Emily Brown
It's always exciting when you find a great deal online, but one man's £39 purchase exceeded all of his expectations when he managed to sell it on for a whopping £65,000.
As a home design content creator, it didn't take long for Justin Miller to realise he'd made a good find when he came across a slightly battered leather chair on sale on Facebook Marketplace for just £39 ($50).
With a high back and short, rounded arms, Miller thought the chair had a 'really interesting shape'. He also 'loved the colour of the leather', so he reached out to the seller to make sure he got his hands on it.
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Speaking to Today, Miller, from Los Angeles, explained: "As I was messaging the seller to arrange a time to pick up the chair, she said something along the lines of 'If you repair the chair, it’s worth a lot.'"
Naturally, this made his ears prick up.
Miller began doing some research into the chair, and found out it's one of only 50 ever made by Danish designer Frits Henningsen.
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In a video shared on TikTok, Miller explained that similar chairs had sold for more than £77,500 ($100,000) - though he admitted that his wasn't in the best condition.
Still, he was hoping he might be able to get 'a few thousand', so he soon got in touch with auction site Sotheby's to handle the restoration of the chair and organise its sale.
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The chair underwent some repairs before being listed on the site, where the auction lasted for less than three minutes.
In those three minutes, Miller's £39 purchase turned into one worth £65,800 ($85,000).
Miller knew that the original owners of the chair knew it was worth a lot of money, but he added: "I doubt they realised just how much."
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"This is truly just a once in a lifetime fluke," he told Today after the sale. "The stars definitely had to align a bit for this one."
Sotheby's said it was 'absolutely delighted' at the result of the sale, with Carina Villinger, Head of 20th Century Design at the auction house, telling Today: "From the moment he contacted Sotheby’s to restore and sell his armchair, we’ve enjoyed learning about his discovery, which achieved a record price for this model by Frits Henningsen."
With £65,000 now in his pocket, Miller plans to use most of the money towards a down payment on a home - though he's also going to treat himself to 'something small to remember this whole adventure'.
His experience has also left him confident that Facebook Marketplace is underrated, saying: "People always tell me they don’t find anything good on Facebook Marketplace. But they just aren’t looking hard enough."
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BRB, I'm off to check Facebook Marketplace.