The first episode reveals the truth about a bizarre beauty technique, how shops use smelly trickery that literally gets up your nose, and the dangerous trade in counterfeit hair straighteners.
To discover just how effective price slashes are, the show takes over an independent supermarket and imitates the methods of the big supermarkets, following research done by Loughborough University. In a Liverpool clothes store, super seller Jimmy starts a pop-up vintage stall. But the 'vintage' fashions are actually cheap, modern cast-offs. Will the shoppers fall for his sales patter? And the show reveals how some retailers could be tricking people into buying £50 HDMI cables, when in reality they could be buying one that's just as good for a tenner.
The show tries out a beauty salon switch, swapping a super pricey cream for an economy product. Will customers spot the difference? A common trick of the restaurant trade is revealed. It's the 'we've only got one left' trick, where customers are encouraged to order the most expensive dish on the menu by convincing them there's only one left. And in the test supermarket, a shopper is equipped with a high-tech tracking device to reveal how shoppers are drawn to products on the shelves, and why.
This episode exposes the truth about some of the dubious selling techniques of many high street fashion stores. Super sellers James and Megan take over a Liverpool fashion outlet to give a master class in the upsell. Restaurant manager Neil Gill shows how a £2.50 chicken kebab can be sold on successfully for £10.50, using what consumer pyschologists call 'the crowd principle'. Harry then puts this to the test at a local car sale. And super seller Lauren shows how easy it is to sell off counterfeit iPhones and chargers from a market stall.
Superseller Jazzy Jim takes a pitch on London's Portobello Market to show how easy it is to pass off economy vegetables as 100% organic. Last year £1.5 billion was spent on organic food in the UK. But with food fraud on the rise, are people actually buying the real thing? Also, Mel and Sammy try flogging a bogus boob cream that claims to increase the bust by up to two cup sizes. And in a high street electrical store in Hammersmith, London, salesman James entices customers with a deal for a plasma TV priced at just £295. But the offer doesn't actually exist and once customers are through the door, James tries to sell them a smaller TV for £50 more.
This episode reveals the murky history of the Buy One, Get One Free deal that's been a favourite of the supermarkets for years. The sales team in the rigged fashion boutique flog jumpers with a small percentage of cashmere as the 100% real deal. And Jazzy Jim takes over a stall at London's famous Portobello Road market and tries to pass off economy jam and marmalade as gourmet products.
Supersellers Melissa and Sammy take over a Chelmsford beauty salon and try to persuade clients to let them administer Botox, even though they don't have the relevant training or qualifications. And in Liverpool, the rigged fashion boutique stages one of the oldest, but most effective, tricks going, with a 'last chance to buy' rail. But is this really a final opportunity to buy sought after items or a last bid to shift the clothes that no one else wants?
