Buzz
We all dream about finding a hidden Picasso tucked away in the attic. Sadly, the reality is that when we finally get around to decluttering, we usually end up with nothing but dust bunnies.
However, some individuals have discovered that their riches weren’t buried in their attics, but rather hidden in junk drawers, backyards, bathrooms, dinner plates, or even birth certificates. What they found wasn’t as unique as a priceless artwork—it was everyday objects that most people could easily find or purchase for just a few bucks. Keep reading to learn about ten commonplace items that turned their owners into millionaires.
10. A Name
When Jason Sadler heard that his stepfather was filing for divorce, he jokingly remarked that he'd sell his last name to avoid inheriting yet another divorced dad’s family name.
That joke became a reality six months later when Jason Sadler launched a website called buymylastname.com. He offered to change his last name into an advertising billboard for any company willing to pay for the privilege. So, if Nike wanted to rename him to Jason JustDoIt, Jason would gladly do it—if the price was right.
Within just 24 hours of opening the auction, the price for his name surged to thirty thousand dollars. Forty days later, Jason was paid forty-five thousand dollars to legally become Jason Headsetsdotcom.
Although “Mr. Headsetsdotcom” was certainly a memorable moniker, Jason wasn't satisfied with that last name either. Instead of returning to his original name, Jason auctioned it off again, and for fifty thousand dollars, he became Jason Sufrapp.
What’s in a name? Apparently, almost one hundred thousand dollars.
9. A Cup of Coffee
On a chilly winter day, Stella Liebeck and her nephew drove through a McDonald's drive-thru. After placing an order for a cup of hot coffee, Liebeck spilled it on her lap as her nephew started driving away. She then took legal action against the restaurant chain and scored a significant win.
In the initial lawsuit, Liebeck vs. McDonald's, the jury awarded her three million dollars in damages. Although the judge later reduced the amount to around half a million dollars, and she may have accepted a smaller settlement afterward, that payout still seemed generous for fifteen minutes spent at a fast food joint, even if it involved several months in court.
But before we all rush to the nearest drive-through with a hot drink in hand and a phone ready to call our attorneys, it's important to note that this settlement came at a significant cost beyond just coffee-soaked clothing. Liebeck endured third-degree burns and needed skin grafts for recovery. Evidence presented in court showed that hundreds of others had suffered similar injuries each year because McDonald’s franchises had been serving coffee at dangerously high temperatures. This lawsuit was more about seeking justice than it was about frivolous claims.
8. A Spring
Richard James was working in a factory during World War II when he accidentally knocked a spring off a shelf. He was amazed to see the spring spiral downwards instead of falling straight to the ground. As the spring hit the floor, an idea struck him: what if he could create a coil that could double as a toy for children?
After two years of experimentation, he developed a toy that could stretch, retract, and spiral down slopes. His wife, Betty James, consulted a dictionary and named it the slinky. Together, they secured a $500 loan and built a toy empire that still thrives today.
Initially, James and Betty faced challenges in making the slinky profitable. Toy stores turned it away due to its simplicity. However, once the toy became a hit and James earned millions, he donated most of the proceeds to a religious organization he had joined in South America. Unfortunately, rather than becoming wealthy, James sunk his company into a seven-figure debt. Oops.
Betty took control of the company and, miraculously, turned it around. She sold enough slinkys to wrap around the Earth one hundred and fifty times, yet she stayed true to the toy’s simplicity and low cost, even selling it for less in 1990 than it was priced at in 1945.
7. A Tulip
A 17th-century Dutchman would be stunned if you gave your partner a bouquet of tulips on Valentine’s Day. Not because the Dutch preferred roses, but due to the immense value of the tulips (or more specifically, their bulbs) that would have been included in such a bouquet.
In the 1600s, tulips had just made their way to the Netherlands from what is now Turkey. A virus struck the harvests, causing each tulip to develop a unique pattern. Ironically, these infected flowers became even more valuable than healthy ones. Scholars eagerly sought out different tulip patterns, treating them like collectibles, similar to how people today collect baseball or pokemon cards.
Before long, the general population realized that scholars would pay almost any price for tulips with unique patterns, and prices for these flowers skyrocketed. By 1637, it was possible to trade a single tulip bulb for one of the grandest, most fashionable homes in the Netherlands. Though the market collapsed within a year, fortunes were made and lost over what we now casually give as gifts.
6. A Rock
Gary Dahl was having a drink at a bar when he came up with an idea that would sweep through the 1970s and earn his company over a million dollars. During a conversation with friends, he envisioned the perfect pet: one that was calm, house-trained, didn’t shed, and lived a long life. Rocks, Dahl realized, were the ultimate pets, far superior to any cat, dog, or goldfish.
Dahl turned his drunken brainstorm into reality by selling rocks in cardboard boxes, each with air holes so the stones could 'breathe.' For just under four dollars, you could own a rock of your very own. The package came with a manual on how to care for the rock and even taught the tricks it could perform. Among the humorous instructions was how to train your pet rock to play dead.
The sheer absurdity of the rocks captured the imagination of Americans across the country. Though anyone could easily find a rock in their backyard, the pet rock’s appeal as a novelty gift made them fly off the shelves.
5. Garbage
As anyone who lives in a city knows, litter is more than just worthless—it's a nuisance. But a New Yorker named Justin Gignac saw things differently. He believed that with the right packaging, anything could be sold (a point proven by several items on this list!). He began collecting trash from the streets and arranging it in glass, odor-proof boxes.
Gignac sold these boxes for ten dollars each, and people bought them as quirky souvenirs. He then raised the price to fifty dollars, and they sold as pieces of art. Today, New York City garbage cubes go for one hundred dollars each, and according to his website at the time of writing, they are completely sold out (not unlike New York City itself, thanks to de Blasio!).
4. Air
We take about twenty-three thousand breaths every day. While most of us spend money on essentials like food, water, shelter, and electricity, the idea of paying for air would seem ridiculous. Or would it?
Two Canadians demonstrated that people will indeed pay for the very air they breathe. The duo began bottling air from the Rocky Mountains and selling it for twenty-four bucks a can. In smog-filled cities, Chinese buyers snapped up these bottles, not only as a cheeky protest against poor air quality (or so they claim) but also to inhale pure, unpolluted air (more likely).
3. Two Boxes of Pizza
In 2010, Lazlo Hanyecz, a hungry developer of the then little-known cryptocurrency Bitcoin, had a craving for pizza. Using the online handle 'lazlo,' he offered ten thousand bitcoins to anyone who would order him two pizza pies.
Nine years later, in 2019, those ten thousand bitcoins are worth far more than the price of two large pizzas. Anyone who accepted Lazlo's offer (at the time of writing) would now be holding over one hundred million dollars—simply for placing two pizza orders with Papa John’s.
2. A Red Paperclip
Kyle MacDonald, a 27-year-old from Montreal, began his summer with no job, no house, and only a red paperclip in hand. Instead of sprucing up his resume or opening a savings account to find a place for him and his girlfriend, Kyle took a bold step. He set out with the paperclip and swapped it for a pen shaped like a fish.
After thirteen trades, he exchanged a movie role for a two-story farmhouse in Kipling, Saskatchewan. In less than a year, Kyle had turned his humble red paperclip into a home, proving that even the most ordinary of office supplies can hold surprising value.
1. Poop
We flush waste down the toilet daily without giving it much thought. But if we were to excrete gold instead of poop, we might reconsider the way we handle it.
Artist Piero Manzoni held the belief that his own waste was as valuable as gold. In 1961, he turned this thought into action, canning ninety tins of his own poop and offering it for sale to his audience. Less than two years later, he managed to trade thirty grams of it for thirty grams of eighteen-carat gold.
If we think this was just a bizarre product of the 1960s, think again. In 2008, one of his cans was auctioned for over one hundred thousand dollars, meaning that Manzoni's poop is now worth about sixty-five times more than its weight in gold.
