THE MILLION DOLLAR HUNT

Have you ever purchased something at a yard sale, garage sale, or Estate sale that turned out to  be valued at far more than the price you paid for it? That's part of the fun of the hunt, isn't it? Hoping you can find some rare and expensive treasure for which you paid a  mere pittance!

CNN told the story of a woman who purchased this bowl at a yard sale for $3. She kept it in her living room for a few years and eventually decided to see what it might be worth. She discovered it was a rare 1,000 year old bowl from China and took it to Sotheby's. It  sold at auction for $2.2 million!  Now why can't I find something like that?

It's these kinds of stories that keep me hunting for treasure. Well, that and a few gazillion other reasons. I DID get excited to find THIS little guy at a yard sale:

He looked like a piece of Black Folk Art and it was unique so I scooped him up. I decided to look it up and see what it actually was used for and found the exact thing selling at an Antique Shop in New York for $1,000! Not exactly $2.2 million but I got excited! So I took it to a friend who is an antique dealer in town. Unfortunately he said I had a reproduction of an original folk art piece. It was used for cigarette butts and  the little ring would hold a  bucket of sand in which to put out cigarettes. I decided to keep him and I found a tin bucket to fit in the ring which I painted with chalk paint and then wrote "KEYS" on the bucket in chalk. He now sits by our front door and we keep our car keys in the bucket. I did share about this guy in another post but he fit into this story also.

On another occasion I was heading into a garage sale and a friend who is a savvy antique dealer was coming out with his arms full of treasures. I said, " Guess I might as well turn right around. It looks like you got all the good stuff!" But  I went in anyway. It looked like he actually DID get all the good stuff. But then under a table, laying there with no tag on it was this vintage  advertising metal container. I picked it up and asked if it was for sale. The guy said, " I forgot about that. Oh, just give me a buck for it." I love metal containers but with advertising and being vintage made it a GIANT SCORE for me. I couldn't sell this one either!

So I keep on with the hunt, hoping to find a million dollar treasure but still getting excited when I find something for 25 cents that's worth $25!

I know there are many of you out there who buy and sell treasures so of course, you have to find some bargains. But have you ever found a treasure that is worth far more than what you paid for it? I'm still looking for mine!

I'm linking up with Katherine's Corner Blog Hop