I was wondering how many people have had luck with storage auctions? I've attended a few (when I can find them!!!) and have been severely disapointed. Nothing but a bunch of junk. The storage facility owners seem to pick through all the good stuff beforehand. There should be rules against this sort of thing.
I have heard that storage auctions are one of the best kept secrets for finding things to re-sell on ebay, but I haven't found anything but misery.
What have you found? And how do you find more storage auctions? (maybe I haven't gone to enough!)
posted on June 19, 2002 11:25:20 AM
It is probably a crap shoot. And are you prepared to spend money dumping the unsalable? People store things like old letters, baby photos, old bank statements and financial records and sheer trash that no one else would want.
buyhigh
posted on June 19, 2002 11:29:48 AM
We have an auction house here in town. They specialize in "lien" sales. These are sealed boxes that come from storage operaters. I bought some a couple of years ago & got nothing but dirty clothes, wrapping paper, bank statements, etc. People who buy them have yard sales, so that takes care of that segmant too.
posted on June 19, 2002 05:03:26 PM
One of my best buys ever was at a storage unit auction a year or two ago .... of course they don't let you see too much in there before the bidding actually starts, and this particular unit had advertised 'old dolls' ... well the old dolls were easily viewable right off the bat and were in terrible dirty mangled condition, BUT ... i saw a couple boxes filled with paper dolls... i had just heard locally that paper dolls were a 'hot' collectible ... even though most of the units sold for 10 to 50 dollars, this auctioneer said, 'hey, lots of good stuff in here' and tried to get his barking started off with a thousand dollars ... when he came down to $200, i bid! [amongst the gasps of everyone else] ... auctioneer of course used my bid amount as proof that there's really good stuff in there, but no one else chimed in .... ... ... my $200 reaped almost $3,000 on ebay [from paper dolls mostly], a couple trips to Goodwill Donation [read "tax write-off"], a couple trips to the dump ... i still have an awesome oversized book to sell later, that folds out to 23 ft.! which is one-piece timeline of history from Adam and Eve to U.S.Grant 1875ish, [published right when Grant was finishing up his presidency] .... you can see pictures of the book at http://members.aol.com/gotfriends/book ... the thing that made me take a close look at that particular unit was the ad in the newspaper, which i recognized the delinquent owner's address as being in an old folks home, so i figured her "old dolls" were rare and old... well her old dolls were scrap, but her paper doll collection was golden. ... i KNOW auctions are auctions, and delinquent storage units are deliquent, but i still feel sorry when i buy at "certain" auctions like storage units that are past due ... i just keep thinking though that if *I* don't buy it, SOMEONE here will! ....
posted on June 19, 2002 05:18:47 PM
Seeing the posts mentioning old boxes of bank statements got me thinking of the hot topic of the news media these days, 'identity theft'. I was at a flea market last week and there was a vendor with a whole load of junk that was obviously from a defaulted storage locker sale. Way in the back was a box of documents bundled up with thick rubber bands. I glanced at the top of one document in a bundle and it was an income tax return from 1993. Usually those forms have a SSN #.
Isn't this a prime way for underhanded individuals to easily obtain SSN #'s. The lesson may be to not default on that storage locker if it contains a lot of tax returns.
posted on June 19, 2002 06:55:54 PM
If you contact the people who run the storage facilities, they will tell you who they use to auction the contents of the unpaid units. Call that auctioneer and get on his or her mailing list.
Another and maybe better auction location is the warehouses of the moving and storage companies. Every so often they sell off the contents of the unpaid shipments because they need the space for incoming clients.
Often the same auctioneer does both types of auctions.
posted on June 19, 2002 09:40:29 PM
Went to my first storage auction a few weeks ago. A storage unit measuring 12 by 20 ft and piled HIGH with at least 50 boxes and about the same number of bags was quite tempting. In the front of the unit I could see two wheelchairs, one described by another person there as a "Cadillac" and a vcr. The entire unit went for $350.00. I was itching to raise my hand but I was getting the "EYE" by my husband. Normally this place allows 24 hours to clear the unit out but in this instance the buyer was given a week. The buyer had all angles figured. She has a storage unit that she holds sales from so the "good" stuff will go there. She told another person that she would deliver the stuff she deemed "yard sale quality" to her for $25.00 for an extended van full of stuff. I bet she made her money back plus some. I have her phone number and have been tempted to call her to see what all was in there but figured the next time it would be harder to resist. I have to figure the odds .... a happy marriage or a unit full of unknown stuff. Husband is normally compliant and uncomplaining but I know eventually he *will* reach his limit!
posted on June 19, 2002 11:05:20 PM
I see a lot of flea market vendors that buy the locker contents. They spread the stuff out and let the buyers get a deal on anything they want. It's really sad to see family photos, love letters, high school yearbooks, etc., all just abandoned. Most of the time you can understand why the people never paid the fees on the storage units as there is a lot of worthless junk and magazines and old pots & pans, etc. People are packrats. The storage unit managers have to go through the stuff to some degree.
posted on June 20, 2002 07:52:49 AM
Oh there are some that do. The flea markets run several days a week and as the old song goes "It never rains in California". Sometimes the locker sellers get lucky and make a lot on their locker. That lets them survive the stinker deals they encounter. They often leave the stuff that no one wants at the flea markets and the extreme bottom feeders go through the stuff and take almost everything for free. Amazing what stuff people will take when it's free.
posted on June 20, 2002 08:14:06 AM
We purchased one storage unit, one time. Was it worth it in terms of what we got YES and NO. This was EARLY in our selling experience, and we were thrilled, but the endless time it took to go through all the junk, dirty clothes, actually packed pots and pans with food still in them, YUCK!
Our purchase took place in the early 90’s, when we were still doing Flea Markets, and such. We no longer do such, and actually have no need of 1 of a kind items, as they require too much time to photograph, write, etc.
TIME IS MONEY, and unless I had extremely good “insider knowledge,” on the contents of a unit, we wouldn’t consider spending our time in such purchases any more. Of course, for us, the same goes for Yard Sales, and local auctions. If one adds up the cost of their time, gas, constantly photographing items, writing endless descriptions, etc., you will find it is a losing proposition. Of course, if you just like to go to Yard Sales and Auctions, and aren’t seriously interested in your “bottom line,” then such endeavors may be your cup of tea, but I can’t see a strong, consistent business built on such a time consuming, unpredictable product source.
posted on June 20, 2002 11:15:08 AM
I have been buying storage units for close to 20 years and have gotten some good ones, but I have just about stopped going in the last year. In my area about 50% of the units are picked over by the storage managers before the auction. About 30% are set up units that auctioneers use to put all the junk in they can not sell at regular auction. That only leaves about 20% worth going to and most of the dealers around me know that. So these auctions draw more bidders and sell for more money.
About 10 years ago I purchased a 10'x 20' unit packed to the top for $500.00 It was all the tools and new parts and misc from a marina. I sold over $10,000.00 worth of stuff out of that unit. Of course I could also tell some horror stories too. Like a unit I paid $600.00 for that I sold about $200.00 out of and hauled 6 truck loads to the dump.
owner's address as being in an old folks home, so i figured her "old dolls" were rare and old... well her old dolls were scrap, but her paper doll collection was golden. ... i KNOW auctions are auctions, and delinquent storage units are deliquent, but i still feel sorry when i buy at "certain" auctions like storage units that are past due ... i just keep thinking though that if *I* don't buy it, SOMEONE here will! ....