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Should you hang out after an auction?

Offline Travis

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Should you hang out after an auction?
« on: March 21, 2013, 01:16:17 AM »
Cobia brought up good point. If someone bids on a unit and doesn't pay, the auctioneer has the right to resell the unit to the next highest bidder. Well, if the only people there are the last few people waiting to pay for the units they bought, it might be a good idea to start hanging out after the auction to pick up units on the cheap. Does anyone already do this and if so, how often does it pay off?



Offline MovieMan

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Re: Should you hang out after an auction?
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2013, 07:10:02 AM »
Cobia brought up good point. If someone bids on a unit and doesn't pay, the auctioneer has the right to resell the unit to the next highest bidder. Well, if the only people there are the last few people waiting to pay for the units they bought, it might be a good idea to start hanging out after the auction to pick up units on the cheap. Does anyone already do this and if so, how often does it pay off?

Good thing I have a good memory.

Here is a cut and paste from a thread in early March, 2011 which addresses this issue.

“A fourth incident involved a locker that I was bidding on. I quit at $600 and the guy got it for $650. I left as it was the last auction at that facility. A half hour later at the next place on the route the story came out. The guy didn't have the money and the third runner up (at $550) got the locker. They didn't re-auction it as we had all left.
The final part of this story is that the 10x30 turned out to be nothing but crap.

I had lucked out, but my pal spent days cleaning it out and lost everything he had invested. The only thing he could sell he said was the totes the crap was in. “

The entire thread on this issue can be seen here:

http://storageauctionforums.com/general-auction-talk/bidder-with-no-money/msg2451/#msg2451

Offline Travis

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Re: Should you hang out after an auction?
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2013, 08:46:28 AM »
Last night I sent an email to a buddy of mine who is the auctioneer for the U-Haul locations in the 5 major cities in Texas. I asked him if people leaving the auction without paying is a fairly common occurrence and whether he sells the unit immediately or whether he waits until the following month. I'll update this post when he responds. 

Re: Should you hang out after an auction?
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2013, 02:39:53 PM »
I talked to a guy that called on a unit after it didn't sell at auction. The unit was a 10 X 20 with crap just thrown in (real mess). It was also in a small hallway that reeked of pot. I have seen worse units sell for over $100.00. Anyway this guy offered to clean it out so they didn't have to pay someone. Facility owner let him. He said there were several good things under the mess and he made over $700.00. I remember his saying there was an antique small dresser and some kind of a pocket motorcycle.
I have also seen a few times while paying for my unit people say they don't have the money. The majority were held over until the next auction.

Offline alloro

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Re: Should you hang out after an auction?
« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2013, 02:56:02 PM »
The rule around here is that it falls to the next highest bidder. The problem is that the bids run fast and the auctioneer doesn't have a record of who the next lowest bidder was. To me this is a good thing because if you hang around, you can always say you were the next lower bidder and walk away with the unit.

Offline Travis

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Re: Should you hang out after an auction?
« Reply #5 on: March 21, 2013, 09:09:41 PM »
Anyway this guy offered to clean it out so they didn't have to pay someone. Facility owner let him.

People don't realize it but a lot of facilities will do this. Also, a lot of facilities have abandoned units that don't go up for auction. Sometimes they will let you have the unit if you just clean it out for them. I recommend calling the facilities in your area and letting them know that whenever the have abandoned units, you'll clean them out for free. This could be a great source of free inventory for you.

Re: Should you hang out after an auction?
« Reply #6 on: March 22, 2013, 08:17:20 AM »
I've not heard of someone that has not paid for a unit they won in my area.  Most of the units go to regulars who stay in budget.

As for the "abandoned" type units - most of the time those get combined with other units and sold.  Now, I have won 4 units before and offered to clean out the 2 no-sales since I was already at the location anyways to build up some good relations.  Normally all of the trash units sale for $1 or $5 to someone who is already there.  Then the associated cost is low.


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