The Story Behind the Tiny Cup of Treasures

When Julie bought Premium Shine in 2020, she was learning the ropes from the previous owner and noticed something odd in the back of the detailing van—loose coins, trinkets, and random small items scattered everywhere. She quickly found out they weren’t some kind of mobile vending experiment—they were bits and pieces recovered from customer vehicles during cleanings.

And that’s when the lightbulb went off.

Instead of tossing these forgotten items aside, Julie decided to give them a little respect.

At first, she used cheap plastic cocktail glasses to hold them. Nothing fancy—just a simple way to keep things contained and maybe add a little charm to the experience.

Turns out, people loved it.

Eventually, someone floated the idea of using branded cups. That’s when the Tiny Cup of Treasures was born—now a Premium Shine tradition. These branded cups are placed in most vehicles we clean, filled with whatever fun little items we find: toy dinosaurs, doll shoes, rogue Legos, the occasional marble. It’s like a mini time capsule from under your car seat.

And yes—we get asked a lot: What’s the most common thing you find? French fries. They’re practically mummified, looking exactly like they did the day they fell between the seat and the center console.

But the most memorable find? Two full cups of marbles. Just when we thought we’d found them all—bam, another one rolled out. It was like the jackpot of treasure hunts.

We even do a weekly post called #TreasureTuesday, showing off our finds. It’s mostly kids' toys because, let’s face it, they’re way more fun to photograph than pens and business cards.

Also, each time we reorder our cups, we pick a new color—just because we can. No rhyme or reason. It’s fun for us, and maybe for you, too. Are you collecting the full set?

Book your treasure hunt today!  https://premiumshine.fieldd.co/

Original Tiny Cup of Treasures, unbranded.

Two treasure cups full of marbles.