small town or big cities?

I am curious as to whether or not if you hit up a small town is better chances of grabbing lockers for cheaper? Still a lot of competition? Small town lockers contain more junk? Just curious.

In my limited experience small town auctions don't necessarily mean cheaper units. There is a smaller city 30 miles north of me that every auction I have been to the bidding was higher then in the metro area. Don't know why, maybe the people in that city have more money to burn, it's primarily a working class city so it does'nt make sense to me. I have been to some REALLY small towns in the mountains over an hour and half away from me. The prices were about the same, maybe a little less, but for me it was more expensive considering the fuel costs. The thing about small towns is you tend to find things related to the local economy. Carpet & flooring production is the major industry in most of the towns south of my metro area so when we win a locker down there most of the time it has something from the carpet or flooring industry in it.

It's not a good idea to stereotype auctions, you really never know what you're going to get. There are many other factors that determine what units will sell for and I don't have time to get into all of them. However, I will tell you this. In every major city there are usually 1-4 major newspapers which publish a majority of the legal notices. The auctions advertised in these major newspapers are usually swarmed with buyers. In suburban and rural areas, a lot of storage facilities place their legal notices in smaller community newspapers which are seen by fewer people. Typically these auctions have fewer people in attendance which could increase your chances of getting a better deal. A month ago, I had a member of our service who went to a rural auction and only two other buyers showed up. He bought three units for $50 and he was ecstatic. Now, this is extremely uncommon, but, it can happen.

In my experience as a small town guy. everyone knows everyone so if your Mr Money baggs with loker 115 everyone in town will fight for it. The local coffee shop full of old men will have beaten the subject to death before auction day in the big city its easy to hide amongst numbers etc. So its easyer for Mr Money baggs to hide.
 In small towns people are ranked according to how much gold you have etc. people make it a point to find out it's like a pecking order. and the crows will pick everyone apart that they think they can out wizzz...

 So in a small town unless they are sleeping your odds are lower I have a lkr coming up that is in this catagory im just hoping with the guy being from out of town that nothing sticks out when the door opens I can confirm its who I believe it is and steal it. as it's a 10x30 and the owner didnt live in this town but made a nice 6 figures a year. This is a once in ten year deal.

I'd wrather be in a big city crowd where no one knew Mr Money baggs. but this is just me.

I agree with Sidewinder and with CopiaVita

  We find that there is No rhyme or reason , it can go either way , and so do We .   

I agree you can't stereotype facilities or you'll miss out on great auctions but my personal experience is that small towns tend to have less crowds and prices are generally cheaper.

My personal reason however for liking small town auctions is they are often non chain facilities and do less advertising about auctions, also don't hire auctioneers just have the manager run the auction.

I also tend to find more older stuff vs household crap. I also tend to find more toys like project cars, motorcycles, construction equipment, etc which is stuff I like.

I agree you can't stereotype facilities or you'll miss out on great auctions but my personal experience is that small towns tend to have less crowds and prices are generally cheaper.

My personal reason however for liking small town auctions is they are often non chain facilities and do less advertising about auctions, also don't hire auctioneers just have the manager run the auction.

I also tend to find more older stuff vs household crap. I also tend to find more toys like project cars, motorcycles, construction equipment, etc which is stuff I like.

This can be very true, but watch out, especially now, alot of small towns people can afford to be a long way from major cities cause they got lots of money, usually from Ranching, at least thats how it is over here.

Now with all the shows I think price wise its about the same.The further you get away from the bigger cities it seems you find older stuff.

ok if your a rancher or farmer then how much land do you have ? lets talk "barns". so why the hell would they need a storage shed HAHAHAHA.. its mostly those that work at the dairy queen or live on welfair, run a cash register at a store some farm labor perhaps. but bottom line is in my parts anyhow small towns do not have good stuff. I have to goto the bigger city's. now if mr banker dies perhaps if he wrapped and stored it corectly odds of 1 in 100.
 Also this is desert so dust holy hell dust get's a hard crusted 1/4" thick on stuff easy and at over 150 degrees in them lockers in summer time plastic and rubber starts to melt and put off oils that stick this dust to it even plastic cloths hangers etc. in 30 days are trash. baby stroller handels yuck..sticky mess so its funny to watch noobies grab that stuff after a buy HAHAHAHA... so yes it limites what you can resell unlike up north or back east. a fishing rod handel can be mush on a new $200 fishing pole never used making it junk fishing worms melt and they have some bad oils as well eating luers etc so if stuff was just thrown in the locker worms are everywhere in that tackel box = trash.
 also in bigger cities pavement and lots of it = less dust but more heat. so you dont have to beat all that damn dirt out of the fabric in furnature. them oils from hangers and rubber stuff arn't quite as bad when melted onto the wooden or what ever they are sitting on etc. without the dust to crust it up like cement or J.B. weld but its still there.
them neat plastic storage containers turn black on top and there is no getting the dust off its melted into the plastic bonded by the oils in it. if they have been in there over a year they start cracking and have dried out and started to rott. cardboard is better.
Anyrate this is my neck of the woods anyhow im sure its different other places.

I'm 90 miles from walmart and 150 from a mall. dump runs are free if my dump dont take it I have lots of land it can rot on car batteries etc.. LOL so thats how I manage to offset my fuel price and drive these distance's no dump fees. and going to the big city is like a hollywood auction to small town country folks here just because the unites are clean when the door opens less spiders and rodents etc. also.


UV is so bad here you could fill a gallon milk jug with water sit it in the yard this time of year full sun in 60 days you goto pick it up and the handel comes off in your hand it has rotted that fast. without water 30 days its brittle and rotted. its a real game changer that the tv shows dont show.

I'll say it once again this is how it is in southern New Mexico ,AZ to Elpaso TX. come on out and give it a wirl hahahaha..

  Hi Sidewinder
  Are You hinting that if We snowbird in Az. , Nm. or Tx. We shouldn't leave all our camping gear plus an RV in a storage locker for the Summer ?   
  I know that the Gold Mining Club We belong to in Az. locks down there campground that is 9 1/2 miles out in the desert from May to Sept. , but damn is it ever nice in Feb.  and March .   
 Bandit

ok if your a rancher or farmer then how much land do you have ? lets talk "barns". so why the hell would they need a storage shed HAHAHAHA.. its mostly those that work at the dairy queen or live on welfair, run a cash register at a store some farm labor perhaps. but bottom line is in my parts anyhow small towns do not have good stuff. I have to goto the bigger city's. now if mr banker dies perhaps if he wrapped and stored it corectly odds of 1 in 100.

I wasnt saying that you will find good stuff because of the Ranchers / Farmers. I was saying for the most part they are the ones with the money, and you can be sure you will see some of those in small town storage auctions. No matter where you go, the nature of the beast is the same. You will not know for sure what you have in a lkr (except for what you see at the door) and there is always someone with more money to just throw away at a locker than you will have.

Yes you can have lower crowds in a smaller town, but the people there will more than likely be highly territorial, and they would have more money to just throw at the wind.