Looking for advice/Information

Hey guys/gals.  Just looking for a little insight.  Im fairly new to the storage auction game and havnt yet pulled the trigger on a unit, but have attended a couple. 

First question regards partnering up with someone.  I can see the benefits of doing this like having someone help with the tab on bigger units.  Someone to help you load and haul and split up the workload.  My question is this.  What if myself and another guy go halves on a unit.  He sees something inside he really likes and does not want to sell said item and keep it for himself.  Is there a good way about going about doing this?  My thought would be to agree on a value for the item and deduct that from his portion of the profits?  Any insight in to that?

My next question is regarding travel.  In my area, auctions seem to be few and far in between, maybe one a month if that.  If I travel 3 hours-ish, there are an abundance of auctions at any given time.  In the veterans experience, is it worth the travel on a normal basis?  Obviously one good score would make it well worth while, but on an average with gas in a truck and hauling a trailer? 

Sorry to be so long winded...

Here is my 2 cents.

Who's idea, dream, goals, business plan, is it? Who's the innovator driving the engine? If you invented the wheel, would you give 50% of your profits to the guy that helped you haul the block of stone to your cave?

Something to think about...

That is the very reason why I do not partner up with someone. Since you will always find something in there, or your partner will always find something in there, that one of ya'll just rather keep. It makes it much more difficult to split the profit evenly. Best thing to do, unless it is someone you absolutely trust, is buy the lockers on your own, and contract out the work that needs to be done.

My next question is regarding travel.  In my area, auctions seem to be few and far in between, maybe one a month if that.  If I travel 3 hours-ish, there are an abundance of auctions at any given time.  In the veterans experience, is it worth the travel on a normal basis?  Obviously one good score would make it well worth while, but on an average with gas in a truck and hauling a trailer? 

All of the following is MY OPINION..take it for what it's worth.

You say you go to an auction close to home about once a month. If you see 10 lkrs there, are there ANY you would have bought considering their cost and what they contained?  If the answer is NONE or 1 out of 10 (or 20) extend that thought to an auction 150 miles (2-3 hours one way) and IMAGINE if you would get a lkr there.

My personal belief is that the ODDS of finding a worthwhile lkr that far from home are SLIM...not NONE, but SLIM.

Then, IF you found a good one (and you won it)  what if you couldn't get it ALL in your truck/trailer?  A second trip would be necessary or you would have to otherwise off-load the stuff at the lkr city.

Nope, IN MY OPINION, too much hassle for the value. I personally would not do it. Heck, I hardly go 30 miles one way and the stories I hear from my cronies who make the 180 mile ROUND-TRIPS on a regular basis are almost always questioning the value of doing so.

Thanks for the input guys.  The only reason I ask about the partnering up is because some guys at my day job know I have been trying to attend as many auctions as possible and a few of them have talked about partnering up because its something they would like to get in to also.  For me this is more about a hobby/little extra  income/treasure hunt rolled in to one so I wouldnt be leaving my day job for it.  Guess I will have to consider it further but I am leaning towards going on my own.

Movieman, you bring up some good points.  To put it in better perspective, I have been to all but one of the auctions in my area that I know about by searching through classifieds and online listings.  I went to one in March, missed one in June due to vacation, and went to one last week.  A total of three auctions in the last 4.5 months.  In the auctions I went to there were 4 lockers on the blocks total between the two, so not really good pickings.  So, I was thinking of expanding my base a little to get to more opportunity.  But on avaerage I think it would make it even harder to break even just starting out.  Like you say the other scary thing is if I over bought and cant haul it all in one load.  Then I am up a creek. 

Continue to give it some thought, but my guess is that given your circumstances, this biz might not be for you.

Check out this thread for someone else who had an idea and appears to have given it a 2nd thought.

http://storageauctionforums.com/index.php?topic=1227.0

Some good info in there Movieman.  I unlike that poster am looking to do this for fun/little extra income, so my livelyhood does not depend on whether I drive 3 hours or not to find a locker.  I guess maybe I am more anxious than anything to find some good ones that I would consider driving instead of waiting for the next local one in a month or two.  Just need more people to stop paying their bill I guess

Partnering up is really hard in a situation like this.There are are no specific guide lines.Each locker is different.Finding someone with the same work ethic and vission is hard.The commitment is there at the beginning but may wane after all the work and effort.

Hey Monkeybusiness.  Yeah, the more I think about it, if I need a hand, I may just hire it out as help instead of trying to partner up.  I think it has the potential to run in to issues on a few different fronts.

Good luck.Let us know how you are doing.