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Messages - Lance Watkins

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1
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: E-mail from StorageTreasures.com
« on: July 30, 2012, 12:35:00 AM »
Sorry, everyone.

Now that Drew mentioned it, I probably did sign up. It would of been 10 or 11 months ago. This is the one and only e-mail I've received. 

We you know what they say? The memory is the second thing to go...

Wayne

Sorry,

Thank you for the correction.

Dont get here very often. We have never taken a email address from anywhere, our 400,000 members are 100% organic. Our email system has been a work in progress, sorry it took so long to get to you. We do have organic pros who write blogs in our email. Just might be something to you pick up that helps.

ST

2
Yeah, that's kind of what I thought too. The auction results were limited in my area so I figured that would be consistent throughout the country. I think the storage facility has to pay Storage Treasures to list their auction on their site. I don't think many storage facilities will be willing to pay them. I think the business model needs rethinking.

Not true, storage facilities have a free option. Remember one check on the site and you will see the ST is owned by the storage industry. If you think the others will win in the long run, you will run out of bids before then...

ST

3
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: ST site
« on: January 26, 2012, 08:37:50 AM »
Wow people. Kinda sorry I started this thread.
Was just asking if anyone signed with ST and then got a sh*t load of emails.
I don't really care. Reason I use a dump mail acct in the first place.

And it all turns into this....? :)

Really, does any of it matter at this point? It is what it is.

If you can't change your circumstances, change your attitude.


So.....lance?  What's up with your test emails?


This site won't let me upload screen shots.... ?

"The upload folder is full. Please try a smaller file and/or contact an administrator."

ST

4
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: ST site
« on: January 25, 2012, 01:52:49 PM »
Wow people. Kinda sorry I started this thread.
Was just asking if anyone signed with ST and then got a sh*t load of emails.
I don't really care. Reason I use a dump mail acct in the first place.

And it all turns into this....? :)

Really, does any of it matter at this point? It is what it is.

If you can't change your circumstances, change your attitude.

Just set up the first this morning - will do one a day to cover a time span. The profile is Test Junk for #1.

Nothing yet - all clean.

Lance



So.....lance?  What's up with your test emails?

5
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: ST site
« on: January 24, 2012, 07:36:17 PM »
Wow people. Kinda sorry I started this thread.
Was just asking if anyone signed with ST and then got a sh*t load of emails.
I don't really care. Reason I use a dump mail acct in the first place.

And it all turns into this....? :)

Really, does any of it matter at this point? It is what it is.

If you can't change your circumstances, change your attitude.


So.....lance?  What's up with your test emails?

Sorry we did not get to it today - we will be in an all day Social Training for our storage managers, we will get it done. TY for reminding me. I will be shocked bc between my wife and I we must have 12 different accounts on ST and we dont see this. But if it is correct I will be firing somebody.

I will report back with screen shots. Can I post photos here?

BTW, You are 100% correct on attitude. There are so many whiners over this show - 50% of the storage industry is pissed. They hate 100 of you showing up.

I think they are idiots - we treat you guys like gold. The way we see it you guys show up with a fist full of cash and compete to give it to us - and you most of the time live close by.

If you ever need a storage unit you are not going to think of our stores negatively! We will be the guys that bent over backwards to make the auction painless, fair and honest. All of our lock cuts, inventories are witnessed and recorded on video. If we ever caught a manager in a unit without a witnessed and a camera they are terminated on the spot.

Lance

6
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: ST site
« on: January 24, 2012, 07:11:24 PM »
Yes, it's reality TV, but it's not reality as anyone who has bought 10 or more lockers knows.

I won't deny the entertainment aspect though...it's hilarious....so is a road-runner cartoon.



I thought it would fail in the first season - no one is more surprised than me of the popularity.

I think I will make a fishing show for you guys where I never catch or kill anything - at least I know you guys will be watching.

LOL

7
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: ST site
« on: January 24, 2012, 07:08:46 PM »
Somehow I think paying someone to be quiet about a unit can pay off for the old tenant 100% of something is better then 0% of nothing on top of the cash they make off of stupidly high bids. Either that or those units you tape we're never owned by an actual tenant.

Secondly, wtf would a good auctioneer be pissed with the show? Your show has increased there commissions 10 fold, hell they are almost superstars to people.  Tell me if the good auctioneers are beating down your door to be on the next SW? They get commissions plus show appearances, plus free advertising, that's like killing 3 birds with one stone. Sorry, I don't buy a thing your trying to sell me or anyone on here.
Bro, you missed what I was saying. I am trying to help you understand what is happening and what will happen in the future and all you can see is red.

A smart auctioneer is happy - a real smart auctioneer is scared. You could be an auctioneer tomorrow and draw a crowd, that was not the case a year ago. It is only a matter of time before storage owners decide they dont need to pay for an auctioneer... Now if you can't connect those dots, ur on your own.

Your conspiracy theory is out there - run outside there are black helicopters above you...lol Every unit has been properly occupied, with the exception of units sold for charity (which are marked). You have to have buyers on this forum who are so cal who have been to auctions where filming takes place. Ask them...they can see the ads in the legal rags.

Of course the numbers are going to be hight during filming - what do you think it cost to produce one episode? 250k! So lets show up and not buy any units? This is not tough to figure out. Producers, produce content to make money - no buy the units no show.

I am assuming you are a pro buyer and know the laws the industry follows and where the money goes. The storage facility has less write-off than before, but we still write-off bad debt.

Maybe you can explain what I am trying to sell? I have never asked anybody for money. Maybe I should?

ST

8
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: ST site
« on: January 24, 2012, 10:51:30 AM »
Lance…

Below is a link from a “Dave Hester” thread from May, 2011

http://storageauctionforums.com//index.php?action=profile;u=884;sa=showPosts;start=15

In this post the sections below which are in BLUE are from you. The sections in RED are from me.

I will only speak for the auctions that have been filmed at my stores, bc i have been there for every second. The units are real. There are 47 state laws we as storage owners have to live within and breaking the laws has substantial liability. I would never risk my core business or subject my investors to liability for a few hits on our website.

Those of you on this site that are Pros know that the Tenant can come in and pay for the unit up until the auction has started. We (storage outlet) and any operator following CA law have taken possession of the property between the time we cut the lock and take the inventory (state law) (all done video camera and a witness).

Now lets get to the conspiracy theories I keep hearing. I have the key to the door and a seal on the auction unit and I am going to give it to (OP) and let them into the unit before the auction so they can stack gold bars in there to make it interesting? ...lest go down that path and say I do? what happens when the tenant sees their unit on tv and says wow "I had gold bars in my unit" maybe I should get an attorney? Or if OP put the Gold Bars in there and the tenant came and paid the bill just before the auction starts? Demands control of the unit - which they would get. Do we sneak in in front of 200 people and get the Gold Bars? BTW im using "Gold Bars" substitute anything you want.

If you have any questions I will try to answer...
SW is now starting to film in other markets
Lance Watkins
storageoutlet.net
storagetreasures.com


In the eight years I have been buying lockers (almost 400 bought so far) I have seen a lot of goods come and go.
I have seen honest facilities and dishonest facilities.

While I understand what you have said in regard to your experience with the Storage Wars filming group, I would like to ask you a question which I FEEL can be answered with a YES or NO and I hope you will do that.  I also understand that either a YES or NO answer would need some further explanation, and that will be great to. Here is my question:

IS IT POSSIBLE THAT AFTER A LOCKER IS PURCHASED by one of the SW buyers that the show producers COULD THEN put a FANTASTIC item inside the locker for the buyer to later "find"?  Please remember, answer YES or NO first, then explain your answer.


YES

But think about this:
This will come out in the long run - They have filmed about 70 episodes on SW alone. The other shows I dont count... Those 70 shows have been seen 100's of millions of times. Somebody should have jumped up and said "Hey that is my unit and I did not have a (whatever) stored in my unit"... Than comes "gee the storage facility miss advertised my unit and the buyer made all this money - maybe I should sue the facility, auctioneer and whoever else my attorney wants"

You can be sure that is in my mind when allowing OP to film. We do not make money from the producers, so liability is considered.

Guys this is reality TV - its entertainment. They have a hit show and it is not perfect. You are correct the auctioneers and storage facilities are doing well. However the good auctioneers hate the show. They know in the long run this is tough on them. It used to be only the really well organized auctioneer could get the good bidders to an auction with a fist full of cash. Now any auctioneer can get a crowd. Something to think about.... There is a lot in that message.

ST

ST

9
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: ST site
« on: January 23, 2012, 09:42:48 PM »
Your missing the point Lance.  That first paragraph is a what will set people off. People doing this don't get things appraised, eBay 99% of the time is our appraisal. Why? Because 99 of every 100 units is usually clothes, 5 buck nic nacs or common electronics.  Your email implies that every unit may have rare antiques.  Sorry just not the case.

And I saw the whole email, just posted the part that will enrage any half minded person intent on reselling items.  I even said if you read my whole post that it was part of a donation email.

And yes we heartless low balling b'tard bidders do donate alot, only way to get rid of the **** you dont want that your site doesn't talk about without dropping money at the dump. Salvation Army, clothing bins and the such save our asses.


Did not miss a thing. We used a good example for focus on Charity. You think we dont care about bidders? You are wrong. Auction Hunters are the most important part of the process. I dont know where your units are, but ours are not (majority clothing). Good news bc the storage industry would go out of business if people only stored old clothes.

I think the real rub is that all the TV has prices up and competition entering the market. For 25 years units sold for under market and now for the last year units are selling for over market.  The storage industry chose to hide the process bc they were afraid the public would not react well if they knew we sell their stuff. TV outed the process and the inside auction gig is no more a secret. It will never go back to where it was, but it will lower over the next few years. You have 2-5 more seasons of TV to watch.

I applause the change bc it will make the whole process more professional and the market will settle the price and the industry will be better off.  

You can blame whoever you want or work within the conditions of the day. You can ***** about ST all you want but we have done a very good job with honestly conveying information. You have seen all the get rich quick schemes allover the web...none with us.

ST

10
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: ST site
« on: January 23, 2012, 07:14:44 PM »
Btw, this is part of the email I speak off(part of a donation email)

So you’ve won your first storage unit for $200 and start digging in. First you find a few fly rods you know are worth a couple hundred bucks. Then you find an old silver watch and cufflinks that will bring a few bucks. The rest you decide to dump ... other than a few odd trinkets you’ll get appraised later on. You start gathering up piles of clothes, kitchenware, and a baby stroller to throw away at home.

I have problems with this email. We live off of clothes, nic nacs and kitchenware. This email implies alot that this is easy work.  And who the hell gets shid appraised? It's called ebay dude.  Your driving up prices by fabricating a once in every 50 or 100 units and trying to pass it as norm.
Well you got us - we tried to help charity and used an example of a GREAT unit. Here is the whole message:
So you’ve won your first storage unit for $200 and start digging in. First you find a few fly rods you know are worth a couple hundred bucks. Then you find an old silver watch and cufflinks that will bring a few bucks. The rest you decide to dump ... other than a few odd trinkets you’ll get appraised later on. You start gathering up piles of clothes, kitchenware, and a baby stroller to throw away at home.
STOP! Why dump these items when they could help someone else and you can receive a tax deduction in the process? Everyone benefits when you drop those items off at an organization who can get them in the hands of someone in need.
Here are some tips on tax deductions:

When documenting and claiming your tax deduction there several approaches to valuing the donated items. It’s important to be reasonable and consistent. For some help in this area, click here for IRS guidelines as well as input from the Salvation Army.
Here are some charities that accept donated goods:
   Charity Storage
Storage Treasures has teamed up with storage operators to found the first national storage charity. After you buy a unit, ask the facility manager if they participate in Charity Storage, where facilities designate a storage unit as a donation point, and later auction the unit off to raise money for local and national charities.
   
Salvation Army
Salvation Army can send a truck to your home to pick up your items, which may help someone across town or at the site of a natural disaster.

   
Goodwill
Goodwill has over 150 stores throughout the US and Canada as well as a wide network of donation points to help get your used goods to someone in need.


Stop by our forum and let us know how you, or your fellow auction hunters have made a difference and to let us know what organizations can accept goods in your area.

Happy Donating,
Your Storage Treasures Team

11
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: ST site
« on: January 23, 2012, 03:13:01 PM »
Why should tenants benefit from increased popularity?  How much a unit goes for should be dictated by content of locker showing. Not by foot traffic or hyping up crap units.  You pay to store **** that ain't worth anything, tough luck this shouldn't be a tenant bail out session or a take my **** I don't want session.

If you spent time telling people to think before bidding(rather then giving readers allusions of grander) sane and old time bidders wouldn't have as much of a problem with you or yor website.

I may be new to this but I see the problems others also see in you.  Free advertising, laziness, and protecting your interests all under the guse of protecting tenant who don't need to be protected.

This is a great question BTW. Very few people ever ask this....and the way the tenant benefits is in conflict to how the buyer might benefit.
1) More people are paying their bills = less units going to auction. People did not truly understand the result of not paying before the show. TV has educated the world - maybe to your disapproval. Just an opinion bases on operating over 100 storage facilities in 7 states.

2) Some people have their unit sold without their knowledge. Example: You rent a storage unit and move to a new location. Your wallet gets stolen and you cancel your CC or maybe it just expires and you are at a new address and the storage company has not been notified.  (BTW - This happens often)  The last thing on your mind was that storage unit - now ur stuff got sold. If the storage company advertised properly and there was a large crowd you have a much better chance of getting some value for your contents. There are many other possibilities as well.

You might not care about everybody involved in the process, but we do. Here is a link to our email archive to help you find the information to share with the forum how we mislead people.

Lance Watkins

12
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: ST site
« on: January 23, 2012, 11:52:37 AM »
I find it a pretty hard core coincidence that I go from 3-4 a month to over 100 with in 24hrs after signing up. But I've delt with more bizarre situations, so its possible.

I havent used that email for anything else so 2+2=??

I've deleted the emails and haven't checked it since. But message me a contact email and if it has continued I'll let you know the source.

Like I said before, don't want to bash your site, just seemed a little odd.

We are setting up 5 aliases today and reregistering with virgin email to check ST. If we find any truth to this will will first kill the hole in the system and second report, third apologize!

We dont believe this is happening.

ST

13
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: ST site
« on: January 23, 2012, 10:51:23 AM »
I haven't? Funny enough I believe Don Dotson is one of the creators of the website, so no I haven't done my homework at all. I also find it funny enough that a lot of the top auctioneers seem to be staging the units, this has been told to me by people who have been in the auction scene longer than me and not just in my area. Probably isn't it odd that I hear about it's mostly the top auctioneers sites around. Yeah that's $3000 bid we'll get yeah a nice commission. The only playing field  you're leveling is padding your auctioneers commission. your emails from your site telling people what they might find one In every 100 lockers is pretty funny, but also rather pathetic. maybe one of these days you could tell people what this is really like that it's hard work and that you're not always going to find great stuff. Let me see an email like that.

YUUUP, Dan D is a part of our company. Dan Has been our auctioneer for 15 years. He as sold storage units since 83'. He just might know a thing or two. We have lots of messages on the site, none of which make anything seem easy. We welcome criticism, just back up your arguments.

I will save this area for you to put your ST (sensationalizing the storage auction) quotes:

We are more concerned with stage units than anyone on the planet. You can't even begin to imaging the work we put into the industry to limit scams. We the storage industry will be the ones hurt if a few crappy operators and auctioneers keep the far units going. Again do your homework on who is behind the site.  :o

Auctioneers, storage companies and the delinquent tenants are benefiting from the increased bids. That is the market today. If people stop going to auctions the price will go down. Dont know why I need to give a econ market model to a auction forum.

Maybe that is the email that needs to go out.

ST

14
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: ST site
« on: January 23, 2012, 12:48:09 AM »
Exactly! I knew that, that's why I said that. it just gets old when they jam it down your throat on a website. it's one thing to produce the shows for entertainment value it's another to potentially mislead people to bidding on unit when all the producers say there is good stuff there and great stuff that and never about crap units.

acman,

You have not spent one second looking at who is behind ST. Sure there are ties to the show, however the owners of the site are the top storage operators in the country and the top lien law attorneys in the storage industry. ST has not sensationalized anything and is still in its early development. The main goal of the site is to make an equal playing field for all.

If you are a true auction hunter you know how the industry works, or more accurately does not work regarding storage auctions. We will have systems in place soon to maximize accuracy, however you are well aware that sometimes just getting a storage facility to answer a phone is challenging, much less update auction hunters.

The site will continue to get better and there are many new tools and resources close to release.

We will continue to work hard for the Auction Hunters,  Auctioneers, Storage Facilities and the Tenant who in in lien. We work to protect all.

ST

Lance Watkins

15
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: ST site
« on: January 23, 2012, 12:33:58 AM »
Wow. Registered at another storage site. Used an email addy that I've had for years. I get 3-4 spam emails a month. Signed up and with in 7minutes had 26 emails. After 24hrs? 172!!!

Guess I know how they make their money!



Not true, we dont make money. LOL

If you are really getting junk emails from our site we would really want to know. We set up test accounts all the time and see none of this..

ST

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