Storage Auctions

The Storage Locker => New to Storage Auctions? => Topic started by: ChefJ on July 25, 2011, 07:06:38 PM

Title: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: ChefJ on July 25, 2011, 07:06:38 PM
I live in a sub-division.  1 car garage where my princess takes up most of the space.    We have my wifes mariner in the driveway and my dd which is a 03 jetta also in the driveway.  My dilemma is do I purchase a truck i.e. f250, silverado 2500 or something in that size range, and piss my wife off with the expenditure.  Or do I purchase a 4x8 trailer and set up the mariner to do some hauls???  I figure I could sell the jetta for 4k or so and put that on a truck but I would still need a vehicle to drive to my day job.  any ideas would be great.  I am very new, been to a few auctions but haven't made a purchase as of yet.
Title: Re: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: Drew on July 25, 2011, 07:28:10 PM
I would probably start with a trailer, should take care of the job
Title: Re: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: monkeybusiness on July 25, 2011, 09:32:12 PM
I would agree with Drew.Until you get your feet wet and you know for sure you are ready to commit.You want to commit as little cash as possible.
Title: Re: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: Cobia on July 26, 2011, 06:50:08 AM
Yep, start with a trailer. Low initial investment, low maintenance, low insurance, and easy to sell once you realize spending hours digging around in rat poop for used Walmart stuff is not the life for you.  :D

Welcome to the club!
Title: Re: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: ChefJ on July 26, 2011, 09:06:55 AM
I am very interested in this as a second form of income.  I understand that its hit or miss and am smart enough to pass when the bidding gets out of control. 
On the other hand its a great second "job" whereas there are no commitments to be there at any time or you can go all of the time. 
I agree with the trailer idea.  My wife will allow me to come off of 1k or so a lot easier than 5-10k for a truck.
Thanks for the input guys, and I hope to see yall out there sometime.
Title: Re: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: Bandit on July 26, 2011, 05:31:37 PM
  We started with a good U-Haul class 11 hitch on our car and just rented U-Haul trailers  when We needed them , tried to time a locker clean on Fri./Sat , with a flea market on Sun. and  dump run's on Mon. to cut down on cost ( most locker managers will work with You after they know and trust You ).
  One even rented Us a 5 X 5 locker and then gave Us   a month to clean out the 3 @ 10 X 30 ft. lockers that We won , and rented them out the second  We said they were ready .
  We now ( 20 yrs. later ) have a P/U , a one ton Dodge maxi window van ( Our main Wheels ) and a 12 ft X 3,000 lb. and an 18 ft X 9,000 lb. steel deck flatbed car trailer . One for trash and one for keepers ,                        Note We break down and trash All   Fall-A-Partical  Board  Furniture .
 Holmes Trailer
   It looks like this but is 6.4 X 12 ft long    and I love the ramp onemorepull.com/trailersticker.php?UniqueID=1675
   The other trailer is a Cam - Superline that We made removable sides for
camsuperline.com/Trailers/Construction/5.php
Title: Re: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: jrossjr79 on July 27, 2011, 01:56:41 AM
I would suggest even going lower than that, instead of putting the intial investment into a trailer, especially since you have not gotten your feet wet in this business, RENT a trailer or uhaul (or the like) truck. When you get a unit that is.
Title: Re: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: craiglstauction on August 08, 2011, 09:54:27 PM
You don't want a truck unless you want to pay another $50-70 bucks in gas also.  I drive a Avalanch which I love, but the gas eats me alive...specially if hauling the trailer around.

I'm new at this also in the GA area.  One piece of advice I found online is don't buy a huge first unit.  You will not have the time, equipment, or such to clean it in the 24 to 48 hours you have to get it nice and clean.  Start with a 5x5 or such unit.  Maybe something that you can put everything in your car and suv.
Title: Re: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: ChefJ on August 08, 2011, 09:59:08 PM
I decided to just get a nice hitch and receiver for our mariner.  Between it and being able to rent a 5x8 from home depot for 24 dollars a day it shouldn't be an issue.  As long as I don't dive into a 10x15 or bigger unit.  I also rented a nice 7.5x10 locker to sell out of.  Depending on my success I will go with this combination for a while.
Title: Re: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: Benluby on August 29, 2011, 02:09:58 PM
Good idea to go with the trailer rentals for the time being, if only to find out if you're seriously interested in doing this. 
   I drive my Sentra to the auction, (I stay within an hour of home), and if I buy a unit that is rather large, I simply then go home, get my truck and drive it back.  Does it cost more?  A bit, but if I don't get a unit, I'm not out ten bucks each way in gas.
   If I get a load of stuff, I'll rent a trailer.  If I get a huge unit?  Then I'll shuck out for the bigger U-Haul (which I'll use to go to the local dump with the first run to dump the trash, then take the rest home with me).
   Always make sure, if you're going out of your county, to know where the local dump is, the hours of operation, and costs.
   Nothing worse than going to a boondock landfill and find out that they are closed, even though they are supposed to be open, and then having to drive thirty odd miles in a DIFFERENT direction so you can unload in a different county.
   
Title: Re: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: ChefJ on August 29, 2011, 06:07:06 PM
hall county landfill is open 8-4 and its 40 bucks per ton, minimum is 250 pounds or 5 dollars.  Had 2 runs there today and they were 10.80 each time.
Title: Re: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: Travis on August 29, 2011, 08:19:39 PM
You should of used the Jetta...its a real workhorse. :P
Title: Re: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: jrossjr79 on August 29, 2011, 09:14:27 PM
You should of used the Jetta...its a real workhorse. :P

lol, is that your car Travis?
Title: Re: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: ChefJ on August 30, 2011, 08:18:01 AM
thats a pretty funny picture. 42 boxes of crack head clothes, all of which were in wendys french fry boxes would have been quite a few hauls.
Title: Re: to buy a truck or not???
Post by: bwd111 on August 30, 2011, 11:07:31 AM
I say do this for 8 months then buy what you can afford from the profits.