FossickFossick / Field guide / Record finds
The biggest thrift store finds, with real sale prices
Verified big finds: what the finder paid, what it sold for, and what they all had in common.
Every thrifter has heard a story like these. The good news: they are real, and the sale prices are on the record. The honest news: they are rare, which is exactly why they make the paper. Here are the biggest thrift store finds we could verify, what the finder paid, and what the item actually sold for.
The record finds
| The find | Paid | Sold for | Where and when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilt Chamberlain's Lakers warmup jacket | $3.07 | $89,600 | Goodwill bins, Portland. Sotheby's online auction, July 2026 |
| Carlo Scarpa Murano glass vase (1940s) | $3.99 | $107,100 | Goodwill. Sold at auction, date not reported |
| Vince Lombardi's West Point sweater | $0.58 | $43,020 | Goodwill, Asheville, North Carolina. Sold 2014 |
| 1959 Jaeger LeCoultre Deep Sea Alarm watch | $5.99 | $35,000 plus a new watch | Goodwill, Phoenix. Sold to a collector in 2015 |
| 1959 Pyrex Lucky in Love casserole | Thrift donation | Just under $6,000 | Goodwill auction, 2017 |
| 1963 Pyrex Nemacolin Country Club promo dish | Thrift donation | Over $2,200 | Goodwill auction |
What the big finds have in common
- Somebody looked twice. The jacket had "Chamberlain" stitched across the back. The watch had a name on the dial most people would not recognize. The finds went to the person who stopped and checked.
- The item was ordinary looking. A jacket, a vase, a sweater, a casserole dish. Nothing in the pile said "museum piece".
- The value was in a detail. A name, a maker, a pattern, a year. That is the part you can learn, and the part an app can check for you.
- They sold through the right channel. The biggest prices came from specialist auction houses and collectors, not a quick local sale.
Fossick will scan finds like this and show what the same thing recently sold for. Get one email the day it launches.
Get notified at launchThe realistic version
You are not going to find a $90,000 jacket this weekend. What you will find, if you check before you walk past, are the everyday winners: the vintage Pyrex bowl that sells for tens of dollars, the Made in USA Levi's, the boxed retro game. Those are not headlines, but they pay for the gas and then some. Start with our list of thrift store finds that are worth money.
Questions people ask
What is the most valuable thing ever found at a thrift store?
Paintings and fine art top the list. Among household finds, a Carlo Scarpa Murano glass vase bought at Goodwill for $3.99 sold at auction for $107,100, and Wilt Chamberlain's Lakers warmup jacket, bought for $3.07 at the Goodwill bins, sold at Sotheby's for $89,600 in July 2026.
Are big thrift store find stories real?
The ones on this page are, with sale prices reported by news outlets and auction houses. Many viral stories are not, because they quote asking prices that never sold.
How do people find valuable items at thrift stores?
By checking details: names, maker's marks, labels, patterns and dates. Then they look up what the same item has actually sold for before they decide.
Fossick will scan finds like this and show what the same thing recently sold for. Get one email the day it launches.
Get notified at launchSources
- KATU: Portland teen's $3.07 Goodwill find sells for over $89K at Sotheby's (Jul 2026)
- Goodwill: 3 real life lucky finds at Goodwill
- Moneywise: incredible items found at thrift stores
- Star Advertiser: man sells watch he found at Goodwill for $35,000 (Feb 2015)
- Chowhound: rare Pyrex worth thousands (Jun 2026)
- Hunker: valuable vintage Pyrex items (Jan 2026)