A TikTok user from Texas who posts under the handle @dylanmiranda1o bought a used Coach bag at a Goodwill store for $6.99. While cleaning the bag, she said she found a hidden flap at the bottom that contained an envelope with a handwritten letter and $300 in cash.
The user posted a video of the discovery, and it has since gained 182,600 views and more than 24,200 likes. The caption of her video reads, “Check your mother’s purses before you donate them to goodwill! #justsaying #omgchallenge #foundmoney #goodwillfinds #goodwill”
In the video, she shows the green Goodwill price tag marked “6.99” and pans the camera over the inside of the bag, describing it as dirty. She says, “Look inside, it’s like dirty, right, and cruddy. So I thought I could clean it up, you know.”
Letter inside the bag says it holds an inheritance for the writer’s children
While trying to clean the bag, she says she noticed a flap at the bottom of the purse. “So I start working on trying to take this flap out at the bottom of the purse, and there is an envelope in there with money,” she says in the video. Finding hidden treasures in secondhand bags is a thrill, such as when a Chicago woman discovered a Coach purse with a matching wallet at Goodwill.
Inside the envelope was a folded, handwritten letter signed “Love, Martha.” The letter opens with an explanation for why money was hidden inside the bag: “I have 3 children. They will give my things to Goodwill when I die, so I am putting their inheritance inside all favorite things.”
Martha’s letter also describes how she came to own the bag. She writes, “This Coach bag was given to me years ago by my husband’s girlfriend.” She goes on to explain the circumstances: “Well, actually, I came home early from a visit to my parents’ house in Connecticut. She must have left quickly because she forgot her bag and shoes.”
The letter ends with Martha reflecting on carrying the bag daily and her decision to give it away. “I carried this bag every day. I wonder if my husband ever knew this was his girlfriend’s. I carried it daily and I am giving it away because my kids don’t want it. So go buy yourself a new bag. Love, Martha,” the letter reads.
After reading the letter aloud, she pulls a stack of $20 bills from the envelope and fans them out on camera, revealing a total of $300. She ends the video with a shocked expression and says, “What?”
The video does not clarify how the bag ended up at the Goodwill store or whether Martha is still alive, even though some commenters claimed she passed away. Hidden treasures in secondhand bags have surprised others, such as when a Nashville woman texted her husband a video of a $19.99 Goodwill golf bag, only to learn its true value.
Viewers reacted to the video in the comments section. One commenter wrote, “I fear we lost a baddie. RIP Martha, the myth, the legend, the icon!” Another pushed back on Martha’s suggestion to spend the money on a new bag, commenting, “No Martha, we don’t need a new bag! This is OUR favorite bag now!”
Some commenters encouraged her to return to the store where she found the bag. One wrote, “You need to head back to that goodwill! Martha’s other things might still be there!” Another commenter said, “Her story needs to be told!”
Published: Jul 27, 2026 05:49 am