How Investing In Goodwill Art Made $63,000

Early this month a story was published across various news outlets about Laura Young, who found a beautiful sculpture at an Austin, TX Goodwill Boutique.  

Early this month a story was published across various news outlets about Laura Young, who found a beautiful sculpture at an Austin, TX Goodwill Boutique.  

Laura is an antiques collector and thought she found something nice.  The sculpture was heavy and appeared to be made out of real marble.  The $35 price tag seemed a little bit high for a Goodwill store, but its beauty and strength made the purchase an easy decision.

Fast forward through countless conversations with art historians, lawyers, and German authorities, Laura discovered that her $35 dollar bust was a piece created as early as the late first century B.C.  The sculpture is believed to depict the son of Pompey the Great, who was defeated by Julius Caesar.  The piece was likely looted during WW2, as it was originally part of a collection of a German King.

The story has two fascinating elements.  First, the sculpture was found at a Goodwill in Texas and was kept in remarkable condition.  Second, it was found by an antiques collector who knew what to do.  Laura Young, who purchased the bust for $35, was savvy enough to understand the ramifications of holding such a piece and returned it to the rightful owner.  It is believed that Laura will not make any money off of her amazing find.

However, Laura has struck gold in the past.  A regular visitor of antique shops and Goodwill’s, this wasn’t her first valuable find.  She reported to The Art Newspaper she once bought a Chinese painting for cheap and later sold it for $63,000.

Art can be valuable, and the processes for validating, appraising, and selling can be tough to navigate.  If you want to invest in art without the daily trips to goodwill and countless hours of research, consider investing with Masterworks.

Masterworks allows you to invest in some of the most famous pieces of art in the world.  They offer fractional ownership and produce returns over 14%.