What is the “good” locker to “average” locker ratio ?

I've given up on getting newbies to use the search function to find out if topics have been discussed before, and it only recently dawned on me that even some folks who have been on here for 6 months or more may not have "browsed" for topics that might be of interest to them, so I am asking this question anew.

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This is an effort to DEBUNK the tv shows view of the storage auction business which is basically that almost every locker holds valuable items. Each of the tv series makes these assertions though Auction Hunters has a disclaimer (in print on screen, not verbalized) that the filmed segments represent the best of the hundreds of lockers they buy.

So, what is the ratio? Is it 1 in 1, 1 in 10, 1 in 20, 1 in 100 or 1 in ?

I realize that people will have different experiences with this, so you should probably indicate roughly how many you have bought to make your point valid. In other words, if you've bought 1 and it was great, that's not much to go on. Likewise, if you've bought 1 and it was trash, that's not much to comment on either.

I've bought just short of 400 and my ratio would probably be about 1 in 50 as I can think of 8 super-deluxe lockers. Of course there is an entire range of "treasure to trash" values, so that complicates it too.

Anyway, I think you get the idea. It's just to give a ballpark idea.

I've given up on getting newbies to use the search function to find out if topics have been discussed before, and it only recently dawned on me that even some folks who have been on here for 6 months or more may not have "browsed" for topics that might be of interest to them, so I am asking this question anew.

******

This is an effort to DEBUNK the tv shows view of the storage auction business which is basically that almost every locker holds valuable items. Each of the tv series makes these assertions though Auction Hunters has a disclaimer (in print on screen, not verbalized) that the filmed segments represent the best of the hundreds of lockers they buy.

So, what is the ratio? Is it 1 in 1, 1 in 10, 1 in 20, 1 in 100 or 1 in ?

I realize that people will have different experiences with this, so you should probably indicate roughly how many you have bought to make your point valid. In other words, if you've bought 1 and it was great, that's not much to go on. Likewise, if you've bought 1 and it was trash, that's not much to comment on either.

I've bought just short of 400 and my ratio would probably be about 1 in 50 as I can think of 8 super-deluxe lockers. Of course there is an entire range of "treasure to trash" values, so that complicates it too.

Anyway, I think you get the idea. It's just to give a ballpark idea.

I got 3 really good units out of the first 60 I bought. So thats a 1 in 20 ratio. Now my ratio is down to about 1 in 5 but I am picky about what units I bid on and because I tend to go for the ones that "look" good I pay a premium for them so my average cost per unitis proabably higher then someone who is just bidding and winning evert type of unit.

In order to answer the question, one needs to know what is considered a good locker. A $2000 profit?  A $5,000 profit? A $10,000 or greater profit? What about a 2000% return on a $100 locker?

In order to answer the question, one needs to know what is considered a good locker. A $2000 profit?  A $5,000 profit? A $10,000 or greater profit? What about a 2000% return on a $100 locker?

Well, if after all this time you can't tell a good locker from a bad one, we have a leadership problem!

IN GENERAL....a good locker is one that makes ANY profit; the more profit the better. A bad locker is one that loses money and a locker that just breaks even would be considered a disappointment indeed. This factors in effort, time, etc in the "good" definition.

I would also guess that any member here would be happy with a locker that made a $2,000 or $5,000 profit whatever the locker cost in the first place. Certainly the 2,000% return on a $100 locker would qualify under any circumstance.

Well, if after all this time you can't tell a good locker from a bad one, we have a leadership problem!

You're just now figuring that out? 

This question is really hard to answer. Off the top of my head I would say 1 in 10 is good (large gain $1000 profit+), 1 in 10 is bad (a loss) and the other 8 range from so so to pretty good. That being said I am pretty picky and tend to only buy units that show a lot of promise and don't buy units full of trash bags.

Yeah, same here. Furniture are units are easy to value and they may not sell overnight but you can count on them to eventually sell. I have also noticed that the more large items in a unit like sofas, mattresses and appliances, the better the price gets. Not only that, I would much rather sell 5 large items than 500 small items.

for me about 1 in 10 are disappointments losses or breakevens
1 in 50 is dynamite
rest are varying degrees of sucess

ROI is an interesting concept, in that there is the return on our money, but also the return on our time.

Yes, If I make a dollar on a lot that I purchase, it is much better than losing money on the transaction.

On the other hand, if I wake up this morning and go to work and don't make $150 today, then arguably it might have been a good day to stay in bed. 

Of course, it's hard to generalize like that since I don't know whether there is anything good to buy at the auction today, and we can't buy and sell the same day usually.  And..... some days you make a thousand and some you make nothing.  But it's not worth my time to do this if I can't make more than pocket change doing it over the long haul.

Yeah, but now that I'm semi-retired, I CAN go to the auction just cuz it's fun, right?