Storage Wars

I've watched the shows with the guys bidding on storage units many times. Probably alot of you have too. I decided it was time to check out these auctions and see what they are really like. Today my sons and i headed to Wyoming Michigan for an auction of about 7 units. If you have ever watched the shows on television, the real thing is pretty much the same! It was about 14 degrees this morning and i figured maybe only a few people would show up. Over sixty people were there for the start. The units were not as impressive as the ones you see on T.V though. As they say that the ones on the shows are some of their best finds. Some were nearly empty. It seems that some people remove all the good stuff and leave the crap just before they stop paying the fees. :ticked:
I didn't bid on any of the units as i didn't see anything worth paying what the folks that were bidding were paying for in the units. One unit had a couple large plastic totes filled with DVD cases. It went for $290.00. But there was no way to know whether they had the discs in them. The guy that got that unit may have paid that much for Empty DVD cases that the owner placed into a large notebook holder. And the owner saved the holders to put them back in later if necessary. There will be some more on thursday closer to home. I think we'll try again. :grin:

Fleamarket trash

Howdy Amigo!
I just walked in from a day of storage unit auctions. Pipster was with me for the first one this morning, and he bid on a unit that went for only $100 bucks. I was startled when Pipster shook off the next bid and let it go rather cheaply. It was a bedroom suite and great quality stuff, along with some boxes, lamps and other odd pieces of furniture, including a pair of round tables. I figure he should have bumped the bid several more times, and if I'd known he was giving up, I'd have picked up and run the bid higher with an eye toward taking that one.

That particular unit was the only one indoors. Everything else was outdoors with about 5 to 10 inches of snow on the ground and the temperature ranging between 5 to 10 degrees. One unit went for $200 and had larger stuff that I didn't feel keen on moving around. With my knee and all, I ain't real interested in big and heavy. But had I known there was a black powder pistol in there, I'd have outbid the guy who took that unit.

Most of the units I saw today were rather trashy, but there was one pair of units being sold together, and if I'd had the money, I'd have run the bid. There were at least three bicycles, one of them a Trek. There was a lot of sporting gear in those two and the final bid was $1900. I wished I had the money to bid that one, but just out of my price range. Two of the units I saw today had a safe in them, but getting into those would be tough, and judging by other stuff in the storage unit, it didn't look like they'd have much in the way of valuables in those anyhow. But then again, you gotta win the bid to find out for yourself.

Anyhow, there are tons of people who are showing up for auctions right now because of those TV shows. One being Storage Wars, and the other on Spike TV is Auction Hunters. I saw yesterday that Auction Hunters just got renewed for 20 more episodes. So auctions around here that would normally bring maybe 15 to 20 bidders are now turning out 120 to 130 bidders. Many of those folks saw the TV shows and figure they can go win an auction and score big. Most of them will overbid a unit, and end up with little or nothing of value. They'll show up for a couple of auctions, then give up after either getting no shot at the top bid, or getting burnt on a unit they thought would produce wonders and wonder only why on earth they bought the thing!

There are tricks to the whole buying process, things to look for and things to avoid. Learning those might take time, and I'd encourage you to watch others closely to see what their thinking is. If you go to storage auctions for awhile, you'll begin to recognize faces that turn up at every auction in town. Those are the guys to watch. They are the ones you'll learn from best. If you can recognize those who know what they're doing, and learn why they're doing it, you will be better prepared to make your own bid on a unit and not get burnt.

Blessings,
M-Taliesin

greg said:

Fleamarket trash

Click to expand...

Howdy Greg!
Perhaps, but 2 of the units I saw today had safes in them. What might one lock up in a safe?
Then there was a unit that went for $200, and the guy who bought it got himself a black powder pistol.
And aside from the pistol, I'm pretty sure there was plenty of other goodies in there. I almost might
kick myself for not bidding on that one myself. But there was too many big, heavy and bulky items
for me in my present condition. Maybe next time I'll break down and snatch the top bid!
And oh yeah, there was plenty of fleamarket worthy junk to be seen during the day as well.

Blessings,
M-Taliesin

years ago when my ex and I divorced, all my belongings were put into a storage facility and I mean everything! I had antiques, jewelry, furniture, lawn equipment, an entire house full! I came back to NY, the facility was in Tx. I continued to make the payments monthly but he handled everything. Long story short, my payments were not being made on my account but his and all my stuff went to auction. It was a terrible ordeal to go thru especially since some of the stuff you couldn't put a price on such as the pictures of my daughter at her birth....whoever got my stuff did quite well....

Howdy Sandie!
That's a really sad tale, and I've had similar experiences of my own.
Tough times can really get much tougher when you lose a whole life worth of goodies like that.
Sorry that had to happen to you!

Meanwhile, most auctions I've been to will ask buyers to return personal things, like photos, letters
or other personal effects to the office of the storage facility so they can return them to the owner.
At least they do around here. Some will say whatever you find, you keep. But the better ones will
try to return personal photos, documents (birth certificats, licenses and such), family Bibles, etc.

If they cannot find the owner, they'll have them destroyed.

Blessings,
M-Taliesin

tv has ruined alot of good things why should the storage auction business be any different