I picked up a $6 watch at Goodwill – I ended up selling it for $35,000

GOING inside thrift stores could be a way for Americans to score big profits as one has been able to bank a whopping $35,000 on a watch bought cheap at Goodwill. 

This came from watch collector Zach Norris in 2015, who was a Phoenix, Arizona resident at the time. 

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Originally, he went into Goodwill looking for a golf pull cart – but he happened to come across a rare item in the watch section.

It was a 1959 Jaeger-LeCoultre diving watch, which was only listed for $5.99 – and Zach’s eyes lit up.

“I didn’t even want to give it to [clerk] to scan,” he said, according to WTKR.

“I was like, you can scan it in my hand if you want to. I just didn’t want to let it go.”

How much are they worth? 

If you happen to come across one, know that it could be worth thousands. 

Auction house Phillips estimates the Jaeger-LeCoultre watch to be worth up to $120,000. 

But as with all collector’s items, the value is subject to grade and condition. 

While this was not clear, Zach claimed that his example of the watch sold for roughly $35,000 on watch collectors’ website Hodinkee to a San Francisco, California resident. 

Only 900 of the 1959 Jaeger-LeCoultre watches have been made, according to Zach. 

“Sometimes they just miss it, they don’t know,” he said of Goodwill listing the watch for cheap in the store.

“It’s not a very fancy-looking piece. You have to know what it is.”

But keep in mind that this is considered income and you could be in for a surprise bill from the IRS if you aren’t keeping track of the money made from side hustles.

 While it might not be realistic to earn thousands of dollars in profit on each item, you might be able to do this with multiple products.

For example, an influencer, who goes by Stephen Raiken, makes $17,000 per month by buying cheap books at thrift stores including Goodwill and then selling them for profit.

He uses the Amazon Seller app to scan them to find out what they are worth.

“Books are dirt cheap,” Stephen said.

“Most people think they are outdated and trash so they give them away for free or for a couple of pennies at a thrift store. I sell a lot of books for $20, $30, $40 [and] $50.” 

How to shop Goodwill 

For Goodwill shoppers, there are a couple of tips to keep in mind.

This includes the best time to shop, which is during the middle of the week, according to money-savings website The Krazy Coupon Lady. 

It’s best to avoid Saturdays because the store is at its busiest and you may not get the best products. 

And just like with most retailers it makes sense to shop out of season for clothes at Goodwill.

This is because stores are looking to get rid of the items that they failed to sell in the previous season and could discount them heavily since they’ve been sitting on the shelves for a while. 

For example, now might be a good time to shop for next summer at Goodwill, considering most shoppers are mostly looking to stack up on winter apparel. 

For more related stories, a Target super fan reveals the exact section to shop at right now to find markdowns of up to 70 percent. 

Check out the type of categories to look for to find three-cent items at Walmart. 

And a mother of four changed where she shopped for meat and cut her bill in half.