Newark 20 Bargain Hunt

It's massive, enormous, gigantic, colossal.

In fact, 84 acres of antiques

here at the Newark Showground.

Brilliant!

Let's go bargain-hunting!

Size matters when bargain-hunting against the clock,

and our teams have no time to dawdle with the task in hand.

They've £300 and one hour to find three items

amongst the largest fair of its kind in Europe.

No mean task.

Let's take a look at what's coming up.

The Reds get excited.

-Isn't that awesome?

-I don't like it.

Well, one of them does.

And the Blues are having a laugh.

Would be good if it came with a bar of gold.

I think your dealer's laughing over there.

I think he heard you say that.

And at the auction, the Reds rejoice.

-50, I'm bid.

-Yes!

'Surely a fiver?'

£50?

And the Blues' hard work bears fruit.

How did you like them apples?

But that's all for later.

Today's programme is filled with friendships forged in the workplace.

For the Reds, we've got Katie and Kevin,

and for the Blues, we've got Lauren and Greg.

-Hello. ALL:

-Hello.

Now, Katie, you are a teacher,

and it's in a school environment that you met Kevin.

Yes, it is indeed.

Kevin came in and worked with us as part of an educational charity.

And he worked with my students.

And once you meet Kevin, you'll never forget him

cos he's quite a live wire.

So, he was getting the students up on the tables,

dancing and singing, and I was trying to calm it down.

-But we've been friends ever since.

-What do you teach, Katie?

I teach geography and business studies.

Now, being a geography teacher,

it's an obvious question, but do you like your travel?

I absolutely love to travel.

I was very lucky that last year I spent some time teaching in Ghana,

which was a wonderful and humbling experience,

and I can't wait to go back there.

Now, Kevin, you're retired,

but retired from...was it the barcode industry?

Yeah, bar coding and labelling, yeah.

-Can I put you on the spot?

-Sure.

How on earth does a barcode work?

It's just zeros and ones,

and so it's just thick lines and thin lines and...

-It's binary?

-It is binary.

And so it just, basically, measures the distance along the codes

and it works out what the number is and it tells you - quite simple.

See, I'm a better man for this encounter already,

and I've been in your classroom

for less than a minute. BOTH LAUGH

So, tell me, have you got tactics, the two of you?

We have indeed, but the other team are listening...

-Katie's got a secret tactic.

-We've got a secret buy.

We're going to buy big,

buy something that's not been seen, hopefully,

-on Bargain Hunt before.

-Absolutely.

-Right then.

Well, that's the Reds. Over to the Blues.

Now, Lauren, Greg,

you met under slightly embarrassing circumstances, I believe.

Yes, we did.

As we work together, one of our icebreakers in a team meeting

was to do the Rap Factor. So...

-Sorry, the Rap Factor?

-Yes.

So, we had to have a famous song

and then rewrite the song into what we did as a job

and then present that to everybody else in the team as well.

Highly embarrassing.

THEY LAUGH

-Now, the day job.

-Yes.

Student work placement organiser? Is that right?

Yeah, we both do that,

and the industry that I'm in is animal care, equine and agriculture.

-OK.

-So I place all those learners into those industries,

which is really nice for me cos I get to go out

and see what everybody else is doing within the industry as well.

Now, when you're not at college, you're an equestrian, are you not?

-I am, yes. I have two horses of my own.

-Yeah?

And I compete someone else's horse for them as well,

so, yeah, they keep me busy.

-And luckily, no broken bones yet.

-"Yet," she says.

-Yeah.

Fantastic stuff.

Now, you work in the same college as Lauren, Greg?

Yes, yeah, but I look after

the engineering and motor vehicle students.

So, are you interested in the automotive field yourself?

Yeah, I studied it at college.

I studied motor vehicles at college, so I know the basics.

I don't know enough to go fix a car, but...

What do you do for fun, then, in your spare time?

I run a badminton club at work.

So, keep trying to get Lauren to come,

but she's got an excuse every...

-The horses need me, so...

-..Monday night, she's got an excuse.

Horses, apparently.

Now, tell me about your tactics.

I think Greg's got the best tactic for our team today, haven't you?

-Buy cheap, sell high.

-THEY LAUGH

Quick, write that down. Has anyone ever come up with that before?!

Nobody's ever thought of that before.

Well, I daresay you're going to need some pocket money for this exercise.

-There you go. Invest wisely, you two.

-Thank you.

-£300. And another to Lauren and Greg.

-Thank you very much.

I don't know whether you'll need luck with this spirit.

Off you go. Your experts await. Good luck to you.

So, let's see which ones are on hand today.

Hoping the Reds will also be big fans,

it's Ben Cooper.

Out of the frying pan and into the...fair,

with the Blues, it's Natasha Raskin.

-I've been told that you've got a secret tactic.

-We have.

My idea is we're going to find the most gorgeous rocking horse.

I quite like the silver little trinket things.

Maybe some military stuff, cos it normally sells well in auction.

Probably some Asian statues, bronzes.

OK, teams, your 60 minutes start now! VAN HORN BLARES

Let's head our way out and find our walking horse.

Let's go bargain-hunting right now.

Keep your eyes peeled cos sometimes, when you're headed in one direction,

you can be too focused and walk past some pretty excellent stuff.

I like barometers.

-So, you like barometers as well?

-Mm-hm, yeah.

That's an ever-growing wish list, Katie.

Remember, it's just the three items you need.

What about this typewriter here?

I like the look. I don't know much about the name.

Who would buy something like that at auction?

I think someone who's got a shop or a bar.

I reckon it's sort of a £10, £15 sort of thing at auction.

It is in quite bad disrepair,

but maybe we can keep our eyes peeled for similar things.

-I think so.

-Yeah.

Well, no need to buy the first thing, Blues.

Mind you, those Reds have spotted something off their list already.

I've found a barometer.

-You haven't found a barometer.

-I have.

Eagle-eyed.

Well spotted.

It's from the Regency period.

As you can see, it's veneered in rosewood.

You obviously have some lovely inlay of mother-of-pearl

just bringing out the details.

Down here, you can see the maker's name,

Pensa and Son, Greville Street, Hatton Garden.

So, there you go. It's a London barometer.

It's a proper piece of Regency furniture.

How do you feel about it?

-I really like it.

-Yeah, I do. I think it looks great.

As a geography teacher, barometers,

weather-measuring instruments are my thing,

so I'd have it in my house.

The main thing we need to know is how much,

because they could well be beyond our budget.

How much?

-That is 190.

-190?

-190?

-Yeah.

If that the best price you could do on that, though?

-Shoot a price out and see if I...

-100.

-No.

Now, you've got to bear in mind that, for the dealers,

-they have to be able to make their living out of it as well.

-Yeah.

-And we've got to make a profit.

-Yeah.

-We have.

Can you push down to 150 or is that...?

-I'll do it for 16.

-160?

-160?

-Yeah.

-Deal.

-Yeah.

-Deal?

-160.

-Shake the man's hand.

-He's been ever so generous.

-Thank you ever so much.

-OK.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Thank you. Cheers.

Crikey, Reds, that's a gutsy first buy.

Blues, I think you've a battle on your hands today.

-Collectability is key...

-Definitely.

..but quirk is also good.

-So, it's a chaise-longue, right?

-OK.

-Or sort of a day bed, as it were.

-As you can see, it's got a couple of bruises...

-Holes, yeah.

..and it's burst a couple of times.

But it's a lovely bergere style - that's how you'd describe that.

I personally love it, and if that were in mint condition,

I don't think it'd still be here at the end of the day

because I think that people would be after this.

But those little bits of defect might have worked in our favour,

cos I reckon that's up for grabs. I don't know about you.

-I like it.

-It's a really nice piece.

-I don't know if I've convinced you.

Kind sir, what would be the best price on your lounger here?

-I was asking 100, but I'll take 85.

-85. OK.

It's something to think about, cos I think the thing about it is

-there's not going to be another one in the auction.

-No.

-You're not going to see a campaign daybed.

-It's unique.

We could try 70? Would it be worth going for then?

I would say you can give it a try.

Would you take 70?

-Please.

-Since you asked ever so nice, £70 will be fine.

-Oh!

-That's brilliant. Thank you very much.

-It was worth the ask.

I didn't think he had a hope in hell.

-THEY LAUGH

-That's very kind of you. 70 quid.

Let's go give the man some cash and move onto lots two and three.

-Let's go.

-Excellent.

-Well done. Good on you, Greg.

Nicely done, Blues. Both teams are cooking on gas.

That's an item each inside ten minutes.

-Right, well, there's a...

-A rocking horse.

-It rocks and it's got a horse on it.

-THEY LAUGH

Wasn't thinking of a metal one.

-Cameras. What are they like?

-Cameras. Well, it depends.

You know, if we've got nice vintage cameras,

we can quite often get a bit of interest in them,

but they've got to be...usable.

Have a look at this little...look at this little...

We're at an airfield. We're at an airfield!

Isn't that great?

Isn't that...isn't that awesome?

-I don't like it.

-Oh, OK.

No, no, no, you can...you can look at it.

It's a boy's thing, I think.

Well, it's sort of military, Kevin.

The blackboard is pretty cool.

-How do you feel about the blackboard?

-Yeah.

That is really nice, isn't it?

I think that's the kind of thing that parents would be after

for their children's playroom, bars would be after

for their specials board.

I think that's got mass appeal.

May we please ask about your blackboard?

-It's £50.

-It's £50. OK. Well, that's the starting price.

So, how much would you drop to?

-Very best, to give you a helping hand, would be 40.

-Cash. 40.

-Listen to her, "Cash."

-'Cash deal.'

-She's got the patter.

Would you do 35?

-Go on then.

-Thank you very much.

-Are you going for it?

-Yeah, definitely.

-That's very kind of you.

-That's great.

-Thank you very much.

-I think that's a good deal.

Right, OK, well, we best scoot off. £35, that's brilliant.

-Actually, do we need to scoot off?

-Go and get a cup of tea?

Before you know it, it will be gone.

Let's amble off this way, but not too much of an amble.

-Thank you very much, thank you.

-Thank you.

I take my hat well and truly off to you, Blues.

Second purchase in 20 minutes.

At this rate, you'll be done in no time.

So, with that in mind, I better show you something I bought online

but thought was worth a punt.

Behold two reproduction early 17th-century powder flasks.

These turned up at auction,

so I decide to take a punt and bought these for all of £170.

A few weeks later, big parcel turns up at the Laidlaw household

and open it up and it's like Christmas morning again.

Well, under scrutiny, this example here

had all the attributes of an original powder horn.

And let me tell you more about it.

This was made, likely in Germany, around 1610.

It's manufactured from flattened cow horn.

It's rather pleasingly and fluidly carved

in depiction of a hunter in a woodland setting

with his hound chasing his prey,

this unlucky and disproportionately large rabbit.

Now, this dreary black affair on the other hand,

surely, that's the wrong 'un.

Now, what it purports to be is a munition-quality,

mass-produced musketeer's...a soldier's powder flask

of the same period, the early 17th century.

And as such is the kind of thing that would've been carried by troops

fighting in the 30 Years' War, in mainland Europe or here

during the English Civil Wars.

Now, looking at it, we think to ourselves,

"Oh, it's a pretty simple affair.

"We've got some blackened wood, mounted in thin sheet iron."

Now, that would surely be easy enough for a forger to fabricate.

And looking at it closely,

I notice what for all the world looked like

engineer's vice jaw marks.

But then I look again and I go, "Oh, my word!",

and the smile appears.

Because what I recognise, as a collector of early arms and armour,

is the guild mark of the Nuremberg guild of armourers.

Now, Nuremberg, during the 16th and 17th centuries,

was possibly the largest centre for the mass production of arms

and armour to be exported throughout Europe.

So, there you have it.

No forger is going to be skilled enough to reproduce the dye

that marks this object with the Nuremberg

armourer's guild mark.

So, lo and behold, by taking a punt,

I have secured two absolutely original

early-17th-century musketeer's powder flasks for all of £170.

True value, being the real McCoy as they say, in excess of £1,000.

What do you think of that?

Back with the shopping, where the Reds have one item

and the Blues have two.

With 25 minutes gone, both teams now seem a little too relaxed.

-Is there anything talking to you yet?

-No.

-Oh, no.

-Not yet.

What about spoons? Is that a bit boring?

-We're not after spoons, are we?

-No, unless it was like proper striking.

-Yeah, that would be exciting.

-These are just silver spoons.

Kind of run-of-the-mill spoons...

-Well, horses for courses.

-I like these.

-Hm, you like these?

-I really do.

-Oh, excellent.

-They're pretty and quaint.

Nice set of six. Right.

-Birmingham 1896.

-Wow.

-Wow.

So, you're looking at around about Queen Victoria's Jubilee time.

Queen Victoria's Jubilee, yeah.

I think they're really quaint, I like them,

they're a nice, nice piece.

Yeah, I love them. They're delicate.

I spotted them when we were walking past before.

-I think they're absolutely lovely.

-Shall I ask the gentleman?

-Yeah.

-What have you got on them?

45 would be fine. I bought them well.

-45 quid.

-45 quid.

Is this the best you can do on these?

-Yeah, you'll easily double your money.

-Really?

Could we drop down to 40?

No, sorry, I can't, I paid 40.

In all honesty, I think the gent's been very fair,

-and they are superb quality.

-They are.

And to push them down is almost an insult, to be honest.

I think they're wonderful.

£45, I think they're lovely.

-Me too.

-45 then. It's a deal.

Yeah? Lovely. Shake the gent's hand.

-Thank you so much.

-Thank you, sir.

-Thank you so much.

-Thank you.

-Best of luck.

-Thank you.

-They're beautiful.

-Cheers.

Stirring stuff.

The Reds make it two items apiece around the half-hour mark.

The Blues, how's the hunt for your third item coming along?

It's a mini weight, ah, that's awesome.

That's pretty cool.

There is one missing.

-Natasha.

-Yes, hello, hello, hello.

This to me just looks like a little...

-I think it's jewellery scales, isn't it?

-Jeweller's scales.

Look how small it gets. 200 milligrams, ten milligrams.

I mean, it's tiny.

I mean, there is a few missing, by the looks of it.

There's like a...there's a five there.

That's a shame it's incomplete, but because of the missing bits

and also it's just not very exciting, is it?

It would be good if it came with a bar of gold.

That would be absolutely lovely.

I think your dealer's laughing over there at you.

-I think he heard you say that.

-Took the gold.

So, it's excitement you're looking for?

Let's just hope you don't run out of time searching for it.

Talking of endless searches.

-It's a rocking horse.

-Is it?

We found one. It's not got any great age to it.

But it's quite nice to have in your room as a decorative piece.

As a decorative thing, yeah.

Shabby chic. Yeah.

Yes, it is. I like it.

It would be interesting to see how much it is.

-OK, shall we ask the gent and see how much?

-Yes.

-How much have you got on it?

-That's £90.

-£90.

-£90.

-That's a lot, isn't it?

-Shall we think on that?

I think we should think on this one.

What you're going to find... Because we've got

-£105 left over.

-Mm-hm.

-Please leave me a penny!

-Of course.

Well, you have to. Otherwise I can't buy anything.

I don't know, Ben.

With your charm, I'm sure you could pick up something for nothing.

This is a sweet little pincushion,

and pincushions are super collectable.

That is so cute.

It is so cute and it's a cold painted figure.

Have you seen that sort of thing before?

I haven't, and I'm an animal lover as well, so it's...

-Greg.

-Greg does not look impressed.

-Look at that face, he's just saying, "Love me, love me."

-Is he?

"Buy me, buy me."

He's saying, "I need a lick of paint."

-GREG LAUGHS

-Well, people love doggies

and people love pincushions

and you put the two of them together, and what do you get?

-A puppy pincushion.

-Match made in heaven.

It is a match made in heaven, you know.

Lauren obviously loves it, but what's the price?

-Has it got a price on it?

-The price on it was £65...

I reckon there's a wee bit of movement in there,

I did sort of have a nudge and a wink earlier,

but we'll see how far we can go.

So, you know, it's not worthless, but it's not worth a huge amount.

It's somewhere in between.

That's where the auction estimate is going to lie

and if we can shave off a few pounds, we've got a chance.

I do like it, I don't dislike it, I would not not want it,

but we've got a couple of items we've seen,

so maybe we've got plenty of time to have a walk and a talk.

-Yeah.

-If we have to.

-Let's have a think.

-OK.

You're a hard man, Greg.

Now, have the Red team found their rocking horse yet?

Oh, there is...there is a horse.

Not quite a rocking horse.

It's Muffin the Mule.

-Oh, it does look a bit sad.

-KEVIN LAUGHS

So would you if you've been sitting out here for two days.

-Oh, dear.

-That is quite fun.

-Hm.

-Hm, you're not?

-No.

-I'm not...at all.

That's the problem, setting your heart on something specific,

it's possible to become blinkered to everything else.

And with 40 minutes gone,

I think both teams need to keep their eyes peeled.

-Lauren said, "Is this a pizza slice?"

-LAUREN LAUGHS

I'm actually not exactly sure what this is.

-It looks like a very big one.

-It's a bookbinder's tool.

-It's a bookbinder's tool!

-OK.

-For gilding.

-For gilding.

-Wow.

-That's interesting, isn't it?

-Yeah, you heat the thing up

till it just sizzles, so then you have the gold foil

and then you run...

-and that gives you a line on the leather.

-Use that groove.

So, you can use it for tables, desks, writing slopes.

What do you think about that? Very niche.

-I like the story behind it, it's got a cool...

-Good story.

-Yeah.

-So, it could be something that restorers are into,

and we know that restorers hang out at auction houses

looking for projects, basically.

-And this would be a nice thing for them to have.

-So, no price.

-Shall we ask?

-We can ask. Lauren?

I'm going to give it to you two. You're too good today.

It's always me today. How much would this be going for?

-It's £85.

-£85.

-£85.

I don't know. Is it a bit niche in the auction environment?

I like it. We've got two quirky items then.

-Hm. It is quirky.

-It is very quirky.

There's plenty of time left, so we could ask the store holder

if he'll keep it safe for 20 minutes or so?

-OK, shall we put it back for now...

-Yeah.

-..and then use our time wisely?

-Definitely.

After a flying start, the Blues appear to be in reverse,

but as the Red team seem to be shifting up a gear.

Phones are quite popular now, aren't they?

-The old phones are.

-It's been converted.

-It's 50.

-50?

-Pounds, yeah.

The thing is with them, is they're Bakelite, these phones,

and they're part of that retro, that vintage look

which a lot of people are wanting.

-And all it needs is a slight clean up...

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-And it's there, ready to go.

-Do you like it?

-I like it.

-Yeah?

-Sorry, how much did you say?

-50.

Is that the best you can do on that?

45 then and that's it. VENDOR LAUGHS

-The gent's done a fair 10% discount on it.

-Mm-hm.

-Well, it was cheap to start with as well.

-Yeah.

-I think we should go for it.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Yeah, we can't find a rocking horse, we're running out of time.

It's a good buy, it's a popular thing. 45.

Well, I can't see you making a loss on it.

Fingers crossed we won't.

-There we go, we've done our three.

-Mm-hm.

-We've done it within the hour, quite comfortably.

-Yes.

Hopefully the Blues are still running around panicking.

Well, I never.

Finishing with a flourish and still 15 minutes on the clock.

Loving your work, Reds.

Right, Blues, now is not the time to be blathering on.

Do you like these sort of ashtray?

Candlesticks.

Just so you know, we nearly only got 15 minutes left.

Well, guys, we might as well just kick back, relax,

enjoy the next 20 minutes

and then maybe see the Blues coming a little bit more panicked.

We'll just be relaxed.

It doesn't pay to be too smug, Reds.

The Blues still have time, just not very much.

We've got a few minutes left to start looking,

not a huge amount of time, so let's be cut-throat.

I like the look of these. Bronzes, are they?

Feel it. If it's heavy, we're on to a winner here.

-Yeah, that's got some weight to it.

-That's heavy, let's see the base.

-OK, let's have...

-So the sword doesn't fall out.

I know, I know, the wee samurai sword.

-I don't like them.

-OK.

They're not as pretty as my little dog pincushion.

-OK.

-No, I'll give you that.

But you get a lot more for your lolly.

You get a lot more, but what would they make at auction?

I think the estimate would maybe be £50-£70, something like that.

We've got ten minutes left.

What would the rock bottom price be?

Oh, erm, 65 is rock bottom.

-65 is rock bottom?

-Yeah. What do you think?

-OK.

-Panic.

-Either the statues...

-Or the gild tool.

..or the gild tool.

-Let's go and run to the other one.

-Yeah, gild tool.

And then we'll probably run back to here as well.

-You reckon?

-Yeah.

-Is that happening? Yeah.

-OK.

I hope you brought your running shoes, Natasha.

Oh, he's packing up, quick!

Hope he's still got it.

-Oh, it's still there, OK.

-Brilliant.

Hello again. We're after your massive pizza slice.

-What did we leave it at?

-It was 85, I'd want 65 for it.

Would you take 50?

-Ooh.

-Last minute, you're packing up...

-Last minute...

-One less item for the...

-Go on then, OK.

-Thank you very much. £50.

-Thank you very much.

WHISTLE BLOWS Time's up.

Well done, well done. Two minutes to spare, my goodness.

Let's remind ourselves what the Red team bought.

First purchase was the Victorian banjo barometer for £160.

Next, they were served up a set

of late-Victorian silver coffee spoons for £45.

Lastly, they called time on their shop

with the vintage Bakelite telephone for £45.

So much for the secret plan.

Where's the horse?

Galloping off over the horizon without you?

We couldn't find one, so we adapted

and we overcame and we changed our tactics.

I'm impressed. Now, tell me, Katie, favourite lot?

It's got to be the barometer. I think it's absolutely gorgeous.

It would look wonderful in any home and I would love to buy it.

Is it going to be the most profitable?

I don't think so, I think the little spoons that Kevin saw,

I think they've got the most profit in them.

We got them for a really good price.

Kevin, do you agree? What's your favourite lot first?

My favourite lot, I'm really with Katie,

I think we're both in agreement on it,

the barometer is absolutely stunning,

it looks the part in any home, it's brilliant,

but the spoons will make the money, they're gorgeous.

Now, what did this all cost you?

-£250.

-You waded in...

-We tried to spend it all.

I'm loving it. Well, you've just £50 left, where is it?

PAUL LAUGHS

Not off to the bar yet.

Thank you very much.

Well, I've seen bigger budgets, what do you think?

Well, I think the answer is - I'd better spend the rest, haven't I?

-Definitely.

-I don't know what on, but there'll be something.

Well, good luck with that. I'm mightily impressed.

Now, let's go see what the Blues have bought.

They eased into the shopping with the purchase

of the late-Victorian day bed for £70.

Fittingly, they bought the child's folding blackboard for £35.

And finally, they purchased

a 19th-century bookbinding tool for £50.

Greg, Lauren, what happened?

You were off like hares and then you lost your mojo or something.

-Took some time, chilled out.

-We thought we could relax for a bit.

-And then we got a bit panicky.

-What was your favourite purchase?

-I liked the bookmaker's gilding tool.

-Yeah.

-I think that will get the most profit.

-OK.

But you personally, what's the piece you would take home if you could?

-I would take home the gilder's tool.

-Yeah, you do like that.

-I like that, yeah.

-Good-oh. Lauren, do you agree?

-Well, my favourite piece was the chaise-longue.

-Yeah.

I though that was really, like, unique and quite cool.

But, like, I think the gilder's tool

is going to make the most money at auction.

OK. Of one mind over the profitability. I like it.

Total spend, tell me.

-£155.

-OK. Healthy, healthy.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

There or thereabouts.

-Somebody's got £145, then, I hope.

-I have.

-I do...in my pocket. Just for you.

-THEY CHUCKLE

Just as well. Thank you very much.

Natasha Raskin.

Well, these guys lost their mojo a wee bit along the way,

so I'm going to try and bring it back with a bonus buy.

I'll find something.

That sounds like a plan if ever I heard one.

Now we'll head off to the auction

and see what the auctioneer thinks of this smorgasbord of purchases.

All the way from Newark...

to Etwall in Derbyshire at Hansons Auctioneers

with the man himself, Mr Charles Hanson.

-How are you doing?

-Very well, thanks. Good to see you.

It's good to see you,

and it's good to be here with... What an interesting offering.

The Reds have kicked off with quite a traditional piece, banjo barometer.

Do you like it? Is it a good one?

Yeah, from top to toe, it's a very handsome barometer,

but it comes down to the market now compared to 20 years ago,

-and the market has really dropped.

-Yeah. Yep.

That said, if you are looking for a banjo barometer,

this one has got all the embellishments.

-A Hatton Garden maker.

-Absolutely, Paul.

It'd also sit there well in a high-end retail shop as well.

-Wouldn't it? Yes.

-It's good to go at a good price,

but at auction, it's a wholesale market.

Tell me what the good price is. Is it good?

Paul, if we're lucky, it might make up to £100.

Sadly, the team paid £160 for it,

so we're going to need buyers that get that

this is maybe an uncommonly good example.

Correct. Correct.

-And that's how we are going to sell it.

-Exactly.

OK. So, we've gone from the early 19th century

to the tail end of Victoria's reign,

and, well, for my money,

what are a pretty smart set of silver coffee spoons.

-Do you like them?

-Paul, I do.

They're in good condition, there's not too many imperfections,

the gilding on the bowls is still clean and uniform.

-Very nice.

-OK.

What's the market like for Victorian coffee spoons, then, Charles?

We've been a bit cautious, Paul, but between £30 and £50.

OK. That's in the right ballpark.

The team paid £45, so we're there or thereabouts.

Good, Paul.

And from the 19th century into the 20th

with a classic Bakelite telephone.

-Do you like it?

-Paul, I love it.

-OK.

-It's got such style.

It's keenly in that 1940s period.

You tell me what man or lady would not like that

on their desk at home or their desk at work.

Is it style that's going to come at a price?

-Will that be expensive?

-I really rate it.

-Again, we've been cautious to really ignite the market.

-Yeah.

It might, if we're lucky, be very splendid and make £100.

Really? That would be fantastic,

because they'd be doubling their money and some

-at a cost of £45.

-Good.

And being good to go, surely that is going to bring in the profit.

Exactly, Paul.

Well, that's looking not bad if we can survive the banjo barometer.

Bonus buy time. Let's see what we've got.

Katie, Kevin, you spent the money. I like your style.

But it only left Ben £50 to invest in. What did you get?

-Oh!

-A Chinese vase.

-Wow!

-Now...you left me with 50...

-Mm-hm.

-..and I decided I had to spend the full 50.

-Good.

It does have a little bit of damage,

-which is always a bit of a bad thing...

-Yes.

..but fingers crossed.

-OK. And are items like this quite popular?

-Yeah.

The Chinese are buying them,

they fit, also, for the decorative market,

so I'd hope it should make 100, 120 - that's what I'm hoping.

-Do you like? Personally?

-I really like it.

Yes, I do. I think it's very decorative,

and the fact that it could possibly make a large profit is winning.

-We hope!

-PAUL CHUCKLES

Yeah. Me too. I do like it.

You don't have to decide now whether you go with the bonus buy.

Leave that till after the sale of your lots.

In the meantime, let's go see if the auctioneer

thinks the Chinese hordes are going to be clamouring for our vase.

Ben is hoping that the Chinese market will bail them out.

-What do you think?

-I love this vase.

I think it's got a great ground. I love the enamelling.

It all so labour-intensive.

-Sadly, it has been cracked.

-It's got an Achilles heel, then.

It's got a big Achilles heel, Paul,

-and that's going to knock value in a big way.

-OK.

How much do you love it, in pounds?

Paul, we're going to go in between £50 and £80.

Well, that is great news, cos Ben paid £50 for that.

-Good. Bottom estimate.

-It bodes well.

This could just be what the Reds need.

Now, the Blues' offering looks kind of scant here,

but I've seen in the sales room, looking resplendent,

the bergere day bed.

How much do you like that?

This day bed, it's in good order,

but again, it's a market, and we need to be realistic.

The market for things like chaise-longues

and those nice settees, those bottom back twin-arm settees,

they have, again, seen a decline in value.

This day bed, it's nice, but we've gone in quite cautiously.

-OK, how cautious?

-Quite restful. Between £40 and £60.

OK. Well, they need a tenner more than your high estimate

because they paid 70.

-Fingers crossed.

-Exactly.

-OK.

Now, from there, another piece of furniture just behind you.

Do you know what? If you said to me, "1950s nursery blackboard,"

if I wanted one, I'd be tempted by that.

-Do you like it?

-I think it's just really well made.

And it's just so original.

It's almost a lost innocence,

and I have a daughter now who's 19 months, Paul,

and I could imagine her in a few years loving this object.

And you'd be a lot happier with her scribbling on that than the walls.

Oh, Paul, and the antiques at home as well, exactly!

This will educate her,

and I think it's a lovely tool for education,

and I really hope a collector sees that.

Tell me some good numbers. Hit me with it.

-I've guided between £20 and £30...

-OK.

-..but it might rise up to 50.

-It needs to rise just a tad - team paid £35 for it.

-OK.

-But we can do this.

-I think so, Paul.

OK. Now, over to the last purchase.

What on earth is that?

-I presume it's part of bookbinding history.

-Yeah.

It's well made. It's original.

I love this brass pommel,

and I hope it will make between £30 and £40.

-It's going in the right direction.

-Good.

The Blues stumped up all of £50 for that.

Remains to be seen whether the bonus buy is going to be needed,

but in case it is, let's take a look.

Lauren, Greg, you spent a cautious £155,

leaving Natasha £145 to spend wisely.

-Before she shows you what she bought, she's going to do a magic trick.

-Yes.

No, no... This is the moment. THEY CHUCKLE

What on earth do you have under there, Natasha?

-I went for...the statues.

-Oh, yeah!

-Remember?

-The bronzed figures that you absolutely loved, Lauren.

-Yeah.

Lauren, what drew you to these? You surprise me.

-I wasn't drawn to those at all.

-Oh, right...

It was me. I like them.

The gender stereotype never fails.

I wanted these from the get-go.

Well, I managed to work the dealer down to £60.

-Hey, that's not bad.

-Not too bad.

No, I think for 60 quid,

you've got a nice decorative pair of statues, a wee bit of age,

and, you know, not to everyone's taste,

but hopefully to at least one, two, three people in the auction.

-That would be good.

-Yeah.

£60. Looks clever to me.

Now, you don't have to decide here and now.

We'll wait until the auction of your lots,

but in the meantime, let's go and see

whether the auctioneer likes Natasha's samurai.

That's an imposing pair of figures, Charles. Tell me about those.

Paul, once I first saw these, I thought,

"Wowee. Japanese, Meiji period, very highbrow.

"Are they worth, for the pair, £4,000 to £6,000?"

Look at me.

Yeah, hold it there, Paul, hold it there.

-You're not going to let me down, are you?

-They're not.

They're very clever, OK?

They're very clever in that this gent here is so heavy.

The base of it has this appearance of bronze and rust,

but then you move to the geisha lady with her fan

and, again, this almost filled base.

To me, Paul, sadly, they certainly are mass-produced,

-probably 1980s, 1990s...

-OK.

-..and purely we arrive at a decorative value.

-Yeah.

-Which is?

-They're good lumps. Between £60 and £90.

Good news for Natasha...who got those for £60.

Did she really? Yeah.

Well, that's all looking rather encouraging.

-You taking this auction?

-I can't wait, Paul.

The gavel is trembling and ready and waiting.

Well, I am with you all the way. We couldn't be in safer hands.

260, 260. Any advance?

At 260, bid. 270. 280...

-£160 spent on the barometer. £160.

-Mm.

-Big money.

-Mm.

-Are you sure?

-Mm.

-Was it wise?

-I blame Ben.

-Yeah.

That's got to be our stock line. "We blame Ben."

My number's now 182.

A really nice early-Victorian rosewood banjo barometer,

and I am bid 25, 35, 45.

50, I'm bid. Do I see five? 60, five,

-'70. Hello.'

-Oh, yes.

-75. 80. Come on. One more. 80, I'll take.

-Go, go, go.

'Clean and complete.'

-£75, bid.

-Internet, internet.

Take 80 for it, or we sell it.

All done...

No!

..at £75.

'Fair warning. Sale.'

It's yours, sir.

£75.

-That is a loss of £85.

-That's criminal.

But, look, up come the silver spoons. You paid 45.

Estimate, 30 to 50, so now we should be in better territory.

Here it goes.

A really delightful set of six late-Victorian coffee spoons.

Where do we start these? I'm only bid £22.

At 22, 25 and 30, and 5 bid.

40 bid for these wonderful spoons.

At 45. I'm asking 50 now.

At 45, we're live online.

'Welcome to Middle England.'

At £45. We're live

'across the UK.'

You're out in the room. 50, I'm bid!

'Surely a fiver?'

£50. Surely five in the room?

You're all out.

We go online today and sell at £50.

Fair warning.

-Very good.

-Internet.

-Woohoo.

£50, a profit of five. You're now at a loss of 80,

and we're relying on the telephone. Here we go.

A vintage black Bakelite 1940s telephone.

Really striking. And I'm bid

'straight in'

at 25, 35 and £40.

Do I see five now?

'Five. 50.'

Five. 60. Five. My bid, 70. Five.

Look at this.

£75. Asking you, 80.

Online. Or I sell to you, sir.

First, second, third time.

At £75.

Sale.

-Very good.

-Excellent.

-75.

That's a profit of £30, bringing your loss

-down to 50 in all.

-Oh.

Well, what are we going to do with the vase?

Is this the redemption of the day?

-Yes.

-No-brainer.

-Let's go. No-brainer.

-Let's go with it. No-brainer.

-Seriously?

-Seriously.

-Let's go.

-Full of Eastern promise is this vase.

19th-century family rose, solid on ground.

I'm only bid £25 for it.

Bid 30. 30. We're live in China. Hold tight.

35. 40. Five. 50. Five.

'60.'

Five online. This is a good vase. 65. 70.

80 now. 85.

'85, I am bid in the room.'

I'm asking 90 online. Come in, China.

I shall sell in the room at £85.

Bid 90. All out at £85.

-Fantastic. Above high estimate.

-Yeah, fantastic.

£35 profit. That brings your loss down to

a minuscule £15.

-Well done, Ben.

-Thank you.

-Well done the three of you.

-The Reds!

-But...keep shtum, yeah?

-Absolutely.

-Oh, yes.

-Nothing to the oppos.

-Absolutely.

Lauren, Greg, what an interesting assortment,

but can you believe you bought a Victorian bergere day bed for £70?

204. Showing for you there,

this really quite wonderful mahogany late-Victorian bergere day bed.

And I am bid here at 25 and £30.

Oh, no.

Do I see five now? 45, bid.

-Ooh!

-'Asking 50 now.'

55. 60, bid.

It's a really interesting bed, this.

70. 80.

Yes, we're in profit!

-100.

-Oh, look at this. Three digits.

-110.

-'120.'

-Oh, look at this.

130. 130, your bid, sir.

For the first time, we sell it.

For the second time, sir.

Congratulations, you've bought a cracking bed.

-At £130.

-Yes.

-'It's yours, sir. Well done.'

-Yes!

How do you like them apples? Look at that.

-130. £60 profit on your first lot.

-Amazing.

-Up comes the blackboard.

-OK.

Being shown for you there, there's our blackboard.

Belgian-made child's folding blackboard.

Great quality, 1950s.

I'm only bid, for this, £18.

I'm asking 20 now.

£18. 20, bid. 22. 25.

25. 28. 30.

£30. £32.

I'm asking five online.

35. I've got 38.

-'Online, 40.'

-Yes!

I'm asking 40 online.

-That's your lot. All done at £38.

-He's really drawing it out.

So, there we are. Sold.

-Very good.

-Well done.

-£38.

That's another three. You are £63 up.

-Now, your tool.

-Shall we just stop there?

-£50 paid for the tool.

This is a 19th-century bookbinder's gilded tool.

A really quality item.

And I'm only bid £20 only. I'm asking five now.

At 29, bid. Do I see five now? Come on.

At 29, bid. Do I see five now?

-Come on.

-'Surely a fiver?'

-Where's the competition?

-You're all out.

-Bid, bid.

I'll take five. You're out in the world.

-'You're out in Derbyshire.'

-Oh, no.

-And I shall sell it.

-No.

All done, we are, at £20

-'today.'

-No. Bargain. It's a bargain.

Sold.

-£20.

-We were doing so well.

-You fell at the final hurdle.

You lost £30 on the bookbinder's tool.

But overall, you have made £33 profit.

-Well done.

-Brilliant, brilliant.

-Two out of three profits!

Now, what are you going to do?

Are you going to bank the 33,

or are you going to stake it all on our Japanese sculptures?

-I think we should go with it.

-We should go with it.

-Yeah.

-We're only here once.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Are you sure?

-Yes.

-Don't put us off.

-Are you sure?

-Yes.

Here it goes. Look at them!

He is a samurai warrior, with his companion, Meiji period,

and I can bid for these figures at £50 straight in.

He's straight in at 50, straight in at 50.

'55. 65. 75.'

Asking 80 now. I'm bid £75.

Bid 80. 80, I'm bid. Do I see it all online?

Surely a fiver. Oh, 85. Back in again.

'Asking 90. It is a good...'

We sell online...

at eighty...five...pounds.

Going, going, sold.

-Yay!

-Look at that.

25 more pounds profit.

Well done, you guys. Feeling good, yeah?

-Yeah, really good.

-But rein it in.

50. Fair warning...

What a round of bargain-hunting that was.

Each team lost money on only one lot.

-ALL:

-Ooh!

Yes. Looking good, is it not?

Sadly, one team made a hell of a lot of money at the start,

and the other one lost a hell of a lot of money,

and that was their fate sealed.

So, sadly, I've got to say,

the runners-up are the Reds.

RED TEAM GROAN

Well done, Blues.

You ended up losing £15. A modest sum.

But nevertheless, it's a loss.

-How did you enjoy the journey? Was it good fun?

-It was brilliant.

-We had come, you know, masses and masses of fun.

-It was fantastic.

We're not getting the golden gravel, then?

THEY LAUGH Sadly not even the bus fare home.

But, here, look at this.

You come home with a £58 profit.

Wow!

Sounds all right, does it not?

-Well, there's some paper money for you.

-Thank you very much.

-There's some coins to top it up.

-Thank you.

-And well done you.

-How was it for you?

-Awesome.

-Yeah.

-Really good experience.

-Yeah, it was amazing.

-I like the sound of that.

Well, it is a great experience. You too can join in.

Follow us on Twitter,

check out our website,

and no matter what you do,

join us next time for some more Bargain Hunting.

-Yes? ALL:

-Yes!