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Oprah's 'biggest yard sale ever' earns over $600K for charity

Oprah Winfrey's stamp of approval is worth a lot to fans, and over the weekend they proved it as an auction of Winfrey's personal items — including art, antiques, furniture and memorabilia — raised over $600,000 for charity.Winfrey had called it "the biggest yard sale ever" on Twitter in early October, and she certainly lived up to her claim. A set of six 18th century Louis XVI armchairs went
Oprah Winfrey
TODAY

Oprah Winfrey's stamp of approval is worth a lot to fans, and over the weekend they proved it as an auction of Winfrey's personal items — including art, antiques, furniture and memorabilia — raised over $600,000 for charity.

Winfrey had called it "the biggest yard sale ever" on Twitter in early October, and she certainly lived up to her claim. A set of six 18th century Louis XVI armchairs went for $60,000, while a print of Winfrey's TV Guide cover photo went for $3,000 (rather than the pre-auction estimate lowball of $200), according to the Los Angeles Times

Other items that sold big in the auction, which was held at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club in California, included a teapot valued at $100 that went for ten times that amount, and two 13-foot-long crushed velvet sofas, which an anonymous buyer purchased for $4,000 and $4,750. 

The Times noted that the sale went on slowly, thanks to "a relentless stream of incremental bids on practically every item." By 6 p.m. the auction, which began before noon, still had 250 lots left to sell but had already brought in over $600,000. After that, the auction moved into selling items from Winfrey's exercise trainer Bob Greene, who had donated some of his furniture and equipment. 

Proceeds are set to go to Winfrey's girls leadership academy in South Africa.