Always check the pockets of your thrift store finds — you never know what valuables could be hiding in there.
A shopper recently shared their discovery on the subreddit r/ThriftStoreHauls, an online community dedicated to sharing secondhand finds. "Bought a [lunch box] at neighborhood [Goodwill] store and found a surprise," they wrote.
!["Love it when that happens! But I have never been surprised with anything worth that much"](https://www.thecooldown.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/6d0uwyu8eutb1.jpg)
!["Love it when that happens! But I have never been surprised with anything worth that much"](https://www.thecooldown.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/sneo5bx8eutb1-1.jpg)
The pictures show a thrifted lunch box with a zippered pocket on the top. "When I got home, I opened it up and saw many books of Forever postage stamps from 2017. I have been mailing a lot of stuff lately so it's a nice surprise," the user wrote.
The poster found 22 stamp books hidden away in the lunch box's pocket.
Forever Stamps are stamps that can be used at any time regardless of when they were purchased or how stamp prices have changed. Nowadays, a book of Forever Stamps goes for $13.20, meaning the poster found roughly $290.40 worth of stamps.
In addition to finding the occasional bonus treasure tucked away in your purchase, thrifting is a great way to save money and protect the environment. One report found that thrift shoppers save around $1,700 a year (or $150 a month) by opting for secondhand goods. Buying second hand also keeps millions of pounds of trash out of landfills.
Commenters were impressed with the original poster's find. "Love it when that happens! But I have never been surprised with anything worth that much — what a score," one wrote.
Other users noted that the stamps would be worth more because they were from 2017. "Those stamps be going for a lot more than price of a new forever stamp online. You might wanna look into that before you slap one on your water bill," one advised.
"Yeah a 20 pack of these start at $25 and go up from there when a 20 pack of forever stamps at today's price goes for 13 and change," another added.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.