bobfog said:
In real life, without the backing of a TV show, I don't think such a piece of furniture would regularly sell for anywhere near as much as £500.
I beg to differ ..
Pick your local Ebay and look as some of the furniture items ... in Oz "workbench" is a classic thing you'll find stupidly priced. I tripped over this when thinking it'd be cool to pick up an old woodworking bench and refurbish it ... I found several and watched them go for crazy prices relative to what they were realistically worth as work benches.
Now maybe the general business prices aren't as inflated as TV show amplified prices, but they're still stupid prices (and "auction frenzy" doesn't help either).