Man thrifts pair of watches for $3.99, only later realizes their true value
An eagle-eyed thrifter could barely believe his luck after coming across two vintage watches that ended up being worth significantly more than the $3.99 he paid for them.
Ethan Clark, a 42-year-old dad of four from Virginia, was pursuing the shelves and racks of his local Savers when he came across a series of bagged-up timepieces. “I’ve been into watches since I was 18,” Clark told Newsweek. “So I always look in the glass case for watches. The ones hanging up are usually trash, but as soon as I saw them, I could tell they were very old.”
The two thrift-store watches are held up in a bag.
Taking a closer look, Clark saw one word on the two bagged-up watches that made him sit up and take notice: Longines, the Swiss luxury watch brand with a history that dates back to 1832.
“I could barely see the logo through the bag, but I knew they were worth a lot more than $3.99,” Clark said. “So, I immediately bought them and took them to a local watch shop in town.”
Thrifting Worth $56 Billion
Thrifting is big business in the U.S. today. In 2025, the U.S. secondhand market was worth $56 billion, according to figures compiled by Capital One Shopping, which is up 14.3 percent year-over-year.
Clark’s eye for a potential bargain had him convinced the watches were something special, but his first port of call left him facing doubts.
“The local watch shop told me they weren’t repairable without spending $350 to $600 each, but that one was gold and the other was gold-filled,” Clark said. “He offered $150 for the gold one.”
One of the thrifted watches displays the Longines branding.
Clark was still convinced he could get more, though, so declined and took the watches home to do some digging. He then came up with an idea. Clark was going to a watch show in New York City, so decided it would be worth his time to take the watches to Chen’s Watches, a reputable vintage watch shop located in Chinatown.
“Chen was super nice, helped me remove the movement from the case and suggested bringing it to a local place to sell the gold case,” Clark said. “I was in a hurry, and they offered $500 cash. Considering the return on investment, I took it.”
Long-Time Thrifter
Clark has been thrift-store hunting for about 18 years and said this is “by far” the most he has made on a “single-item flip,” though there have been other highlights along the way.
“I once found a 1965 Epiphone tube guitar amp made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, for $50. It’s worth $300,” he said. “Just last week, I got a barely used Blendtec Blender for $11. They retail for around $400. A few months ago, I came across some routing bits that retailed for $550, and I paid $12. Sold them for $280.”
The second thrifted watch is held up.
Asked what advice he could offer to anyone looking to emulate his success, Clark said: “Thrifting is funny; 90 percent of the time you don’t find anything of worth.
“I think having general knowledge, and knowing how to Google effectively are key. eBay ‘completed listings’ and ‘sold listings’ is my favorite tool for determining price/market value. Sometimes, too, you can tell by handling something that it’s valuable.”
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