Some of the items people leave behind in donated goods are quite astonishing. It can be as small as old receipts, notes from friends, or extra cash or jewelry mistakenly left behind.
One curious and lucky shopper stumbled across an old briefcase that looked like it had been used by someone in the jewelry industry. They shared their experience on the r/Goodwill_finds subreddit.
"Must have been a gem cutter's briefcase. [I] shook it and heard a rattle, found these behind a flap inside the stitching. Must have fallen behind. [It is] one half-faceted and one fully-faceted gemstone. Looks like topaz or aquamarine on the larger one and smaller unfinished piece, I'm thinking is amethyst," the OP shared.
The attached image shows an open briefcase with the OP holding two jewels that look to be a few carats each.
Many thrifters compare secondhand, vintage, and thrift shopping to treasure hunting, as you never know what you will find. If you are lucky enough to find hidden items in your thrifted goods, you can make a significant amount of extra cash just from keeping your eyes peeled at Goodwill.
Previous thrifters have found designer items discounted from thousands to a few dollars, gold jewelry tucked away in forgotten pockets, and trendy items marked down to much more affordable pricing.
The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon pollution annually. This amounts to more pollution than maritime shipping and international flights combined. Even worse, planet-warming gas pollution is expected to increase by more than 50% by 2030, according to Earth.org.
When a consumer thrifts instead of buying new, they save water, save synthetic material from ending up in our environment, and save microplastics from entering our drinking water and ecosystems. If the thrifter buys a cotton shirt secondhand instead of new, that purchase alone saves 3,000 liters of water. If they buy a plastic item, they can reduce the impact of the fashion industry, which contributes 11% of the world's plastic waste, according to the UN.
The comments were filled with humorous comments about the discovery.
"I'm an engineer and I wondered what happened to my dilithium crystals!" one commented.
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Cheaper clothes 🤑 "I am the family dog, and I lost my jewels many years ago," another joked.
"Wondering how many people are gonna be shaking briefcases at the bins now lol," a third responded.
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