Mom Asks People Online If Her Son Is Right For Keeping The Money Found In A Book He Thrifted
Shopping for books is like a magical adventure, especially if you don’t know what author or genre you’re looking for—there are thousands of options, and once you choose your victim, get ready for a departure to the imagination world.
What tends to be more exciting is a trip down to your nearest thrift store. Since the books are preowned, it somehow makes them appear more valuable, as you would eventually start to question certain things like what that owner’s story was, whether they are still alive and if they had a good life.
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It’s not every day you find ‘free money’ lying on the floor or hidden in an old book
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A woman that goes by the username @bebe1969 shared a fascinating post on Twitter. Her 30-year-old son bought a copy of A Clockwork Orange at Goodwill, and once he arrived home, he discovered 500 bucks scattered amongst the pages.
This is a story of a 50-cent book from Goodwill that was actually worth $500
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The OP also mentioned that her son was very excited and that he wanted to keep the money, yet @bebe1969 took it to the online community for an engaging discussion.
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This Twitter debate is like a war of morals. Some say that the money should be returned to the owner or donated to a charity. And some say that $500 was a stroke of pure luck or that it was fate for the new owner to find.
This question sparked a fiery debate regarding the money
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Nevertheless, judging by the comments, it seems like it would be impossible to track down the owner of the thrifted book, as Goodwill doesn’t keep records of the individuals that donate goods.
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Some even say that keeping the money would be the same as taking advantage of other’s people’s mistakes.
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Besides, some users even say that donating the money back to Goodwill is a bad idea as the organization resells the goods and makes a profit out of them, which is why it’s suggested that the OP’s son should consider giving money to people who do struggle.
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Many others suggest keeping the cash
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Some folks are more surprised about something else…
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Andy Milonakis, who is an American comedian/rapper/actor, also supports the idea of donating. He suggested buying and donating books worth half of the OP’s son’s find while keeping the rest to himself. However, he strongly suggests not spending it on something in particular.
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On the other hand, many people said that since the OP’s son purchased the book, it totally allows him to keep the money he found inside with absolutely no guilt.
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Some have come up with a plan on how to track down the previous owner
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Twitter user @Islandgirlpixie, who you will see at the end of the article, actually mentioned that she happened to know an elderly woman that would tuck money into things before giving them to Goodwill, as she didn’t have kids, so maybe the OP’s son was seriously just fortunate enough to choose a book with 500 bucks inside?
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Now, this is not the first time people have gotten lucky at a thrift store. Bored Panda has covered a number of similar articles where people shared their unique finds, from a painting that was made by a turtle called Marshmallow to a “cowch,” which is just a couch in a shape of a cow. These are some of the incredible finds you can read about in our articles here and here.
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The post itself received nearly 61K likes and 2,850 retweets. Many opinions and different ideas, which is why we are eager to know what you would do in this situation! Let us know in the comment section below.
I think I'd maybe tell the shop I found 'something' in the book the original owner might want and ask if they knew where it came from. At least then you tried. It may have been cleared out of the home by family of someone who really needed it. If goodwill doesn't know, then there's no more you can do.
Load More Replies...Why, why oh why is this even a question? He bought the book, fair and outright, period. It's his. It's not like he found it on the ground, he bought a hidden treasure. It's not unlike finding a famous artwork at a garage sale. It's the luck of the draw. Who cares what he does with it, it's his business.
A) I know people who intentionally put money into books they donate, imagining the serendipity of it finding its way into the hands of someone who needs it (a booklover to boot!); (B) As someone who tucks notes and cash into my favorite books for my heirs to find, I would personally enjoy knowing that if my heirs had no interest in looking through, or inheriting my favorite books, then my cash or uplifting note makes it into the hands of someone excited to read that book and/or poor enough to need to buy it at a charity shop. (No, my heirs have no idea I tuck anything into my favorite books, but they do know books are my favorite material possessions.
I was thinking the exact same thing. I've heard of people tucking money into the pockets of winter coats they donate. I can totally see this being a similar situation.
Load More Replies...Wait, why is the mom asking? The dude bought it for himself and he is 30 so why is she even asking? Asking to do what? This has nothing to do with her. Why is she so nosy? I don't understand why she posted at all. Keep the money, no one would ever know who donated the book and also, no one is going to care. Check you things before you donate.
It's adorable how many people are suggesting he donate some/all of it. How out of touch can you be.
He bought a book that no one knew was worth $500. It's like someone selling something they don't know is a treasure (even the buyer) until later. You bought it, you keep it. And Goodwill is not a charity, even so, wouldn't be feeling too bad about it.
I'd keep it and not give a penny to charity. I would suffer no guilt over this at all.
Honestly, I'd feel more guilt over a buying a book at good will (and therefore depriving the author of any cut of the proceeds) than I would over keeping any money found between the pages, even a bearer bond worth millions. I bought the book, including it's contents.
Load More Replies...Keep it. The store has no way to track down who it belongs to, and it’s their fault for never taking stuff out of what’s been donated to them. They never even dust off stuff they get in donations. It would be kind if he donated some of it to something, like those little charity boxes they have at grocery store checkout, but he has no obligation to do anything with it. Also Goodwill uses their money for job training purposes, which I don’t think is horrible at all, and the Salvation Army is or at least was for a long time anti-gay and will turn some donated clothes into rags to ship overseas even if the clothes are good quality. So keep the money!
Finders keepers, loser weepers. And don't feel too bad. The CEO of Goodwill makes $2.3M a year.
A few years ago while visiting Vancouver, BC we entered a Chinese gift/decor type shop. We found a few things and when checking out there was a small basket with silver coins (about 1.5" in diameter). I suspected they were probably reproductions as they were priced at just $5 each but I knew they were real silver by the weight and tarnish. If I was correct and they were made of silver, they would be worth at least $22 each in melt value at the current silver pricing. There were 11 of them and I bought them all. If I was wrong I had conversation pieces, if correct I made a $187 profit. I had them checked out. They were actually genuine and worth over $250 each! Did I inform the store owner? Nope. Not my job. Those coins paid for our trip and then some. Not my first find either. Finders keepers...
As a person who has lost, not money, but a very important document precisely this way, I would say a call may be appreciated more than you think. As one of the comments above already said, I wouldn't disclose the exact amount, I would just try to find out if a poor soul out there has already checked in, desperately looking for their money.
The comments saying that him keeping it is akin to theft really annoy me. He bought a book in good faith, they sold it to him. At any time whilst that book was in their possession they could have found the money, but they didn't, so the money is legally his. I went to a flea market once and was thumbing through an old book that I was interested in buying. I saw a $20, then a $50 and then I decided to pay the $2 for the book. All up it contained $350. That money was mine because I bought it for $2.
The fact that this is being debated is insane. He didn't find this money in a public space, he bought it in the book. The book was bought as is, not "less anything of value found between its pages." Keep the money, and flip the bird to anyone telling you you're a bad person for doing so.
I would keep it. It's likely 99.9% that the person that put the money in the book has died and it came from an estate sale or donation without prechecking anything. No one that hides money in books is going to forget they do that and accidentally donate it. If they did by chance donate it that way on purpose, it was because they wanted the buyer to find it believing any Goodwill shopper needed the money. If they intended the money to go to Goodwill, they would not have hidden it and just made a donation.
First, the book was a donation to Goodwill for them to sell. They sold it and got the agreed-upon fee. Good for them. Second, people who shop at Goodwill are typically among the needy. Whoever tucked the money into the book either did it on purpose, or had long forgotten about it before that book was donated, and returning the money to the original donator is not an option. So my advise to the OP’s son is KEEP THE TREASURE YOU FOUND IN YOUR QUEST TO EDUCATE YOUR BRAIN.
It's not a library book, so the last reader can't be traced. He's entitled to keep it.
is someone's name written in the book? maybe you can find the owner i wouldn't call good will and tell them what i found. if there was a possibility i could find the owner on my own i would try that. im not rich but i also know Karma is a b***h if you don't try to return it to it's owner. something good may follow something bad.
I'd check for a name in the book....if I couldn't find it, then I would consider it "my lucky day".....as for donating it.....maybe a portion, but you can bet I'd apply the rest to my electricity bill...I'm not shopping at Goodwill because I'm rollin' in it!
Goodwill is a terrible company. They even still pay their mentally handicapped employees LESS THAN MINIMUM WAGE, however that's legal I will NEVER understand. The money could be offered to the owner of the book if there is an ID inside it, a written name, a stamp, etc. But without an ID of the owner, it's fair game to keep, and there's no requirement to donate anything just because you got lucky.
They do not keep track of who donated items, no way to find out who's it was through them. In my city you simply drop off, you can get a receipt for charitable donation but they do not take an inventory of who donated. Keep it, or donate it.
As someone who lives with my family around same age bracket - my mom would NEVER even erected question like this. That being said, i would NEVER horde to myself. Most likely we would buy something for a household, a window cleaning robot or something
keep it, he bought it so its his, it isnt a lost wallet we're talking about, its a book that he bought thats been passed around who knows how many times,
OK.... so the person or persons who donated the book did not check it out for money or important papers. Goodwill that took the book and did not check it out - So, he should just keep the $500. I work in our public library's used bookstore, and I always check ther books for paperwork or personal items. Most times I just find receipts or other outdated paperwork. Never have found any money yet. If I do. it will be donated to our library.
Play some forward, but keep and enjoy the rest! Put some into your favorite books! lol
Goodwill is not as charitable as you think. Look them up. If you let them know, they will " arrange for the owner" to get the money, and keep it themselves. Sad but true.
I'm but a simple man. So, if fortune smiled my way, I smile all the way to the bank. Maybe I'm a person of questionable ethics to most "decent" people. Honestly, I don't give a toss. If you want to die on a cross, go right ahead.
In my opinion, the only scenario in which he should give it back is if the person who put the money in the book could be traced and the money returned to them directly.
as someone said, the clerks at the store should make sure to check every item before putting it on sale, so they were unaware of the existence of that money in the book. If someone put that amount of money in a book, by mistake, they would've contacted the store right away. The money was clearly put there on purpose, or the person that donated the book is unaware they're missing $500 (a person that would be almost impossible to track down) or probably is not even longer in this world
I can say from a lot of experience that most of these people making themselves out to be moral crusaders online would be the first people to pocket the money and speak nothing of it. They're only moral of they get credit for it. People who would really think it through and maybe do something good with it are the ones on the fence line about it. And no, I'm not trying to make myself look good. I'd keep the money.
I'm not really sure how efficient Goodwill is with it's donations. I'm thinking they've cleaned up their act recently. I'd keep on the simple fact that there's a pretty good chance a person working at goodwill might just pocket it anyways. Look, always return cash when you're pretty sure the true owner will be able to claim it. This isn't that case and to me $20 bills all look the same.
I'm curious as to how he "didn't see" there was $500 in a book. If the book was so cheap, it was probably a paperback. Most people thumb through the book before they buy it to see if there's underlining or missing pages or damage. $500 is not that easy to hide, even in a hard cover book. Even a bent page or book mark will make a gap in the pages. I have found home made bookmarks in books or cards with inspirational poems on it - all gifts from previous owners. Something just doesn't sound right to me.
I missed how it is her problem? Her SON bought book and HE obviously want to keep it. I don't see why she even ask about it cause he already decided to keep it? Is she planning to force her son to gave up HIS money if other people on internet agree with her?
I'd try to locate whoever donated the book, but without any name in the book that would difficult, if not impossible. Security camera footage from a drop off would not likely show single book being donated. This is Goodwill and I doubt they have a security camera on that location anyway. If they have any at all.
When Goodwill takes in an item, they are ultimately responsible for inspecting it to make sure there are no personal items or problems with it. They must've handled it several times to price it and place it on a shelf. With that in mind, if they didn't catch it, it's not your sons problem. They sold it as is including the money. When my husbands Grandparents died, she gave all of their books away to charity. One of the books contained an 1880 $10...very rare. She never knew it was in there. Someone got a nice bargain.
The people that donated the book missed the money. Whoever was in charge of accepting the donation missed the money. Karma landed that money in that man's lap, so it's his. Myself, I'd donate a portion just to keep the karma flowing.
I'd probably keep it if I got the book from a 2nd hand shop, because bringing it back will almost certainly mean that one of the employees will take it (can't really blame them). If I got it from a garage sale or flea market (i.e. directly from the previous owner) I'd probably return it, as they most likely put it there for safekeeping and forgot all about it.
In the UK you are likely to have an obligation to hand the cash into the police and you may be able to claim it back if nobody comes forward after 28 days - I can't find an answer on a minimum amount for this. However this was a goodwill shop - are these not what we call charity shops in the UK? If so, then I would give the money back to them to either re-unite with its owner or to donate to the charity. If not, then that's something else that is screwed up in the US.
Not quite the same. Goodwill Industries have donation centers and stores throughout the US. Because of the way they operate and pay workers who have disabilities, there is debate about whether they are good or bad and whether they deserve their tax exempt status.
Load More Replies...He's 30 years old! Any extenuating circumstances aside, he is a full grown adult and can make his own decisions regarding his money.
Load More Replies...I think I'd maybe tell the shop I found 'something' in the book the original owner might want and ask if they knew where it came from. At least then you tried. It may have been cleared out of the home by family of someone who really needed it. If goodwill doesn't know, then there's no more you can do.
Load More Replies...Why, why oh why is this even a question? He bought the book, fair and outright, period. It's his. It's not like he found it on the ground, he bought a hidden treasure. It's not unlike finding a famous artwork at a garage sale. It's the luck of the draw. Who cares what he does with it, it's his business.
A) I know people who intentionally put money into books they donate, imagining the serendipity of it finding its way into the hands of someone who needs it (a booklover to boot!); (B) As someone who tucks notes and cash into my favorite books for my heirs to find, I would personally enjoy knowing that if my heirs had no interest in looking through, or inheriting my favorite books, then my cash or uplifting note makes it into the hands of someone excited to read that book and/or poor enough to need to buy it at a charity shop. (No, my heirs have no idea I tuck anything into my favorite books, but they do know books are my favorite material possessions.
I was thinking the exact same thing. I've heard of people tucking money into the pockets of winter coats they donate. I can totally see this being a similar situation.
Load More Replies...Wait, why is the mom asking? The dude bought it for himself and he is 30 so why is she even asking? Asking to do what? This has nothing to do with her. Why is she so nosy? I don't understand why she posted at all. Keep the money, no one would ever know who donated the book and also, no one is going to care. Check you things before you donate.
It's adorable how many people are suggesting he donate some/all of it. How out of touch can you be.
He bought a book that no one knew was worth $500. It's like someone selling something they don't know is a treasure (even the buyer) until later. You bought it, you keep it. And Goodwill is not a charity, even so, wouldn't be feeling too bad about it.
I'd keep it and not give a penny to charity. I would suffer no guilt over this at all.
Honestly, I'd feel more guilt over a buying a book at good will (and therefore depriving the author of any cut of the proceeds) than I would over keeping any money found between the pages, even a bearer bond worth millions. I bought the book, including it's contents.
Load More Replies...Keep it. The store has no way to track down who it belongs to, and it’s their fault for never taking stuff out of what’s been donated to them. They never even dust off stuff they get in donations. It would be kind if he donated some of it to something, like those little charity boxes they have at grocery store checkout, but he has no obligation to do anything with it. Also Goodwill uses their money for job training purposes, which I don’t think is horrible at all, and the Salvation Army is or at least was for a long time anti-gay and will turn some donated clothes into rags to ship overseas even if the clothes are good quality. So keep the money!
Finders keepers, loser weepers. And don't feel too bad. The CEO of Goodwill makes $2.3M a year.
A few years ago while visiting Vancouver, BC we entered a Chinese gift/decor type shop. We found a few things and when checking out there was a small basket with silver coins (about 1.5" in diameter). I suspected they were probably reproductions as they were priced at just $5 each but I knew they were real silver by the weight and tarnish. If I was correct and they were made of silver, they would be worth at least $22 each in melt value at the current silver pricing. There were 11 of them and I bought them all. If I was wrong I had conversation pieces, if correct I made a $187 profit. I had them checked out. They were actually genuine and worth over $250 each! Did I inform the store owner? Nope. Not my job. Those coins paid for our trip and then some. Not my first find either. Finders keepers...
As a person who has lost, not money, but a very important document precisely this way, I would say a call may be appreciated more than you think. As one of the comments above already said, I wouldn't disclose the exact amount, I would just try to find out if a poor soul out there has already checked in, desperately looking for their money.
The comments saying that him keeping it is akin to theft really annoy me. He bought a book in good faith, they sold it to him. At any time whilst that book was in their possession they could have found the money, but they didn't, so the money is legally his. I went to a flea market once and was thumbing through an old book that I was interested in buying. I saw a $20, then a $50 and then I decided to pay the $2 for the book. All up it contained $350. That money was mine because I bought it for $2.
The fact that this is being debated is insane. He didn't find this money in a public space, he bought it in the book. The book was bought as is, not "less anything of value found between its pages." Keep the money, and flip the bird to anyone telling you you're a bad person for doing so.
I would keep it. It's likely 99.9% that the person that put the money in the book has died and it came from an estate sale or donation without prechecking anything. No one that hides money in books is going to forget they do that and accidentally donate it. If they did by chance donate it that way on purpose, it was because they wanted the buyer to find it believing any Goodwill shopper needed the money. If they intended the money to go to Goodwill, they would not have hidden it and just made a donation.
First, the book was a donation to Goodwill for them to sell. They sold it and got the agreed-upon fee. Good for them. Second, people who shop at Goodwill are typically among the needy. Whoever tucked the money into the book either did it on purpose, or had long forgotten about it before that book was donated, and returning the money to the original donator is not an option. So my advise to the OP’s son is KEEP THE TREASURE YOU FOUND IN YOUR QUEST TO EDUCATE YOUR BRAIN.
It's not a library book, so the last reader can't be traced. He's entitled to keep it.
is someone's name written in the book? maybe you can find the owner i wouldn't call good will and tell them what i found. if there was a possibility i could find the owner on my own i would try that. im not rich but i also know Karma is a b***h if you don't try to return it to it's owner. something good may follow something bad.
I'd check for a name in the book....if I couldn't find it, then I would consider it "my lucky day".....as for donating it.....maybe a portion, but you can bet I'd apply the rest to my electricity bill...I'm not shopping at Goodwill because I'm rollin' in it!
Goodwill is a terrible company. They even still pay their mentally handicapped employees LESS THAN MINIMUM WAGE, however that's legal I will NEVER understand. The money could be offered to the owner of the book if there is an ID inside it, a written name, a stamp, etc. But without an ID of the owner, it's fair game to keep, and there's no requirement to donate anything just because you got lucky.
They do not keep track of who donated items, no way to find out who's it was through them. In my city you simply drop off, you can get a receipt for charitable donation but they do not take an inventory of who donated. Keep it, or donate it.
As someone who lives with my family around same age bracket - my mom would NEVER even erected question like this. That being said, i would NEVER horde to myself. Most likely we would buy something for a household, a window cleaning robot or something
keep it, he bought it so its his, it isnt a lost wallet we're talking about, its a book that he bought thats been passed around who knows how many times,
OK.... so the person or persons who donated the book did not check it out for money or important papers. Goodwill that took the book and did not check it out - So, he should just keep the $500. I work in our public library's used bookstore, and I always check ther books for paperwork or personal items. Most times I just find receipts or other outdated paperwork. Never have found any money yet. If I do. it will be donated to our library.
Play some forward, but keep and enjoy the rest! Put some into your favorite books! lol
Goodwill is not as charitable as you think. Look them up. If you let them know, they will " arrange for the owner" to get the money, and keep it themselves. Sad but true.
I'm but a simple man. So, if fortune smiled my way, I smile all the way to the bank. Maybe I'm a person of questionable ethics to most "decent" people. Honestly, I don't give a toss. If you want to die on a cross, go right ahead.
In my opinion, the only scenario in which he should give it back is if the person who put the money in the book could be traced and the money returned to them directly.
as someone said, the clerks at the store should make sure to check every item before putting it on sale, so they were unaware of the existence of that money in the book. If someone put that amount of money in a book, by mistake, they would've contacted the store right away. The money was clearly put there on purpose, or the person that donated the book is unaware they're missing $500 (a person that would be almost impossible to track down) or probably is not even longer in this world
I can say from a lot of experience that most of these people making themselves out to be moral crusaders online would be the first people to pocket the money and speak nothing of it. They're only moral of they get credit for it. People who would really think it through and maybe do something good with it are the ones on the fence line about it. And no, I'm not trying to make myself look good. I'd keep the money.
I'm not really sure how efficient Goodwill is with it's donations. I'm thinking they've cleaned up their act recently. I'd keep on the simple fact that there's a pretty good chance a person working at goodwill might just pocket it anyways. Look, always return cash when you're pretty sure the true owner will be able to claim it. This isn't that case and to me $20 bills all look the same.
I'm curious as to how he "didn't see" there was $500 in a book. If the book was so cheap, it was probably a paperback. Most people thumb through the book before they buy it to see if there's underlining or missing pages or damage. $500 is not that easy to hide, even in a hard cover book. Even a bent page or book mark will make a gap in the pages. I have found home made bookmarks in books or cards with inspirational poems on it - all gifts from previous owners. Something just doesn't sound right to me.
I missed how it is her problem? Her SON bought book and HE obviously want to keep it. I don't see why she even ask about it cause he already decided to keep it? Is she planning to force her son to gave up HIS money if other people on internet agree with her?
I'd try to locate whoever donated the book, but without any name in the book that would difficult, if not impossible. Security camera footage from a drop off would not likely show single book being donated. This is Goodwill and I doubt they have a security camera on that location anyway. If they have any at all.
When Goodwill takes in an item, they are ultimately responsible for inspecting it to make sure there are no personal items or problems with it. They must've handled it several times to price it and place it on a shelf. With that in mind, if they didn't catch it, it's not your sons problem. They sold it as is including the money. When my husbands Grandparents died, she gave all of their books away to charity. One of the books contained an 1880 $10...very rare. She never knew it was in there. Someone got a nice bargain.
The people that donated the book missed the money. Whoever was in charge of accepting the donation missed the money. Karma landed that money in that man's lap, so it's his. Myself, I'd donate a portion just to keep the karma flowing.
I'd probably keep it if I got the book from a 2nd hand shop, because bringing it back will almost certainly mean that one of the employees will take it (can't really blame them). If I got it from a garage sale or flea market (i.e. directly from the previous owner) I'd probably return it, as they most likely put it there for safekeeping and forgot all about it.
In the UK you are likely to have an obligation to hand the cash into the police and you may be able to claim it back if nobody comes forward after 28 days - I can't find an answer on a minimum amount for this. However this was a goodwill shop - are these not what we call charity shops in the UK? If so, then I would give the money back to them to either re-unite with its owner or to donate to the charity. If not, then that's something else that is screwed up in the US.
Not quite the same. Goodwill Industries have donation centers and stores throughout the US. Because of the way they operate and pay workers who have disabilities, there is debate about whether they are good or bad and whether they deserve their tax exempt status.
Load More Replies...He's 30 years old! Any extenuating circumstances aside, he is a full grown adult and can make his own decisions regarding his money.
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