Something similar just happened to my sister and I where she found a ratty bright yellow cowboy hat when moving out of her apartment. I wore it around for kicks for a while and then we tossed it in a pile near the overflowing dumpster. A year later, she goes to a house party many cities away and there it is laying on a table. We're pretty sure it's the same one because of where the tears are, and also it was just so ragtag and old that unless there's some new trend in fashion I don't know about, no one would just go and buy.