BBC Antiques Road Trip stars gobsmacked after household item makes biggest ever profit

Antiques Road Trip stars were left gobsmacked during a memorable moment from an episode in 2021. BBC expert Paul Laidlaw made an extraordinary find that fetched a whopping £20,000 at auction - which is the show's record-breaking highest profit.

Paul stumbled upon the hidden treasure of a camera, priced at a mere £60, in a Margate antique shop filled to the brim with intriguing items. The enthusiastic shop owner described the store's layout, saying: "Three floors, the upstairs is mainly furniture but there's stuff everywhere. And on this floor, there are four rooms through and in the middle, there's a staircase which goes down to a room full of chairs and another room full below!"

Undeterred by the vast array of items, Paul joked, "Don't send the cavalry okay? ". After combing through the shop, he returned with his discovery, ready to haggle over the price of the ancient camera.

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His opening bid was: "In your cabinet over there, optical instrument... £75 on that I bid you £50." The seller stood firm, replying, "Give me £60 and I'll shake your hand but I'm not doing any better than that, I'm afraid," reports the Express.

With a handshake, the deal was sealed. Sensing the potential value of the camera, Paul commented: "I think this is a very early camera. If I'm right, that could be quite exciting. The photographic market is very much in the ascent, it's a hot market, I think that's a good thing."

Upon Paul's arrival at the Bury St Edmonds auction in Suffolk, a rare find immediately caught the attention of Edward Crichton who admitted he'd "never seen one" like it before. Edward remarked: "The sub-miniature camera - I have never seen one, in fact, we have carried out some research and cannot find any other example which has sold at auction, we were very excited to see this and it has certain potential to make a significant profit."

The bidding war kicked off with an impressive £1,000 and rapidly escalated by the thousands, prompting Kate to observe, "They're not messing around," as Edward called out: "£3,000, £4,000."

As Paul observed the change in bidding strategy, he remarked: "He's now taking £1,000 increments," a move Kate found quite unusual, who added: "Which is a very rare thing."

Kate and Edward then highlighted: "It's not a record price, a record price for a general sale is £15,000, for a home and interior sale £16,000. £17,000, £18,000, £19,000. £20,000."

But following intense competition, the gavel finally landed at an astonishing £20,000 with the auctioneer confirming: "At £20,000 online, at £20,000 if we're all done, £20,000."

Elated at the unexpected turn of events, an ecstatic Paul declared: "I'm over the moon. I am genuinely flabbergasted," Edward shared his astonishment at the remarkable figure: "Most items in this sale make between £50 and £500, so £20,000 is staggering, wonderful,".

Kate was "chuffed" for Paul when a private collector in Switzerland purchased the camera for £20,000. This resulted in a whopping profit of £19,940 for Paul, surpassing the previous record set by Anita Manning in 2016 when she sold a Tibetan bronze deity for £3,800, after purchasing it for just £50. All proceeds from the series were donated to Children in Need.