The Really, Really Expensive Moral of This Story: Check Before Donating Stuff 

Yep. It’s happened again. Someone lost a bunch of money by not researching before donating an item to a thrift store. The original Nintendo Entertainment System popular game The Legend of Zelda was introduced in 1986. It sold for $49.99, which for casual gamers who bought it and never opened it, is turning out to be quite the investment. A Goodwill store in Connecticut just made $411,278 selling a donated, unopened 1986 NES The Legend of Zelda game on its website. The good news is that Goodwill is going to use the money to open a career center in Stamford, Connecticut.

Vintage video games (along with sneakers; check here for our story on that buying/selling trend) are getting astounding prices at auction. Recently, a sealed, collector-graded copy of the original Super Mario Bros. sold for $660,000 at auction. Other jaw-dropping sales include a rare early version of The Legend of Zelda earned $870,000. A sealed copy of Super Mario 64 broke records with a $1.56 million sale.

Want to avoid losing out on a great item that has been sitting in your attic or a closet for decades? Check out our downsizing tips here.

Photo:  ShopGoodwill.com