“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” or so the saying goes. More often than not, the only difference is a gap in information. After all, thatrandom paintingadorning your wall could be a lot more valuable than you think.Someone asked“What is the best “treasure” you’ve ever found at a thrift store, garage sale, flea market, etc?” and people detailed their lucky finds. From acts of kindness to folks getting rid of incredibly rare and valuable items, get comfortable and prepare for some FOMO as you scroll through. Upvote your favorites and comment your thoughts below.This post may includeaffiliate links.
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” or so the saying goes. More often than not, the only difference is a gap in information. After all, thatrandom paintingadorning your wall could be a lot more valuable than you think.
Someone asked“What is the best “treasure” you’ve ever found at a thrift store, garage sale, flea market, etc?” and people detailed their lucky finds. From acts of kindness to folks getting rid of incredibly rare and valuable items, get comfortable and prepare for some FOMO as you scroll through. Upvote your favorites and comment your thoughts below.
This post may includeaffiliate links.
I was a broke single mom trying to furnish my first apartment. I went to a garage sale and saw an almost brand new recliner. I was admiring it knowing I couldn’t afford it, just doing a little daydreaming. The woman holding the sale came over and asked if I liked it. I told her of course I loved it, but as I was a broke single mom, that wasn’t happening. I thanked her for the daydream and turned to go. She asked me to wait and went inside to get her adult son. She told me that she would sell it to me for $1. I knew she could make some money so I declined, as I knew that wasn’t fair to her. She then told me that she was in the middle of a divorce and he got half of everything she made at the sale. I left there with a recliner, a kitchen table, and a bookshelf, and I spent $3. Was the divorce story true? Or was she just helping me out? Don’t know, but I’ve made sure to always help others once I was in a better spot.
My family went to the county fair , and my youngest son took along his favorite little toy… a stuffed duck with “feet” where he put his fingers and “walked along” on things, making happy quacking noises.As is tradition, toys brought on outings get lost. He was sad, but at least it wasn’t his favorite lovey (a stuffed sea otter).A YEAR later we stopped at a thrift store to look for school clothes. And he found the same toy hanging up. So of course it came home with us. Open opening the baggie he found his initials on the tag on the toy. Where I had put them a couple of years ago:It was the same toy.
At a small thrift store, I found A floor-length, black velvet - real velvet, not velveteen - vintage Oscar de la Renta gown in perfect condition and miraculously in my size for $10. And as if that wasn’t enough, a few minutes later found a brand-new pair of Yves Saint Laurent black satin pumps with original tags ($400) for a measly $2! I wasn’t a designer glam gal and had no reason to own these as I had no need for them. I socialized in a much lower tax bracket. Two weeks later I was hired at a job that required me to host a celebrity packed fundraising gala where these thrift store finds served me very well.
While it seems like a cliche right out of a soap opera, the idea that someone might stumble upon long-lostarthas some basis in reality. A classic example of this was when N.C. Wyeth’s Ramona, purchased for a staggering $4 at a thrift store, ended up selling for$191,000. So next time you are poking around and see something that looks better than its price tag would suggest, perhaps do a little research.Obviously, most stories like this don’t feature people making six figures for buying something that costs as much as a cheeseburger. That being said, valuable,vintage, and one-of-one items end up sold all the time.
While it seems like a cliche right out of a soap opera, the idea that someone might stumble upon long-lostarthas some basis in reality. A classic example of this was when N.C. Wyeth’s Ramona, purchased for a staggering $4 at a thrift store, ended up selling for$191,000. So next time you are poking around and see something that looks better than its price tag would suggest, perhaps do a little research.
Obviously, most stories like this don’t feature people making six figures for buying something that costs as much as a cheeseburger. That being said, valuable,vintage, and one-of-one items end up sold all the time.
I bought an unused 6 quart KitchenAid mixer with all the attachments at a garage sale for $20 (retails for $400). I then gave it to my sister as an early birthday present. She bakes cakes and cookies for parties has a side-gig and was hand mixing everything beforehand. She was ecstatic!
I used to work at a goodwill donation center and someone donated a live hand grenade and that was kind of cool beacuse not only did the entire shopping center had to evacuate and I got to see one of these bomb robots but I got to go home early and still got a full day’s pay
Artis probably the most common “culprit,” because, often enough, the real value comes less from a person’s aesthetic considerations, but the pedigree of the painter. To compound the issue, a well-known painter’s most famous works are almost never “lost,” so the ones sitting around in a garage sale or thrift store would already be more obscure.
A brand new, high quality suede coat for twenty bucks.What made it a real treasure is that it’s somehow my dream jacket, the one I’ve designed a hundred times in my head and thought I’d never have because leather goods are so expensive. It’s the exact shade, weight, and shape that I pictured a thousand times, but it’s also a design that isn’t common for leather jackets. I always figured to get one cut like that, that fit me so well, I’d probably have to order it custom. I’d dreamed of that jacket long enough that I even knew it would cost me about $600 to have one made.But then one day I was picking up some work pants at the thrift store and it was right there. I wasn’t even looking at the coats, but someone had pulled it out and draped it over the rack. Not two months prior my car had been stolen with both my jackets inside so I didn’t have a coat at all and wasn’t sure how I’d be able to afford to buy one when it got cold again.I have worn that coat every day, from September to May, ever since. It’s one of my most prized possessions.
20 years ago, a yuppie couple bought a house in my neighborhood with everything in it after the elderly owner died. They had an estate sale to clear it out.The elderly owner was one of the most important importers from China post WW2.They sold everything for fractions of a penny of what they were worth.I bought a large rosewood budded, a large porcelain Foo dog. 2 rosewood planet stands and a 4 panel screen with golden lacquer on one side and a beautiful and detailed mother of pearl 3D scene on the other for $600.The screen alone is now worth 35K.
This is just part of the appeal of thrifting, besides the often excellent deals one can score. Unlike a supermarket, where you always have a decent idea of what you might find, thrift stores might stock the most unhinged,creepy, and weird items. They also tend to sell things you simply will not find in other stores because, to put it frankly, no one wants them.
I paid $1 for a necklace at a sidewalk sale on my way to work. I thought it was an amazing steal as it looked like cherry amber Bakelite. Then I got to work (vintage store) and the picker who sold us things said, “nice necklace, I’ll give you three for it” which I thought meant three dollars, then he said, “OK $350” and I was of course surprised! Turns out it is actual cherry amber, not Bakelite, and worth more like $600.
a 110 year old copy of Little Women for $4.00.
I remember not wanting to go to a church flea market when I was like five. Came back with a massive Star Wars haul. Dozens of return of the jedi figures. The brown hover car from new hope. Icing on the cake was a broken millennium falcon that I played with daily. Six year old me was super happy.
This is going to seem silly but, I still love it.So, my mom and I had been at the mall and I found this gorgeous rainbow scarf at The Gap. However, it was $50 and I wasn’t willing to spend that so, I didn’t buy it.Cue about 2 months later and my mom and i were at the Goodwill. Lo and behold there is the scarf! It’s in PERFECT condition and was only $15.99. I, of course bought it.I’ve had it 8 years now and it’s still in perfect condition and I wear it every time it’s cold. Granted, where I live that means about 3 months a year so, maybe that’s why it’s still in perfect condition.Still my favorite find.
$1000 cheetah print long winter coat a lady was going to donate as I was donating. It was my birthday, and she was so happy that it was going to me and that her mom, the original owner who just died would love to see it repurposed for a man !!! It’s my celebration pimp coat now.And then a old school green Stanley thermos
How bout the one that got away? Several years go, apparently 2012, I saw an odd painting of an owl like creature. I looked at it for a moment, considered it, then walked on. A few weeks later it was on the news … It was a Picasso. It eventually sold for $7k.
I found a painting at a garage sale I thought was beautiful but no idea of what it was but it just struck me. Paid $15 and it came in a gorgeous frame. Got it home and did some research through art people in our area. Found out it’s worth almost $4K. Great score.
None of these are really valuable things but they’re all things I truly cherish nonetheless:* a bowling ball for $5. I used to be on the bowling team but couldn’t afford my own ball so always had to use the house balls which suck. This ball is hot pink, came with the name “Ruth” but the weight and finger hole sizes are a perfect fit! I’ve bowled all my best games with Ruth.* An immersion blender for $1. It has provided many years of delicious soups.* A J Crew down jacket for $3. Fits perfectly, looks nice, super warm. I have worn it through like 8 or 9 cold Boston winters now.
Years ago, a woman posted a telescope ad on a bulletin board. Her dad was a snowbird and one year just called her up and said, “I’m not coming back this year, sell my house and everything in it.” I went to check out the telescope during her garage sale, and she said she had researched everything about it, talked to him about it, and she wanted $300 for it. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I remember saying something that indicated I would go a little higher, but she said no, she would be happy with $300. It’s an older model, but the telescope new would be about $2500, and it had a $700 eyepiece in the box.
I got a brand new London Fog coat for $12 at Salvation Army. It’s the lightest, warmest coat I’ve ever worn.
There’s a thrift store near me that doesn’t know what it has. They will sell you Armani, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors for $4.99. It’s all authentic. It’s located in a very wealthy neighborhood and people donate crazy expensive clothes after just wearing it once. It’s crazy. My closet is jam packed with designer clothes from there. And shoes!
I was just looking at it and thinking about it last night.A globe of the moon that we got in the early 80s in a Cincinnati flea market. It’s metal, dented here and there, but I’ve always cherished it. I think I lost the accompanying booklet that had information about the missions and landings, but the moon still sits on my bookshelf, high up where nothing can get to it.
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My greatest regret in life is not buying the taxidermy frogs playing basket ball with one doing a slam dunk. I regret not buying it nearly every time I go to the thrift shop hoping I’ll see it again. Truly heartbreaking.
1950s French motorcycle police full length leather coat in fantastic shape 25 EUR.
- Dorothy Thorpe lucite pretzel lamp at a Goodwill for $12.99, worth about $1,200.002. Pierre Cardin brass swoosh table lamp at another goodwill for $14.99, worth about $1,400.003. Nils Landberg for Orrefors tulip vase at yet another Goodwill for $5.99. Sold for $800.4. Murano glass white swirl mushroom lamp for $16.95, also worth about $1,200.00.5. John Lewis art Glass two moon vase for $7.95, worth about $400.00.Tons of signed art Glass from Orrefors, Murano, and numerous other glass artists.
A complete set of Advanced Dungeon and Dragons 1E rule books for $20.
A 1930s archtop acoustic guitar that sounds like the devil. For 85 dollars.
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A thick, heavy leather Burberry hunting jacket. The body is brown and the collar is black. I paid 40 for it. It’s worth about 4000. Pretty sure someone’s Grandpa died in it.
$2 Wustof chef’s knife in a pile of random cutlery and flatware. Crazy find!
A Corningware pan for $3 in the same pattern my mom had when I was a kid.
Found an original oil painting in a big pile of “junk” that was destined for the thrift store. Homeowner told me to take a look and grab anything I wanted. I later looked up the painting online and discovered it sold at a NYC art gallery for $5000 😎
Bought an old Olympus film camera for about $10. The camera was worth about $30, but the lens on it was a Zuiko 50 mm f1.2. There is one for sale online on a popular photography site for $700.I still have both.
Waiting for my wife while she spent her usual hour in a Value Village. Looked up at a top shelf and there were several knife blocks with the usual well abused cheap knives, but one had two stainless handles sticking up that I recognized. Paid $7.99 CAD for the whole shebang. Grabbed the Global GS Nakiri and GS Santoku out of the pack and dropped the rest in a donation bin on the way out to the car. Combined total of about $220 CAD in value.
Not me, but my SIL shops at thrift stores for a living. The 2 picks that blow my mind the most was the original Barbie doll from the ‘40’s or ‘50’s with a bunch of original accessories and outfits all in a carrying case for I believe $.79 and sold for 5k. And more recently 2 100+ troy ounce bars of 99.999% silver for $20 each. I’m not sure how much those sold for but I imagine a damn decent amount.
Not me but my sister cleans a thrift store and found an 18k gold rope chain about 30cm long. Approximate value $3,000
A vintage Edward Gorey collectible bat plush while looking for Halloween decor at a thrift shop. Bought for a dollar, resold for almost $100
I found a complete vintage doctor pez dispenser for 25 cents. Sells at auction sometimes for 200$.
My dad runs a flea market stall and also manages the grounds, he finds all kinds of treasures in sheds where people don’t pay their rent and get locked out. I got two Coach bags still in their own bags last year and he found a 1920s Victrola a few years ago. He also made bank selling a bunch of industrial sized versions of that machine that uses electricity to vibrate things clean, can’t remember what they’re called
A pair of Manolo Blahnik pumps I resold for 20x what I paid for them.
One of my coolest finds is an uncut sheet of cards from The Mask cartoon based on the Jim Carey movie. Funny part about that one is that they were cards from a european snack that were included as a prize with the snack. I found them in the Midwest of the USA.I also have one of three left known to exist of the 1978 Pepsi Challenge slot car sets they used for the contest.
Like 5000+ bucks of barely used 2 season old ski equipment being sold for under 100.I got 800 at the ski exchange plus skis for me and my wife. We never actually went but that’s another story (we were XC people)Later I sold all that was left for 200.
My couch. I bought it from a furniture thrift store in my town. It’s red, pink and gold satin striped that reminds me of the old school ribbon hard candy. It’s the old Chippendale shape. It’s subjectively ugly but I love it. Almost perfect condition. This exact type of couch retails online for almost $3,000 and I paid $120.
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