-And if you want to do... the Chelsea dish.

-Chelsea dish.

-The Chelsea dish.

-Right, will do.

-Right, so we'll rendezvous back in here in three minutes.

-Synchronise three minutes. Synchronise.

-Got you!

Ready? Let's go.

Synchronised watches, eh?

Resorting to military tactics, I see.

Anita, what about these deception glasses? Four deception glasses, £95.

-You're not into them?

-They're not my bag, but, girls, I want you to buy something that you like.

I've sold those glasses for £50 apiece at antiques fairs. There are collectors of them,

so when I see four for £95...

They are rough pontil.

Feel the weight of that.

-Oh, yeah.

-The thing about these is when you look at them from the top,

-you think that your glass is full.

-Toastmaster's glass, deception.

-Yeah.

What's the best price you would do on those?

The best I could take off those would be £10.

-85?

-I can make it 85.

There's no chips or anything, is there? I think we should definitely go for the glasses, yeah?

I'm happy with that.

-And you like them?

-Mmm!

-You're passionate about them?

I'm passionate!

-LAUGHTER

-You've sold them before?

-I have.

-Let's go for it, then.

-Yeah.

That's it for the Blues, then. All three items bought.

Meanwhile the Reds are back from their recce.

Right, prices?

10.

18.

-I haven't negotiated anything because we can't get hold of the dealer...

-Oh!

-So...

..it's you two guys. Make your decisions.

Are we even going to discuss the silver mustard? No...

-No.

-Right.

-OK.

-Dish or hammer?

-I would say that the mallet has got something about it because it's fun.

-Yeah.

-I would rather go with the mallet because it's got a bit more...

HE WHISTLES

-OK.

-We go with the mallet.

-Mallet it is!

-TIM WHISTLES

-Is this part of your well-thought out plan?

Well, hurry up, lads, before the hammer comes down!

-Take it to the man.

-Well done! Well done!

-£18.

-Can I see your licence for that?

-Not yet. I promise I'll get one.

Please, please, young sir, may we have this?

-Yeah, for 18 of your English pounds, it's yours.

-Thank you so much!

-I can't believe it!

-Look after that for me.

-OK. Oh!

-Thank you, sir.

-How's that?

-With seconds to go.

-Well done.

Right, that's it. Time's up,

but before we give the experts the leftover lolly,

let's remind ourselves what the Reds bought. You all right with that, Ted?

Yeah! For £30, they bought this engraved breakfast dish.

And they spent £13.50 on this silver-plated mug with horn handle.

Finally, they hope to hammer home their profits

with a large wooden mallet.

-Ha!

-Thank goodness that's over with!

-Yes.

That was an exhalation of breath there.

-Yes.

-Just in time?

-Hmm. The nick of time.

-Mmm, there we go. Did you have a good time, Ralph?

Yes, thank you. It was very good. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

-Which is your favourite piece?

-Well, I quite like the mallet now.

-Now? What do you mean, now?

-Well, I bought a little silver-plated tankard which I quite liked,

but having handled it, picked it up and bought it for a reasonable price...

-Is that going to bring the biggest profit?

-No, the ostrich-egg warmer is going to make the biggest profit.

Brilliant. And what did you spend all round?

£61.50.

-All three items?

-All three items.

-That is going to be really, really popular over at the auction house!

-I'm sure...

-They just love people pitching up from Bargain Hunt, having spent £61 on three items.

Well, that means I want £239 of leftover lolly,

which will be sufficient for Colin to buy at least three-quarters of this antiques fair.

You could buy the whole place, couldn't you, half a stall with all that cash!

-I've never seen such a bundle given to me to spend.

-I just hope you spend the lot!

And that'll sort these boys out when it comes to choosing whether to go with the bonus buy or not!

Sorted! Good luck, Colin.

Meanwhile why don't we find out what the Blue team bought, eh?

They spent £140 on these grocer's scales. Why?

And they think they smell a profit

with these plastic perfume bottles for £14.

And, hopefully, Hillie's eyes weren't deceived

by these four deceptive glasses for £85.

Well, well, well, you're looking very chirpy, you lot!

-Three naughty girls, I'd say!

-Absolutely not!

-Oh, no!

-No!

-Absolutely!

Which is your favourite piece, then, Ruthie?

Er...it's the scales. Because they're very simple, but beautiful and quite elegant.

-Bit like me, then!

-They have a farmhouse look about them.

-Oh, do they?

-Yeah.

-What about you, Hillie?

-I love my deception glasses!

-Right.

-Four deception glasses.

-How much did you spend all round?

-We spent £239.

Did you? Very good.

£61. There's the oner. There's the 60. Thank you very much.

-This goes straight to Anita Manning.

-Thank you very much.

-For your usual challenge.

The girls wanted to get some art deco items, but they chose some quite different things,

so I'll maybe have a wee look and see if I can get a deco item for them.

Something profitable, please.

-I'll do my best.

-OK.

Thank you very much, girls. Meanwhile we're heading across and up into the hills.

In fact we're going to Castle Howard and that's an awfully long way away!

Castle Howard is one of the finest properties in Britain.

Building work started in 1700,

but it was to take 100 years before it could be described as being fully complete.

That's the lifetime of three earls, numerous architects and craftspeople.

How the project started and the choice of architect

for a house of this size and proportion is a story in itself.

Initially, the 3rd Earl of Carlisle approached William Talman, the leading architect of the day.

However, he rejected the proposals and the Earl instead turned to a man

who, amazingly, had never at that point built anything in his life.

The truth of the matter is that although Vanbrugh at this point was untried as an architect,

he did have as his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor who had worked for Christopher Wren

in St Paul's Cathedral architects' office, which was just as well.

They say that Castle Howard was actually built by three people,

the Earl of Carlisle, amateur architect,

Vanbrugh, set designer and in charge of all things theatrical,

and Nicholas Hawksmoor who was the pro.

One of the hidden and often unrealised facts about Castle Howard

is that they have managed to preserve their massive archive.

On this table, we've got two rare first editions

of a book that's entitled Vetruvius Britannicus,

Britain's leading architectural publication from the early part of the 18th century by Colen Campbell.

In this volume which was produced in 1715

it shows Castle Howard in elevation.

And here we've got the central block and dome

and the archway through which you might have entered.

In answer to the question what did all this lot cost,

again in the archive you come across all these ledgers.

On the outside it identifies the 3rd Earl of Carlisle

and an account of his disbursements on his buildings.

This is a precis, year by year, of everything that he spent on his buildings

here at Castle Howard,

and it finishes with the last entry in 1737, the year before his death, with the grand total

of £78,240, 2 shillings and 10 pence.

And how much is £78,000 spent in 1737 worth today?

Well, according to the mathematicians it tots up to about 10 million.

Don't tell me that you could build this magnificent structure today for £10 million,

because you couldn't! It would be what they call a bargain!

Well, we've come 16 miles northwest from Gloucester to Malvern

-to meet my old mate Philip Serrell. Good morning.

-Good to have you, Tim.

-Lovely to be here.

-Yes.

For the Reds, their first item is this kidney dish. Do you fancy that?

I like my breakfast.

If you want to start and have a really good day, a good breakfast sets you up.

And that's a fantastic thing to put your kidneys, bacon and sausage in, isn't it?

Yes, I know. Just look at that! And it works like a Rolls-Royce door. Look at that.

-So what's it worth?

-I think that's going to make £20-£30.

-Spot on! £30 they paid.

-So we're all right there.

-We're perfectly all right.

-What about the mug with the horn handle?

-That's from the rum baba and Black Forest gateau era, isn't it?

-Yes.

-Do people still use those or not?

-I don't know.

They do if they have an Alpiney thing, I expect, one of those skiing revival jobs.

We don't have too many of those in Malvern. I reckon that's, like, I don't know, £10-£15.

-They paid £13.50.

-So it's on the cusp, isn't it?

-It's on the cusp.

Lastly, we come to one of your favourite objects, something made of wood.

Well, I'm not sure what it is. It's like one of those fairground things

that you whack on the thing in the ground and it hits the bell...

-Oh, one of those?

-Or if it's not good enough, you probably just whack the stakes in around the circus...

That's very clever, isn't it? I mean, it's worth more as a fairground accoutrement

-than it is as an agricultural mallet.

-Yeah.

Well, a mallet's a mallet, isn't it?

-For me it's like a fiver.

-You're not being tight here, are you, Phil?

-Me?

-Yeah.

-I wouldn't know how to be.

OK. Well, they paid £18. They invested £18, actually.

I'm very glad that you raised your game, Phil, and are prepared to take on the challenge,

because, quite frankly, I think they're going to need their bonus buy!

Now, Ralph, Paul, you spent £61.50,

which has to be one of the tiniest amounts ever expended on this programme on three items.

Colin, you had the rest, all £238.50. What did you buy?

-Let's have a look at what we got.

-Oh, my word!

-How about that?

-That's, er...

-Pretty?

-Yes, yes. You'd look nice in them, Ralph.

-Thank you.

-Are they solid silver?

-No, it's actually gold backed.

It's a white metal which may be platinum, I'm not quite sure,

but inset in that there are diamonds, there's sapphires, you've got pearls as well in there.

-Are they real, Colin?

-Yeah, they are real.

-So, you paid for it...?

-How much money did you leave me?

-230...

-Far too much!

-Yes.

-Yeah, well, you left me £238.50...

-And 50p, sorry.

-It makes all the difference.

And so I thought I would spend every single penny of it.

-You didn't?

-£238.50?

-Yeah.

-On that?

-Yes.

-Lovely.

-Right.

-OK.

-OK, lads?

-Right.

-Er...

Listen, you are two of the tightest contestants we've ever had on this programme.

I don't expect you to be happy about him going out and spending the whole £238.50.

-In fact, you're absolutely horrified!

-Can I just ask that final question?

-What do you think it's going to make?

-I think it should make £200, maybe £300.

-Oh!

-Oh!

-You never know with these sort of late-Victorian pieces.

-OK, you happy with that?

-Thank you very much.

-We've got that solidly embedded!

Now, for the audience at home, let's find out what the auctioneer thinks about Colin's brooch.

Well, here we go, Philip, from the ridiculous to the sublime. How about that?

-Well, it's a bit of quality, isn't it?

-It certainly is.

It's a real bit of quality, and jewellery at the moment is hot to trot,

so I think Colin's done them proud.

We've put a £200-£300 estimate on it. I don't know what he's...

£238.50 is what he paid,

-precisely.

-Well, I think he's played the percentage game quite clever,

because it should make 200, 210 all day long,

and with a bit of luck it's going to make 250, 280, so I think he's done a good job there.

Well, bearing in mind that they spent absolutely nothing on their objects,

I think it's rather cool of him to go out and blow the lot!

-It's putting his neck under that thing, isn't it?

-It certainly is.

Now for the Blues.

-And what a selection we've got here.

-Well, goodness me!

I actually like one of these lots, but I think I'm going to wait till we get to it till I tell you.

Let's go in the order you're going to be selling them. The grocer's scales, do they turn you on at all?

-They sort of weigh heavily with me, really.

-Oh!

I think that's £50 worth, really.

-What did they pay for that?

-140 smack!

-Ouch!

-I think that's a bit of a dead loss.

-Yeah.

How about the old Avon bottles, then?

-Well, it's an area of the market that personally I haven't had too much experience of...

-Really?

And for that I'm actually moderately pleased. I think they're like £10 or £15 worth.

-That's perfect. Don't fret about it. £14 they paid.

-Right, OK.

-I mean, it's just a bit of fun,

-isn't it?

-Yeah, they are fun.

-And you can give it the ding-dong jokes, someone'll go for it.

-So on the process of elimination, then...

-It isn't those two!

..The lot that you do quite fancy are these four.

I think they're lovely. And I think, I mean, illusional deception glasses,

I think it's a great pity I didn't meet these earlier in my life and I might not be the size I am now!

What have we put on them? £60-£90. You know, it wouldn't surprise me if they crept into three figures,

-but I think they're a nice lot. I like them.

-OK.

-Well, our lot invested £85.

-Yeah.

-Which I think is the right amount to invest.

-Yes, yes.

-OK.

Fine. Well, on that happy note, what you make on the glasses might make up for the loss on the scales,

but they're going to need their bonus buy! Let's go and see it.

Right, girls, you spent £239. Magnificent. You gave A Manning £61. What did you buy, Anita?

-They're nice!

-Now, I know the girls like silver,

and what they bought, they didn't get anything silver,

they couldn't see anything, so I thought I would buy these.

It's a little lot which comprises this delightful little matchbox holder

with this cluster of embossed cherubs. There, they are so sweet.

And this elegant little match holder. They're both hallmarked silver,

and I thought they were rather sweet,

-and I thought that you girls might just love them.

-I do! I do! I love...

-Contain yourself!

-We were hoping for silver.

-That is so pretty. I would buy these for me.

-I know you would.

You'd quite like to know how much you paid for them.

-How much did you pay?

-Well, for both of them together £55.

-I think that's a bargain.

-How much do you think...

-Maybe 30, 35 each.

-Yeah!

-Might go to 70 for the two.

-Yeah, definitely.

-Are you happy?

-Yes!

-Yes. Thank you, Anita.

-Thank you.

You've woven your magic yet again, Anita.

Let's find out whether the magic is also being felt by Philip Serrell.

There we go, Phil. Anita Manning's double-barrelled effort.

Well, I mean, they're pretty enough.

And the thing is at the moment with silver and gold, you can't really fail,

-because on a daily basis the prices are going up.

-Yeah.

So we've put... I mean, that for me is a bit boring...

but I quite like this plain one here.

-Yeah, if only you could open it.

-Yeah, absolutely!

But I do think that's a sweet thing, beautiful quality.

-I think they're going to make £40-£60 all day long.

-Are you taking the sale for us?

-Yes!

-We'll be in safe hands!

25. 35.

-Confident?

-Yes.

-Yes, we are, actually.

-Are you?

-Yes, frighteningly so.

-Mmm.

-We've heard about this lot before.

-Yes.

Which piece is going to do particularly well for you?

-I think the Elizabethan mallet which is one of a pair...

-Is it?

-I think so.

-Where's the other half?

-It's in York Museum.

-Is it?

-Yes, apparently.

Really? Apparently? I love it, don't you?

Anyway, here we go.

This is the revolving silver-plated breakfast dish.

It will make your kidneys, bacon and sausage taste a whole lot better.

Bid me for that lot. Start me off. £40 to start?

Bid me 20. 10 I'm bid. At 10. 12.

-12 bid. In the room at 12.

-Not very much.

At 12. 12 bid. £12.

15. 18. 18 bid.

-Get on with it!

-20 on the net.

25, sir?

-20 bid here. On the net, bid at 20. Is there any more?

-Come on!

At £20 only. 25 anywhere? At £20, and I sell then at 20 and done.

-Thank you.

-£20.

What did you expect? To make a fortune?

I don't think so. Next is the plated mug with the horn handle.

It's straight in at a tenner. 10 quickly. 5 and away, then?

Oh, dear! Who's got a couple of pounds? Quickly, surely?

Thank you. 2 I'm bid. 5. Bid at 5.

8 now, madam?

What do you mean, no?

5. I'm bid at 5. 5 bid.

Gentleman's bid. At 5. 8? 8 bid. 10 now, sir?

-Go on.

-10 bid.

-Just try.

-12 bid.

You better go 14 now. 15. At £15. Gentleman's bid. Done then at 15.

Thank you.

£1.50 profit.

Well done, Ralphie.

I'm really... That was very stressful.

Minus £8.50. Here we go with the mallet.

Lot number 250 is the mallet.

Well, give me £30 to start.

Bid me a tenner, someone.

10. 5.

I'm bid at 5. 5 bid.

At £5 only. 5 bid. Is there any more?

At £5. I'm only bid at 5.

8. 8 bid.

One more, sir? Yes? 10. 12, sir?

At 10. At 12.

12 bid. £12. Any more at all?

At £12, then. I sell at £12. Thank you.

Minus £6 on that. You had minus £8.50 before, so you're now...

minus £14.50.

Now, you low spenders, this is your opportunity to splash out, if you fancy it.

Are you going to go with the £238.50 purchase or not? What are you going to do?

-I think we'll go for it.

-It's a beautiful thing and we're going to go for it.

-Going for it.

-That, I think, is the wisest decision you've made so far, chaps...

-Thank you very much indeed.

-..If I was making a prediction.

-Thank you.

-On the other hand, it could go horribly wrong.

Anyway, here comes Colin's brooch.

Lot number 254

is this lovely Victorian pendant set with pearls, diamond and sapphires.

Bid me £300.

Bid me 250. Smithy, start me at 200.

Yes? 200 I'm bid.

-That's done.

-200. At 200. There's the bid.

-At 200. £210. 220.

-Come on!

There's the bid at 220.

At 230. 230.

-That's it.

-Well done.

-240. 250, Tim.

250.

Well done! You're the man!

At £250, then, I sell at £250 and done. Thank you.

-Well done, sir!

-Well done.

-That is plus £11.50.

-That's what I love about this!

-There you go!

£11.50. You were £14.50 down the proverbial lavatory previously.

-You are now only minus £3.

-Who needs a mallet?

-Who needs a mallet?

And, anyway, minus £3 may be a winning score.

-So just don't mention a word of that to those girls, all right?

-OK.

-Now, Hillie and Ruth, do you know how the Reds got on?

-No.

-No.

-Haven't got the faintest idea?

-No.

-No.

-They're slightly doubtful those two, aren't they?

-Yes.

-You really want to beat them, don't you?

-Yes.

-Very much like to beat them!

Well, the grocer's scales may not do it for you, I have to say.

Here it comes, grocer's scales.

Bid me £100 for them. Bid me 100.

- Bid me 50 to start. - Go on!

No money for them? £50.

Bid me £30.

-Come on!

-It's not looking good.

Start the car, someone! Bid me £20 for the scales.

This is not going well at the minute. These people need help.

Who's got £20 to start?

-Oh, Tim!

-I'd a horrible feeling about this.

- £10? - Oh, my God!

PHIL: Dear, oh, dear, oh, dear! Who's got a fiver, quickly?

I'm going to take you at 10, sir.

At 10. I'm bid at 10.

This is the worst ever!

At £10 and done. Thank you.

-Dear, oh, dear! That is minus 130.

-They just didn't like them!

Yeah, very nice buy, that! OK, now come to the perfume bottles.

Sorry, girls.

Bid me for those. Start me at £10 for the two.

10. Who's got a fiver, quickly? 5 anywhere, quickly?

£5.

Who's got a couple of pounds to start? That's no money for them.

- £2! - 2 anywhere?

Now, couple of pounds quickly, someone?

2. I'm bid at 2. £2.

At £2. Hamper, have you got a fiver?

-Well done.

-He is trying.

-5. I'm bid at 5.

£5. At £5.

£5 and done, then, at 5.

That is minus £9.

What about the deception glasses?

They've got to do really well. Here we go.

Bid me for those. Who's got £120 to start?

I'm bid £50 for those. At 50. 50 bid.

At 50. 55. 60.

65. 70. 75. 80.

-85. 90. 95. 100 with me.

-You're in profit, girls.

-110 now?

At £100 and done. Thank you.

-Well done.

-Well, that is plus £15.

-Well done.

-Well, that is plus...

How lovely to have a profit! Which is nice...

But I'm afraid it doesn't wipe out much in the way of the losses.

-Because you are...

-I cannot believe those scales only went for £10.

-That is really sad.

Overall, girls, I'm afraid you're minus 124.

-Yes...minus 124.

-I can't get my head round it.

-Don't worry about it. It's not personal.

They just didn't like your scales. What are we going to do about the bits of silver?

-Well, we'll go with them.

-Going to go with them?

-Yeah.

-You like them.

Right, going with the bonus buy. Here they come.

And I'm bid £30 on the book. 35. 45. 55 bid.

60 is it?

60. At £60. There's the bid. At £60 only.

-At 60. 60 bid. Any more at all?

-You're in profit.

At £60. £60 and done. Thank you.

-We got a bit more for that.

-Plus £5, which means...

-you are minus £119.

-Oh, God!

-I don't think I've got a future in antiques.

-I don't think I have!

Stick to the day job!

-No, seriously, don't talk to those Reds, all right?

-Hmm. OK.

All will be revealed in a moment.

It is no secret to both teams that, sadly, that nobody today is going home with pound notes

-in their back pockets.

-Oh!

-So I'm afraid it's a question of losses.

But the scale of losses between the two teams is...

diverse...how could I put it?

One team have a tiny loss and one team have an enormous loss,

-and the team with the enormous loss is of course the Blues.

-Aw!

I mean, minus £119 is a pretty good number, actually, by anybody's standards.

-It was those scales what did it in for you, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

-You did get your profit of £15, though, out of the deception glasses which was jolly good.

-Yeah.

And you got a profit out of the bonus buy, but it wasn't enough to staunch the flow of losses!

-No.

-So bad luck, girls. I hope you had a nice time.

-Oh, yeah.

-Oh, yeah!

-That's lovely.

-But the victors today who win by only losing £3...

-Fantastic!

It is a result, isn't it, really?

The only profit that you actually generated, you guys, was £1.50,

which is something to write home about, I suppose.

-You got £11.50 out of the maestro in the way of a profit...

-Genius!

-But, anyway, didn't quite turn it, did you?

-No...

-no, no, no...

-It was a valiant effort, wasn't it?

-It was.

-And we had the helter-skelter, didn't we? Up the ladder and down the snake.

-And the mallet!

And the mallet! We must never forget that mallet.

And we've had great fun! In fact, so much fun join us soon

-for some more Bargain Hunting! Yes?

-Yes!

I know, you're sitting there,

thinking, "I could have done better than that!"

Well, what's stopping you?

If you think you can spot a bargain, go to our BBC website and apply...

It'll be splendid to see you.

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