What does the general public think about Storage Wars?

People who watch Storage Wars for the first time are pretty much just ordinary folks who either didn't know anything about this business, or had a 3rd cousin who did it 5 years ago one time....this is just a generalization of course, but I think A LOT of the first time and then 6th time viewers fit this description.

At some point, some of these people become lookey-loos, then maybe occassional buyers and then maybe even more frequent buyers.

My question is, in the beginning, what is the general population's belief about how TRUE the "shows" stories really are?

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The girl at my regular gas station today asked me if I watched them and after a simple "yes", she gushed on about the show where DAVE got the vending machines. She thought that was great...and realistic. I gave her my view and I could see she still wanted to believe..."well, they live in southern California."  True, but there are dog lockers there as well.

So, what responses have you gotten from people who know what you do .... buying lkrs?  Are they all as blind as the clerk at the gas station?

I'm a noob without the experience of most folks here but I think that people think that they'll find something rare and valuable in every locker they buy.  That's why the numbers of people at storage auctions and the prices have skyrocketed.  Storage Wars doesn't show you a whole lot of the lockers that lose money.  Every week, somebody makes a boatload of money.

Once the unrealistic noobs spend all their cash on crappy lockers and go away, things will get back to normal, I believe.

People who watch Storage Wars for the first time are pretty much just ordinary folks who either didn't know anything about this business, or had a 3rd cousin who did it 5 years ago one time....this is just a generalization of course, but I think A LOT of the first time and then 6th time viewers fit this description.

At some point, some of these people become lookey-loos, then maybe occassional buyers and then maybe even more frequent buyers.

My question is, in the beginning, what is the general population's belief about how TRUE the "shows" stories really are?

****

The girl at my regular gas station today asked me if I watched them and after a simple "yes", she gushed on about the show where DAVE got the vending machines. She thought that was great...and realistic. I gave her my view and I could see she still wanted to believe..."well, they live in southern California."  True, but there are dog lockers there as well.

So, what responses have you gotten from people who know what you do .... buying lkrs?  Are they all as blind as the clerk at the gas station?

I'm a little unclear as what your views are. You do not believe the show is real? The show is 100% real. And yes, although there are great and crappy lockers anywhere, California is a breeding ground for higher quality simply because of the real estate, business, etc.

I'm a noob without the experience of most folks here but I think that people think that they'll find something rare and valuable in every locker they buy.  That's why the numbers of people at storage auctions and the prices have skyrocketed.  Storage Wars doesn't show you a whole lot of the lockers that lose money.  Every week, somebody makes a boatload of money.

Once the unrealistic noobs spend all their cash on crappy lockers and go away, things will get back to normal, I believe.

People losing money wouldn't be as fun as watching what people can make money off of, that's the whole reason they don't show much. And an average episode, may show someone winning like 2-3k and being the big winner. Obviously it's completely unrealistic to think that every locker will reward you with thousands, but most times, money can be made on a locker, as long as your crowd isn't full of complete ignorant wannabes.

California is a breeding ground for higher quality simply because of the real estate, business, etc.

Steve, what state are you from?  If you are from California, what part of California?

California is not all SOUTHERN California, and southern California has more than it's share of junk lockers too.

As to the reality of either Storage Wars and Auction Hunters, it has been my premise since they began last DECEMBER that these shows needed to show more reality about the business even though they want to show the BIG finds.

Sure, the show would not be a success if EVERY show portrayed the dozens of lkrs which were either AVERAGE or LOSERS, but I would still like to see ANY of the 4 SW participants engage  in a trip to the dump. I'd love to see Brandi in one of her short skirts throwing stuff over the edge at my local dump ! 

How about reality checks in the show, like showing the winning lockers, but then minus the dump fees and then divide the profit into hours spent selling the locker.  I know its a pipe dream, but IMO it would be cool and a good way to maybe reel in the out of hand auction spending.

Having said that, love Jarrod and Brandi, I think they do less on inflating the prices on merchandise then Hester.

I love Barry's attitude, but I think he is a huge reason people buy lockers, to find that one thing.  Ever notice how many losers he gets on the show!  Wonder how his other losses go? lol

Hester, well I love his work ethic, his I'm not intimidated by anyone has also caused shills and money waivers to get stupid when bidding.

I also respect Darrell, dude for the show, is probably the closest thing to an everyday bidder in that while he may get in a bidding war, he seems to have the sense to not get carried away bidding and lose his ass on units.

For Belalo, flat out dudes an idiot.

I would say 50/50...definitely a reality to it considering they have shown/people have visited Dave and Jarrod's store, but at the same time, got to have some kind of entertainment where I believe the scripted part comes into play....around this area, if someone were to get into someones face like Dave/Jarrod that one episode, cops would be on the scene, because someone would have gotten punched in the face...There are some characters at the auctions around here, but they would need better scripts to actually turn it into a tv show.

I would say 50/50...definitely a reality to it considering they have shown/people have visited Dave and Jarrod's store, but at the same time, got to have some kind of entertainment where I believe the scripted part comes into play....around this area, if someone were to get into someones face like Dave/Jarrod that one episode, cops would be on the scene, because someone would have gotten punched in the face...There are some characters at the auctions around here, but they would need better scripts to actually turn it into a tv show.

My favorite local characters are the guy who doesn't talk to anyone and barely acknowledges your friend hello, etc.

Well for me most people have been skeptical actually.  I know the few people that have found out that I do these auctions ask is it like the shows?  My answer one time was -- if it was I'd already turned in my 2 week notice.  Many of the people that have asked seem more interested in the byplay and such.  A few have even asked if they could tag along.  I always say sure but have never had anyone follow-up with me to commit to a time/date once I described some of the work to be done.

I was hooked the first time I watched Storage Wars, I used to buy wholesale and sell at a flea market, and I have done domain flipping (buying a domain name, and turning around and reselling for a profit), and have always liked the whole buying and reselling thing. I got a feeling right from the beginning that what was depicted on TV was not how it really all goes down, and I've been learning more on this forum what the REAL truth is. I've been reading all I can on this forum, and other blogs, and next week I'm hoping to get my first unit at auction. I did buy 2 units on Craigslist, but that isn't the same. I have a good eye for things, and think I'll do well with it all. I'm WELL aware of the work involved, I'm not going to be one of the noobs that thinks I'm going to get that ONE unit that will make me rich. I know how to buy and sell, so If I can't see x amount of dollars to be made, I'll let someone else win it. To me, there is NO such thing as reality when there's a camera involved, reality TV is an oxy moron in my book.