Online Auctions "near" my zipcode

After seeing two listings on Travis' site I decided to look at Storage Battles for the first time in maybe 6 months (right after Travis started his site).

I entered my zipcode and asked for listings within 50 miles. The result was about 15 auctions. At a minimum some of them were 35 miles away.

I then expanded the radius gradually and it got better, but here are the results for expanding the radius to 500 miles (the max allowed by Sb).

There were 108 auctions within 500 miles of my zipcode. This took in the Los Angeles area (400 miles south of me) and even grabbed one in Las Vegas and a couple in Utah.

So, I was surprised how few of them there actually were. Even in my local area the live auctions by auctioneers hit 100 a month (within 75 miles) and this area is far less populated than Los Angles.

I guess a lot of LA facilities are conducting live auctions instead of oline auctions. If I lived in Los Angeles I guess it would be worth a shot to look at online auctions, but otherwise no considering I am one of those people who would like to see a locker in person.

I'll do a search on SB in Dallas and see what comes up so I can experience what the Dallas audience sees as opportunities.

I don't think that it's any big secret that most storage facilities utilize the live auction format to sell their lockers. Online storage auctions may just be a fad, my prediction is that it is. I think that unless these websites can bolster their listings, they will fold. It's expensive to keep a staff, maintain a website, and do the rest on the volume of lockers these guys are performing at. StorageBattles included.

The real advantage Travis has with VSA is the lack of overhead that SB has. He can afford to give incentives, for now. I think that as VSA grows, people will need to be hired to maintain the site, recruit more facilities, perform customer service, etc. If not, the level of service will decrease, and facilities will jump ship. SB charges an arm and a leg, because it has to. No other revenue stream than to take a rake from the facility and the bidder.