Sorting advice

but the idea of checking pockets, shoes, birthday cards and books is overkill for me 

I agree, especially if you are buying and selling in volume, you just don't have time for that. I do go through every box and container but the idea of digging through someones dirty shorts just doesn't appeal to me.

I have come across a few good things going through everything. But also alot of bad things. I do not recommend using latex gloves, I recommend either mechanic or construction gloves. Two of my 10 units so far had drug paraphernalia. First one had alot of meth pipes and razors, one of the razors literally cut my glove. So it was a good thing I had gloves on. The other lkr had alot of used needles. That was one unit I decided not to dig in the clothes, I just felt on the outsides to see if the pockets had any thing in them.

Great advice from all those reminding us to wear gloves when sorting. Sometimes I get busy and forget to put them on. Along those lines of thinking, it would probably be smart to wear dust masks and safety glasses while loading/unloading and sorting. Years of breathing in that dust and pet dander is not good for your lungs, not to mention how dangerous rodent feces dust is, and then there is the mold/mildew spores, cocaine/crack residue, household chemicals, and who knows what else!

Great advice from all those reminding us to wear gloves when sorting. Sometimes I get busy and forget to put them on. Along those lines of thinking, it would probably be smart to wear dust masks and safety glasses while loading/unloading and sorting. Years of breathing in that dust and pet dander is not good for your lungs, not to mention how dangerous rodent feces dust is, and then there is the mold/mildew spores, cocaine/crack residue, household chemicals, and who knows what else!

Is it just me, or does your description just make this job sound so romantic?

I always recommend that first time buyers be vigilant in processing everything they can find inside the units they win - not necessarily because they're going to turn a healthy profit from each and every item they find - but because doing so sets the base of self-discipline that you need to turn steady profits with storage auctions.

Before I got into storage auctions I worked with eBay for a long time and saw many small and large businesses whose entire income stream was based off eBay. Some people understood the basic premise of processing your inventory intelligently - doing your research, refurbishing what you could, and then listing absolutely everything up there once.

More people, however, even the ones that had been selling on eBay for years, got stuck in that same old loop of hoarding crap that is simply not worth the time and effort and re-listing fees .They get so fixated and emotionally attached to the stuff that has proven to them, time and again, that it won't move. It still baffles me.

Guess I don't have the hoarding gene. Anyway, to make a long story short - I think it's great to learn how to force yourself to go through everything, especially in the beginning. Eventually you will hit your rhythm in determining what is junk and what can be sold. Even if you have a bunch of small items that only sell for a few bucks a pop, if you are diligent about listing and shipping them, pretty soon they add up.

This is an great thread for a new guy like me. All of your thoughts give great insight into how one might approach their business. This seems to be driven by 2 things, time and personality. As for me, I have the time because this is a part time endeavor for me. However, my personality is geared to go through everything. My units coughed up about 15.00 in coins from every nook and cranny. I can see the other side as well, but I'm a long way from that level where every quarter doesn't matter. Continued good luck to everyone!

Believe me and I'm certain many others even us old timers agree that every quarter, dime, nickle and penny counts. I've been doing this and estates for a long time and I still dig in every nook and crany. 4 years ago my wife and I took a ten day Alaskan Cruise and we had enough money from all the change we gathered over the previous 5 years to pay for all the spending money we used on the cruise including excusions. I ended up with over 2K in misc. coins gathered up from all those nooks and crannies so keep on digging.

Believe me and I'm certain many others even us old timers agree that every quarter, dime, nickle and penny counts. I've been doing this and estates for a long time and I still dig in every nook and crany. 4 years ago my wife and I took a ten day Alaskan Cruise and we had enough money from all the change we gathered over the previous 5 years to pay for all the spending money we used on the cruise including excusions. I ended up with over 2K in misc. coins gathered up from all those nooks and crannies so keep on digging.

Now thats INSPIRATION

Don't forget to consider having a Tetanus shot/booster. You need a new one about every 10 years. I sliced my leg on some rusty metal equipment I was cleaning out of a unit and it made me think about it.