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Messages - LosAngelesGuy

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Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: Boycott "Buyer's Premium"
« on: November 07, 2011, 12:22:05 AM »
lol, I support this. GO ahead boycott it. I will enjoy the peace and quiet and get my lockers lower priced because of it. SO ya I support yall boycotting it. But you wont see me boycott it.

That's the spirit, jrossjr!  I figured there would be many people with your attitude.  That's what keeps the auctioneers raising the buyer's premium over the years from 5%, to 7%, now 10%, Sotheby's now charges 15% on some auctions, why not 20%?  You won't mind, no matter how narrow your profit margins becomes.   It's folks like you that will ensure that it keeps going up over the years.
Good job.....

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Stories about Storage Auctions / Boycott "Buyer's Premium"
« on: November 02, 2011, 01:57:13 AM »
Hi all,

I'm writing to encourage everyone to boycott auctions that add an additional 10% "buyer's premium" onto your fees, on top of the 10% sales tax you already pay, depending on your area!  In California, that's 20% OVER your bid!
When you bid over $1000, that becomes extremely expensive.  A $1000 bid will cost you $1200 total.   American Auctioneers is doing this now.  Be sure to ask before you go to an auction.  If they do that, please boycott them, and encourage all the other bidders you know to boycott them.   They already make a very good commission from the vendor, so they are double-charging for the same job, with no real service to you.

Enough is enough.

Other auctioneers are doing this as well, but I don't have a list to share.  I'm new here, so I'm sure the members are far more familiar with this than I am.  Apparently in England they are getting even more gouged than we are.  Here is a link to an article on this price gouging:

ganews.co.uk/premium.html

I know this is a fulltime business for many of you, but if there is a way to boycott these Auctioneers that have gotten out of control (sound familiar?)  please do so.
Please also call American Auctioneers at 800 838 7653, and other houses that do this and let them know what you think of their 10% additional "buyer's premium", when they are already making a good commission from the storage facility.

Thanks.

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Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: Vault Auction Scam - Please Share
« on: October 31, 2011, 10:05:53 PM »
Update: 

I contacted the auctioneers (American Auctioneers) and they naturally told me they only auction the boxes, and that I needed to contact the storage company directly, Daly Movers.  I did so and was informed that "other moving companies from all over the country use them all the time" to store things on behalf of their clients.  They told me that the lot number stickers I found on the boxes were simply their way of keeping track of the boxes while they are with them.
I found that odd, as these lot stickers look the same as the kind used at auctions.

All of the boxes I had bought had been gone through previously (packaging on clothing inside the boxes ripped open, etc).   Even if these previous companies do "ship things on" to Daly Movers for their clients, I am sure they go through everything first. 

Also, why on earth would a client ship something to one mover, who would then ship it from another state onto California to store,  when all the box contains are National Geographic magazines and other worthless magazines from 2003?  Isn't that a lot of money to spend to ship and store out-of-date magazines and books you're never going to look at again anyway?  I have my suspicions about that.
If it's personal stuff at a vault auction... it could come from anywhere (in this case, other moving companies) and it certainly has been gone through.  Beware.

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Stories about Storage Auctions / Vault Auction Scam - Please Share
« on: October 31, 2011, 12:31:32 AM »
Hi All,

I went to my first "vault auction" last Saturday at Daly Movers in Gardena Grove.  Some of you may already be aware of the following scam, but if you're not, please warn any of your friends that go to these. 

A vault auction is when a warehouse or moving company sells items by the crate, rather than from storage units.  They either sell a whole crate at a time, or "by the piece", which means they stack boxes outside, and you have to buy a stack of boxes (not just one) all at the same price.  For instance, if you see a box you want and you bid $45 for it, you have to buy the two boxes underneath it also for $45, so the total is $135, plus 10% sales tax, plus a 10% "buyers premium".   

Here's the scam I discovered:  I bought a carefully wrapped box that was full of "stuff".   When I opened it, it contained a wicker box  which  contained old National Geographics from 2003.   However, this thing had been wrapped with not one, but four different kinds of tissue paper, apparently for no reason.   On one of the handles of the wicker basket was an auction tag from ANOTHER moving company, complete with lot number.  This company had bought all the junk another company couldn't sell (and of course they went through the wicker box before they wrapped it), and slapped their own auction tag on it.  The other box I bought turned out to contain a box from Belkin Movers, yet ANOTHER moving company.   The box had been marked "computer screen", "quilt", "clock", etc.  There was a quilt and a broken clock in it, but no computer screen; then I noticed the handwritten label was different and newer-looking than the others. 

They set one decent-looking box on top of others that are full of book or other junk, so you have to buy all three.


 I don't know how much they bought this random crap for from other moving companies, pretending it was from their own company, saying it has been in Their storage "for years".  Is this legal?  Is there such a thing as auction fraud?

Beware of these "by the piece" vault auctions.  Unless it looks like new merchandize from a wholesaler and not personal items, the boxes have all been gone through, and rewrapped as if they are actual stored, unopened items.  A lot of people got scammed that day.  Please pass this info on to all your friends who are in this business.  We don't deserve to be defrauded this way.   Thanks.

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Hi there,

I am new to storage auctions, and a few months ago was burned in a way I didn't know was possible.  I think you should be warned about this:  I recently went to an auction at one of the biggest storage facilities in Los Angeles; I bid on a non-descript locker with old furniture, many boxes of papers, and several large duffel bags of clothes.  I got it for under $200, so I thought I wouldn't take too much of a loss on it if there was nothing there.

The furniture was heavy but falling apart, but I had bought it for the duffel bags of clothing.  Sure enough, as I thought there were almost 20 pairs of jeans and jean jackets in the duffel bags; not many were name brand, but I could at least sell those.  
That is, until I discovered that the clothes were so mildewed that nothing was going to get it out.  After multiple washings, I gave up.
Well, I knew I was taking a risk.   Now I had a locker with heavy useless furnture and boxes and boxes of papers to throw out; there were hundreds of family photos including framed wedding pictures, however, and I felt bad that the owners had lost those.  
I told the facility that I wanted to return the photos, and one of the staff inadvertantly informed me "Oh, don't worry about it; that locker has been up for auction THREE TIMES already, and the owners never contacted us.  It's been over a year; so don't worry about it.
I asked her how it was possible that it could have been up for auction three times, and she said "well, no-one bid on it before, and when that happens, we wait three months and then put it up again".  I guess in the hopes that people will have forgotten about it by then.
That explained why the clothes were so mildewed:  they'd been sitting there for a year, when they'd told us it was only three months.
I was so disgusted I walked away from the locker to let them clean it out themselves, and forfeited the cleaning deposit.  

Now here's the kicker:  I found out online the other day that ANOTHER sucker bought the same unit I walked away from three months ago!  He complained about a locker that sounded exactly the same as mine, at the same facility.  That's right; this storage facility put the same locker up for auction a FOURTH time, and another guy bought the same crap, not knowing the history.  This storage facility simply keeps the crap they can't sell in their units until someone pays them for the privilege of cleaning out their locker.  
Is this legal?  Is there any regulation of this?  

Please be advised:  if they say it's only three months old, don't believe them.  You could be looking at a locker that has sat there for over a year, and been auctioned off over and over again until the facility can get someone stuck with cleaning it out for them and paying the dump fees.   It never occurred to me that they might do that; I should have left a note behind taped on one of the boxes saying "Warning:  This stuff is a year old and you are bidding on garbage they can't get rid of".  

Has anyone else had a similar experience?  Thanks for any input.  

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