Best $2 ever spent? Woman shares incredible find at Goodwill that she 'may never recover from'

From diamonds to artifacts, there is a lot to find in thrift stores for the lucky ones. Such a lucky woman emerged on TikTok recently, who found a first edition copy of “The Notebook”, signed by author Nicolas Sparks, at a thrift shop. As per Newsweek, Maine resident Jamie Clark (@jamiekennyclark in TikTok) bagged the rare edition of the book for just $2 from her local Goodwill store. The discovery left viewers stunned but many of them had a complaint to make.

Goodwill Hunting: The Signed First Edition of The Notebook For $2

In her now-viral video, Clark shows how she found the book while browsing the store's book section. She told Newsweek that she saw a familiar spine of a book and recognized it immediately. In the video, Clark appeared visibly excited as she said, "You have to see this.” She then showed off the $2 price tag on the book’s cover and the signature of the author inside.

In the caption of the video, Clark wrote, "I may never recover from this score at Goodwill."

In the next clip, Clark said she was back home and had just gotten the $2 sticker off the book. She then says that it wasn’t the first signed edition of the book that she got. She explains that her husband had got the same first edition book, signed by Nicholas Sparks as an anniversary gift to her, a few years ago.

"He bought it from AbeBooks, spending several hundred dollars on it,” she says in the video. She then shows the two books side by side and everything appears to be the same. From the cover, and condition to the signature. “I am now an official collector of first-edition copies of The Notebook. I'm so excited,” Clark says in the video.

The romantic drama set in the 1940s has been a popular read. It was then adapted into a movie starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.

Clark said when she told her husband about the discovery, he hilariously reminded her of the sentimental value of the original gift that he got her. Clark said that she plans to give the two copies, which have a unique story of their own, to her two daughters in the future.

Several viewers in the comment section were equally amazed to witness the lucky find. “That’s like a $300 dollar book in that condition,” wrote user @anonymous01105.

Meanwhile, some users shared stories of their lucky finds, relating to the creator. “I felt the same way finding a vintage cast iron pan worth $200 for $7 at Value Village, shared user @attila_the_nun42. However, some users weren’t happy with Clark. “Part of me finds it really annoying that you’d buy it considering you literally already have one? Why not leave it for someone else to luckily find lol,” wrote another user @exbottom.

Power of the Thrift Gods

In a similar $2 story, a Redditor found a designer Versace scarf at a thrift store for just $2. The shopper posted a photo of the luxury fashion scarf on Reddit's forum r/ThriftStoreHauls.

Unlike Clark, the user wasn’t aware of the value of the scarf and they only learned it after getting it home. Thus, they may be luckier than Clark in this case as their find was pure out of chance.

For more such interesting videos, vlogs, and entertaining content, follow Jamie Clark @jamiekennyclark on TikTok.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 7, 2024. It has since been updated.