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Mom Asks People Online If Her Son Is Right For Keeping The Money Found In A Book He Thrifted
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Mom Asks People Online If Her Son Is Right For Keeping The Money Found In A Book He Thrifted

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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.

More info: twitter.com

It’s not every day you find ‘free money’ lying on the floor or hidden in an old book

Image credits: Vsevolod Knyazev

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

Image credits: bebe1969

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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Image credits: bebe1969

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

Image credits: Jessicam6946

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.

Image credits: johnstruthers

Some even say that keeping the money would be the same as taking advantage of other’s people’s mistakes.

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Image credits: frankingeneral

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.

Image credits: Frank_TIHZHO

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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.

Image credits: caroljsroth

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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.

Image credits: DemiBro07416294

Some have come up with a plan on how to track down the previous owner

Image credits: JasonSamfield

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Image credits: TheBloggess

Image credits: marcguer

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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Image credits: AilsaLillywhite

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.

Image credits: Islandgirlpixie

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.

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Robertas Lisickis

Robertas Lisickis

Writer, BoredPanda staff

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Some time ago, Robertas used to spend his days watching how deep the imprint in his chair will become as he wrote for Bored Panda. Wrote about pretty much everything under and beyond the sun. Not anymore, though. He's now probably playing Gwent or hosting Dungeons and Dragons adventures for those with an inclination for chaos.

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Robertas Lisickis

Robertas Lisickis

Writer, BoredPanda staff

Some time ago, Robertas used to spend his days watching how deep the imprint in his chair will become as he wrote for Bored Panda. Wrote about pretty much everything under and beyond the sun. Not anymore, though. He's now probably playing Gwent or hosting Dungeons and Dragons adventures for those with an inclination for chaos.

Darja Zinina

Darja Zinina

Writer, Community member

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Darja is a Content Creator at Bored Panda. She studied at the University of Westminster, where she got her Bachelor's degree in Contemporary Media Practice. She loves photography, foreign music and re-watching Forrest Gump.

Read less »

Darja Zinina

Darja Zinina

Writer, Community member

Darja is a Content Creator at Bored Panda. She studied at the University of Westminster, where she got her Bachelor's degree in Contemporary Media Practice. She loves photography, foreign music and re-watching Forrest Gump.

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TitanFoxX
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Keep it ? Yes. Since nobody can 100% guarantee that it is theirs.

RaroaRaroa
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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Otter
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He keeps it. He is now the legal owner of the book and its contents, and I don't see how he can find the previous owner unless the previous owner stamped their name and address in the book. Some people do.

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TitanFoxX
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Keep it ? Yes. Since nobody can 100% guarantee that it is theirs.

RaroaRaroa
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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Otter
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He keeps it. He is now the legal owner of the book and its contents, and I don't see how he can find the previous owner unless the previous owner stamped their name and address in the book. Some people do.

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