There comes a time when we often want to get rid of our possessions, so what better way than to just sell them? Most people prefer to sell their old and used possessions easily by holding garage sales and estate sales. It becomes quite an advantage for buyers as the prices drop really as compared to their original prices. Estate sales are usually handled by people outside of the family and hence, the sellers do not necessarily know the sentiments that the family might hold for these items. When Emil Knodell visited an estate sale in Missouri City, Texas, he went on to discover this family's long hidden secret.
There was a 67-year-old retired marketing director Emil Knodell who by chance went on a visit to Missouri City, Texas. There he did not expect anything when he went to attend an event lead by Premier Estates Sales Network. It was like any other estate sale that he had been to but when he bought an unsuspecting dresser, he did not think it would become such a big deal.
Emil is the type of guy who loves to look for items at garage sales and estate sales. He enjoyed fishing for something interesting and has always been fond of such type of sales. “I always come to a sale with an open mind because you never know,” he later revealed to an interviewer. He makes sure he goes to such events, ready to buy something that attracts him.
If you have never heard about estate sales, allow us to explain how they usually work. Estate sales mostly occur after somebody passes away to make sure that their home’s materials and assets can be liquidated. It is a very effective way to make sure the family gets a certain worth of the possessions previously owned by their deceased relatives.
Since there sales are meant to be executed very quickly and as efficiently as possible, the probability of getting to have a major bargain on an item that’s worth more than initially estimated is incredibly high. As a person who has gone to several of these, this fact is something that Emil knows really well. He had always found something or the other that took his interest.
So if in case you feel like you would be up for going to explore an estate sale, you must remember that you may not always get the price you want. Even though there is a high chance that you would get an incredible deal at one of these sales, there is one thing you must remember. As estate sale is usually run by experts who are highly aware of everything that goes on.
Since these experts have been employed to deal with the sale of the family's possessions, they need to be aware of everything that goes on. After all, this is the ideal place for bargain hunters to discover antiques or other valuable items for less. Just like this man, you can never be too sure that one random day, you might find yourself discovering something worthwhile.
As Emil was walking around and looking at the items on this estate sale, he was open to buying things but was not particularly searching for anything specific. But at this particular event, Emil came upon a dresser immediately caught his attention. It was supposedly from the 1890s and it featured a solid marble top and three drawers. It was not too striking but was enough for him to inspect it...
During the first day of the sale, this drawer had been placed at $300. And as we all know, the prices tend to drop really quickly during these sales. However, by the time Emil found it, they were able to give him the drawer in exchange for just $100! Since it did not hold too much value just by looking, the sellers were in a hurry to just sell it. No one knew what a bargain this would turn out to be.
Even though these estate sales are usually handled by experts, they too often leave out details or forget to check items properly. So even for Premier Estate Sales, they were really unaware of just how much this dresser was worth. They knew that it was not at all worthless, but they were certainly not aware of what it was actually worth. It would surprise everyone, even Emil himself...
So after purchasing the drawer for just $100, it was time to take it home. They got done with the sale and then it was finally time for loading the drawer to Emil's vehicle. Jeff Allen, who is a staff member for the company, was assisting Emil in keeping the large dresser into his truck, as he had requested him to do so. And just then, something unexpected took place...
Jeff and Emil then tried to get the drawer onto the trunk of his car. “He asked for help loading it,” Jeff told the interviewers who asked about what took place during that time. “As soon as we laid it down, it started making all this racket on the inside," he revealed, talking about how they ended up realizing this was not just any random drawer, that it was holding a very big secret that no one was aware.
As soon as they heard the strange sound coming from the drawer, it made them extra curious to uncover why it did so. "Obviously we were very intrigued with what was happening with the dresser,” Jeff admitted, to the people who were interviewing him. The two men were set on finding out what had been hiding there during the time the whole estate sale was going on.
As soon as the noise came from inside the drawer, Emil and Jeff were sure that this drawer was not at all empty. They were so confused by the strange noises that the dresser was making because there was no information given that it was hiding something inside. So the men knew they had to investigate and figure out why such a bizarre sound had come when they moved the drawer.
The two of them made a quick decision to take a closer look at the drawer. They then laid the dresser down upright, still not expecting to find anything much. Since they were not suspecting to find anything, the two men were so shocked to see that it did carry something no one could have ever imagined. What would be your guess regarding what these two found inside?
The two men were puzzled, and after all, who could blame them? This drawer did not leave any signs to suggest that it was holding something totally unexpected inside. “When you look at the front of it, it looks like it has three obvious drawers with molding on the base,” informed Emil, describing what took place during their time of realization.
Now although the drawer seemed unsuspecting, he did explain what gave it away. Emil revealed to the interviewers, “But the bottom has a secret drawer that opens up.” So that was when the two realized that this was not just another pretty drawer. It had a storage space that was obviously used for keeping something. So what were the items kept inside the drawer?
So what usually happens is that, when families employ these experts to sell their estate, they are expected to check every detail of the items being put up for sale. But then, as these people are only human, there are times when they make mistakes or get forgetful too. And so, everybody, even the professionals included, missed the secret compartment that was there all along!
And of course, the two of them were about to open the secret drawer. After realizing what had been hiding in plain sight, Jeff and Emil could not believe what they discovered inside. There was so much treasure that they found, hiding in the secret compartment. Who would have known that a sneaky compartment kept on the drawer would be hoarding so many precious goods?
As soon as they found out the treasure that had remained hidden in the drawer, the two men were quite excited. Surely, seeing so much treasure so suddenly would give anyone a rise in the pace of their heartbeat. “It was a real adrenaline rush,” confessed Jeff, “Both of us were in shock for a second.” And who can blame them? They were just trying to load the drawer, not discover so many precious goods.
It would most definitely be hard to contain your excitement or shock when such a big surprise as this comes your way! What seemed like an ordinary kitchen drawer was shielding so much treasure, unbeknownst to everyone who had seen or walked around it. It was a good enough deal for Emil to get the drawer to drop from $300 to $100, but to add all this? It was certainly the best bargain he could ever get...
So what treasure did this drawer exactly hide from the rest of the world? Well, prepare to get amazed because it is not a piece of a joke what was kept inside it. The two guys found diamonds, emeralds, coins, rings, bracelets, military dog tags, currency from all over the world, and medals from the Civil War. These are such unbelievable finding, don't you agree?
And the weirdest discovery that was kept inside was not all these. There was actually a lock of hair that had been kept alongside all of these other precious items! Emil and Jeff were awestruck as they expected to find some petty items inside. However, these were indeed the most unexpected things they could ever uncover. They were valuable pieces of history that had remained untouched for a long while.
This drawer turned out to be the opposite of what everyone assumed. Not only was it hiding all these amazing items, but it might also have been from the late 19th century. If this dresser was actually from the late 19th century and we can assure you that all signs point towards this face, it would be on high demand actually. This antique piece that no one paid attention to was actually quite valuable...
If at all this dresser dated back to the late 19th century, then there is a high possibility that there would be some collectors out there who would love to get their hands on it. You would be quite surprised to learn about the high demands that these antique items hold on collectors. So if ever you go to an estate sale, never underestimate the value of something that looks ordinary, you just never know...
So, as Jeff was one of the employees at Premier Estate Sales, he was able to make use of his professional expertise to give an approximation of the worth of the dresser. After all, it ended up not being just the drawer, but a secret box that held so much treasure. Jeff then suspected all of the contents inside of it, after which he estimated the worth of the drawer to be a whopping $15,000.
So after trying to load the dresser onto Emil's trunk, Jeff and he ended up with the most unusual discovery. And in the end, after looking at all the prospects, the price of the dresser went up to more than 150 times what Emil originally paid for it a little while back. All thanks to the secret compartment at the bottom of the drawer, the value went up incredibly higher...
We should remember the formalities followed by estate sales such as this. All the things listed on the sale are up for purchase. But still, there was a hiccup. Since none of these objects were considered in the sale, was Emil going to be able to take all of them home? After all, he was the one who spotted the dresser and wanted to take it home in the first place anyway.
So indeed, since the purchase was already made, everything belonged to Emil at that point. And there was certainly nothing that could stop him from walking home with the dresser now estimated to be worth $15,000. Because none of the experts spotted the dresser first, it was now rightfully his, wasn't it? Would Emil do the right thing in this situation?
If you were in his positions, how would you go about dealing with this tricky situation? Since it was still perfectly legal, for Emil to exhibit a “finders keepers” attitude, do you think he was right to take home the dresser and everything it had inside of it? Since this was a very rare occurrence of discovering precious items inside the sale items, what was right and what was wrong?
We can assume that most of us would go home and take everything. After all, whatever was in the drawer had not been listed and the experts were not aware of them being present, and the dresser had technically been bought, so Emil could have just taken all. However, he didn’t feel like that would have been the proper course of action. So what did he end up doing?
Even though it would make sense if he decided to keep everything, Emil was a man of moral who did not feel right about owning things he did not buy. “I bought the chest (of) drawers. I didn’t buy those things,” Emil revealed, speaking about why he would not feel right keeping all these treasures. Emil was not someone who liked to take things that did not belong to him.
To clarify the feeling that he had inside, Emile disclosed to the interviewers, “If I kept them, I would never feel right about it. There would be a cloud over the whole thing. It’s a feeling more than anything else.” In his head, he could get comfortable keeping all these items that could have had monetary or sentimental value to the family that was selling their possessions.
While most of us would be happy to take home the drawer along with all the other precious items inside it, there was one good reason why Emil would never be able to do this. “I’m an old ex-Marine, and I try to do the right thing,” Emil revealed. So, according to him, the things that felt wrong or unethical were out of the question. He could never bring himself to do those things.
He further explained what took place when they made the startling discovery. “Jeff also, the man in charge, his immediate reaction was ‘let’s call the owner.’ There was never a question of anyone keeping it. It was ‘this is fantastic. Let’s call the owner and get the stuff back to them,'” Emil later confessed. He and Jeff wanted to make sure they were with the rightful owners.
So after Jeff suggested that the two of them should call the family concerned, they decided to locate them. And it turned out, the son of the deceased was the executor of the estate. So when they informed him about the items in the dresser, even he was utterly shocked. He was not aware that such precious items had been locked away without his knowledge all these years.
After calling him, Jeff was told by the executor that he remembered seeing the dresser placed in his grandparents’ Michigan home. But, just like the people working there, he had never been curious enough to actually look at the dresser to discover what all it had been hiding. He was clearly unaware of all the things that his ancestors were hiding in the secret compartment.
So since Emil was not comfortable keeping the stuff that the drawer held inside, there was only one thing left for him to do. He did everything in his power to make sure the valuable items that he discovered in the secret drawer found their way back to the family. He was not about to do anything that felt wrong to him. After all, according to him, he only bought the drawer and nothing else.
Since he would not feel right about hoarding all the valuables that were kept inside the drawer, Emil was certain that he had done the right thing. And also, knowing that he had made an ethical choice must have given him some peace of mind! As a man who served in the marine, he knew that his morals had to be respected and not go with what was easy.
Do you agree when we say that it is indeed remarkable for Emil to decide that giving back the items was the right thing to do? He returned the items very quickly too which made it more clear that he was a man of his words. We are certain that the family who received their dresser back was truly grateful, even though they never cared to check the things stored inside it.