I will tell you - I am tempted to do a 3 at once thing....  But I wouldn't like that done to me. 

Just gave away an mattress and box springs I got in a unit to a very nice couple..  Wife thought I was crazy no to pay to  dump them..  they were not bad.. but the though of a storage unit matress... YUCK... but then I've never had to sleep on the floor I guess... They were thankful for them.. Saved me a dump fee and the hassle of wrapping them in plastic (new rules) so WIN-WIN!! Thanks you Craigslist!!

I think they thought they had a gold mine on that unit..

I save really nice boxes, although breaking the down is just a waste when I want to use them..  Packing tape adds to my cost. I do have to admit that the tape has came from several units. Most hit the trash/recyclable.

Never thought about the Boxes..  Guess there is more to making a buck the more you think about it.

Got to rethink my strategy sometime I guess..  and think about the BOX, just not inside and outside of the box..

My 4 units - Not too bad.. Potential..

The largest had a couple mattresses in it and box springs, Loaded them to the dumpster, cleared out 2 others from the other unit, this was like a 9pm at night. Came back about 8am, an they were gone from the dumpster, the garbage was still there.. I can't believe someone would pick them out. But there was a picker a the unit later than I was, more power to them!

Anyway, the larger unit had some baby stroller stuff, some car stereo stuff (box speaker, amp, wires), about 6 bed frames, couple end tables, coffee table, lamp/table thing, christmas decor, floor jacks for a house, power saw, a heavy roller for laying floor tiles, really high end 30" tube tv (2004 version full 1080, hdmi, etc), nice stand for it, Toys, Wedding dress and 2 brides maid dress, tags still on them all 399, 119 for bridesmaids, 149 for veil) just not sure of a market on them. Lots of small stuff.

Second unit, found a nice collection of pennies (maybe 5-10$ worth)  Dresser, bookshelf, Games, Cornhole set, twin bed and frame, stuffed animals (I hate tossing them, they were nice, but no market) a huge tub of factory vhs movies, books, college books(ebay eats these up), couple hand held games (game boy advance, etc) Some nice clothes for the donation box.

Third Unit - Smelly - Dead rat was totally wrong, Cat pee and dirty clothes had to be it.  Had a bunch of ps3 - ps2 - xbox games, and a super nintendo console and 13 decent games.   2 - Xbox units that need cleaned up, and a bunch of controllers. A Tattoo kit, Picture frames, and a lot of small stuff that will provide good ebay fodder. Some smelly Stereo equipment (dumpster),  Had 3 nice flat panel computer monitors stuck in there. and 2 laptops, 3 desktop computers.  One box had a first for me, a Granade.. Now granted it was missing the parts the go boom but still makes you wonder... Found some ammo in this unit, and case for a .38 special. Was so disappointed there was no gun.. Couple hunting traps, Found the guys Drug bong, and he court papers for drug possession, disorderly conduct, etc...

Fourth unit - So far has paid for all of them - 13 pairs of NEW women boots in boxes. 20+ pair of new to like new women without boxes,  and about 40 pairs of misc shoes for donation (gently worn flipflops, tennis shoes, etc) - 2 adult nice bicycles, NICE baby stroller, 2-car seats, bouncy seat, NEW double breast pump (I was disappointed when I found out this does not actually pump the breast up but is used as a milking machine), Some sports equipment (several basket balls, footballs, etc) - NICE upscale clothing, baby clothes, several ladies coats, one still had a tag of 170$ on it.  The clothes were well taken care of in vaccumm sealed bags. Shoes were all in nice totes (still glad to see the big totes come in) Several nice gym/travel bags, and one tub of purses, yet to be checked out beyond being purses.

Whats with milk crates?? I get so many milk crates... They are horrible for storing things in, slide all over the place, etc. Right now they are going for my Copper wire recycling effort. Anyone do this?? any Tips??

Anyway, lots of stuff to do..

The inner city ones are mostly evictions with a rare decent one.. Although I've done good with the evictions..  The landloards rent the units for 1$ for the first month, tell the tenant where their stuff is, and they hardly ever actually go get it out. (I am assuming they charge them a fee for moving it also) If he tenants don't get it, they hit the block.

I've had good luck with online..  One suggestion there..  Get there soon, hasn't happened to me, but others have lost units because the owners pay them off.

We'll see how the live auctions go for me.. Sounds fun, and yes the pissing contest is what I'm afraid of.. But I know I will do fine!