How a Thrifter Scored a P1 Million Goyard Trunk for Only P5,000 at an Antique Shop
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It was a lucky day for one particular shopper when she got her hands on a limited edition designer items at a bargain price in an antique shop.
The branded luggage, which was initially thought to be fake, was revealed to have a value of $20,000 (P1 million pesos). She only paid a fraction of the price.
A professional thrifter, Virginia Chamlee, 38, from Florida, U.S.A. spotted the item seven years ago in an antique shop in Virginia.
She didn't find anything inside the store, but the shop owner told her that there were other items in the shop's courtyard.
There, Virginia saw the large suitcase—a Goyard trunk.
At first, Virginia thought that it was fake.
"I gasped audibly," Virginia said, according to a Business Insider report. "My grandmother was with me and she was like, 'Be quiet, why are you screaming?' I thought it must not be real; it was too good of a find. But I figured I would just buy it anyway because if it was fake, it was a really good fake."
But because of the beautiful workmanship, even if it was an imitation, she still wanted to buy it.
Virginia bought the suitcase for just $90 (PHP5,000).
After, she consulted a luggage expert looking at Louis Vuitton and Goyard pieces and sent the picture of the purchased suitcase.
Virginia was not wrong in her suspicions.
The luggage expert confirmed that the Goyard trunk is authentic and the value is "tens of thousands of dollars."
The antique shop owner told Virginia that the suitcase was delivered to the shop by a woman who found it in her mother's attic.
It was pure luck that Virginia bought it before anyone else.
"It has drawers inside and there are little compartments for jewelry. It's actually useful in addition to being beautiful."
The experts she questioned offered to buy the suitcase from her when she had it appraised.
On the value of the Goyard trunk, she said: “My hunch is that someone would pay at least $20,000 for it."
Despite this, Virginia hasn’t sold the Goyard trunk seven years after she bought it: "I don't ever intend to sell it. I joke that I'll be the old woman who lived in her trunk."
The suitcase now sits in the corner of her room covered with displays, including a picture of her grandmother.
"She's the one who got me into thrifting, and she raised me from the time I was two months old as a single mom," said Virginia.
"It's almost like a little shrine to her. She was with me when I found it, and it has an M on it — I refer to her as Meemaw."
For Virginia, her "niche" is finding and buying designer items, which she said she honed over many years thanks to her passion for thrifting.
From: PEP.ph
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