The teams soon realised that the chances of making a profit are relatively small. After all, shops and stalls charge retail prices, not auction prices which can be much less. So, the winning team may still lose money. As a tactic to win, teams bought cheap items. After all, if you buy a toy car for £5 the most you can lose is £5. This made the whole show pretty boring, actually, and the producers have recently said there has to be an item £75 or above. This is a good move.
The same types of items crop up agin and again. Vestas, perfume bottles etc.There have been tales that the programme is a fake anyway, that items and prices are agreed with sellers in advance, that teams are told what to buy. I have no idea if it is true. Seems unnecessary, but totally believable.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/bbc-faked-bargain-hunt-too-claim-contestants-6604014.html
I don’t understand why they buy items that are broken or have bits missing. “Oh look, here’s a garden fork without the prongs and the handle”. The team try to negotiate the price down because it is damaged. But, as the presenters often say, quality sells. Antiques shops used to be called “junk shops” for a reason.
Some of the sale rooms seem pretty deserted, with maybe two or three people present. The bidding is often not convincing, and the existence of on-line bids makes it even more suspicious.
My biggest bug is with the pricing and negotiation. You find an item for £250, the seller goes down to £150 (and still makes a profit), you think that’s a good reduction, but it still doesn’t make it worth buying. All it shows is the original price was way too high. I understand it from a psychological point of view, and I suppose it makes good tv.
I know about cameras. I know old Russian cameras like Zenith that are basically worth nothing. Seeing one priced at £50 reduced to £30 and getting £5 in the sale shows how stupid people can be.