One lucky Redditor is celebrating after a recent trip to the local thrift store, where they found a valuable Leica camera for just $15.
Leica Camera AG is a high-end international camera manufacturer based in Germany with almost 150 years of history in the industry. According to photography expert Ken Rockwell, the "world's greatest 35mm camera" is the Leica M3, a rangefinder camera the company produced from 1954 to 1967 — and that's exactly what this Reddit user found.
It's not the first time a user has posted to the subreddit with an amazing vintage piece. r/ThriftStoreHauls, a group dedicated to showing off unique items that users bought second hand, is full of these one-in-a-million deals. One Redditor brought home an incredible burlwood cabinet for their home bar.
This time, the OP shares two photos of a vintage film camera in a leather case. "Leica M3" is engraved into the metal exterior of the camera, along with the manufacturer and a serial number.
"My local thrift store is, literally, the best," OP says. "So many good finds that I can share from there. This is, obviously, worth the most out of all."
Other Redditors agreed with their assessment of the item's value. One shares, "Just went to an auction last weekend hoping to score this exact same camera. I had an $800 dollar limit. It sold for $1,200."
Thrifting has gotten attention online as a way to buy home furnishings, cookware, clothing, and many other products at a steep discount. Patient shoppers who check local stores regularly can save hundreds or thousands of dollars on items in good or even new condition.
And thrifters may find pieces like this camera that are worth nearly 80 times the asking price.
Many commenters were envious of OP's good luck.
"That'd be a score," says one, while another calls the camera, "one of my thrifting white whales."
Others thought the deal was a bit too good to be true. "I find it very hard to believe that there is a thrift store that does not know what a Leica is," says one Redditor. But OP replies, "This place is [an] anomaly. They really don't research anything and get high-end stuff from all the wealthy people that live and move in the area."
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
