Episode 2 Del Boys and Dealers

It's a game, innit. And the buzz you get.

It's better than sex, I tell you!

All over Britain, a unique breed of entrepreneur is on the make.

It's just become 100 years old so it has just become an antique.

Flames are beautiful. This will be so easy to sell.

For these real-life Del Boys, everything and anything is for sale.

What do you think of that? You know who it is, don't you?

For fresh stock, they head to a very particular type of auction house...

Mickey Mouse, three, four, four.

Anybody else want a bag of earmuffs for six quid?

..sifting through the junk in search of buried treasure.

That's a genuine Rolex watch.

He's bought a Porsche, hasn't he?

-It's moody, isn't it? I can tell by your face.

-Yeah.

But will any of these dealers discover the lot that will

make them millionaires?

-If it was authentic, you know.

-£200,000?

I'll find a nice something that is worth millions of pounds

and I can never work again!

Right. We're here.

It's auction day at Fables in Essex.

A chance for punters to view lots before the bidding starts.

Wow.

It's a Buzz Lightyear mug.

So, yeah.

I believe if it's not valuable yet, then it will be.

This is one of Britain's many trash and treasure auctions -

a world away from Christie's and Sotheby's

where almost anything can turn up for sale.

-Brilliant. They'll sell, actually.

-Will those sell?

Married traders Sharon and Al have carved out a niche

dealing in low-end items.

It's not a toad. It's a thing, sort of... Peperami.

No, you're calling it Peperami. It says Peperami.

But what's it look like to you?

People like buying rubbish.

The more shit it looks, they're more likely to buy it.

Here you are.

-Yeah.

-Five. Six.

-Yeah.

-Seven, madam.

Eight.

Brilliant, wasn't it?

-Ten pounds.

-Whole lot for eight quid.

They look great.

Good, cos I got three boxes of 'em.

Sharon and Al quit their jobs two years ago

to concentrate on becoming dealers.

They sell at car-boot sales and online,

and their three-bedroom semi is now home to a thriving cottage industry.

My latest moneymaking scheme is cake stands.

So we had a load of plates that I couldn't sell

and decided to let monsieur let loose with the china.

And as it happens, he sort of has a knack for drilling

holes in plates, which does actually make a change from dropping them.

There you go.

Hole straight through.

That's another one done.

What do you think your mark-up on this venture is?

At least 400%.

The trick is to try and keep the pattern all in line.

I'm putting them on the floor because it's a bit windy today.

-That's a fiver.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

Always keen to find the next big seller,

the couple are taking their hunt for new stock further afield.

Thank you very much.

-Look at this.

-Nice big map.

-Where are we?

-Calais.

-Calais.

They're planning a road trip to an auction house in northern France.

-Will we have time to go and have a little look?

-Yes.

-Well, find it...

-Find it.

-Find it, have a look around, so we'll be there Saturday for the viewing.

-Yes.

I personally think that they will have something far more exciting

than we find in our own markets.

What's always the most famous thing that people go for?

Right, if it's not a cook, it's perfume, it's lingerie,

deco-ey stuff. It's always French.

Art, like paintings, it's always French. Yeah.

I haven't got a clue what it's going to be like.

I mean, we don't actually speak a word of French.

What do you think of France, Al?

I'd rather not answer that, thank you.

He's had a bad experience with the French.

It's just experience I've had with them, so...

And actually, I'm not that impressed, either,

because the one and only time I did go,

when I went with my mother,

cos we wanted to have a go on the hovercraft, and we got out

the hoverport, and I kept on flagging these taxis down and nobody stopped.

So we spent the entire time stuck in the hoverport.

Sharon and Al are making the 350-mile trip

in another of their recent purchases.

A lot of space to fill.

A very lot of space to fill!

The couple bought the Gothic-style hearse at auction for £1,000.

Er, what do I expect?

A lot of confusion. A lot of us arguing.

A lot of me, for some unknown reason, closing my eyes

and covering my ears because I think we're going to crash into something.

Other than that, a lot of bargains.

We're on our way to France. Here we come.

Some dealers are happy searching for treasure a little closer to home.

OK, that is jade. Actually weighs 37 pounds.

Probably the biggest piece of jade in south-east London.

South London trader Ernest has been wheeling and dealing for 20 years

and his shop in Tooting Market is stuffed full of unusual artefacts.

OK, this is the Tibetan singing bowl.

Some of these masks you can see up here.

Why do you like the masks so much in the African style?

Because, yeah, I'm African. I like the African things. You know?

I'm keeping to the roots.

Ernest was born in Gambia, but moved to England when he was 12 years old.

One of the most curious items he trades in is home-made.

Ancient Egyptian crystal healing

is what the rods, my art, are all about.

Once you're holding the rods, you feel the energy there

because the rods are balancing you energetically.

So, you know, if you're stressed out

and you hold these rods for 10-15 minutes, you will feel better.

Many of the goods in Ernest's shop

come from his local auction house, Greasby's.

It's a hobby. It's also a passion, you know.

You just like to be there, looking at things, discovering things,

making a profit, having a deal.

Nice bowls.

The auction sells items from house clearances,

as well as police seizures and liquidated stock.

That's very nicely tuned, actually.

Hope nobody else is interested in these ones cos I'd like these. Mmm.

If I can get them for about £40 each, double up on my money.

Should do.

You've got a two-foot hand-carved African drum,

nice little ornaments they make, sitting in the corner. 15 quid?

15, thank you.

16. 18. 20.

Back of the room at 20.

20. 22, 25, 26, 20, 30.

32, 34, pounds.

45. Same buyer.

£50.

With commission, Ernest has paid £160 for all three bongos.

Could've been 20 quid.

One of them I paid 50 quid for, which is quite a bit of money.

Well, at least I got the main thing, the drums. So I'm happy with that.

Not all of Ernest's acquisitions come from the auction.

never seen anything like that. This is really an interesting find,

you know. It's a bronze chess set.

Incredible-looking bronze chess set.

That's a pawn, because there's 16 of these.

I don't play chess, by the way.

That's a knight.

To me, it looks like a wizard, you know, the cloak. Maybe Darth Vader.

Ernest bought the chess set at an antiques fair

but he's unwilling to reveal how much he paid for it.

Ah, this is the dark king. That's me.

He believes it may be an original work of art.

The brief research I've done is the names of the artists...

There's three names of artists coming up regarding this artwork here.

One of them, the most famous, is Henry Moore.

Henry Moore was one of the twentieth century's most famous sculptors

and his works can sell for millions of pounds.

If these are real, then

I'm sure the Tate would want to have them.

You know, because it might be the only one in the world.

On the low estimate, we're looking at a couple of million,

so...yeah, I could be...

And I'm thinking on the realistic estimate for this,

five to ten million.

Not all the traders at Greasby's are hoping to land the big one.

Some of the most popular lots are the unclaimed bags and suitcases

which have been lost at airports.

This one's someone that's been on holiday cos it's...

all the clothing's creased.

Bit oily and everything like someone's had sun cream...

The toiletries, that'll be broken down into another lot.

We'll split the footwear

cos some people like to buy the footwear.

The bric-a-brac crate - they're just the odds and sods we receive here.

All we leave in the case is a bag of dirty clothing.

When it comes to the bags and cases,

Stevie and Denise from Canterbury

are two of the auction's biggest customers.

Well, we've got loads up in the loft,

there's a few at mine as well.

We've just put it up, up, up, so now it's all bowing.

It's bowing in my house, her house...

We've had up to eight suitcases each to bring home once,

we brought about 15 home.

Going a bit crazy. But we had all that to wash.

Are you helping me? Good girl. See, you know what we do.

After meeting on the school run,

Stevie and Denise went into business together

selling the second-hand clothes at car boot sales.

And this all has to go on hangers

when we get there at five o'clock in the morning.

That is an early one, Denise, innit?

Yeah. I'm like a zombie, but we get it done.

The suitcases normally cost around £40 each at the auction.

If we sell every item for £3 and we've paid £1.50 per item,

that is 100% profit.

Which is what I want to make.

Stevie has three kids with her partner Paul,

and Denise has two young children

including a seven-year-old son with Asperger's.

It's hard with the kids on my own anyway,

but I'm willing to try and do something to be able to

say to the kids that I COULD do it with my friend and that, so...

All the clothes have to be washed and ironed,

no matter how personal the item.

Look. Here's me boxers.

Head boxers.

50p.

I've had a whole suitcase of just poo. Just poo.

I mean, people probably just thinking, what's she going on about?

But the whole thing was poo,

and we just literally had to get 'em out, throw 'em in the bin...

We did cut the lining out and we did sell the suitcase.

What I might do, I'll just put this on a 30...

Stevie and Denise plan to open a second-hand clothes shop

and have put in an offer on a local premises.

-INTERVIEWER:

-Where's this shop, then?

-Right here.

This is the shop we're hoping to get, to open up.

We'll try and get a mannequin for the front window,

and then clothes rails, clothes rails.

Obviously, rails coming off the walls.

We spoke to the lady, she's told us the man has accepted the offer.

But he still hasn't put it in writing.

So she can't call us.

But she was like, "It's looking really good, Stephanie,

"it's really looking good."

So - I'm sure estate agents ain't going to say that to you

if it's, like...50-50, still, you know?

Stevie and Denise are hoping to make some serious money

when the shop opens for business.

If I can be a millionaire, I'll be a millionaire.

But I won't forget my roots.

I won't be one of these, like, in 30 years' time,

if I've got loads of money, like, "Oh, who are you?"

FRENCH ACCORDION MUSIC PLAYS

S'il vous plait.

Quicker.

Nah.

La...la gen...la jen...

..est qui di...

..si louement...s'il vous plait.

How much is that, please?

Nah.

Cash only, please.

Spot on.

Sharon and Al are headed for an auction house

in the town of Abbeville - 70 miles south of Calais.

SHIP'S HORN SOUNDS

See? Looks just like England.

It's a maiden voyage overseas for the hearse.

You start to wonder if the French are going to find this funny.

After all, they've got no sense of humour.

We might have things thrown at us.

CHILDREN CHEER, HORN BEEPS

After three hours, Sharon, Al and the hearse

are almost at the auction.

Oh! The world is our oyster.

Don't know what to look for.

I'll be like a kid in a candy store.

The old hands will be going, I'll be going, "Ahh! La-la-la-la!"

I'll be doing all that crap.

-Al is just positioning.

-This looks like the place to me.

Just like in the UK,

there's a chance to view lots before the sale.

Whoa...

Bonjour.

That's the sort of thing I'm after.

Art Deco, innit?

CONVERSATION IN FRENCH

It's broken.

It's Eros, innit? Ain't he supposed to have a...bow in his hand?

This is actually...what we'd classify as a high-class auctioneer's house.

Auction house, rather.

Mega, mega, mega money

Absolutely what we would be after.

Mega bucks.

The couple want to know more

about a pair of antique resin light stands.

Excuse me - um...

No comprehend Francoise. Do you speak Englese?

-No.

-Ah.

Excuse me - this? Does it...?

-Ah, non, mais...

-Oh...

- This comes off? - Yes, yes.

- In two parts. - Two parts. Lovely, thank you.

These are really exactly the sort of thing that we would go for.

Very sought-after in England.

Madame, you interested as well?

WOMAN SHOUTS IN FRENCH

A little? Ah!

Outside, the hearse is attracting attention.

Excuse me?

-Vehicule...

-Verculer...

-What, the engine? Vroom-vroom?

-No.

The car is break?

Carries a brick?

AL LAUGHS

If you want to carry bricks, you can.

-You l'amour?

-Oui.

Ah!

This? We make offer.

SHE LAUGHS

-Goodbye!

-Aw!

-Yes - time.

-Aw!

-I know. Desole.

-No!

Oh, Monsieur...

Monsieur, you break my heart.

What does he mean, he don't like it?

Got no bleeding taste.

-Look at the carving as well - nice bit of carving.

-Yeah, yeah.

Normally, a drum like this, you'd be talking about 180, 190.

But I'm doing a deal on them right now,

cos I'm wanting to clear them up.

In south London, Ernest has found a potential buyer

for one of the drums he paid just £60 for.

I'm saying 150 for this one as it is.

Nothing less?

Can't do anything, really, because like I said, on eBay,

when you go online, you're talking about 180.

-Two, four, six, eight, ten...

-Yeah? Lovely. Thanks.

-Yeah, man - nice one.

-Cheers, man.

-Yeah, later.

Ernest almost trebles his money on the drum.

But it's the mysterious chess set that is uppermost in his mind.

He's paying a visit to a specialist reference library

to try to establish who might've made the pieces.

Yes, so, what I'm doing here is I'm researching.

I cannot confirm for my self...

..but I'm familiarising myself

with many of the images of these artists.

Hm...

I'm looking at Henry Moore.

Now...this is, um...

He done a lot of work, Henry Moore - this is the king and queen, here.

When you look at this,

it's actually not far different from the finish on here, you know?

Some of the chess pieces also bear a striking resemblance

to the work of two other modern artists -

Lynn Chadwick and Kenneth Armitage.

You know, it's very similar.

Obviously, feeling this looks like Kenneth Armitage, this chap here.

You know, if you look at the legs, here,

the legs are very...

They're very close.

I don't know if you can get a close shot of the legs on here.

It's, like, these lines are like a...a signature, as such.

You know, these lines. Um...

You wonder if someone would copy that.

Kind of pretty sure this is the real thing.

Next stop for Ernest is his local auction house

to draw on the experience of auctioneer Christine.

This is one of the pawns.

This is, um...you know... So there's eight of those.

It's a full chess set, you know? So there's eight of those.

I've never seen anything like that for a chess set, that's for sure.

Yeah. This is a picture of some of the other pieces,

-looking at...bit more of them.

-Hm.

Oh, wow. Madame Butterfly's glass!

What do you think...it feels like...

you know, it's old, a bit of age to it or something?

No, I think it's modern. I don't think there's any age to it at all.

-Oh, OK.

-Where d'you get 'em from?

I found them in an antique market in Kent.

I can't think that you would've bought something like that

at an antique market and they didn't know what they were selling.

-My instincts are telling me that it's a copy.

-OK.

That's just my gut reaction on it.

Wow, OK, yeah.

But you do really need to find somebody that

specialises in this type of thing.

Yeah. It feels like that.

If it turns out to be nothing, you've lost nothing,

but if it turns out to be something, you've got everything to gain,

-so you're doing the right thing.

-That's it.

You know, everyone has aspirations that they're going to find

something one day. Why not?

If...

Pretty boring if you just go through life thinking that there's

not a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

-Looking at the catalogue.

-Get her out.

Whilst they're still waiting to hear back about the shop lease,

Stevie and Denise are planning a trip to buy extra stock.

-What time?

-Probably not even do the school run.

A few men's ones.

Quite a lot of men's suitcases, which is what we will be after this week.

I won't go no more than 40-45, so even if people bid at 60 quid,

they can have 'em.

If it goes over the price, I won't get caught up in all that madness.

Last time, there was two blokes, they was going mad!

As well as sticking to their price limit,

the pair are also hoping to land some designer labels.

I would obviously look for Armani, Lacoste,

that's a bonus cos as soon as you put that on a rail, it's gone.

This is all unclaimed baggage.

There are more than 40 bags and cases up for grabs in the sale.

Lot 49 is a brown case of mixed clothing, 16 I have.

18, 20, 22,

24, 26, 28, 30,

32, 34, 36, 38,

40, 45. Here at 45.

GAVEL BANGS

We've got three out of three so far.

22 at the back. No?

20 in the front, then.

26, 28, 30.

32, 34, 36 in the centre.

GAVEL BANGS

Lot 87 is a large blue holdall of ladies' clothing.

Stevie and Denise have managed to win eight of the suitcases.

How much did you pay?

Er, between about, I'd say 35-45, we paid.

That's without the commission, so probably about 50 quid a suitcase.

How will you know when you've done well?

When we've had a look. Had a little, like, rummage through it.

The girls will have to wait

until the end of the auction before they can collect the cases.

Sometimes you get some good bits, then sometimes you get really bad...

that you can't even wash and you have to throw

cos there's no point in having them.

But in the shop, we're hoping to be able to dye it, to alter it.

Denise is very good with her hands.

-Boys.

-Hello, boys!

I swear they're getting smaller.

There, that's a nice jacket.

It's quite a nice suit. Wow.

That looks good.

Some jeans. Jeans always go quite well, anyway.

See, look, and then you've got another Tommy Hilfiger shirt,

but look at it - look at the state of it.

See, it's not like Chanels and all that sort of stuff,

but it's still stuff that people we know will buy, definitely.

Check them bad boys out!

What can you do with them?

Use it as a tent.

Designer labels may be thin on the ground, but there's still plenty

of new stock to fill up the shop, and Stevie and Denise head for home.

Hello?

Well. We're stuck on the A2 or something.

We're stuck.

It's over-heated and it's lost power.

DISTORTED VOICE THROUGH PHONE

Is it going to get us home or what?

Is there water in? Did you put water in?

Those two heads are missing.

There and there. They're missing.

That one's missing.

They're all beheaded!

It's auction day in France,

and Sharon and Al are sampling the local food ahead of the sale.

-I could just have the quiche.

-Supposing it's got...squid in it?

If it's got squid, it's got squid, ain't it?

I'm not eating it if it's got squid.

I'll pass.

You don't want anything?

You have never eaten quiche for years.

You always moan about it. "I ain't eating that."

So why are you going to pretend you're eating it now?

I think we'll just settle for the Pot Noodle that I brought with me.

Lunch over, the couple head for the auction.

-Our spirits are high, aren't they, Alan?

-They are.

Yeah. We're ready for a bit of trading.

Hopefully, we'll get some more goodies.

The sale attracts dealers from across northern France,

and Sharon and Al are interested in the resin light stands

they spotted at viewing day.

THEY SPEAK IN FRENCH

BIDDING IN FRENCH

I'm not understanding a bloody word!

I don't even know what lot number we're on.

I'm lost.

One lot went for five euros, I thought, "Oh, right, I got that."

Since then...

We've missed it!

Stick it.

What a bleeding waste of time that was.

Didn't understand a word.

I knew it was going to be hard,

I always said that was one of the pitfalls, but blow me.

I couldn't keep up. I didn't understand it.

It's been like a blind man watching a silent movie.

Pointless.

Maybe we should have got a French CD and listened I think.

But then, I've made this mistake before.

I thought I learned how to speak Spanish and then

when I got there nobody could understand a word cos

I learnt a totally new language altogether for the region.

-What language did you learn instead?

-I learnt Catalan.

In a last bid to salvage something from the trip,

Sharon and Al head for the local flea markets.

We've got literally 25 minutes to dash around this one.

And we've got to dash off for the ferry.

Right, so we've got to go.

Just what Al needs...

Oh, I'm in my element now. Rubbish.

-Is it a real one?

-Yeah.

-How much is that?

20.

The scythe.

You can always cut it down.

-How much is it before you pull it out?

-Six euros.

Love it.

Look at it! It's magnificent.

Six euros, ten.

A bit crumpled up, but I believe that to be £35 worth.

Any off? 15?

-Yes.

-Thank you.

The scythe is fantastic. The wheel...

Dream come true.

Cutting it fine, the couple head for the ferry.

Can you wait a minute and I'll pick it up!

I know the wheel, I'm going to get 700% on that, minimum.

I know that.

There's the whole fun of doing what we do, it really is.

It's not about making a fortune out of it.

It's about getting something totally so damn obscure

that no-one else would even look at and then selling it.

In Canterbury, Stevie and Denise have had news about the shop lease.

They wanted us to take a three year minimum, but we only wanted a year.

And they've accepted someone else's offer for a five year lease.

And there's no way we're going to put our name to five years yet. No way.

That one looks like a second hand shop anyway.

With new premises to find Stevie receives more bad news from Denise.

We were doing really, really well

and it was getting really good,

but I just can't juggle my boy with Asperger, which is

really difficult to be able to give this my time

when I've got to give all my time to my son.

For now, Denise has decided to withdraw from the partnership.

But with a house full of clothes still to sell,

Stevie is going it alone.

Cos the lease has fell through on the shop,

I've decided to do a little pop up shop for now.

Stevie's Second Hand Pop Up Shop.

I've always got ideas.

Ideas just come to me all day, every day,

it's just whether they work

or whether I move on to the next one, really.

Most of the mum's down the school know,

and I have told them to tell their mums and their sisters and whoever.

Today, Stevie's home, next week, Stevie's shop.

-What will you do if nobody turns up?

-Cry.

Today really is the start of something big for me.

Right, thanks everyone for coming to Stevie's second hand item event.

It's 11 o'clock and we're officially open.

CHEERING

25p a pair, or five pairs for £1.

You got £1 for now, yeah?

What do you think of this idea of having a shop in your front room?

Yeah, I think it's a good idea.

When the boot fairs have ended, people need somewhere to go to.

So I think, yeah, it's a great idea.

My friend, she's just bought a jumper.

-Are you liking your jumper, Sam?

-We shop at Stevie's shop.

She's doing a really good job.

It looks good in there, it looks really, really good.

You've always got to have a plan B. Always.

Nice one. Thank you. I've sold about 30, 40 items.

All at £3 an item, so I've made probably just over £100.

People have said they probably won't go to Primark now

and buy a £5 T-shirt because they can buy a Next T-shirt for £3.

My mate who came around earlier, she was well chuffed.

-They said they'd definitely come back. Let everyone know.

-Yeah.

I will definitely open up a shop somewhere down the line. 100%. 100%.

All right. OK.

In Essex, another would-be dealer

is just starting out in the buying and selling game.

I've got to that age now...

..I want to do something where you wear clean clothes everyday.

Fed up with being dirty, but it pays the bills,

that's the main thing.

After 25 years on building sites,

Steve's decided to try and make it as a trader.

Everyone wants a deal,

everyone wants to pay less than what they have to pay.

So if I can supply that service...

..then, yeah, I'm up for that.

Earn more money, have a happy life, comfortable life,

not have to fight for the next paycheck.

I'd like to have a big warehouse stacked to the ceiling with stuff.

A list of clients, a phone that's constantly ringing.

At the minute, doing this, seems like a very long way away.

So far Steve has only been to two small local auctions,

-with mixed results.

-Right.

These are about battle UFOs. Just an impulse buy, really.

I didn't plan to get them.

But I do need to buy more things, more bulk.

To be honest, there was another four

and they turned out not to be any good.

They're like a helicopter inside a shell

and you battle it against the other one.

-Who do you think will buy these?

-Uh... Well...

I don't know. A few watches.

Another recent purchase is a batch of men's watches.

The only issue I've got...

I don't know how... This is...

It boils down to not taking good enough look at the product.

Which I felt I did at the time. A Briel watch, there.

How I missed that? It's got a cracked screen. I was gutted.

You have got to get things out of the boxes,

have a good feel of them, make sure all the parts work,

fiddle about with it.

After exhausting his local auctions,

Steve's now planning a trip to a much larger sale.

Reading what's on here and actually seeing the item is totally different.

The samurai sword could be worth a look.

Says early samurai sword but there's ways of telling.

But until you get there you're not going to know

until you start handling it and looking at it.

German M42 helmet.

It sounds funny, but I do like the look of that German war helmet.

I did see a thing about it and they're quiet collectible...

at the right price.

A little bit nervous but excited at the same time.

This is totally different to the one I've been to before.

Here we go.

Southgate Auction in North London sells goods

from house clearances and private vendors.

Lovely. Cheers, darling.

Just finding that little bit of treasure that's hidden, you never know.

But that's the thing, antiques aren't my thing.

A bit of Five Star!

You've got some sort of collectible cars here.

There's always people are after them.

Excuse me, sir. The samurai sword.

-The samurai sword?

-Yeah.

-It's sort of disappeared.

-Oh. That's interesting. OK.

I can't actually tell you why, but it's been withdrawn for the moment.

This is totally different to what I thought.

There's so many people. Everyone's sniffing out for that bargain.

But that's what it's all about.

Can I have a look at number 27, mate?

-You going to wear it?

-HE CHUCKLES

Wear it inside.

Nothing like a bit of war memorabilia, eh?

Yeah, we'll see. We'll see.

..Is a German helmet.

World War II.

50 over there. 55.

55, sir.

60. Five. 70. Five.

80. Five.

90.

85 bid. 90 anywhere?

After tax and commission, Steve's won the helmet for £100.

Beautiful.

To be honest, I like anything to do with war.

I'm excited to have that.

I just need to sell it now. I don't want to keep it for myself.

I'd like to think I'll double me money,

but I just have to look into it. I have to look into it.

There should be some profit in there.

To find out more about his chess set,

Ernest's paying a visit to a leading bronze foundry.

Finding out who cast these pieces, you're halfway there because if they

cast it then they will know who commissioned it for it to be made.

They will know whether it's real or not.

The workshop is one of London's oldest and renowned sculptors,

including Henry Moore, cast pieces here.

Wow. Oh!

What's happening here? Wow.

-Nice to meet you.

-Yeah. A nice old shed you've got here.

It's lovely, isn't it?

You wouldn't think some of those incredible pieces

get made in places like this.

It looks like something you see in the ET movies, you know,

the aliens coming out of their eggs.

It's amazing. Wow.

The business has been in the family of managing director

Philip Freiensener for three generations.

They're lovely castings. They're beautiful.

Beautiful little things.

What I feel it is, I feel it's all from that period.

That's one thing I'd be certain of is by saying that it shows...

-So what's that, 1950s...?

-1950s, 1960s.

Probably mid-'50s, something like that.

There's nothing on here that looks like they were done last week.

I would say looking at the feel, colour and putty,

they're all from that period.

Little bit sort of Henry Moore, Lynn Chadwick

but I would suggest that they were all...

-..Armitage.

-I'll show you some pictures here.

-Lots of research.

-Yeah.

That's him there. That's Lynn Chadwick, that one.

No, sorry. Now I see this, it does look very similar.

Yeah, because I've seen many versions of this

when I was looking at a reference book.

It does look like a bit of a collaboration.

But the chances of someone fraudulently copying

all their styles so well, it would be impossible to believe almost.

Because they're done so well

that you feel that it's got to have the touch of each artist.

It's great that you're saying what I'm feeling.

The next thing is how would I get to authenticate it?

I do have a contact who's a dealer. Who actually...

deals with all the artists from this particular period.

He would be a very good source to speak to.

-Thank you very much.

-That's fine.

-Thanks for bringing it in.

-Yeah, nice to meet you too.

I've literally told all the brothers and sisters,

the ones who know me, I've told them all, I've said,

"Look, I finally got something back from the white man."

Yous have been going to Africa taking diamonds and gold,

so now I've got this art work.

It's very interesting, actually, I like that.

What reaction do you get when you say that?

They're like, "Yeah! Make sure he doesn't steal it off you."

Today we're hoping to get quite a lot of money for the wheel in particular.

I think that's a good earner.

I actually would like over £40 for it.

Safely back in Essex, Sharon and Al have put the wagon wheel

which they bought for about £5 into auction.

There's the wheel.

I think it should have been turned around the other way, it looks better the other way.

The couple have also entered some of their other stock into the sale.

That's me flashing bunny ears.

They're Marble Blasters, little toys. I've got about 290 of those.

I thought I'd throw a few in.

It's the wheel, on which Sharon's placed a £40 reserve,

which is attracting attention.

Someone's looking at it.

-Did he make a note of it at all?

-I don't know. But he was interested.

Well, we live in a 13th century property

that used to be owned by Henry Ford.

We've got a big baronial lounge and it would look quite nice in there.

And that's if it's at the right price.

So, lot 123, which is the French wagon wheel ceiling light.

Starting at £20 for this lot.

£20 I've got here. 22.

25. 25. 28. 30. And two.

-It's going quite well.

-Very high.

32. 34. 36.

38. £36 here. 38 I'll take.

38. 40 I'm looking for. £38 only then.

40 I'm looking for.

£38 on my right-hand side. At 38 then.

Bidding on the wheel falls £2 short of the reserve price.

People just don't know a bloody bargain when they see one.

-What's the matter with them?

-Just don't know.

308 is a large quantity of children's new wrapped

Marble Blaster toys.

£5 here. Six I'm looking for. Six anywhere?

Despite the setback, Sharon and Al fare better on their other items.

The Marble Blasters, I mean, there's only 22 in there.

They sell for nine quid.

Really struggled to sell them, so I'm glad they're gone.

They sell bang on reserve.

They manage to sell four lots making £31 profit.

And as the auction moves outside, they decide to reinvest.

That pump there, two bid. Five. Eight. £8 a bid. A tenner. Ten bid.

12. 12 bid. For 15 a bid. 15 the pump. 15. Sold at 15.

Yeah, we got our pump.

Three quid more than I thought.

I thought it went up to 12, suddenly it went to 15.

As well as the water pump,

the couple snap up an antique knife sharpener,

a steel man hole cover and yet another scythe.

What money we did make, we've already reinvested.

We've ended up with a nice lot of stuff

that's going to make us even more money.

All auctions are swings and roundabouts.

Buying and selling's all swings and roundabouts.

It's always a gamble.

It really is always a gamble. But then, I'm always optimistic.

There is a huge possibility like when our working season is over,

the close season of boot sales to then make more trips up to

France and clean up, really.

I have bought a CD so I can actually hear it this time.

There is always money in muck.

You don't have to keep horses to get it.

Sold. Sold. Sold. Sold.

That's 9,500, that's an M35.

That's like 12,500.

Hoping to get a good return on his German war helmet,

Steve's researching prices online.

I'd love to get involved in all the war memorabilia, definitely.

Be honest, my grandad was in the war.

But I do know he was a prisoner of war with the Japs for four years.

The only I did ever ask him, I asked him, "How did you get caught?"

And all he said was he didn't run fast enough.

Make some use out of it.

The more I get for it, the more I can put into the next buy.

Just get me helmet checked out.

That didn't sound right, did it?

Encouraged by his research, Steve's considering putting

the helmet into a specialist military auction in nearby Rayleigh.

Hello. All right there? Good morning. Nice to meet you.

-And you.

-Right. Here we go.

M42 as I'm led to believe.

-Indeed it is. How did you come buy it?

-I got it at auction.

-OK.

I had a little look around, I did find some numbers on it.

-Generally there is.

-Q66.

-Right, OK.

It's a shame you haven't got the leather insert.

-I know.

-That's a shame.

Just for your guidance, we've got a very good military sale.

We've got about 400 lots of militaria and memorabilia.

So I think it would do reasonably well it if was to go into sale.

That's brilliant news. Great stuff.

The sale offers militaria from around the world,

attracting specialist dealers

and Steve decides it's the best place to try and sell his helmet.

180 is bid. 180. 190.

As the auction gets under way, the room is full of potential buyers.

Are we all done?

Fingers crossed I might get more than I was expecting. Who knows?

Lot 1865.

Black German military helmet. straight in at £80.

85 anywhere? Are we all done at £80?

And five. 90. Five. £100. At £100 now.

Any advances? Last chance then. I shall sell at 10... 110, new bidder.

Going on again, 120.

At £120.

Last chance. are you all done? At 120.

Sell at 120. Thank you.

It might not be a big payday,

but the helmet is the first lot Steve's ever sold.

Bought it for 85, with the commission and everything, it was 105.

So I've made £15.

I'm not going to retire on that, but again, it's all about learning.

Convinced his future lies in trading,

Steve's even converted his shed into a lock up.

Want it to be full of stuff.

I don't even want to be able to open the door.

I want to squeeze in, fight my way through.

Keep it all out of the Mrs' way.

Yeah, I think it will be a nice little area.

I'm not too fussed what it is as long as it's going to make me money.

As long as there's a profit in it, that's what it's all about. Profit.

Making money. So, yeah, it's good.

In West London, Ernest has an appointment with

a top 20th century art dealer to value his chess set.

I already feel and understand the outcome.

Therefore there's no space to be really,

really excited because it's already expected something like that.

Maybe when the money's there and looking where to spend it,

I might get excited now and then, but I'm not going to be jumping

and cuddling anyone because the man's told me it's worth five million.

-Ah, good afternoon. Ernest.

-Keith Champman.

Nice to meet you. How are you?

Keith Chapman is an expert on the three artists Ernest believes

made his chess set.

-Did you find any markings on anything?

-No, I've been looking.

Sometimes the markings are tiny.

I've looked so much that I thought I saw some marks,

but maybe it's just my mind.

I've never seen anything like these.

That's very Henry Moore.

That's very, very Henry Moore.

That's very Kenneth Armitage.

It's sort of...

-It's a bit stiff.

-Stiff?

Well.

Yeah, it is stiff, it's bronze.

To me they don't look as though they were cast in the 1950s.

When do they look like they're casted?

To me they don't look desperately old.

They maybe 20 years old.

-30 years old, something like that.

-OK.

From what I can see, they're just copies of...

Miniature copies of these artists' work.

Somebody has come along, makes a chess set using those three artists.

-This is what... OK, that is what you feel is happening here?

-Yeah.

-It's definitely not that artist?

-No.

-OK.

These are all patented green.

Armitage at that sort of time he would rarely use that green.

-It would be brown.

-There's always something unknown...

-Well, there is.

-..about artists or whatever.

For instance, the fine works that were unknown,

-whether it's The Beatles or Bob Marley, whoever.

-Yeah.

Henry Moore's work was tremendously well documented, but there is

always the slight chance that something might be missed.

-Thanks very much.

-Sorry my news wasn't quite what you wanted it.

-No need to be sorry. Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

I know he's wrong. And these experts do sometimes make mistakes.

I'm going to continue the research and I'm going to find that

information that proves that it's real.

-So you're not giving up?

-How can you give up?

If you've got something like this, how can you give up?

Every time you look at it you know it's something incredible.

I'm going to prove him wrong. This chess set is history making.

It's Kate Moss! Hello, madam.

Now that I've got your attention, can I interest you in some earmuffs?

£3 a pair. Keep yourself lovely and warm when you're watching the rugby.

One day I will buy something and I will make a bloody fortune.

This is Willie Morgan.

-How much have you paid for it?

-A tenner.

You've done very well.

I can feel some money on the end of this.

A top end buyer, at £3,000 I would thought.

HE CHUCKLES