One Woman’s Trash is Another Woman’s … Well, Trash

Chelle Chevelle
2 min readMay 17, 2024

In 2007, a New York family paid $3 for a 1000-year-old Chinese Ding bowl at a yard sale. The bowl later sold at auction for 2.2 million dollars. So what other underestimated treasures await the super lucky/somewhat opportunistic thrifter? Who can say? But I assure you, these are not them:

Public Domain

A set of encyclopedias. Everything you need to know about fountain pens can be Googled.

A 64-pack of “thank you” cards. How incompetent are you?

Tongs. Because you only need one tong.

DVDs without cases, cases without DVDs, and DVDs by Hallmark.

Anything headless; even if they insist “the head is around here somewhere.”

Crystal goblets. Who do you think you are, the Duchess of Windsor?

Unmatched salt and pepper shakers. Also, matched salt and pepper shakers. Both have a way of multiplying behind closed cabinet doors.

Refrigerator magnets. Why would you want to attract a refrigerator?

Reel-to-reel tape recorders. If you buy one of these, expect a visit from the FBI.

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Chelle Chevelle

Not Chevy Chase. BA in Theatre from ASU. Film and photography enthusiast. See her photos at flickr.com/photos/womansworkproductionco/