Flog It

I’ve been watching daytime television again. It seems to be a small habit I’ve slipped into while in lockdown.

What’s It Worth?

I’m sure anyone from the U.K. will have seen the program, ‘Flog It’ which is usually screened around 5:00 pm. For anyone who doesn’t know the show, the public is asked to bring an interesting item from home to be valued and sold at auction at a later date. It’s usually set in a country house, castle or sometimes a museum somewhere in the home nations. Sounds a good idea and usually, the items brought and auctioned off tell an interesting story and go on to make money for the owners. Not everything sells, so the few that it happens to have to take their goods home with them.

Pile Of Heavy Tat

There’s one main presenter with about three valuers who will estimate what approximate value an item should have. Now, at the very start of the show, the camera pans the audience who are queuing outside and there must be close to 300 or maybe 400 people. All of them with bags, boxes and parcels, some of which, look really heavy. You know, some of these poor souls have dragged half a sideboard around all morning thinking they have something worth a million dollars, only to be told, in a polite way of course, that they have a worthless haul of tat.

The Lucky Three

The three lucky members of the audience who are chosen have to go in front of the camera while an expert appraises their items and puts a value on them for auction. Of course, a reserve is added to protect the value and they move off to an auction which is usually filmed sometime later but included in the same program. I love it when the expert is looking at the item and says, “I think the watch is worth £40 to £50 with a reserve of £30, what do you think of that then.” You can see by the owners face, the scrunched up eyes and the sudden lack of breathing that they thought the watch was going to be worth hundreds if not thousands of pounds. The usual reply is, “Oh, yes, yes, that sounds good to me.” I bet off camera there’s some muttering going on.

Betty’s Watch

So, Betty’s watch goes to auction together with Betty, the presenter and the valuer. Poor old Betty has had to fork out £30 to get there and then she finds out that whatever the watch sells for there will be a 19% cut for the auctioneer plus 17% tax! “Here it comes,” says the presenter, “your watch is up for auction next, Betty, are you excited?” To which, Betty looks at him and grimaces but tries to make it look a convincing smile.

All Done!

At the end of the day, Betty goes home, the watch sold for 45 quid, the presenters pat themselves on the back for being accurate with their valuations, someone’s happy because they got the watch they wanted and Betty had a day out with her daughter. At least she didn’t have to lug the family sideboard around all day finding out it was worthless and then take it home again. Occasionally, an item comes up and is valued at £50, but sells for £500. It’s not often, but it does happen. I suppose if the show visits somewhere local to you, don’t try and drag the Grandfather clock you inherited from Aunt Sissy. Take something small that you can put in your pocket. Trust me, at least you’ll come home without a backache.

It’s not all tat though. Here’s an example:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekE1M_TYCAE[/embedyt]

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40 Comments
  • angloswiss
    November 13, 2020

    Thanks for that explanation. I have been watching the programme for a few months all over the British Isles . It is on the tele an hour later here, due to time difference, so we watch it just before the evening meal. As I live in Switzerland, I am not tempted to drag my furniture across the channel to have it valued. I see queues of people lining up with their furniture and other strange objects, but you really do only see the chosen few on the programme. I will continue watching, but now with other eyes.

    • Trev
      November 13, 2020

      Lol, thank you ????

  • Jay
    November 13, 2020

    I’m not a lugger. I would have left mine at the end of the driveway and said good riddance.

    • Trev
      November 13, 2020

      Me to, or I would have set fire to it. Thank you, Jay. ????

  • KINDNESS WISDOM
    November 13, 2020

    Without a backache wow, great advice Sir ???????????? you are so clever and funny ???? that made my day ????. When that show comes to Australia I have plenty of wristwatches and I will take your advice thank you Done it again. Wonderful reading Sir ????????????????????

    • Trev
      November 13, 2020

      Thank you, Kindness. ????

  • jenanita01
    November 13, 2020

    I always feel so sorry for all those people who never get chosen…

    • azurea20
      November 13, 2020

      Muy bueno. Un saludo

      • Trev
        November 13, 2020

        Thank you, Azurea. ????

    • Trev
      November 13, 2020

      Thank you, yes, it must seem a wasted journey, but hopefully they still enjoy the day. ????

  • Darling Doormat
    November 13, 2020

    Hi Trev, we’re watching this program on Crete, Greece. Good fun sometimes, especially the “surprises” ????

    • Trev
      November 13, 2020

      Thank you, Darling Doormat, it can be a lot of fun. I love your name by the way. ????

  • Yetismith
    November 13, 2020

    It’s a version of the Antiques Road Show that I used to enjoy, but in a smaller was. In my fund-raising days I used to run “Bring and Buy” sales which were a lot of fun and people got to exchange all sorts of stuff while raising money for a good cause. It was a lot of work, though, and I used to get annoyed that people wanted to bargain with me when I set prices deliberately low. “It’s a fund-raiser, don’t you know!” The human species is hopeless!

    • Trev
      November 13, 2020

      Thank you, Yeti. There’s always those that want to barter ????

  • Peter's pondering
    November 13, 2020

    May be a good idea to auction off the TV?

    • Trev
      November 13, 2020

      That is a good idea. So like big as I can get my Strictly Dancing fix. Thank you, Peter ????

  • SueW
    November 13, 2020

    My daytime TV starts with the lunchtime news followed by a half hour of ‘Doctors’ or whatever else replaced it during No filming in COVID lockdown, viewing time takes One hour and fifteen minutes over lunchtime, though I often cook and listen to the lunchtime news instead of watching it. Then I switch off the TV until the six o’clock news. I’ve even been known to watch the ten o’clock news too!

    I used to record Escape to the Country, for when there was nothing interesting to watch. Now I just record the Sunday one.

    BBC really does do antique overkill, so I don’t watch any of them any more. It was interesting until they started showing three or four versions per day.

    • Trev
      November 13, 2020

      Thank you, Sue. It does seem there are a lot of repeats showing because of Covid. As for the news, I try to stick with the 10:00 o’clock news. ????

  • luisa zambrotta
    November 13, 2020

    I have a lot of old things that I would like to sell. They are in the attic. but I really don’t think I could put them in my pocket

    • Trev
      November 13, 2020

      Perhaps you can get a valuer to visit and price everything up? Thank you, Luisa. ????

  • Rosaliene Bacchus
    November 13, 2020

    They’ve got to have winners if people are to continue participating in the show. I’m not a fan of auction shows, but I have a sister who invests in collectible items with the hope of one day striking it rich.

    • Trev
      November 13, 2020

      Thank you, Rosaliene. I feel sorry for the people who think they have a fortune in items, but it seems they haven’t ????

  • Herb
    November 13, 2020

    That was a really neat clip. He was a bit emotional, I think, which was cool, too.

    • Trev
      November 13, 2020

      Thank you, Herb ????

  • iammrsshecky
    November 14, 2020

    I haven’t seen it yet. I have Brit Box so maybe I can get a shot of it there. I love your explanation of tat. Had a good laugh.

    • Trev
      November 14, 2020

      Thank you, Mrs Shecky. ????

  • Cheryl, Gulf Coast Poet
    November 14, 2020

    Trev, i haven’t been to an auction in a while. It doesn’t seem anyone is likely to get much for their used items. but I guess it could be fun to attend. 🙂

    • Trev
      November 14, 2020

      I think that’s the main reasoning behind the program, to have fun. Thank you, Cheryl ????

  • Invisibly Me
    November 15, 2020

    Poor Betty. It’s classic daytime TV because you never quite know what you’ll get with Flog It, whether you’ll find that hidden gem worth a small fortune even though the majority of the time it’s disappointed folk hoping their tat was worth a fortune. I do feel for those spending money to get there, then taking off the tax & percentage for the auction itself (hadn’t realised that was so high) and leaving with not even enough for some toffees for the way home.

    • Trev
      November 15, 2020

      Thank you, Caz. I suppose it’s all in the daily dose of entertainment. The people taking part seem to always enjoy themselves. Even the ones who go on to the auction and their things do not sell. 🙂

  • Lara/Trace
    November 16, 2020

    I used to watch a British show something like this with my mom, when she was alive. It was fun.

    • Trev
      November 16, 2020

      It is good fun in so many ways. Thank you, Lara. 🙂

  • THE NECROMANCER
    November 17, 2020

    Wow, never knew about this. Thanks for the great work!

    Keep it up!

    • Trev
      November 17, 2020

      Thank you ????

  • Amanda Ricks
    November 20, 2020

    We used to have a show in Canada that sounds identical. I used to get into some of the episodes. It’s kind of exciting when someone unknowingly brings a treasure.

    • Trev
      November 20, 2020

      On the rare occasion when someone does find a treasure, but it is very rare. Thank you, Amanda ????

  • Athira
    November 26, 2020

    Great work…????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

    • Trev
      November 26, 2020

      Thank you, Athira. ????

  • susurrus
    November 26, 2020

    You’ve got the absurdities of this down to a t. My favourite antique programme is the one where two teams buy three things each and end up overjoyed if the winners get £15 profit (turning a blind eye to the fees). I imagine most other nations might expect a little bit more profit in their entertainment.

    • Trev
      November 26, 2020

      Thank you, Susan. I suppose it’s all just for the art of entertainment or something like that. 🙂