Bargain Hunt fans call for antiques expert to be fired after item mispriced

Bargain Hunt antiques expert Rajkumar ‘Raj’ Bisram has been branded a ‘liability’ by his fans after a blunder. The 68-year-old faced criticism when he persuaded two BBC contestants to fork out £90 for what they believed to be an authentic Mouseman chopping board earlier this year.

At the time of purchase, Raj speculated that the wooden object could “achieve £50-£70” at auction, admitting his fondness for breadboards. However, when the seller offered a “special price” of £130, the expert retorted: “There would be no profit on that. It’s a beautiful thing, but I’d go up to £100, but I can’t go any lower than that, so we’ll come back to that.”

Eventually, the couple returned to purchase what they thought was a cutting board with the image of Mouseman. Later in the episode, Christina Trevanion asked an auctioneer for advice about the item. The 42-year-old called the situation “controversial.”

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In response, the expert admitted that the mouse had been glued, according to the Express. He further clarified that if the mouse had been “sculpted,” there would have been no doubt about its authenticity as a Mouseman piece, OK! reports. “But if you look at it, you can see that it doesn’t have the quality,” he stressed.

In the auction room, the participants were initially delighted to have made a £10 profit on a wooden spoon. However, their happiness was short-lived when they discovered that they had brought a fake Robert Thompson item into the room.

Christina broke the news to the red team: “Now, your little cutting board, the auctioneers have catalogued it as Mouseman style.” She continued, revealing the situation further: “They have, unfortunately, seen other examples that were simply glued on, so probably not by Mouseman himself.”