my first loss

purchased my first huge unit, 10 by 30 and it was a complete bust ! I almost always like the small hit and runs 5x5 or 5x10 's and have been doing well for over a year. occasionally if I get a decent feeling and price I will go a little bigger but this was my first big one. it looked fantastic at the door with well packed boxes and organized in sections stacked well. it went for a great price and I paid what I felt I could sell what I saw easily.

after the auction went to my unit to start sorting. opened the first box and I saw dead roaches.... I threw that box to the side and moved to different area of locker and picked up a box and opened......yup dead roaches. the whole unit was like that. I cant resell any of that to anyone! thank god there were no live ones !

long story short , it took me days to fill back of truck and go straight to the dump. my only saving grace was I did pull some scrap metal and find a jewelry box that had enough gold that I managed to only lose 100 bucks and about 20 hours of labor.

never again will I purchase from that particular location ( in very low income city ) and it will be a long time before I even think of anything that large again!

Yeah, tough break man. I bought a unit like that, except every box was full of trash.

Every now and then, no matter how careful you are, one of these units will come along.

All you can do is cut you losses and move on.

after the auction went to my unit to start sorting. opened the first box and I saw dead roaches.... I threw that box to the side and moved to different area of locker and picked up a box and opened......yup dead roaches. the whole unit was like that.

There's always a silver lining.
http://www.amazon.com/101-Uses-Of-Dead-Roach-ebook/dp/B0040711YS

almost as bad, I did a running tally as I tossed and a ballpark figure of a little under 4000 if it was sellable. Im sure it was more as I didn't bother opening too much and I won it at 200 bucks so the profit margin was right on

had a tough bust last week 10x20, commercial boxed goods, from the door it looked like about $4k in slow but sellable stuff.  Popped at 1k plus rent because it was far outside my usual territory.  All boxes were empty or were filled with clothes.  Total bust.

win some lose some.

almost as bad, I did a running tally as I tossed and a ballpark figure of a little under 4000 if it was sellable. Im sure it was more as I didn't bother opening too much and I won it at 200 bucks so the profit margin was right on

Wait a second. You mean that there was resell-able merchandise, but because of the roaches, you tossed it?

dude, if threw away ANYTHING because it had a roach on it get out of the business NOW. I would sell you a burrito with a live roach IN it tomorrow if I could. You won't make money working like that.

Wait a second. You mean that there was resell-able merchandise, but because of the roaches, you tossed it?

I just read resellable and didn't open much ... if you didn't open every box and pick through every roach this aint the business for you.

One of my better gold rooms had 36 .. yes 36 dead rats in it.  Garbage filled to the ceiling, dirty diapers, cat litter ..etc.  Found 6 oz of gold when it was at 1700/oz.

You gots to dig!

Plus no one but you knows that there was a roach on it.  Half of the places you eat at probably have some roaches in the kitchen.

A few years ago, I had to clean to out a rat infested unit with feces everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I mean every item had a turd stuck to it. It really sucked, but you just have to grin a bare it. This can be some nasty work at times.

oh ya , I toss it. if I wouldn't want it in my house because of roaches or rats then I toss. to be honest.....I cant imagine someone going through and cleaning that sort of stuff. its trash, that stuff has reached the end of the line and now needs to make that last journey to the dump.

dude, if threw away ANYTHING because it had a roach on it get out of the business NOW. I would sell you a burrito with a live roach IN it tomorrow if I could. You won't make money working like that.

I actually do make money working exactly like that. there needs to be lines that don't get crossed. if its counterfeit, if it touches roaches or rats, has urine feces on it...ya that's my line.

as far as making money... well working my way I make 3-4 grand a month without trying too hard selling storage auction material. this is only about 40% - 50% of my product source so I can afford to be choosey I suppose.

I do see you point, need to do what you need to do. I just don't need to do it but I also do things others have turned their nose down on me too. I have family members who look at me sorting cloths or toys and cleaning them and they judge me.

im re-reading this tread and I have to say, Im surprised that so many people would have kept going regardless........why?

is it because theres no choice (you have to put food on the table) and you only get a locker or two

is it because the majority of your locker finds are tainted by roaches or rats so no choice

is it because, well......you just don't care?

im really curious. I have to be honest. the thought of selling any of this stuff was in my head for all of 60 seconds only

we might also have different definitions of roach infested which is why there is a disconnect.

For me anything that smells like animal, animal urine, dead animal hair in boxes ..etc. that goes in a heartbeat.

Any soft good from a really really dirty room goes straight to the dumpster ..etc.

The rat room I got was a 10x30 packed to the ceiling.  The rats were all in the bottom.  After skimming off the first foot or two I kept the rest and sold.

I've also had rooms where I made 10x my money in the first couple of feet, did a quick sort of the other stuff and tossed just because I didn't have the time or interest to sort, store and sell the balance.

For me winter is my time to buy all the big units.  Most people don't have the space or dont want to work out in the cold so I start picking them up for prestoragewars days.  The cheaper I buy them for the less I have to be a miser about every piece.

Also my family thinks I'm the black sheep of the family because I do this.  However I make more part time than most of them do full time sitting in a cubicle farm wasting their lives away.

Also my family thinks I'm the black sheep of the family because I do this.  However I make more part time than most of them do full time sitting in a cubicle farm wasting their lives away.
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I hear you, no one in my family wants anything to do with what I do and have the opinion that what I do is dirty and unhygienic. which....some of it is but this is one of the ways I put food on the table.

I hear what your saying on how far you go in going through a room. I guess many people have many different ways/opinions etc... mine happens to be small clean units mostly and then I sort right at the unit and make 2 trips. 1 to my place with good stuff and I sell anything with a value of over 3-4 bucks or at least try to group the dollar items together to get at least there. and 1 trip to dump.

dirty stuff doesn't necessarily turn me off, that's why I have wipes /cleaners/washing machine for but I admit I do toss quicker than clean. I would just not want anything to contaminate my storage or myself.

if its furniture with pee on it its trash, but the point i'm trying to make is that we're in the trash business. I mean really we are. Don't get me wrong we're trying to find the treasure in all the trash but you have to dig. Perhaps you're in an area where the units go cheap enough to where you can be very selective which would be nice. I've had a lot of good hits but some weeks I dig through the trash(and sell it) to make a little profit. If it's working for you more power to you