Everything has value. That is a life mantra that can turn out quite lucrative. We may make fun of and cast judgement on the hoarders we see on tv, but some of them have hidden treasures that have a higher value than a lottery ticket all because they held on and believed everything is worth something. Of course it's sad they never knew it, hence hoarding not being healthy, but I digress. This is why 'Antiques Roadshow' has become such a phenomenon, we all have things that seem ordinary but could be worth a fortune.... or that's the dream. Let's find out....
Redditor u/onemangang15 was wondering who has discovered that the thing they believed was trash was a surprise pearl by asking.... What 'piece of junk' did you find that turned out to be valuable?600?! Dollars?!
Goosebumps Wow GIF by ANTIQUES ROADSHOW | PBSGiphyI found a small envelope with a few inches of wire in a junk shop. Bought it (US$2) because it had some faded penciling about troy oz. Turned out to about 1.5 troy ounces of platinum wire. Sold it for US $600!
I WIN!!
Years ago I bought a condo in foreclosure. We couldn't go inside, just look from outside and put in a bid. My bid won. When I went inside the place it was pretty trashed. I checked all the rooms, calculating the costs of getting it back into shape. At the end of my walk thru I went into the garage and saw there was a car under a tarp. Hmmm... I pulled the tarp back and saw a 1972 Barracuda in nearly mint condition.
Oregon Trails....
A first or second edition of the Oregon Trail book. It's a bit damaged, so not that valuable, but still a few hundred more than the $15 I paid for it.
The Wrist Buy
relapse records watch GIF by Red FangGiphyFound a "fake" Cartier watch in Goodwill for $10. Bought it because it still looked nice. But it's a real Cartier watch and it's worth $1000+. Keeping it because I'd never buy myself something like that.
Sunburst Ugly
Dad carried around a junk guitar for 50 years. Ugly as hell sunburst Gibson acoustic (circa 50's or 60's can't remember) that he eventually sanded down into something prettier. When I was learning he took it to be tuned up by our neighbor who owned a shop and was a collector.
Dude came back exasperated and told us that my dad had sanded about 50k off the guitar, and that it would have been totally worthless if he hadn't left the logo on.
Small Metals....
I found a very small, round piece of metal on the floor in my workplace. I couldn't figure out what the item was and knew I should just discard it, but felt compelled to keep it for some reason.
That afternoon my co-worker was distraught - the unique type of battery that her cochlear implant needed fell out, and was probably in a dumpster somewhere because the cleaners had come through. I gave her the weird piece of metal in my pocket, and she almost burst into tears from relief.
Jean Carlu
Old folded up piece of paper in the bottom of a box my dad had I found cleaning up the house, torn up and faded.
Turned out to be a 90 year old original Jean Carlu poster worth roughly $20,000 after spending $1,000 for restoration.
We have the English version of this making it worth more. Depending on the art market which is currently down it is worth less but still this range is about right. No plans on selling it yet, might go to a museum or exhibit first.
Karma Paid
Get Money Entrepreneur GIF by Smart Money MamasGiphyWell, a moron couch surfer who crashed in my guest room for a few months left behind a 1970s Fender Super Twin tube amp worth $1800 he didn't know about.
It made cleaning up his urine bottles worth it.
Dali Luck!
Typical not me but a friend - she found a copy of a Salvador Dali painting at goodwill. She loved him and it was a big print so she grabbed it for like $20. She took it home and took it out of the old junky frame and it had a stamp of authenticity on the back, and she had it assessed and it's worth 20k. Lucky B! Ha.
bidding in Texas....
A few years ago, I was looking through the goodwill website the let's you bid on stuff that you find. I stumbled across one of the Texas goodwills pages, and then saw an auction for a huge box of phone accessories, that no one was bidding on. I started looking through all the pictures, started researching some of the brands, and started realizing the whole box was worth a decent bit. I took a shot, and made my bid. Someone else saw what I saw, and started a bidding war with me, but I eventually won with a bid of $106, then $24 for shipping.
Few days go by, and I finally get the box, well 2 boxes, and they were both huge. Started taking inventory, and ended with 100 iPhone chargers, 100 android chargers, about 250 iPhone 8 cases in all different styles, 80 battery packs, a few iPad cases, and about 1000 screen protectors. Turned my $130 total investment into an EBay business, and made almost $8,000 in about 9 months.
Flip!
unimpressed viola davis GIFGiphySomeone gave me a hideous purse out of a box on its way to goodwill. I sold it on eBay for $1,100. I've had some good flips, but that was the best.
Paying Back the Cat
Weird painting of a cat with birds on its back no one wanted. Paid $20, worth $400. My mom thought it would be an investment. Bought a ton of stuff done by her fav artist. Kept saying she got it at a steal and it was worth way more. Artist got screwed when he got Alzheimer's and people took advantage somehow (I don't remember) but now his work isn't worth anything.
The Bracelet
My mom in college worked for a small grocery store. She was sweeping aisles one day when she found a bracelet and just threw it in the lost and found for someone to come back for later. Months went by and I guess the employees got to check the lost and found for anything they wanted if no one claimed it. She remembered the bracelet and just grabbed it. She got it home and cleaned it up. It ended up being a Tivol bracelet wrapped with real diamonds. Its since been turned into a new wedding band for her lol.
The Long Shot
My friends and I were at a concert and found this broken bracelet under a merch table as we were about to leave the venue. It had an interesting engraving on it, something about being a son and friend. Because it was broken we were thinking about just tossing it, but ended up throwing it in our backpack to bring to the office later (my friend worked at the venue so she was going to turn it in). The next week I was browsing reddit on a thread of the same kind of music we were listening to at the show and just as I was about to fall asleep, someone's post caught my eye.
It said something like "This is a long shot but I lost something..." and it piqued my interest so I clicked it. It was someone from that same show asking if anyone had found a silver bracelet. Turns out it was the same one we found and it seemed to be a special gift from the person's parent and they were looking for it. We connected and got the bracelet returned to the guy, and the whole interaction is actually in my reddit history, it's a fun (albeit quick) read!
A cheap Matin....
snoopy rock star GIFGiphyBought a cheap Martin guitar because I was broke and wanted to play. I didn't think much of it at the time, but it's worth a few grand now because it was a limited edition thing. It's still appreciating to the point where I had to insure it.
Calcium for the Win
So my family went to a nearby town's vintage sale thing. My dad found this dirty old glass milk bottle, and he got excited when he found it. I didn't know what he found so exciting since it was just a milk bottle. After we got home, he explained that it was a a milk bottle from a dairy farm. One of the cofounders of that farm was my great great grandfather (on my dad's side). When one of the world wars began, he sold it off to the other founder.
Tl;dr my dad found a glass milk bottle, and I found out I'm a descendant of wealthy dairy farmers.
All for 30....
I was at an estate sale and bought a few paintings sweet lady told me to take the last one I liked as package deal since I ran out of cash, turns out one of them is a pretty rare original print worth about 3500$ and I paid maybe 30$ for all 4 prints and paintings I wanted.
Priceless....
When I was younger, I would rummage around the drawers and cabinets in my grandmother's house, just "adventuring" and "discovering", which is what I called it. I happened to find this old folded piece of paper, but it only took three seconds for me to just disregard it and push it aside. I think I was trying to get something else that I saw.
After I finished with whatever I had, I picked up the piece of paper to throw it away. Out of childlike curiosity, I opened it up and saw the words in it. It looked like a letter. It seemed important, so I gave it to my grandmother who gave it to my mother when she came to pick me up (my grandmother is blind).
Come to find out, it was a love letter from my grandfather to my grandmother. That really made their day.
EDIT: Some of y'all need to chill. I was three-years-old. My grandmother and grandfather (who isn't blind) were fine with me doing that, as long as I cleaned up after myself. I didn't give her hell. She isn't some stereotypical "poor old blind grandma". She has the hearing of a bat and a hand of iron.
Unexpected Juice
My father in law goes junking occasionally for side cash and strange gifts. One day he shows up randomly with a 1st gen fatboy ps3 with backwards compatibility. He goes "hey I don't know if you can use this but I thought you might enjoy it. Somebody had it sitting out for garbage."
I fired it up fully expecting to have to do some repairs but it booted up and plays just fine! He refused to take any money for it. He can be a real stand up guy.
In the Bin....
Trash Bin GIF by EmmerdaleGiphyI found a book at a trash bin. The Wind in the Willows I never got to read it as a kid... after finishing it I googled the edition date turns out its a collectible worth $300...? Who knew.
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Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.