Some Guy Bought A $6 Watch From Goodwill And Then Sold It For $35,000

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I’ve recently gotten really into thrifting and furniture flipping. After having read DIY home blogs and magazines for the past few years, I finally decided a few months back that it was time to take the plunge and attempt to tackle a project of my own. The first thing I ever transformed was a $40 1930s dining room table I purchased from Craigslist. The bones of the table were beautiful, but it was in rough shape. The finish was scratched and covered in watermarks, and the feet had been banged up over the years. But I knew it had potential, and after hours and hours and hours of stripping, sanding, applying wood glue, sanding again, staining, and sealing, I had a beautiful dining room table that puts to shame the Ikea one that everyone else my age currently has.

Since my successful table redo, I’ve become obsessed with Craigslist, estate sales, vintage stores, and, yes, even Goodwill (however foul the odor). And though I’ve definitely found some pretty awesome stuff, I’ve never been quite as lucky as Zach Norris, the guy who found a rare 1959 Jaeger-LeCoultre driving watch for a mere $5.99. The rare watch is one of only 900 made and is worth a whopping $35,000.

Obviously, as Norris stated, the Goodwill employees likely had never heard of the brand (a lot of people haven’t) and simply didn’t know of its value.

Sometimes they just miss it, they don’t know…it’s not a very fancy-looking piece. You have to know what it is.”

After selling the watch for a hefty profit, Norris donated some of the money back to the Goodwill where the story began. He’s also convinced there are many other gems out there just waiting to be found.

You can do it. Research everything. Just take your phone in there and if you see something that looks goofy, you haven’t seen it before, Google it. You never know.”

And there you have it. Finally a decent reason to never put your phone down. Happy thrifting. .

[via KTLA5]

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Catie Warren

Catie struggles with adulthood and has been celebrating her 21st birthday for the past three years. She attended college in the nation’s capital and to this day is angry that Pit Bull lied to her, as you cannot, in fact, party on The White House lawn. Prior to her success with PGP, Catie was most famous for being featured in her hometown newspaper regarding her 5th grade Science Fair Project for which she did not place. In her spare time, she enjoys attributing famous historical quotes to Marilyn Monroe and getting in fights with thirteen year olds on twitter. Email: catie@grandex.co

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