I had a free book reward from Thriftbooks, which I used for a copy of Long Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams. When it came, I was kinda bummed that some kid had scribbled on the title page, but eh, it was free. At least it was a first edition in otherwise good condition, I won’t complain.

As I was reading, I got a little itch in the back of my mind, and it of curiosity looked up his signature. Turns out, it looks like some kid’s scribbling

Probably why no one realized.

So I got a signed first edition, which goes for about $200, totally free.

I have four tyres in pretty good condition on my car, that’s $1000 right there.

I discovered that a small strip of dead land at the side of my friends’ brand new house was available to buy for loose change from the original land owner (a once giant estate that had been broken up into parcels at auction) Fast forward three years or so later and the developer started stage two of the house building, another 850 houses. Guess whose tiny parcel of land was needed for utilities and access due to the terrain? We basically picked a number out of the air and the next day the cheque / check arrived. Paid off the mortgage, sold the house and paid about 90% the price of their dream home straight away and had a bit left over too. Can’t help but think that somebody somewhere lost their job/contract over that.

One Christmas, my mother-in-law gave me an unopened bottle of whisky they had in their cabinet for a while. It was some of the best whisky I’ve ever had. About halfway through the bottle on Boxing Day, I took a moment to look up the cost (it’s since gone up in price, but you’ll get the idea)

https://dekanta.com/store/suntory-hibiki-30-years-old/

I. Was. Horrified. I have exactly two ounces left, that I will probably consume with my wife on my deathbed.

I had a friend over who complimented my teapot, I love it because it’s a nice color, good size and has a stainless steel infuser that fits inside. So I offered to get her one of her own only to find out that this particular color is highly collectible and worth 6-7x what I paid for it originally. Now I have a nice teapot I’m paranoid about anything happening to, haha.

I went to a Hotel Furniture liquidator for some new furniture. Saw a good looking office chair and they only wanted $20 for it.

Brought that bad boy home and only then did I find out that they had sold me a new Herman Miller Aeron for only $20. Completely insane.

I found a copy of “The Hunt for Red October “ in a bargain bin. It looked funny and had a version of the cover I’d never seen before Bought it for like $5

It was a first printing From the Naval Institute Press.

Worth like 200$.

Nice

I have a copy of X-Men #4 (first appearance of Juggernaut) signed by Stan Lee.

I also have a few highly sought-after lego sets. :)

Not me but my mom. Her great grandmother gave her her “mad money” stash that she’d saved over the years, all in silver dollars. She didn’t think much of it, just kept it as a memento.

Turns out it’s 300 silver dollars minted between 1900 and 1905; some of them are worth over $1k by themselves.

I buy and sell used books. I came across one nondescript worn hardback in a box and for some reason decided to research it. It’s worth five figures. Cost about 25c.

I have a Lego ninjago mask that’s worth like $80 with both parts of it. I didn’t know how expensive it was until checking my collection a couple days ago.

Geese. We got them to cut down on the number of chickens that hawks were taking. They live exclusively on grass so they cost nothing to maintain. We haven’t lost a single hen to hawks in the three years since we got them.

So that’s all about saving money. Where is the profit? Goose eggs. In the spring they lay eggs that are 5.5 to 7.5 ounces each. Chicken eggs are only 30% yolk. But goose eggs are 50% yolk. A single egg has a yolk almost 3x the size of three chicken eggs. These are worth money as food at $7 each or as hatching eggs for barter with other homesteaders that want geese and have incubators.

Edit: forgot to add that they are the best lawnmowers ever. They have dramatically cut down how much we need to mow. Which saves fuel and W&T on the mower as well as time.

I’ve got a game in a pile of about 100 sandwiched in between some penny priced games that is worth $500. I’m not creating a shrine for it. Just putting in with the rest of the group.

I’m not cool like everyone else here who got bargains or things that went up in value but for things that are more expensive than they seem to rational people, I have $6k headphones and up to $9k pens. Got them for a little under msrp (for the headphones, the cost of the pens went up).

Rational people don’t generally expect the prices of things like that to get so high, but they actually get a lot higher, I’m also not cool like the people who have those. There’s likely other things like this I can’t think of rn, but pens and headphones easily get the biggest “what’s wrong with you?” probably because they’re handheld non-jewelry

I picked up a used Bucky O Hare NES cartridge for $8 back around 2000. Had no idea what the game was, but the picture on the cartridge was ridiculous. Now it sells for $150-$200 on eBay. More like $600 if you have the box and manual.

Also have Sparkster for Sega Genesis including the box and manual which sells for around $400.

I have a handful of games like that. They were either bought new when I was a kid in the 90s or I bought them cheap in the 2000s. I might sell them when I’m 80.