Much of the time, new OPs leave a question, get a hint in a comment or discover the answer on their own, and then never return.  Those questions litter the unanswered questions pool.  However, I have come across a number of questions where a new OP asked a good question, then discovered a good answer on their own and made the effort to close the loop by posting their solution.  However, they lacked the rep to do it formally, so they had to leave it as a comment or embed the answer in the question, itself.  These end up as bloat in the unanswered question pool unnecessarily.  I think it would be good to encourage new posters to come back with an answer when they are able and willing to do so (it's win-win).   

So my question is about the best way to get their answer into an answer.  My understanding is that you don't gain any rep from accepting your own answer but you could benefit from any upvotes the answer receives.  If that is correct, then a solution where someone else moves the information into an answer would not help the OP jump-start their rep.  

I've seen some posts here about how easy it is to gain 15 points so it isn't a hurdle.  That misses the point in this case.  That encourages the situation where the question remains apparently unanswered until some future time when the OP will come back to it and clean it up, which might never happen.

If the OP has provided a good answer in the wrong place, it doesn't seem right for a scavenger to spend a few seconds moving it and then reap the rewards for the answer.  It also shouldn't be a burden on someone in a moderator role to have to do all the cleanup work.

Is there a mechanism whereby a new OP can have their answer moved into an answer and get the credit for any upvotes?  Can another user do that on their behalf?  For those concerned about the 15 rep threshold, put any upvotes in the bank until the OP acquires 15 points by conventional means.