California man bought pair of Nike sneakers for $38 at thrift store — he was dumbfounded when he learned their actual worth
Thrifting can lead to surprises at times. A man from California named William Ponseti–who goes by u/Weekly-Knowledge9208 on Reddit–thrifted a pair of Nike Shoes, went through something similar. He bought the pair for $38 and was quite surprised to learn about the actual value of those shoes. Ponsetti is an avid sneaker fan and immediately loved the shoes when he saw them at a local thrift store, but he had no idea about their real value. He shared a picture on Reddit along with the actual cost.
"I just found a pair of Dunk High Varsity Maizes, which resell for $500-$1000, in my size for $38 at my local thrift store," Ponsetti shared in a post, along with a picture of white and yellow sneakers. He added in the comment, "I think they're cool and I plan to wear them. It just shocked me that they resell for so much." Ponseti instantly liked the shoes, per Newsweek. "I found them at a local thrift store. I thought they were cool and I tried them on." He looked up the shoes online out of curiosity, and when he saw the numbers, he decided to buy them. He has listed them online for now, but if they don't sell, he would like to keep those for himself.
Ponseti is still looking for more such bargains. "I'm still thrifting casually." With value for money and the potential to find great bargains, many customers in the US are shopping at thrift stores. 16 to 18 percent of Americans shop at thrift stores each year, per Capital One. 93 percent of Americans shop for secondhand items online. In 2023, the secondhand market in the US even generated a revenue of $53 billion, and shoppers saved $1,760 on average each year by buying secondhand items. Moreover, people were quite amazed by Ponsetti's valuable find and shared their thoughts in the comments.
u/andy_in_slc wrote, "Congrats! I actually found the same pair for about $20, sold them during COVID (2020, I think) for $600 and did a 'Nike By You' custom dunk high in the same colorway. Win-win." u/RompehToTo commented, "That's good dude. Always a great deal to find Nike under $75. Rock those things. I have a couple of yellow shoes, but have trouble wearing my Wutangs and Yellow Lightenings." u/Scuddie- remarked, "Got some 'Union Jordan 1' with a separation on tongue for 75$. Sometimes, you just get lucky."
In one of the comments, Ponseti pointed out, "Prices on these are all over the place, lol, the 2012 version I got could be anything from $100-$1000, so I don't know anymore." While u/Critical_Aide_6945 encouraged, "They'll only sell for how much someone is willing to pay. Don't get wrapped up in the numbers." u/Enough_Asparagus4460 responded, "Can we just be happy for the guy? He's not trying to resell, he's just being happy. Let's not get wrapped up in negativity... let him enjoy his find. Good find. It's always cool finding something for a steal."