Man Thrifts Aircraft Engine Part for $30, Thinks It's Worth More Than $223K

A post about a man who stumbled upon an aircraft engine part at a thrift store in Washington state and later discovered it could be worth more than $223,000 has captivated users on Reddit. Zach, 35, who did not share his last name or location with Newsweek, posted several images of the unusual find in a post on Reddit under the username u/Akuda in the r/ThriftStoreHauls subreddit. The post has had 4,800 upvotes since it was posted on February 18. A caption shared with the post reads: "Found a $223k jet engine part for $30 at Goodwill. Can I do anything with it without its trace documents or FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] form 8130? No. Did I still buy it? Yes." The incredible find comes at a time when thrifting was reported to be growing in popularity, driven by a rising interest in sustainable shopping and budget-friendly alternatives to buying new products.

Thrift store revenue has been on the rise, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.5 percent, reaching $14.2 billion, according to an August 2024 report by Research and Markets. The report found that the trend is fueled by increased consumer spending and the growing demand for eco-conscious shopping. Zach told Newsweek that he found the part while browsing a Goodwill store in the central part of Washington state on February 17. "I found and purchased it on Monday the 17th, which just so happens to also be my birthday," he said. As an experienced reseller, Zach and his wife run a successful eBay business, frequently flipping items they find at thrift stores and yard sales. "I go to thrift stores on average one to two times a week. I love digging for treasures in other people's junk," he said. At first, Zach wasn't entirely sure what he had found, but he recognized the logo of Honeywell International—a well-known aerospace manufacturer—stamped on the part. "I knew that Honeywell has both consumer as well as commercial and even military manufacturing, but that was it," he said. "I make it a habit to thoroughly research something if I don't know what it is and this part most certainly fits that bill."

Zach later learned more about the component through a fellow Redditor, who claimed to work in the aviation industry. According to the other Reddit user's comment, the part belongs to an Airbus A330, a large commercial aircraft used by airlines worldwide. To confirm this, Zach began researching the part numbers stamped on the component. This led him to the website of Aeroval, an aftermarket company specializing in selling spare aircraft parts. In his Reddit post, he shared a screenshot from Aeroval's site, displaying detailed specifications of the component as well as its unit price, which was listed as $223,520. The part number (P/N) on the engine part he purchased appears to match the part number listed on the Aeroval website. After further research, Zach realized that the part number only referred to one section of the component and the piece actually contained multiple parts. "After making this post, I discovered that the part number refers only to the piece it's stamped on and, in fact, this is closer to a half-dozen individual parts, stamped with aftermarket pricing ranging from around $8,000 for a small solenoid and up to $223,000 for the autonomous valve," he explained. Despite the astronomical pricing he uncovered, Zach is realistic about what he might actually get for the item. "Now, I totally recognize I won't be able to get anything remotely close to that—if I can sell it at all, for that matter," he said. "It's just really amazing that someone discarded hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of commercial aviation parts, even if they are non-functional."

'The Most Valuable Find'

Reddit users were amazed by the unusual find. User handsmahoney said: "This might be the most valuable find on this board." AaronSlaughter praised the poster having a "great eye," adding "when i see something I've never seen before, [I] buy it." Helpful_Conflict_715 said: "Love this! Seriously hope you can unload it for [bag of money emoji]." User mattmanera said: "I wonder if one of the service centers would just buy it off you to resell themselves. Even if you could get $50k, that'd be the best flip I've ever seen even on the internet." Do you have a thrifting-related story to share? Let us know via life@newsweek.com and your story could be featured on Newsweek.