hopefulli
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posted on October 16, 2000 06:09:07 PM new
Ok, I said that when I was in labor with my first son, but this time I mean it.
My husband thought it was time to ratch it up a notch from garage/estate/thrift....to storage auctions. We went to our first one today.
At least the auctioneer and other participants were nice and helpful, not at all as intimidating as I feared. I thought it would be best just to stand back and observe but before I knew it, we were the proud owners of a lot.
What a bunch of junk!
Tons of old prescription medicine and other assorted medical supplies-lucky we didn't stab ourselves with a needle.
Clothing with the stench of such a cloyingly sweet perfume that I gagged.
Some Arabic stuff marked "Property of the US Government". I'm afraid to even put this in my trash.
Just about the only things salvagable were Nintendo and Sega consoles/games. Not the area of selling I want to get in to and my sons already have these.
Where was that Roseville vase that was supposed to be buried in the boxes?
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chococake
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posted on October 16, 2000 06:37:59 PM new
I'm so sorry the first locker you got wasn't any good. If you've read any of my posts you may remember it's how I make my living. It took us a year to really get the hang of it and another year to make a profit. I guess like any business. We're now in our 7th year.
I can't tell you how much Roseville, Suzy Cooper, Latique we've gotten. We still will get a bad one. To us a bad one is break even or small profit. Once you get a good one you are really addicted.
We go to 10 to 20 auctions a week. Sometimes we don't buy anything all week. Sometimes we buy seven in one day.
How big was the unit? And if you care to say what you payed for it. Also what part of the country do you live in?
Give it another try. Our saying is "only bid as much as you can afford lose"
[ edited by chococake on Oct 16, 2000 07:10 PM ]
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hopefulli
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posted on October 16, 2000 07:04:26 PM new
Hi Chococake, and thanks for the encouraging words. I think the locker was 5x10 and we paid $50 for the treasures. Yeah, I know if we had hit the motherlode I would be here gloating instead of whining...it was just so gross. I'm sure we had "newbie" written all over our faces. Others came with flashlights and their own locks and even their own brooms. I felt like such an idiot.
Maybe, like childbirth, I'll soon forget the pain and give it another try.
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chococake
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posted on October 16, 2000 07:17:23 PM new
hopefulli yep we have one of those big spot light flashlights that we recharge. I have so many locks in my purse I walk lopsided. They sure are heavy. LOL Wait until you see some guy bring a step ladder so he can see up high and further back. That's really funny, and of course he holds on to it for dear life so no one else will use it.
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oddish4
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posted on October 16, 2000 09:05:59 PM new
OK looking really dumb here but what are you guys talking about? It sounds most interesting.
Oddish~ The Odd One
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chococake
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posted on October 16, 2000 09:40:19 PM new
Oddish, We're talking about Storage Auction's. When people store their belonging's at a self-storage facility and default on the rent a lien is put on the unit and it goes up for auction. They are usually held every month.
I didn't know what they were either until I started going to them.
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hopefulli
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posted on October 16, 2000 10:46:28 PM new
Chococake, what is the secret to ferreting out the good lockers? I now know not to bid on anything with the word "medical" on the box but are there others signs of a bad lot I can look for?
We stayed away from the lockers that were packed with mattresses and refrigerators
as we did not want to have to haul these away.
I forgot to tell you earlier that I am in So. Calfornia.
A friend of mine told me her neighbor (how's that for third hand info)once bought a lot that contained a bunch of animation cels and other movie memoribilia from a locker apparently abandoned by a Disney employee. Why couldn't I find that one?
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calamity49
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posted on October 16, 2000 10:47:42 PM new
Thanks Oddish,
I was feeling the same way.
Gosh, the guy with storage units here just burns the stuff. I had no idea about this. Going to have to talk to him.
Calamity
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chococake
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posted on October 16, 2000 11:13:45 PM new
hopefulli, Yes that's always a good rule. refigerators are awful usually dirty and cost alot to take to dumps. If mattress's are in good shape you can usually sell them. We don't like them and sell them to another dealer at the auction. Watch out for black plastic bags usually clothes or garbage. The big clothes boxes from u-haul usually have nice clothes. No tires.No console TV's Make sure you see all drawers with dressers, all cushions with sofas. No hideabeds. If you see lots of kids stuff it usually means a young struggling family. Don't believe what you see written on boxes. Go for washers&dryers(especially stacked) clean orderly boxes, quality furniture, antiques (if you're lucky).You'll get lots of kitchen stuff. I love pots and pans good money at flea market.
Hope this helps.
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chococake
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posted on October 16, 2000 11:30:24 PM new
Calamity, are you sure the guy burns the stuff? There are laws that have to be followed. Notice to the owner, published in the paper twice. Look under legal notices in your newspaper paper and find "Notice of Public Sale".
We would love to make deals with a few managers but everyone would get in trouble if the owners of the unit suddenly appeared with their payment and their possessions were gone. They can even pay while the auction is going on and as long as the auctioneer doesn't say sold. They can also bid on their own unit and try to get it for less then they owe. Also, if the unit sells for more than the amount of the lien the owners get the difference.
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calamity49
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posted on October 16, 2000 11:43:49 PM new
Chococake,
I've never really taken much notice. I was just out there one time when he was cleaning out one of the units and asked him what he was going to do with all that stuff (which was gross) and he said burn it. He could have been joking and hauled it somewhere. I can't remember actually seeing fires there.
Going to have to look into this a little more as it is the first time I've heard about it.
Have to say that I've never heard of anyone threatening to sue him or anything and around here you hear more than what really is happening.
Calamity
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oddish4
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posted on October 17, 2000 12:01:44 PM new
How do they work? Do you buy a whole storage unit or do you buy boxes? Do you look through a unit before you buy to see what's there or is it totally potluck?
Oddish~ The Odd One
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RainyBear
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posted on October 17, 2000 12:22:05 PM new
Oddish - you buy an entire storage unit at one time, and they let you peek from outside the unit but you can't go in and rummage through. So there are surprises in there, both good and bad! And it's all yours if you buy it. I think they usually say you have to clean it out within 24 hours or something like that.
I've only been to one and I chickened out and didn't buy anything. I'm sure hubby would be thrilled if I came home with a truck full of miscellaneous junk, heh.
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Muriel
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posted on October 17, 2000 12:28:13 PM new
"Coronary" was the word I was thinking of when picturing the look on my husband's face if I ever said "Honey, we're buying a WHOLE storage unit full of junk!". He would grab his heart and fall to the ground, ala' Fred Sanford! "This is the big one, Elizabeth!". 
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oddish4
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posted on October 17, 2000 02:27:24 PM new
Wow this sounds like fun. OK one more question....How do you find out about them?
Oddish~ The Odd One
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chococake
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posted on October 17, 2000 03:04:29 PM new
Oddish, the easiest way to find them is to look in your local paper under Legal Notices then look for Notice of Public sale. The notice will tell you name and address of facility, date and time of auction and how many units are up for bid. Some people will pay at the last moment so there may be less then what is published. Also good idea to call before you go because sometimes everyone pays and the auction gets canceled. You can also call a few places and ask when their next auction is.
Hey guys it's not all junk believe me. If it was I wouldn't have been doing it for so long and the competition wouldn't be so high. It's the only way I buy. I have enough for eBay, the local auction house, newspaper,garage sales, and flea markets. Just imagine what "you" would store if you had to. A 10x20 has a whole household and every kind of collection people collect. The latest collection was GI Joes. We payed $125 for the locker and I've sold $600 in GI Joes alone, plus all the other stuff I've sold from that unit. Still have about half the Joe's and other stuff to sell.
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oddish4
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posted on October 17, 2000 05:58:27 PM new
Thanks for the info chococake, this looks fun. Even if to just go and look to see what happens.
Oddish~ The Odd One
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boysmommy3
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posted on October 17, 2000 06:04:08 PM new
Rainybear,
How did you find out up here where they are and when held? I looked in the paper both Herald and Times and could not locate any sale dates.
Thanks - I think I would like to go take a look at one of these and see.
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chococake
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posted on October 17, 2000 06:22:22 PM new
boysmommy in my area the auctioneers are on a regular circuit. So, in the cities in my circuit start having auctions towards the end of the month. For example an auction on Oct. 25th will be published on Oct. 11th and Oct. 18th. We go way out of our area and we buy a list of auctions for the whole month. Sometimes we'll get a tip on a locker and drive 3 hours. Many times a great disappointment but like I said it's very additive. It's like gambling the next hand will be the big one. LOL
So look in your paper everyday they will show up or like a said call a few self storage facilities. That's how I started.
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hopefulli
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posted on October 18, 2000 01:39:06 PM new
chococake, just wanted to thank you for sharing your tips.
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boysmommy3
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posted on October 18, 2000 01:57:19 PM new
Thank you for the information. I am going to make some calls and go to one or two. Will let you know what happens
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RainyBear
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posted on October 18, 2000 02:30:19 PM new
boysmommy3 - sorry for the delayed response, I've actually been working here at work. 
I've seen ads in the Times under the Auctions section, and they're just listed as "Storage Auction" or something like that. I saw a rotating schedule for one of the auctioneers somewhere, too, who made the rounds at different storage facilities on certain days of the month. I can't for the life on me remember where I saw it, though! If I figure it out I'll let you know.
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RainyBear
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posted on October 18, 2000 02:33:07 PM new
Oops, here's one going on right now! Too late for this one, but this is what the ads I've seen in the paper look like:
SELF STORAGE AUCTION Contents of storage units, Kenmore Self Storage, 18716 - 68th Ave NE, Kenmore WA 98028, 2pm, Wed, Oct 18.
Also...
http://www.prestbye.com/shurgard.html
[ edited by RainyBear on Oct 18, 2000 02:36 PM ]
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boysmommy3
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posted on October 18, 2000 07:10:08 PM new
Rainybear,
Thank you for the link. Looks like several that are coming up!
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rodney36
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posted on October 26, 2000 01:57:48 PM new
Hello to all. I have read all of your posts concerning the Storage Unit Auctions. This sounds very interesting. I live in Cleveland, Ohio and there are more Storage Units here than Chins in a Chinese phonebook. My question is, where in the world do you store the items after you have purchased them? and what do you do with the items that you know are not going to sell?
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HartCottageQuilts
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posted on October 26, 2000 03:25:20 PM new
My guess would be that the owner of the storage place where you bought the stuff would be only too happy to rent you that very unit! "Discards" can go to any charity. You should know that, although it prefers the "nice" stuff, the Salvation Army (and I suspect Goodwill) can still use damaged clothing, which it sells as rags to recyclers. Very little is wasted!
[ edited by HartCottageQuilts on Oct 26, 2000 03:26 PM ]
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chococake
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posted on October 26, 2000 06:36:51 PM new
Rodney, for us there is very little that we don't sell. But we are in it full time with very fast turnover. It's not easy work and when you buy as many units as we do you have to be very well organized.If we buy many units in a week or several large ones (10x20) we do rent on a prorate for a few days. But units are usually rented again right away to new tenants and we have to get it out fast. Yesterday we bought a 10x20 and a 5x10 we had to get cleaned out by noon today. Contents come to my garage first then I clean,and price. I separate into what goes to different flea markets, auction house, and put ads in papers for appliances. Then my son takes them to our storage unit or directly to flea markets or auction house. I donate blankets and towels to the no kill animal shelter and pet hospitols. Coats to homeless shelter and household things good toys and clothes to battered womans shelter. We also have a big dump fee. Our cargo and box van are usually full as is my house. Start small, it took us years to get to this point.
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chococake
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posted on October 26, 2000 07:01:52 PM new
As long as I'm here I thought I'd tell you what we got yesterday. Very unusal that only us and another couple showed up. There were two 10x20's so they took one we took the other at $1.00 each. Yep, $1.00 (also unusual) and we happened to get the best one. It belonged to a antique store and very nice because everything was marked as to what it is. The prices of course are high and I'll have to lower them. We have 35 boxes of old books, One box of original Star Trek figures and space ships. Sure glad they had the names of all of them because I wouldn't have any idea. All loose but in separate bags. One box of 40's toys. I've only done five other boxes and they had Noritake, Wade, a collection of old shot glasses, crystal, a beautiful engraving on a metal surface, a collection of old political pin backs, and 25 engraving plates. I think thats what they are. They are heavy metal and writing is backwards. Is that what they're called? So, I'm very happy. Oh guess I should mention three loads to the dumps, but a very good buy for a buck. Can't wait to see what's in the other boxes.
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RainyBear
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posted on October 26, 2000 07:25:43 PM new
chococake - wow!!
It must be fun going through all that... but a lot of work, too. What a terrific buy for a buck!
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mybiddness
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posted on October 26, 2000 07:41:29 PM new
Chococake That's terrific! It puts every great deal I've ever made to shame. I've never thought about storage buildings as a source. You must be thrilled!
Not paranoid anywhere else but here!
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