Secret $30K find in op shop sofa

A retiree who gave away an old leather couch in attempt to downsize realised he’d made a costly mistake: He’d given away his life savings.

Queensland man George told 7 News he donated the grey and brown leather couch to an op-shop in the state’s southeast earlier this year.

George, going by a pseudonym, said he was preparing to renovate his house in order to sell and downsize when he gave away the couch.

It wasn’t until weeks later that the retiree realised he’d left $30,000 in cash stuffed inside one of the sections of the couch.

George told 7 News he believed he had kept the section containing the cash when he gave away three parts of the five-section couch set.

“I didn’t even think about it for a few weeks. It wasn’t on my radar,” George told 7 News.

“I think the bit that really hurts is that I’ve done this to myself, and I can’t believe how bloody stupid I was, honestly.

“I really did have to stop and say, ‘You’re human, you made a mistake. If you don’t repeat it, you’ve learned a valuable lesson – and an expensive one’.

“I’ll move on. It just hurts.”

George said his efforts so far to locate the couch had been in vain.

He called the op-shop and was told the couch had been resold within days.

Worse still, the couch had been picked up and not delivered, making it impossible to track.

Nonetheless, George launched an online campaign to find the couch and his life savings.

He even offered a reward in the hopes of retrieving at least some of his savings.

If that doesn’t happen, George said he held out hope that perhaps he had gifted someone a better life.

“If I get a portion back, I’ll be happy, but I think it’s gone,” he said.

“There are a lot of people in dire need. Maybe it’ll transform someone’s life.”