So I bought a Storage Unit at an Auction

mouschi · 12-24-2012, 05:17 PM

So, I decided to take the fam to a storage unit auction down the road last wed. or thur. It was on a whim, kind of, but I just had to. I'm a sucker for the shows. My goal was to at least *bid* one time on something. I was not planning on buying anything. Mainly because:

1) I'm a newbie, and didn't expect to buy a unit until my 3-5th time.
2) We have limited garage space
3) How the heck are we going to transport it? That would be a lot of work.

So anyway, there were 11 units up for auction, or so, and 20 people there. It looked like there were not many newbies, so I thought I could learn quite a bit.

The auctioneer had a cowboy hat on, which was a plus, and a fast talker. That alone was enough for me to go

On our way, we saw a lady selling some things out of her unit, so my wife and I split off for a few minutes to see what she had. My wife has a good eye for kiddo things, so she went ahead and made a deal with a lady. She spent $80 with her, and it looks like we'll pull $250 profit out of it all!

Well, the next to last locker, I saw some things that I liked, and it was like a switch turned on from "I don't stand a chance...I'm just a rookie" to "Anything below $450 and this is MINE!"

Well, I got it for $375!!!! ;D

It took 2 trips to bring it all home, and it was exhilarating. I was careful, because I was told by someone that out of every 100 units you buy, generally, 99 are junk.

Well, this one was an awesome starter! 35 new Pampered Chef items, 29 new interior decorating items, tons of various kitchen things, some jewelry, 13 purses/bags (Coach, BeBe, and even some fake LV / Chanel), lots of toys, etc. Heck, even about $50 cash!

It took a lot ... and I mean a LOT of work to process through it all. I think my wife came close to pulling an all nighter going through things, and I had spent a few days just listing all the stuff.

As it sits now, we have pretty much everything listed online (or 99% at least?) and are $116 away from being in the black with the unit, and have toooonsss to go. Conservatively speaking, I'd say we have $600 cash profit, when all is said and done.

Niels50 · 12-24-2012, 05:30 PM

Very cool. I've always wanted to do something like this!

BostonNut · 12-24-2012, 05:33 PM

Congrats! So when can we expect to see you on the show?

mouschi · 12-24-2012, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BostonNut

Congrats! So when can we expect to see you on the show?

Sadly, there were no cameras there

but maybe when they come out with a "Storage Wars: Newbie Edition" I'll be on it LOL

thor_rider08 · 12-24-2012, 06:30 PM

SWEEEEEEEEETTT!!!!
I love these stories!!
I do storage and car auctions every week so I can relate!!
You did great and went into it with the idea that you were not going to find a 150000 year old alien space craft worth 1billion dollars

If you had fun then thats half the battle!! Plus to make a nice profit = AWESOME!
The majority of money made is the cake (your 5,10,20,-100$ items) and every now and then you hit the frosting!
My first auction I bought 2 units for cheap and made some nice profit of 211$ but it took time and a ton of work as you stated and I did not find 10k behind a painting!!!

Out of the last 15 I have bought 2 have stuck out as the best and one of them was a military shipping crate that was loaded with reloading stuff and a SA 1911 .45

I kept all of it for myself but it was a decent buy for 500$. I mean the guy had everything from start to finish in a 6x8 container for reloading.. I never priced it out but I know I got it for a fraction of its worth!!
The other had a motorcycle in it worth about 3500$ but I paid 2000$ for the unit. It had some other junk but the motorcycle is what everyone saw and I thought hey why not!!

Keep us posted on when your going next and take some pictures!!!
GLTY!

MikeMamba · 12-24-2012, 06:35 PM

sounds like a lot of fun!

Fraser9698 · 12-24-2012, 09:38 PM

Good job man. Always thought about doing this but figured it would be way too saturated with all of the shows causing randoms to think they'll make millions with it.

GoJays · 12-24-2012, 09:51 PM

Very nice. I had a friend who used to buy storage units for a living (or at least tried to). He said that once the shows came around, the prices became too high to make a decent profit.

Anyways, glad you enjoyed yourself!

Will you be going back for more, or is this just a one-time thing?

mouschi · 12-24-2012, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoJays

Very nice. I had a friend who used to buy storage units for a living (or at least tried to). He said that once the shows came around, the prices became too high to make a decent profit.

Anyways, glad you enjoyed yourself!

Will you be going back for more, or is this just a one-time thing?

I can see us doing it again ... I just mainly need to move what we have though. I have a BOATLOAD of that stuff, as well as cards and comics and even a car to get rid of. Ideally, I'd like to have that stuff gone first.

IndySportsCards · 12-24-2012, 11:24 PM

Sounds exciting, but more work than I'm up for.

mouschi · 12-24-2012, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IndySportsCards

Sounds exciting, but more work than I'm up for.

I definitely need to figure out how to streamline it more. The way I see it, is, since I sell cards, it's like ... if I sell a $20 baby doll, that is like selling an 89 UD Griffey rookie ... and who doesn't love them an 89 UD Griffey rookie?

benshobbies · 12-26-2012, 06:58 AM

I may want to get started doing this. However, its going to take some up front capital that I don't have. There are a few nice storage units in town, I don't know how often they go up for sale, but it may be worth trying! I know at one time my friend had his car inside the storage unit. So things could go crazy with those if one person decides to bail out.

I think I have to figure out how to make a profit selling cards & toys first and the rest will follow.

Ray27Ray52 · 12-26-2012, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benshobbies

I may want to get started doing this. However, its going to take some up front capital that I don't have. There are a few nice storage units in town, I don't know how often they go up for sale, but it may be worth trying! I know at one time my friend had his car inside the storage unit. So things could go crazy with those if one person decides to bail out.

I think I have to figure out how to make a profit selling cards & toys first and the rest will follow.

Only issue with the bolded part is that if the car is visible in the storage unit then for the most part you are only allowed to bid on the contents of the locker - the car. If the car is not visible then you still have to check the VIN number at the Department of Motor Vehicles to make sure it is clear before you may take possession of the car.

Edit- The only way an auctioneer will proceed with an auction of a locker containing a visible vehicle will be if the car has been previously checked for liens or pending lawsuits involving the vehicle. The 2nd sentence in my original comments still holds true.

TrueNE_09 · 12-26-2012, 08:56 AM

Awesome! Sounds like you had a damn good time, I bet it was a blast. Glad to hear you had some pretty good "beginner's luck

" too, that never hurts. Soooo, when you going back again? You got the sickness now!

mouschi · 12-26-2012, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrueNE_09

Awesome! Sounds like you had a damn good time, I bet it was a blast. Glad to hear you had some pretty good "beginner's luck

" too, that never hurts. Soooo, when you going back again? You got the sickness now!

Oh, it was an absolute blast - and something my wife and I could get into together. I think before we consider doing it again, we'll have to move a lot of stuff we have right now. I think someone is coming in and buying a bunch of stuff we have today (knock on wood) so we'll see!

KeithKards · 12-26-2012, 09:59 AM

Is that Darrell bidding????
YYYYYYYUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

matt6822 · 12-26-2012, 10:00 AM

That's awesome for you. I have gone to a bunch of storage auctions near my house. They usually have 3 to 4 up for auction and at least 50-100 people at everyone one. Seems like everyone that goes to the ones I go to think the tv show is real and try to be like them. People starting some auctions at $800 bids and they are small crappy units. I have never seen an auction end under $600. Every single unit is the same crappy one. Broken furniture, trash, used nasty mattress. I stopped going to them because they were just a huge waste of time. Guys from my work still go and he told me last week it's worse than ever now. He use to buy them before the show was on.
Good luck and hope you can keep doing good at them.

Cubs_rock21 · 12-27-2012, 03:05 AM

My buddy just purchased Tai Streets (EX 49ers WR) Storage locker and I bought a bunch off him. Needless to say Ive made over $3,000 and still have a lot to sell including 40 brand new pairs of NIKE shoes. You can really profit!

mouschi · 12-27-2012, 09:46 AM

Wow awesome!

coyne81486 · 12-27-2012, 10:06 AM

Pics or it didnt happen....

mouschi · 12-27-2012, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coyne81486

Pics or it didnt happen....

I can't very well back away from that now, can I?

This was our living room area the day we brought it all home. It doesn't look like as much, but here are several pics of what we got out of it:

New Document

TrueNE_09 · 12-27-2012, 10:42 AM

That sounds like a pretty good locker. How much did it cost him? I assume everyone knew it belonged to Tai, or was that discovered afterwards?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cubs_rock21

My buddy just purchased Tai Streets (EX 49ers WR) Storage locker and I bought a bunch off him. Needless to say Ive made over $3,000 and still have a lot to sell including 40 brand new pairs of NIKE shoes. You can really profit!

Orangejello727 · 12-27-2012, 11:02 AM

Good find!! Its a lot of work. When you factor in time, its hard to profit unless you do volume and get lucky!!

I personally want to get into the business. I want to buy storage lockers and fill them with junk and auction them off!! lol I put on the show, others take the gamble!!

1989FF · 12-27-2012, 07:41 PM

I've been doing this for about 4 months now. Love it. Bought 4 and paid $70, $170, $30 and a week ago my biggest $400. So far I've netted over $1k and have $5k inventory listed on various sites. It's alot of work researching, moving, cleaning, repairing etc but we love it. Little extra cash and find so many cool things to keep and things I've never seen. "Unsure what this is, but I own one now". We (wife and I) only hit the 2 closest to our house to cut down on moving time. I have access to a roll off trash bin and flatbeds and box trucks so that really helps. Looking into buying/making sheds as my garage is packed. I network with everyone I know so it helps when I see an item I know I can flip quick. Good Luck to you and have fun!

37Jetson · 12-27-2012, 08:20 PM

The toys appear to be very clean and in good condition. I hope that you have a great time selling it all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mouschi

I can't very well back away from that now, can I?

This was our living room area the day we brought it all home. It doesn't look like as much, but here are several pics of what we got out of it:

New Document

12-24-2012, 05:17 PM	#1 (permalink)
mouschi Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 2,152	So I bought a Storage Unit at an Auction So, I decided to take the fam to a storage unit auction down the road last wed. or thur. It was on a whim, kind of, but I just had to. I'm a sucker for the shows. My goal was to at least bid one time on something. I was not planning on buying anything. Mainly because: 1) I'm a newbie, and didn't expect to buy a unit until my 3-5th time. 2) We have limited garage space 3) How the heck are we going to transport it? That would be a lot of work. So anyway, there were 11 units up for auction, or so, and 20 people there. It looked like there were not many newbies, so I thought I could learn quite a bit. The auctioneer had a cowboy hat on, which was a plus, and a fast talker. That alone was enough for me to go On our way, we saw a lady selling some things out of her unit, so my wife and I split off for a few minutes to see what she had. My wife has a good eye for kiddo things, so she went ahead and made a deal with a lady. She spent $80 with her, and it looks like we'll pull $250 profit out of it all! Well, the next to last locker, I saw some things that I liked, and it was like a switch turned on from "I don't stand a chance...I'm just a rookie" to "Anything below $450 and this is MINE!" Well, I got it for $375!!!! ;D It took 2 trips to bring it all home, and it was exhilarating. I was careful, because I was told by someone that out of every 100 units you buy, generally, 99 are junk. Well, this one was an awesome starter! 35 new Pampered Chef items, 29 new interior decorating items, tons of various kitchen things, some jewelry, 13 purses/bags (Coach, BeBe, and even some fake LV / Chanel), lots of toys, etc. Heck, even about $50 cash! It took a lot ... and I mean a LOT of work to process through it all. I think my wife came close to pulling an all nighter going through things, and I had spent a few days just listing all the stuff. As it sits now, we have pretty much everything listed online (or 99% at least?) and are $116 away from being in the black with the unit, and have toooonsss to go. Conservatively speaking, I'd say we have $600 cash profit, when all is said and done. __________________ Join me on my quest through 6,000,000+ sports cards! http://www.tanmanbaseballfan.com If I'm selling something, and you aren't interested in it, please don't make any remarks that could hinder my sale, and I'll afford you the same courtesy.

12-24-2012, 05:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
Niels50 Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Albany, OR Posts: 1,083	Very cool. I've always wanted to do something like this! __________________ *Not aloud to have signature*

12-24-2012, 06:30 PM	#5 (permalink)
thor_rider08 Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Alaska Posts: 1,705	SWEEEEEEEEETTT!!!! I love these stories!! I do storage and car auctions every week so I can relate!! You did great and went into it with the idea that you were not going to find a 150000 year old alien space craft worth 1billion dollars If you had fun then thats half the battle!! Plus to make a nice profit = AWESOME! The majority of money made is the cake (your 5,10,20,-100$ items) and every now and then you hit the frosting! My first auction I bought 2 units for cheap and made some nice profit of 211$ but it took time and a ton of work as you stated and I did not find 10k behind a painting!!! Out of the last 15 I have bought 2 have stuck out as the best and one of them was a military shipping crate that was loaded with reloading stuff and a SA 1911 .45 I kept all of it for myself but it was a decent buy for 500$. I mean the guy had everything from start to finish in a 6x8 container for reloading.. I never priced it out but I know I got it for a fraction of its worth!! The other had a motorcycle in it worth about 3500$ but I paid 2000$ for the unit. It had some other junk but the motorcycle is what everyone saw and I thought hey why not!! Keep us posted on when your going next and take some pictures!!! GLTY! __________________ The righteous pay a sacrifice to get what they deserve.

12-24-2012, 06:35 PM	#6 (permalink)
MikeMamba Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Southern California Posts: 3,094 mikemamba	sounds like a lot of fun! __________________ Ed Davis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ed Davis PC --> http://s1154.photobucket.com/albums/p525/MikeMamba/Ed%20Davis%20PC/

12-24-2012, 09:51 PM	#8 (permalink)
GoJays Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,707	Very nice. I had a friend who used to buy storage units for a living (or at least tried to). He said that once the shows came around, the prices became too high to make a decent profit. Anyways, glad you enjoyed yourself! Will you be going back for more, or is this just a one-time thing? __________________ NHL Officiating: helping out superstars and their teams any way they can since 1993.

12-24-2012, 05:33 PM	#3 (permalink)
BostonNut Inactive Account Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 9,966	Congrats! So when can we expect to see you on the show?

12-24-2012, 09:38 PM	#7 (permalink)
Fraser9698 Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Lexington, KY Posts: 2,879 frasermemorabiliagroup	Good job man. Always thought about doing this but figured it would be way too saturated with all of the shows causing randoms to think they'll make millions with it.

12-24-2012, 11:24 PM	#10 (permalink)
IndySportsCards Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Indy Posts: 17,328 dirt1025 IndySportsCards	Sounds exciting, but more work than I'm up for. __________________ Come Visit The Comic Book Junkies on Blowout http://www.blowoutcards.com/forums/comicbookjunkie/

12-26-2012, 06:58 AM	#12 (permalink)
benshobbies Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Berkshire County, MA Posts: 3,701 benshobbies benshobbies	I may want to get started doing this. However, its going to take some up front capital that I don't have. There are a few nice storage units in town, I don't know how often they go up for sale, but it may be worth trying! I know at one time my friend had his car inside the storage unit. So things could go crazy with those if one person decides to bail out. I think I have to figure out how to make a profit selling cards & toys first and the rest will follow. __________________ "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" Supercollecting the Brooklyn Dodgers & Michael Egnew, Collecting Red Sox & Boston Celtics. Almost always buying with paypal!

12-26-2012, 08:56 AM	#14 (permalink)
TrueNE_09 Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Boston Posts: 7,824 deks_7981	Awesome! Sounds like you had a damn good time, I bet it was a blast. Glad to hear you had some pretty good "beginner's luck " too, that never hurts. Soooo, when you going back again? You got the sickness now! __________________ Thoughts remain with CNNR... #BostonStrong

12-26-2012, 09:59 AM	#16 (permalink)
KeithKards Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Colorado Posts: 471 adderallrules	Is that Darrell bidding???? YYYYYYYUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! __________________ Selling and Trading all of my cards. Photobucket: http://s1354.beta.photobucket.com/user/keithkards/profile/

12-26-2012, 10:00 AM	#17 (permalink)
matt6822 Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: NH Posts: 429 matt6822	That's awesome for you. I have gone to a bunch of storage auctions near my house. They usually have 3 to 4 up for auction and at least 50-100 people at everyone one. Seems like everyone that goes to the ones I go to think the tv show is real and try to be like them. People starting some auctions at $800 bids and they are small crappy units. I have never seen an auction end under $600. Every single unit is the same crappy one. Broken furniture, trash, used nasty mattress. I stopped going to them because they were just a huge waste of time. Guys from my work still go and he told me last week it's worse than ever now. He use to buy them before the show was on. Good luck and hope you can keep doing good at them.

12-27-2012, 03:05 AM	#18 (permalink)
Cubs_rock21 Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Indiana Posts: 5,347	My buddy just purchased Tai Streets (EX 49ers WR) Storage locker and I bought a bunch off him. Needless to say Ive made over $3,000 and still have a lot to sell including 40 brand new pairs of NIKE shoes. You can really profit!

12-27-2012, 09:46 AM	#19 (permalink)
mouschi Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 2,152	Wow awesome! __________________ Join me on my quest through 6,000,000+ sports cards! http://www.tanmanbaseballfan.com If I'm selling something, and you aren't interested in it, please don't make any remarks that could hinder my sale, and I'll afford you the same courtesy.

12-27-2012, 10:06 AM	#20 (permalink)
coyne81486 Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: PA Posts: 2,966 coyne81486	Pics or it didnt happen.... __________________ pc-JUSTIN UPTON . . Money saved up for national 2013-$186

12-27-2012, 11:02 AM	#23 (permalink)
Orangejello727 Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 9,573	Good find!! Its a lot of work. When you factor in time, its hard to profit unless you do volume and get lucky!! I personally want to get into the business. I want to buy storage lockers and fill them with junk and auction them off!! lol I put on the show, others take the gamble!!

12-27-2012, 07:41 PM	#24 (permalink)
1989FF Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 180	I've been doing this for about 4 months now. Love it. Bought 4 and paid $70, $170, $30 and a week ago my biggest $400. So far I've netted over $1k and have $5k inventory listed on various sites. It's alot of work researching, moving, cleaning, repairing etc but we love it. Little extra cash and find so many cool things to keep and things I've never seen. "Unsure what this is, but I own one now". We (wife and I) only hit the 2 closest to our house to cut down on moving time. I have access to a roll off trash bin and flatbeds and box trucks so that really helps. Looking into buying/making sheds as my garage is packed. I network with everyone I know so it helps when I see an item I know I can flip quick. Good Luck to you and have fun!

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