first auction need advice please

i am going to my first auction on saturday but since i havent had a job in over a year my starting money is really low only a couple hundred. now i know buying units is mostly a gamble. but any advice from anyone out thhere that could help build a better money margin to work with as in what to keep an eye out for? i am not lookin to get rich quick or anything just dont want to blow all my money and have to go digging through garbage lookin for money to start again lol.

Well, that's a tall order, but I'll give it a shot.

1) Don't buy just any locker because the price seems right and no one is bidding on it. There's a reason for no bids.

2) If you see a hint of collectibles (sports, entertainment, die-cast cars, etc) it MIGHT be a good lkr.

3) Photo equipment does well for me.

4) Brand name tools would be good (Makita, DeWalt, even Craftsman). Taiwan, no.

5) See a possible gun case no one else sees? Go for it. Might be empty, might not be a gun case.

6) Hi-end furniture good. Particle board no.

7) TVs are good if plasma, lcd or LED. Old ones not so much since most won't be digital.

8.) Clothing (for me thats Pro Sports Jackets, leather jackets, name brand tennis shoes, good boots)

9) Comic books...Superman #1(Like the one Nicolas Cage owns...valued at millions.)

10) Vintage nudity either in old Cavalcades, etc or original b&W or color prints of what were then called "nudes".

OK, now for the flip side...what you will actually see:

1) stained mattresses
2) dressers missing drawers
3) waterbeds (frames and MAYBE the bed itself) (no Posturpedics probably)
4) old canned food (bulging) old noodles (mouse chewed)
5) transparent containers (like 2 liter soda bottles) with 3" of urine.
6) other goodies list the other members here will provide for you.

Go get 'em !

i really do appreciate the advice movieman. i will give it my best shot this weekend. just hope i can... how do you say... get lucky. i been on these forums searching every post and every little thing i can find for the past 6 hours trying to learn more from everyones success and mistakes. thanks again for your advice.

i really do appreciate the advice movieman. i will give it my best shot this weekend. just hope i can... how do you say... get lucky. i been on these forums searching every post and every little thing i can find for the past 6 hours trying to learn more from everyones success and mistakes. thanks again for your advice.

ll
You don't "get lucky." You buy depending on what you see and then sell it at fair price, odds of getting that "retirement unit:"     1:10,000,000

TV lies in that the proportionate number of lockers that "PAY OFF BIG"  are closer to 1:10:000 to those that break even in the real world.


Storage wars "PAY OFF BIG":"BREAK EVEN"  seem to me to be 20:1. "PAY OFF BIG": "BREAK EVEN": "LOOSE MONEY" 100:5:1

You do the real world math vs. TV math for yourself.

Don't buy a locker just buy a locker.Go in with your plan and stick with it.Don't forget to consider the deposit when you are bidding.

thanks for the advice Monkey.
Rafe as for what you said... i am not lookin for that retirement unit or big pay off lkr or whatever. i am doing this to make a living and to prove to myself that i can do something other then be a mechanic that cant get a job cause of lack of jobs. i grew up in the old ways of earn what you make and nothing is ever free if you want something then you have to earn it blah blah blah so on and so on. those reality tv shows are fun to watch but i know that my chances are slim of having units like that just a steady income is all i want out of this adventure

Dont let the excitement and pressure do the bidding. at the same time dont let it give you cold feet dont worry about looking like an idiot take a list of pointers with you and when you feel over whelmed refer to it and calm down. then its ok to pull the trigger when you feel right, and allways try to stay in sight of the auctioneer if you want him to see your bid and expect the crowd to chuckel but if you have to get the auctioneers attention its ok to yell YEP just once wile pointing to the stars like mikel jackson then when you win you can do the moon walk just so they will all remember you HAHAHAHA.A sure bet to get you a gig on tv if the film crew shows up. The idea is to have fun if your not having fun go home and hang it up.

Do your research, build a data base using any method you can think of for sales channels. CL is a good way to look for people that are interested in buying certain things in quantity. Look in the want ads section. DO NOT SOLEY RELY ON CL, get other sales channels.

Start off basically as a lookey loo, go to a few auctions, dont bid, just watch and learn. You are not there just to size up the unit, but also to size up your fellow bidders (some might even have other sales channels for you, but when the auction starts, you have no friends out there). You also need to size up the auctioneer as well as the facility management.

Dont judge a book by its cover, just because its a high end rich neighborhood does NOT mean there is good stuff in there. Just because its a very poor neighborhood doesnt mean there is just trash in the unit. Believe it or not, my 3 best units where in a poor ghetto neighborhood.

My first unit was a unit completely filled with trash bags. At the auction the manager said looks like this person was evicted. After hearing that no one wanted that unit. I got the unit for $90. Only one person bid against me. There had to be at least 100 large lawn trash bags.

Inside over 30 pairs of new sneakers, over 50 bottles of brand new body wash, over $500 in school supplies, the women's wedding ring, her purse, many many new men's coats and hoodies, over 200 pieces of small boys cars and trucks, over 1,000 ink pens(why), batteries, new appliances, and so on. I Ebayed half for over a $1,000. Held onto a lot. Gave away a lot. Don't know what to do with a lot.

You just never know. Don't be afraid to walk away with nothing. Don't be afraid of trash bags either.

Well, that's a tall order, but I'll give it a shot.

1) Don't buy just any locker because the price seems right and no one is bidding on it. There's a reason for no bids.

2) If you see a hint of collectibles (sports, entertainment, die-cast cars, etc) it MIGHT be a good lkr.

3) Photo equipment does well for me.

4) Brand name tools would be good (Makita, DeWalt, even Craftsman). Taiwan, no.

5) See a possible gun case no one else sees? Go for it. Might be empty, might not be a gun case.

6) Hi-end furniture good. Particle board no.

7) TVs are good if plasma, lcd or LED. Old ones not so much since most won't be digital.

8.) Clothing (for me thats Pro Sports Jackets, leather jackets, name brand tennis shoes, good boots)

9) Comic books...Superman #1(Like the one Nicolas Cage owns...valued at millions.)

10) Vintage nudity either in old Cavalcades, etc or original b&W or color prints of what were then called "nudes".

OK, now for the flip side...what you will actually see:

1) stained mattresses
2) dressers missing drawers
3) waterbeds (frames and MAYBE the bed itself) (no Posturpedics probably)
4) old canned food (bulging) old noodles (mouse chewed)
5) transparent containers (like 2 liter soda bottles) with 3" of urine.
6) other goodies list the other members here will provide for you.

Go get 'em !

Wasn't Cage's Suberman comic solen and then turned up in a storage auction???  I think they are still going over the rights to it...