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Topics - CNEBamaMan

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General Storage Auction Talk / Can I report a manager?
« on: November 16, 2011, 07:13:15 PM »
Ok some of you may remember the “funeral parlor” auction I had planned on attending. It was advertised in the paper for 10-20-11 with 15 units but when I called the day before, it was moved to later and he didn't know when yet.

  Well I called and called for several days, (He used his cell number in the paper to advertise the auction.) finally he told me that he would be doing it at 1:30 on Wed, the 9th.
 
 Me and the wife get there at like 12:50, go to the front office to sign in and the guy there has no clue as to what is going on. I tell him what I was told and he suggest I call the other guy. So I call him and he says he doesn't even get in until 2pm and he will start cutting locks around 3..........

 Annoyed I leave and come back later at 2:50, he has just cut the first lock and is working on the 2nd one, he opens the first one and we, (me and the wife are the only people there.) well the 2nd lock is kicking his butt and manages to destroy his grinder, well he then says he will have to go buy a new grinder and wont be able to open anymore until tomm. (thurs.) well I tell him I have to work but I want to know when he is actually going to sale the stuff. He tells me that either thursday afternoon or friday.  I say “ok, well I can be here by 3 on thursday don't sale anything until I get back please.” he tells me “ok no problem.”

 Well thursday afternoon I come back and guess what. The first guy is there and he still isn't sure what is going on. I ask him if I can go look at the rest of the units that was opened, he tells me he doesn't know which ones the locks were cut on. I tell him I know which ones were up for sale, the guy agrees and I walk on out there.

 Only 5 or 6 of the 13 funeral parlor units were cut and open. I looked at them all and told the guy thanks and left. I called the other guy and asked when I could put a bid in and when would the others be cut. He said I could on monday when he had them all cut. (This is thursday.)

Monday rolls around and the man is busy cutting some more locks, I start looking at some of the other units and  ask about the ones from Thursday, he tells me. “Oh I already sold them.” I ask him why he didn't wait till I could bid like I asked several times. He says some “good customers” came by and made me some offers so I let them take it........ I ask him about the unit that had the coke machine, organ two gurneys, and piano in it. He said he pulled the coke machine out and moved it to another unit to get more money out of it......

He also told me that he wont take a low bid on something just to get rid of it, if someone owes $400 on a unit he wont let it go for less than 300 or so.


 I then figured since he has no real bidding process if I could buy the unit that he had just cut open. He tells me “no” I have a guy coming down from lagrange today that wants the gurneys in that one.......

 I tell him ok and just leave,

 My question is this. Can I report him for not following the law on this? I was really ill with the way he treated it and the way he treated me. Not sure why he lets his “good customers” come get what they want out and tells the other people all kinds of crap to keep us from buying stuff.

 Who would I notify and would anything really be done? I live in Alabama where this storage place is.

 

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Stories about Storage Auctions / Updates from my latest
« on: November 16, 2011, 06:48:14 PM »
Haven't been on much lately. But all has been quite to, went to a silent auction today, 8 units. 15  bidders with 30 looky loos,  nothing at all worth getting, I bid dirt low on everything and honestly regretted it as soon as I turned in my bids. Wish I would have packed up and went home. Luckily I came up empty.

 There are 3 auctions tomm, 2 on the other side of the river, both decent size, and I was reminding everyone about them today at the auction. Trying to get most of them at those 2 that are 10 mins away from each other, one is at 10 and one at 11.

 The reason why is on my side of the river there is one auction with 18 units at it as of today. It starts at 10:30 right between those other two auctions. So I am hoping for a small crowd there. Wife is going alone again since I have to work. Hope to score some nice units real cheap again.






last purchase was done by the wife at the silent auction where she landed 3 units for $155 total.

Update from those units

$10 unit, couch and matching recliner, fridge and stove. Had tv, microwave, bedroom set, and some other misc items.

 Sold recliner/couch for $50, microwave for $10. TV was busted, dressers were crap so we gave away. Sold 8/12 bucks worth of other stuff out if it as well. Still have fridge/stove and IDK if they work yet or not. Very nice 4 post queen size bed frame.

Total Sold: $70

$45 unit, dresser with chest of drawers, snake cage, gun rack, gun safe, couch/love seat, computer monitor, computer speakers, washer.

 Sold dresser and chest of drawers. For $40, gun rack for $5, safe was a homemade one and it was a POS, couch and love seat went to the dump, washer was given to someone else, (Rat invested), , 2 sailboat collectible figurines

Total sold:$45

$100 unit, love seat and couch with matching ottomans. 5 piece bedroom set, makeup vanity mirror set from Japan, chaise chair, hightop kitchen table and chairs, george foreman, griddle, deep fryer, sailboat painting, a big painting of a thanksgiving dinner, tons of clothes, keyboard, bathroom shelve set, knick nack shelve, vases, fur blanket, purses. christmas tree dvd player, tv surround system.

Sold 5pc bedroom set for 260, hightop kitchen table and chairs 50, thanksgiving painting for 10, shelves for 5 each, knick nacks and such for 15

Total Sold:$350

Overall $155 spent, $465 earned with couch and love seat set, makeup vanity mirror set, fridge/stove, chaise chair, headboard frame and lots of odds and ends are all left.







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Stories about Storage Auctions / Need some help
« on: October 31, 2011, 09:03:52 PM »
Painting of a sailboat, here is the sig, anyone ever seen him? know who he is?



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Silent auction 8 units. Only 3 people showed she said......She landed 3 units,

All 3 10X20's not sure what came from which but pixs to follow in the next day or two.

Some noteables from units.

Fridge,washer, kitchen table with 4 chairs, hightop table with 4 more chairs. 2 sofas, 1 love seat. 4 chest of drawers, 1 cheap gun cabinent(empty), 3 queen size bed frames.

 Tons of odds and ends, clothes and the usual junk.

 Lots of resaleable stuff and the best part is she only spent $155 for all 3. We are sorting and such first thing in the morning!

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Stories about Storage Auctions / I fumbled
« on: October 26, 2011, 07:02:52 PM »
Went to a auction today 15/20 bidders, I grabbed the first unit, 5X10 full of clothes/dishes and other small items. Spent 40 on it.

 the good about it.

 Playstation 1 (Yea it's sad when that is among the good.)
a lot of good books, (newer stuff in great shape, hArry potter, and some other vampire style ones.)
we kept about 2 trash bags full of misc clothes. some nicer stuff to sale
had 3 little girls dance outfits for like a ballet or something, wife said they are worth 10/15 each. (Her friend teaches at a dance school so we should move them easily.)
10 dvds
some nice purses  (one of which is called a "coach" she said its worth a little bit.)

the bad

 mail TONS of mail. Like seriously 200-300 pieces of mail, these people were in debt to EVERYONe, they owed GA power 1,100 dollars. They had debt collecters from 8 or 9 places with bills from 300 to 6000.

 Tons of trashy clothes, dirty dishes and normal trash.

   I only spent 40 bucks and will be lucky to make that back. Luckily I'm only out 40 on this one though. Better luck next week.

6
Stories about Storage Auctions / Wife got her first one today
« on: October 20, 2011, 08:59:26 PM »
I had to work so I sent the wife to two auctions. First one ended up being 2 units but we had called earlier and it was 8. I doubt that 6 people paid between 8am and 10am  but oh well.

 Second one is where she got lucky. Nothing to flashy has a nice 32 inch TV in it, (Flat screen but not a lcd screen) a set of golf clubs, filing cabinent, walker, 7 foot christmas tree, coffee table with no glass. and a china buffet thing,

 She paid $70 for the locker and while nothing in there is a grand slam I think we can make all of our money back and a little profit.

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7
The lady who owns 13 units, (YES one person=13 units.) Turns out the 13 units are loaded down with items from a mortuary. (I do know that almost a year ago a local mortuary went out of buisness so it makes sense.) Heard that two of these are full of nice church pews.(Nice ones I am told and I'm sure they can sale for good money.) And the rest are items throughout the building.

  If and I dont know for sure there will be, but IF there is a casket in there can I resale it? Is there laws regarding that? Anything that might be from the place I should look for that is worth some money? Any help on this would be great.

8
General Storage Auction Talk / How to handle...........
« on: October 13, 2011, 07:35:06 PM »
Other bidders when they ask questions about how much I got for a item.

The couch I got on Monday for $1 I wiped down with a cloth and proudly sold for $150. (Well actually I sold it for 100 and the guy offered 150 if I would deliver it.)

 On Wed at the auction one of the regulars who saw me get the couch for a dollar asked, "was that coach in good shape?" I told her yes the couch was nice and I sold it. She asked for how much and I told her 100. she smiled and said that great.

   Her and her husband have been very friendly and are what I call smart buyers. they bid but I havent seen them overpay.

 However after Weds auction she came up to me and said sorry for running the bid up on me. She said "I didn't really want that locker, but couldn't  let it go for less than 100." While another person jumped in late and took it from me she admitted she ran up the bid and even that she didn't want it.

  Is this a normal thing? How  do you handle this? I saw several other regulars up talking to her and her husband before and after the auction. She is really nice otherwise. Or is this just a act?

9
Stories about Storage Auctions / Auction on 10/12
« on: October 12, 2011, 06:29:28 PM »
Hit a auction today,
 5 units maybe 10 bidders with another 4/5 lookers.

 First unit was a small indoor unit, (Not a climate control) had a small tv sitting on ground, 3 suitcases, one big box with a few odds and ends. There were two small 12X12 boxes neatly taped sitting on the wall by themselves.

 I set my limit at 40 on this unit more or less just for the sake of seeing what was in the boxes. It ended up going for 50.

 Second unit was a 5X10, had a upright fridge (with broken door) blocking most of the unit. But a nice looking couch was standing upright in the back. As well as a nice coffee table.bull horn in there and a computer tower on top of the fridge. Had one or two boxes but nothing flashy.

 I set my limit at  100 and it went for 105.

 Third unit was a great looking unit.  Had a huge industrial fan that looked brand new.  Along with one of those huge upright outdoor heaters. Had 50 folding chairs with 3 maybe 4 folding tables. 2 window a/c units and about 100 carpet floor tiles. After the bidding started I stepped back over and saw a upright tool box.

 Sadly I only brought 250 with me and I shot the bid up to 200 instantly, next bidder went 300 on me so I was quickly out. It ended up going for 425, and myself and two other bidders standing near by commented it was well work that and then some, from the looks of the unit and the way it was stacked I'm sure it all worked.

 Next two units where junk, one went for $5 and one for $10. Had a metal bunkbed and old computer desk in one, the other had a washer and a old nasty couch. The last one with the couch smelt horrible inside like a racoon had peed on the couch or something.


 All in all it was a solid day, I bid on 3 units but went home empty handed. Guess that means I will have more next week.

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Stories about Storage Auctions / Got two Units
« on: October 10, 2011, 09:13:12 PM »
Went to a Monday auction,

 8 bidders 3 units.

 First unit opened and it was dusty. had 2 end tables, a sectional pleather sofa and a sival pleather chair.

Everyone looked around so I tossed out the $1 bid. I ended up winning it.

 
Next unit had a few bags of clothes, army ruck sack and a nice ozark trail tent.  I bid on it up to $20 and got it. When I got the clothes home found a nice peacoat with a russian name on it.

 3rd unit was a full one with 2 beds, a fridge, several dressers, sofa ect. ect. went for a little over 200.


 So I landed 2 units paid $21. Put  the sofa on CL for 100 and already have 3 potential buyers,. More info lazter

11
The Treasure Chest / Stories from first unit(s)
« on: September 30, 2011, 06:24:35 PM »
Ok I have done auctions a year or so back. (Went to like 6 auctions only ever got 3 units.) Here is what I got.....

 Very first auction I went to had like 13/14 units. (3 of them belonged to one person.) there was about 15 bidders.  From chit chatting with some other bidders I figured out that we had a whale there. (Actually a married couple.) Well turns out everyone was right, straight from the start the couple was tossing out bids way bigger than needed. Got the first two units 10X15's for like 280 and 250 each.

 then we came to the first of the 3 that belonged to the same woman. nothing to fancy just everyday living stuff. The couple paid 400 for the first one 10X20. Then we went to the second one and some of the other regulars started messing with the couple. From looking in the units we figured out Unit 1 had a nice table with two matching chairs. And also had a fairly good looking couch.  PROBLEM WAS: Unit 2 had the couch cushions and unit 3 had the two extra leafs and at least two more matching chairs from the first one. So the regulars ran the bid up hard on the whales. they paid $750 for unit 2 and $900  for unit 3.  They stopped there and started loading up the truck they had.

 Well there was 3 units left  and I hadn't got nothing but a education so far.  We came to one unit and as the auctioneer opened it trash literally fell out. Everyone chuckled and stepped back. Me being a new guy and remembering  what a friend once said (Just because everyone else walks away doesn't mean there isn't money to be made.)  I looked into it a bit and in the back corner I saw a stack of tires. On the crappy dresser next to it was a stack of record albums. sitting up front was a old rusty worn out ice chest. Someone laughed and said for 10 bucks I will clean this up.  Me not wanting to go away empty handed I bid 10 dollars and of course easily won.

 Everyone chuckled at me but told me good luck. they knew I was a new guy and told me sometimes they find the best stuff in a pile of crap. Well I put my pad lock on and went to the next unit.  Had some big boxes of clothes and some old crappy furniture so I stayed clear. almost walked away to go to my unit I got but  went to the last unit of the day. Inside was a washer and dryer, what I thought was a mattress and box spring with a bed frame, two huge speaker boxes (Had a 14 inch and 12 inch speaker in each box.)  and had a nice lawn rake.  Bidding went up to 140 and I almost backed off. but went 150 and got it.


  as I was locking that unit up the guy who was bidding with me on the unit came up and offered 80 for the washer and dryer. I told him that for 100 I would help load them and he took it.

 Well my good findings in the first unit.


 4 tires all worn out but had aluminum rims
stack of roughly  25 record albums.
nice mini tea set from france
2 antique china plates
4 old speakers for a church pa set
hand full of old peso coins


Second unit

nice hawaiin bed frame,  (turns out the mattress was actually a second box spring so trashed them both.)
two nice speaker boxes (matching set that was 5 feet tall.)
washer and dryer

Spent 160 on 2 units.

Sold
 4 tires w rims 70 bucks (Found out they were worth 20 at scrap yard if I took the tires off. but guy at flea market wanted the rims for a car.)
25 records I sold for 40 bucks
2 antique plates went for 15 bucks
4 speakers for pa set went for 50
peso coins went for 10


spent 10 on unit 1 made 185

 Unit two

Bed frame sold for 40
speakers sold for 100 for set
washer and dryer sold for 100 at auction on same day
garden rake sat in garage for 3 weeks until I taought the wife how to use it. PRICELESS

 Spent 150 on unit 2 made 240

  Really happy with first visit. Been to 5/6 auctions afterwards with only 1 purchase and no luck. But just got back into the game. Anyways hope you enjoy

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Did a few units a year or two ago, I didn't have time to invest with old job. but I'm getting back into it. Trying to get some tips and advice on how to find auctions and such in my area. (Not near a big city.)

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