Viral dispute over a dresser purchased on Facebook marketplace ends with ‘plot twist’

A Michigan man sold his wife’s then-unwanted vintage chest of drawers online to a restoration technician, only to ask for the luxury furniture back just two days later.

Kandra Sobel, 35, a vintage furniture restoration technician, bought a Kipp Stewart Drexel three-drawer dresser from a seller who posted it on the Facebook marketplace.

Just two days later, Sobel — who makes her living refinishing and remodeling homes and furniture — received a message from the seller asking to get the mid-century piece back.

The message, reportedly sent by the husband of the dresser’s owner, read: “I’ve never done anything like this before,” stating that his wife had cried for days after selling her wooden dresser.

The man then asked Sobel if he could give her $100 to get the dresser back.

Sobel, also a part-time social media influencer, posted the entire ordeal on TikTok and invited curious onlookers to comment.

Some speculated in the comments that the woman may have looked up the price of the refinished vintage piece before begging for it. Sobel suggested it could be worth as much as $1,500 in renovated condition.

The seller insisted he would ‘do anything’ to get the dresser back, explaining that it ‘meant so much’ to his distraught wife.

The Brighton native agreed with some of her commenters and felt the seller’s wife had seen her video of the restoration process before changing her mind.

“What makes me uncomfortable is that he sent me that message the night I posted a video showing how incredible the wood grain is,” Sobel said.

“Is it seller’s remorse or did she Google it and realize how much it was worth after it was restored?” she added in the Clip from October 10.

Sobel also noted that the seller’s wife was familiar with her work and knew that when she purchased it, she planned to restore the vintage piece.

The 35-year-old expressed his condolences for the troubles the man was facing and desperately begged to get his wife’s childhood souvenir back.

“The gentleman who sold it to me is a very, very nice person,” she said. “I’m really sorry if his wife now has seller’s remorse and feels bad about selling a piece from her childhood.”

‘He offered to give me double what I spent on it, which was very kind and generous. It seems like he’s really trying to solve the problem for his wife,” she explained.

However, Sobel was unwilling to return the dresser because she was already deep in the refurbishing process and had spent both time and money on the restoration.

Sympathetic to the couple’s emotional attachment to the chest of drawers, the restoration technician offered to sell the piece back to them, giving them the right of first refusal.

As they continued to describe the progress of her restoration, onlookers sided with Sobel.

‘If there is an emotional connection, they will be happy that it has been restored. Give them the right of first refusal, but no discount. You did the work!’ one user commented.

Another commented: ‘They sold it with 100% awareness of the situation. Whatever the reason you want it back, you are under no obligation at all. Don’t let them make you feel guilty. The right of first refusal is generous.”

About two weeks passed before Sobel shared the final update: “We made a deal!” Sobel shared this on October 24.

In the update, she said the woman, who she described as “a literal ray of sunshine,” informed her of her maximum budget and the couple were then able to come to an agreement.

“Now that I’ve met her, I feel really good about (selling it back),” she said. “It’s probably a bad thing because I could have gotten double what I sold it to them, but it’s not always about the money.”

‘This was a plot twist. But it’s okay, they’re really great people.’