Thrift-Store Find Turns Into $89,600 Auction Sale

Quinn Brown, a 19-year-old who makes a living buying thrift-store clothing to resell online, arrived early at a Goodwill outlet in Portland, Oregon on a January morning. While scanning the bins, he spotted a yellow Los Angeles Lakers warm-up jacket bearing the name “Chamberlain.” He purchased the garment for $3.07 and later learned it was the very jacket Wilt Chamberlain wore during the 1972 NBA Finals and the following season.

New York Times

SIA Photo Match, a specialist authentication firm, examined the jacket and confirmed its authenticity for Sotheby’s. The firm verified that Chamberlain wore the jacket in Game 1 or 2 of the 1972 Finals against the New York Knicks and throughout the 1972-73 season, his final year before retiring. Chamberlain was the series MVP as the Lakers defeated the Knicks four games to one.

New York Times

Sotheby’s listed the jacket for auction this month, and it sold for $89,600. By comparison, Brown’s next most valuable find—a T-shirt featuring the Sub Pop record label purchased for about $1—realized $250 at resale. The stark price difference highlights the premium placed on authenticated, historically significant sports memorabilia.

New York Times

The sale illustrates the growing intersection of vintage apparel markets and high-value collectibles, where authentication services and auction houses play pivotal roles in assigning monetary value to items once considered ordinary second-hand goods.

New York Times