Storage Auctions

The Storage Locker => General Storage Auction Talk => Topic started by: Travis on July 13, 2013, 04:16:29 PM

Title: What is your favorite storage auction?
Post by: Travis on July 13, 2013, 04:16:29 PM
I'm sure everyone here has a favorite storage auction they like to attend. Perhaps, you like the auctioneer or perhaps a particular facility always has great merchandise. Maybe you prefer it because there are multiple facilities scheduled for the same day. Whatever the reason, what is your favorite storage auction to attend and why?
Title: Re: What is your favorite storage auction?
Post by: greywar on July 13, 2013, 04:22:18 PM
Pretty fond of the uhaul ones.  The auctioneer is good, the lockers don't appear to be picked over, and the quality of what I find has been reasonable.  Basically in my area at least everyones been pretty professional.
Title: Re: What is your favorite storage auction?
Post by: Travis on July 13, 2013, 07:09:25 PM
In Houston, I used to love this one auction. They only had one location but it consistently had 30 +/- units every month. Now, this storage facility was located in a poor part of town and there were a lot of crappy units; however, there were also a lot of contractor units. The thing I like the most about this auction was that the heavy hitters didn't come to it. So I could pick up good units for $150-$350. I usually bought 2-5 units every time I went.
Title: Re: What is your favorite storage auction?
Post by: HomeGrownPromos on July 14, 2013, 06:10:47 PM
Public Storage auctions are good. There's one that I especially like, but I can't mention where it is. Typically there's like 3 people there and lockers go cheap cheap cheap!
Title: Re: What is your favorite storage auction?
Post by: HomeGrownPromos on July 15, 2013, 11:15:58 PM
My favorite auctions these days are Storage Auctions Online.  I have seen units go as low as 30 dollars per unit all the way up to 3,000 dollars.  They even have pictures of the contents of the unit.  Just a new tip I found out recently.

Thanks for the tip.  ::)
Title: Re: What is your favorite storage auction?
Post by: blaknite on July 18, 2013, 03:35:32 AM
Online has its pros and cons. 

Pros
You don't have to go out and waste time you can bid from anywhere.
More time to look and make a solid buying decision.
Advantage goes to the tech savvy.  (old timers will have a harder time zooming in photos etc.)

Cons:
You're NOT EVER going to get that awesome unit for under $200 online because nobody showed up.  Attendance is way over what it would be for a live auction. 
You can't see anything the unit manager didn't want you to see.  (Think cockroaches. One of the worst units I ever bought...)
No chance to hear the gossip or learn new tricks from the old timers on the trail.  Same goes for having a friendly chat with the unit manager and getting a good (or bad) tip.

Reality is that in order for one man to be rich another must be poor.  There will always be the same amount of work done each day. Your station in life is a question of who does more work for less money and who does less work for more.  People flock to storage auctions because they see an opportunity to get more with less.

Online auctions level the playing field between buyers and tip the scales towards the unit managers benefit.  This is a positive if you're new to the game and you're finding it hard to win against the old hands.  Once you've been around a while you'll find the live auctions are better because things aren't as fair and balanced.  If you want fair you should get a job.  What we're looking for is a chance to take advantage of others weakness to get ahead.  (you see something they didn't.  You see an opportunity to run someone up.  You have more money in your pocket when the killer unit comes up. etc.)
Title: Re: What is your favorite storage auction?
Post by: MovieMan on July 22, 2013, 02:22:17 PM
My favorite auctions these days are Storage Auctions Online.  I have seen units go as low as 30 dollars per unit all the way up to 3,000 dollars.  They even have pictures of the contents of the unit.  Just a new tip I found out recently.

LOL.....

And that storage battles link in your sig line is just a coincidence as proven in your subsequent posts around July 22, 2013. 

Will be interesting to see how Travis handles this.  ;D
Title: Re: What is your favorite storage auction?
Post by: bwd111 on August 01, 2013, 05:26:36 PM
Contractor units or the the ones no one show up too
Title: Re: What is your favorite storage auction?
Post by: HomeGrownPromos on August 01, 2013, 06:22:59 PM
I'm surprised nobody mentioned moving company auctions or PODs auctions.. Those typically have nicer stuff, at a higher cost of course..
Title: Re: What is your favorite storage auction?
Post by: Travis on August 01, 2013, 11:18:23 PM
I'm surprised nobody mentioned moving company auctions or PODs auctions.. Those typically have nicer stuff, at a higher cost of course..

I agree; however, the last moving and storage auction I went to totally burnt me out. They had about 50 wooden containers and you couldn't tell what was in 95% of them because of the wrapping paper and blankets. It's gambling. PODS isn't so bad because people actually pack their own units, whereas units at moving & storage auctions are almost always packed by professionals who cover everything. Sure, storage auctions are somewhat of a gamble but at least with storage auctions you can usually see enough to calculate your risk.
Title: Re: What is your favorite storage auction?
Post by: HomeGrownPromos on August 02, 2013, 03:12:14 PM
I applaud you.. don't know why.. but I feel like that guy on the ESPN show Around The Horn..