Channel 4 orders trading series

Channel 4 has greenlit a 15-part daytime format in which a returning cast buy items unseen and then try to re-sell them at a profit.  

Produced by Yorkshire Vet indie Daisybeck Studios and Motion Content Group, Bidding Wars is fronted by The One Show presenter Kevin Duala.  

He also doubles as the auctioneer in the initial stage of the format, during which the re-sellers go head-to-head to secure pallets of unidentified items. After securing their goods, they then attempt to turn a profit by selling online via second-hand sites, at car boot sales and via specialist dealers. 

Daisybeck Studios’ Paul Stead and Matt Walton will exec produce with Melanie Darlaston, head of factual UK at Motion Content Group.  

Leeds-based Daisybeck also makes More 4’s Beatrix Potter with Patricia Routledge and Made in Britain, as well as Channel 5 format Springtime on the Farm. 

The series was ordered by Jayne Stanger, commissioning editor, daytime & features. She said the show will be “intriguing and entertaining”. 

Darlaston added: “This format that takes the viewer into a world of poker faces and tactical bidding. Be it tat or treasure, every item needs to be sold and we’ll see how our seasoned professionals use every trick in the re-seller’s book to make a profit.”  

Bidding Wars will TX later this year.