Philly man lists dive bar mirror covered in graffiti for $400 on Facebook Marketplace

For the ripe price of $400, you can be the new owner of an old mirror.

This week, a Philly man listed a bathroom mirror that’s covered in paint pen graffiti and stickers on Facebook Marketplace. In the listing, he says it’s from a “now-closed Northern Liberties dive bar location.”

“Want something unique and different for your urban powder room?” the listing goes on to say, “This is it.”

The post doesn’t specify the mirror’s original home. Instead, the seller — John Rodgers of Pennsport — says he’ll knock $50 off the asking price to a buyer who can identify its origin.

Within days of being listed, screenshots of the post spread online. In South Silly, a private and popular neighborhood group with more than 12,000 members, the marketplace listing was predictably dragged.

“I don’t know what’s worse,” one commenter wrote. “The fact that this man is trying to get $350 for this mirror or the term ‘urban powder room.’”

Another neighbor called it “the best stupidest thing” they’ve “seen in a while … Seriously, I have so many emotions over it.”

One user even suggested the mirror could be a fake, saying it “looks a little too clean.”

Rodgers told The Inquirer the mirror is real. He said he salvaged it five years ago as the bar — which he declined to name — was being torn down for new construction.

“This mirror was being taken out for trash,” he said. “I just so happened to be walking by and snagged it before it was shattered in a dumpster.”

He added that since the listing has spread, he’s received “tons” of messages, but most have been trolls with lowball offers.

“I suppose some non-designy types think it’s trash or a money grab,” Rodgers said. But he insists it’s the price to own a piece of local history.

When he’s not running things at the 215 Guys — a local web design company — Rodgers spends his time salvaging. His other listings include an old Pete’s Auto Garage sheet metal sign that was repurposed into a St. Philip Neri Church Flea Market advertisement and a 1930s curio cabinet from a nun’s residence on Second and Moyamensing.

“I’ve been salvaging and selling since — forever,” he said. “In my college days at Temple, it was old SEPTA signs. While in San Francisco for six years, it was MUNI signs and nice trash finds.”

Rodgers attributes a large garage to supporting his side hustle. He recently saved and refurbished a pair of midcentury Scandinavian-style wooden chairs that he’s selling for $600.

“A lot of things I’ll keep and use since they’re dope,” he said. “Sometimes a friend or guest says ‘whoa, that’s awesome. Where did you find that?’ and I’ll respond: ‘the trash.’”

Still, despite pressing Rodgers for more details, mum’s the word on the mirror’s source.

“The mystery is fun,” he said.