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Messages - MovieMan

Pages: 1 ... 272 273 [274]
4096
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Pictures of Auctions
« on: January 27, 2011, 12:03:59 AM »
I won a unit today, paid $25.00 for it.

Here are the pics from the unit right after i won it.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Best-Deals-Online/124251090971678?v=photos&ref=ts

Mr. A....   A question for you. Remind me again of your state and then let me know if the all cinder-block lkrs are typical there. In my neck of the woods (California) the vast majority are corrugated metal; older units are typically metal frames with a particle board type of panel filling out the walls. Thanks!

4097
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Pictures of Auctions
« on: January 26, 2011, 11:28:43 PM »
OK, let's see if this works...trying to give a link to a pic of one of my best "finds" in a locker.



Yep, it worked. Hopefully the large pic will resize on your screen as it did on mine.

I got this in a POD lkr and it sold for $2600 in ten days (but took 11 months to clear DMV and Honda Finance).

Here's another one. I actually bought this from one of my competitors, then sold it for twice the money I paid him.



I got 52 paper trimmers in a locker; $90 for the lkr. I sell them for between $15 and $25 each. So far I've sold 26 of them for $509 for an average of $18.85 each.






4098
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Your monthly income of profit?
« on: January 26, 2011, 11:02:51 PM »
I was wondering what you guys make monthly of pure profit!

I doubt anyone would tell you that, but I could be wrong. I will tell you that the goal of the majority of my cronies is to double what they spend on a locker. If you buy one for $500, you would expect to sell the goods for $1000 and thus have a net of $500 profit. Of course, you'll buy some for $100 and maybe make $55 profit or maybe break even.

So much depends on the unknown contents and sometimes it's just a matter of luck. Keep your expenses down (storage, gas, lkr cost) and sell as high as you can without driving people away from your table or your eBay item.
Give it a try part-time at first and see how it goes.

4099
Welcome to the Online Storage Auctions Forum / Re: Hi from Michigan
« on: January 26, 2011, 02:12:05 PM »
Welcome to the Michigan posters !

I was once offered a job in Ishpining (sp?) after I had flown in for an interview in January.
I have to say the nicely cleared roads were a welcome sight, but the 3 feet of level snow on the surrounding fields turned me off. Shortly thereafter I took a job in California...and the last month has been FOGGY AND RAINY !

4100
The Treasure Chest / Safes and what they contain
« on: January 26, 2011, 01:36:48 PM »
In 7 years I've gotten about that many safes and here are some clues about them according to my experience. Your finds may be different.

5 of the 7 were empty. The little (typewriter size) cases usually have some important papers in them, but are often empty. Sometimes anxious parents keep their sex toys in safes.

1 good safe (about 2' by 18" by 18" I had the bottom torched and then broke out the concrete lining to get inside.
This one had about $375 in jewelry and coins.

2nd good safe was smaller and had about $200 in jewelry and coins.

Note: both good safes were in the back of their lockers buried under other goods. Little safes up front are almost always empty.


4101
The Treasure Chest / Best Finds
« on: January 26, 2011, 01:25:31 PM »
Been doing this for 7 years....this a note to the newbies who might be looking for major scores in each locker they buy.

Best finds in that time:

Honda Quad 350....sold for $2600.
6 guns...sold all but the last one I got

40 cases of chainsaw files...got at a gov auction (paid $400, sold for $4000)

13 28' extension ladders at a failed broadband company
26 New Lineman's belts (same as ladder locker)
More later as I think about it.

4102
Forgot to address some of the items mentioned as never being seen it TN.
I did get an old pinball machine once. Sold for $200 on eBay with local pickup. On those the "backglass" condition is very important and of course the game "name". They almost all need work, but some fire right up. I passed up a 2nd one because lkr went to high.

I have had Pachinko (sp?) games from the 70s. Not a biggie. Have found name brand musical instruments, good and bad electronics, and did I mention: stained mattresses, crappy particle-board furniture, bags of clothes (originally obtained at Goodwill stores), bags of trash (old McDonalds meals, newspapers, bills, court appearance documents) laptops that work (and don't work), boxes of keychains, Xmas decorations by the semi-truck load) etc, etc.

4103
Given these facts, NO, California is not any better than anywhere else (on balance). Sure, a major metro area is going to have more selection than a town of 3,000 in the middle of Kansas (my birth state), but again, you have to buy a lot of lockers to come out ahead.

I have bought 330 over 7 years and have done well on 300 of them, lost money on 10 and broken even on 20. I track all my expenses and income. Here we figure you aim at doubling your money to do well. If you spend $10K a year, you want to sell it at $20K and come out with $10K profit.

In 7 years I have found 6 guns; a little different than the Spike show Auction Hunters where the first 4 episodes showed a gun a week !

I got a beautiful year 2000 Honda quad in 2009; it took 11 months to clear it through dmv and Honda Finance, but it sold in 10 days for $2600.
 

4104
So is it like they say, that there are more good stuff in CA???
Here in memphis where i am, it can be either hit or miss, and when you miss you miss BADLY, lol and when you find a good one it is never like you see on tv from CA. The best i find is new stuff like, car parts, jewelry, and furniture. Sometimes odd collectibles.
But i have never seen guns, pinball machines, jukeboxes, or any of the good stuff on tv. lol

I have friends who have traveled to Nevada (Las Vegas), Washinton state, Florida and they report that things are pretty much the same where-ever you go. Good lockers and bad.

As to the shows on tv, they DO have disclaimers indicating how many lockers they go through to find the good stuff, and of course they will MOSTLY show the good stuff on the shows. They also give the indicator that most of the buyers they feature have been doing it for years.
(continuing this in next post)

Giv

4105
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Over 200 at local auctions these days
« on: January 25, 2011, 10:15:28 PM »
Seven years ago there would be a dozen of us at auctions and we all knew each other.
About 2 years ago that number went up to about 30 and we thought that was a lot.

Now (yes, due to the tv shows) the crowds in my central California area are at 60 to 100 with
75 being a common number.

A month ago the newbies weren't buying, but now they are starting to.
Last week a 5x5 full of good looking cardboard boxes (neatly stacked) and nothing really showing sold
for $825. Three months ago it would have gone for about $250 tops.

I spoke to the fellow later...it was his first buy.

4106
Vehicles at Storage Auctions / Re: Vehicles with Lien Holder
« on: January 25, 2011, 10:11:58 PM »
Sorry, no info for Florida but apparently DMVs everywhere are a pain to work with.
I'll give you the short version of a DMV story though.

I actually got pretty good help here in California trying to get the dope on a Honda Quad I got in a POD.

The trouble came in dealing with Honda Finance. They had archived the account on the 2000 quad indicating they weren't pursuing it in 2010. HOWEVER, they would not give me a release of interest saying they needed to hear that from DMV. DMV said they could not do that unless they had something in writing from Honda Finance. It was a catch 22 of massive size.
The Honda Finance office in Georgia (as I remember) wasn't too helpful for sure, but I finally got ahold of a VP
here in CA and the next day I had a FedEx package in my hands thanks to his phone call to those jerks to free it up to me.
Took 11 months of going back and forth with DMV (several differenct branches within the SAC office) and then of course the Honda Finanance aspect.
It only took 10 days to sell it though and this thing (though 10 years old) looked like it just came off the assembly line. I got $2600 for it.

4107
Hello welcome to the forums. What part of Cali? I grew up in San Jose.

I am in inland from San Jose and do business from Tracy in the south to Sacramento in the north with cities like
Modesto, Manteca, Stockton, Brentwood, Antioch, Concord, Dixon and areas around Sacramento all being possible buying sites. Oh and mustn't forget foothill communities like Valley Springs, Sonora, Angels Camp.

4108
 :)

Hey there....

Just found this site and thought I would drop in. I have been buying lockers for 7 years so I have some
under my belt...good and bad.

Have been reading here a bit before getting verified and seems like experiences are similar around the country.

One suggestion I have is that when posting in ANY of the forums that the poster somehow indicate what state at least they are in...maybe city too if not a concern for the poster for any reason.

Haven't checked yet, but my guess is a signature line is available here and that would be a good place to put
your locale...it would pop up in any post you did.

Anyway, happy bidding (and good luck with the lockers you get) !

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