Thrifter Finds A Rare Decor Piece Worth Thousands: You Won't Believe What I Found

Thrifting for treasures is a wonderful adventure, and you really never know what you will find. Sometimes, you spot exactly what you were looking for, and other times, you come across things you didn't even know you needed — and no matter what you find, there is always that chance that your thrifting score could be worth something. TikToker marisamacy shared an amazing thrifted art piece that turned out to be worth a lot of money — and all they bought it for was the pretty frame!

The TikTok begins with Marisa stating, "You won't believe what I found," and we agree that it's hard to fathom. The rare find was a framed original artwork by Johann Berthelsen, a renowned Danish-born American impressionist painter known for New York City scenes like the subject of this painting, St. Patrick's Church. Besides the genuine antique look, there was one easy way to tell the thrift-store piece was vintage: It had a plate on the front of the frame with the artist's name and the painting's title. 

This creator's experience highlights three things — the benefits of thrifting (because you never know what you will find), the importance of knowing how to authenticate your thrifted items, and the many ways that others would have handled this find if it had been theirs. The couple who bought this painting intended to sell it, taking their find to Casa Sykes Art Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio, to have it appraised. They were told it could sell for up to $5,000. But not everyone agrees that selling is the best option for valuable decor like this, with one commenter stating, "That's beautiful, I would have kept it!"

As someone who has thrifted many items over the years, I've never acquired anything worth thousands of dollars, but I know such things exist. As marisamacy noted, the painting cost just $2.99 at the local Goodwill. The real question, at that price and given the love for the frame, was whether it was worth selling. One user commented on the original video, saying, "I'm waiting for the day it happens to me since I would actually keep it and hang it on my walls." Marisa didn't share that perspective, but the approximately $2,000 made ($2,875 before auction fees) from selling the painting was a pretty good score and provided plenty of cash for other cool thrift store frames. 

And while one might think a painting selling for a couple of thousand dollars would change the tone of the conversation, many still thought the buyer should have left the painting even after seeing the TikTok follow-up. Some may see it as a treasure to pass down, as a commenter stated, "The painting would become a family heirloom in my opinion." Of course, keeping it would mean finding a great way to put your heirloom on display and give it the attention it deserves, but the spin is that commenters are also inspired to head to thrift stores in hopes of finding their own rare piece of decor. As one user said, "There will always be those hidden gems." The question is: If you find a rare art gem like this, will you keep it or sell it?