Jul 23, 2026
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Add us on GoogleThrifting has been on the rise with Generation Z for a few years, but a windfall from an Oregon teen is likely to give the trend of digging through secondhand stores for treasure a big boost.
Quinn Brown, a 19-year-old who resells thrifted clothes online, scored the mother of all finds earlier this year, when he spotted a warmup jacket worn by Wilt Chamberlain in the 1972 NBA finals at his local Goodwill store.
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He bought it for $3 and put it up for auction with Sotheby’s. When bidding ended on July 20, the jacket sold for $89,600.
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As steep as that number is, it’s notably lower than the auction house had expected the jacket would fetch. Sotheby’s estimate was between $150,000 and $250,000. (Last year, a game-worn Chamberlain jersey from those same finals sold for $4.9 million).
A close call
Brown almost missed out on the chance to get the jacket. When he first spotted it, he said, it was in the hands of another thrifter.
“I know a good amount about vintage items, so I was able to tell that it was probably worth waiting to see if they got rid of it,” he told The Oregonian.
“A lot of people just throw things back. I stood next to him, and after, like, 20 seconds of standing there, he ended up throwing it right in front of me.”
He quickly grabbed it.
Thinking it could be authentic, he posted a picture of it on Instagram, where it was spotted by Sotheby’s. It was transported, via an armored van, to New York, where the auction house authenticated it as one worn in the 1972 finals.
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Last-minute three-pointer
For a while, it looked like the auction was going to end at a notably lower figure. With just 30 seconds left, bids had only reached as high as $70,000. Then, the buyer swept in at the last minute, much like Walt Frazier did past Chamberlain at the very end of Game 4 of the ‘72 NBA finals, with a bid of $89,600.
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Unlike the ‘72 finals (where Chamberlain and the Lakers pulled out a win in overtime), there was no comeback for the previous leader. The last-minute bidder won the jacket.
Brown said he plans to save most of the money raised in the auction, but does plan to take a cheap trip to Vietnam with friends with some of the proceeds.
When he gets back, though, he intends to keep thrifting and reselling the goods he finds.
“It’s just more of a motivator to continue,” he said of finding the Chamberlain jacket, “because I’m a lot closer to where I want to be in my life financially.”
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Chris Morris is a veteran journalist with more than 35 years of experience at many of the internet's biggest news outlets. In addition to his activities as a writer, reporter and editor, Chris is also a frequent panel moderator and speaker at major conferences, including CES and South by Southwest.
