LA man paid $50 for old chair; rare 1930s design later sold for $107,950

Justin Miller, a home design content creator from Los Angeles, spent half an hour scrolling through Facebook Marketplace. Most days, the search turned up nothing worth a second look.

But in February 2023, he stumbled upon something unique: a chair. And that chair changed his year. He bought it for $50 and ended up selling it at a Sotheby’s auction on June 7 for $107,950 (including premiums).

An unassuming chair

The listing was part of a yard sale at a home in Beverly Hills. The seller wanted $50 for a leather armchair. Miller, who was only 33 at the time, thought the colour of the leather was striking. He also liked the shape, which looked unusual to him.

Although he knew little about furniture, he thought the chair was a bargain. “I’m not a furniture expert by any means. But I have a good eye, and I can tell when something is really unique,” Miller said in a TikTok post after finding the chair.

That was enough for him to pay the asking price and drive the chair home.While he was arranging a collection time with the seller, he received a message that stuck with him. The seller told him that if he repaired the chair, it would be worth a lot.

Miller took the comment seriously. He searched online and learned that the chair was truly unique.The oak and leather chair was made by Frits Henningsen, a Danish designer who worked in the 1930s. Only about 50 of these chairs were believed to have been made. Some similar pieces had already sold for six figures.

Reaching out to Sotheby’s

Miller posted about his find on social media, and the comments were full of advice. Many viewers told him to contact an auction house, and he did.

He reached out to Sotheby’s, and they agreed to restore the chair and sell it. They repaired the torn areas, conditioned the leather and tightened the fabric under the seat. The auction house gave the chair a pre-sale estimate of $30,000 to $50,000.

Three minutes and a number that simply didn’t make sense

The auction on June 7 lasted just under three minutes. Bids climbed past the estimate, and the chair sold for $85,000. With the buyer’s premium, the final total came to $107,950.Miller watched the sale live and recorded his reaction. The video went viral, garnering over four million views in a matter of hours. Carina Villinger, Sotheby’s head of 20th-century design, said the result set a record price for a chair by Henningsen. “We are absolutely delighted that Justin’s chair achieved this outstanding result. From the moment he contacted Sotheby’s to restore and sell his armchair, we’ve enjoyed learning about his discovery, which achieved a record price for this model by Frits Henningsen,” she told TODAY.Miller is delighted that his $50 chair earned him a fortune. He continues to hunt for bargains. “People always tell me they don’t find anything good on Facebook Marketplace. But they just aren’t looking hard enough.”