Storage Auctions
The Storage Locker => Stories about Storage Auctions => Topic started by: MatchesMalone on March 01, 2012, 10:45:06 AM
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I think the short month screwed up MovieMan's usual starting of the Auction Scene thread. ;)
March is here and it brings a new round of auctions. Let's get those field reports coming and hopefully most of them will have a positive outcome for our boardies!!
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I think the short month screwed up MovieMan's usual starting of the Auction Scene thread. ;)
March is here and it brings a new round of auctions. Let's get those field reports coming and hopefully most of them will have a positive outcome for our boardies!!
That, and I was actually working on a locker I bought a week ago and "picking" the local fleas, etc.
Thanks for taking care of it ! ;D
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Will not be going to any auctions until I move what I bought late Jan. & Feb. 1 :o Did $440 at flea first Sat in Feb. hope to have a good day this Sat. if weather cooperates ;D Spent Mon. Tues, and half yesterday getting windows, doors, trim, and other items from a 1930s school that will be demolished this month. Will be selling and using some quality materials so out of the auctions for a while.
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I think the short month screwed up MovieMan's usual starting of the Auction Scene thread. ;)
Thought it was because of the leap yesterday. ;D
Liandra you sound like us. Hoping we do well this weekend and making room before our next auction on March 7.
How did you get the lead on that school ? Sounds supper COOOOL Right up our alley. ;D
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Well just checked the paper and have the same number of auctions as we normally do. However, the # of units at each facility looks to be lower. Suspect some people may of paid up with tax money. If get the normal 50-70% paid up this month will be very sparse.
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Stuffed animals anyone....?
Should be enough to give every forum member (even the non-vocal ones) at least one !
(http://webs.lanset.com/rjsmovie/images/stuffed.jpg)
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Stuffed animals anyone....?
Should be enough to give every forum member (even the non-vocal ones) at least one !
(http://webs.lanset.com/rjsmovie/images/stuffed.jpg)
OMG!! Thats a photo of one of my recurring nightmares! :P
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If we use the variable SWP scale (Storage Wars Pricing) - there is tens of thousands of dollars here!! ;D ;D ;D
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OMG!! Thats a photo of one of my recurring nightmares! :P
what did you do buy a carnival?
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what did you do buy a carnival?
Even a carnival gives new stuffed animal prizes !
This is a bundle at Goodwill....don't know what they do with them, but they have never offered them
at an auction.
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Well heading to an auction tomorrow... An estate with 170 lots of western art, Indian decor, log furniture, tools, and electronics. Am hoping to get ~50-60 of the lots. I put my name on the waiting lists at the 2 biggest antique malls so need to start stocking the small inventory for the booth.
Sam
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Auction this morning -
Good news - only about 20 people, 13 bidders
Bad news - what started out as 10 lockers at close of biz Friday turned into 2 lockers at 8am this morning.
Comments from the morning:
Another buyer: (as I was walking up) "There's two people inside paying up, and that's not good!"
Facility Owner - "We've never had 8 people come in and pay up at the last minute like this. You can tell it's tax season."
Another buyer (to toddler son): GET YOUR A$$ BACK IN THAT STROLLER MISTER!!"
The two units went for $45 (mostly empty with a microwave, broken mirror, beat up table, box of toys, and a couple tattered suitcases) and $145 (three old Singer sewing machines, mattress, some furniture, and a couple rusty two-man cross-cut saws). Guy that won thought he could clean up the saws, get the sewing machines working and make some money.
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Auction this morning, ent from 20 units to 5 by this morning. About 80 people, recognized a couple of buyers, mostly newbs.
They auctioned the first unit before I knew the auctioneer had started. He was almost whispering he talked so low.
I'm slow but I caught on and seen they were auctioning the second one while I was standing back letting other people see. I jumped in and won it before everyone else realized what was going on.
Paid $90, From the door you could see:
leather Couch on its side standing up (usually re flag), cool loveseat made from like the soft fuzzy stuff some the stuffed animals are made from, oval coffee table with glass doors underneth, cheap desk, cheap shelves, 1 big box, night stand. What you couldn't see was a big screen behind couch. I don't expect it to work, mostly because I had hell loading and unloading it LOL
Couch has some paint on wood. I think it will come right off. All the cushions look good, I'm thinking about keeping it. Loveseat is also in pretty good condition. I should make some profit here, and maybe the tv still works, because I have it sold for $75 if it does.
All of the units looked like they had been gone thru, even mine. It could have been a setup room, nothing matched.
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Not bad prices there Cheesehead. The 1st unit would of gone for close to $100 or more in my area cuz of the kids guitar. Don't know why people go nuts over them.
Second unit for $145 is a decent buy IMO. Has a good chance to make a profit on it.
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what did you do buy a carnival?
No, I tend to attract units with LOTS of stuffed animals though, and I would have better luck selling beach balls to eskimos then selling those darn things! :P
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Not bad prices there Cheesehead. The 1st unit would of gone for close to $100 or more in my area cuz of the kids guitar. Don't know why people go nuts over them.
Second unit for $145 is a decent buy IMO. Has a good chance to make a profit on it.
This is a little out-of-the-way privately owned facility that has auctions about every three months. The place is always clean, the owners are always friendly, and the crowds/prices seem to be decent. Just too bad there were only two lockers. Guess the only good factor is since I am in a more rural part of the country, the crowds are 20-50 and not 100+ Of course, I have an outhouse, and my cell phone is a tomato can and string, but hey, you can't have everything!! :D
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No, I tend to attract units with LOTS of stuffed animals though, and I would have better luck selling beach balls to eskimos then selling those darn things! :P
Aside from black bags full of clothing, those black bags also seem to contain a lot of stuffed animals.
I guess both are something affordable and "comfort worthy" for certain original buyers.
I haven't really seen a lot of stuffed animals at thrift stores, but the clothing racks are full to overflowing (mostly women's clothing of course).
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Scored an awesome locker last week.
Found an auction last minute real close to my house. It was a smaller facility that had auctions listed for two locations at same time. I picked the one closer to home. Lucky me it was snowing that morning and only about 10 bidders for two lockers. First door goes up and it is a 10x10 80% full the auctioneer starts the bidding at $200. Everyone laughs so he calls for $100. One guy says a 100 and I go 125. sold. It was almost too easy so I was a little scared to get in there after the rest of the days auctions I attended.
This is the unit that just keeps giving. The original owner must have been OCD because everything in the unit was spotless except some of the kitchen stuff. Nothing in here of exceptional value but easy items to sell.here is a small list of items.
1. 2 matching twin beds with headboards in great condition sold $160
2. Microfiber couch in great condition(even covered it with a blanket)
3. Vintage Franklin Hope Chest in good condition
4. China doll collection
5. Vintage xmas stuff
6. Convection oven
7. Kitchenaid appliances
8. Italian Dish set .(complete)
9. Set of new silverware (still in original packaging
10. Pot and Pan set. still in original packaging
11. Picturing frames and misc wall art still in packaging. the $20+ kind
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr Leather Jacket in new cond.
13. Misc. silver jewelry
14. 10k baby bracelett
15. nice non-gold or silver jewelry
16. 2 Unopened Wii games
17. 4 Unopened DS games
18. 2 boxes of DVD's all in cases and very few scratches
19. table and 2 chairs
20. 2 antique chairs
21. Human Size stuffed whale
Lots of smalls and kitchen misc. and toys
Nick
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Count your blessings that you got a really good unit and a great price.
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went to a stoage vault auction at a moving company today crowd was around 75-100 prices were kinda high im guessing average of 450 per vault :(
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Could someone help me out with this? I found these Indian Clothes and have no idea how to identify them. I see the mens tops going from $200 to $2000.
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p506/StorageWarz/Craigslist/IMG_20120306_235739.jpg)
Mens front
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p506/StorageWarz/Craigslist/IMG_20120306_235757.jpg)
Mens back
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p506/StorageWarz/Craigslist/IMG_20120306_235839.jpg)
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p506/StorageWarz/Craigslist/IMG_20120306_235909.jpg)
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p506/StorageWarz/Craigslist/IMG_20120306_235943.jpg)
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I think I have read that you are in SoCal, if so, it is pretty easy to look up the contact numbers for numerous Native American reservations in your area. They should have someone who could tell you from the photos what tribe these are from. Also, UCLA has a Native American studies program that may help.
These look like something that would used in re-enactments or at a PowWow gathering.
Anywho, good luck in your search.
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I went to a auction about 40 miles from my house. There is a shortage of auction in my area right now, which is okay because I will be in New York for about a week come Friday.
There were about 50 people, 5 units.
Out of the 5, 4 had starting price set by facility, starting at like $300.
They were ok units nothing great, and they went for way too much.
The 5th unit was a setup unit from the managers house, relatives, and neighbors. As soon as she said this everone walked away. I bought it for $200. There was no hidden things everything was out in open and she said we could walk in the unit and look.
There was 2 futons, kitchen hutch, tv stand, chester drawer, nice bedroom suite, matching couch and loveseat (old), Nice couch, love seat, descent mattress and box spring (serta posderapedic), another couch, 2 vintage fold out chairs, and a vintage arm chair.
I think I can make an easy $800-$1000.
I was lucky everyone was looking for the WOW FACTOR and not seeing the money that was right there in front of them.
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Went to 3 auctions today...all same chain. Total of 9 lkrs. Prices not bad, crowd about 20....lkr contents mostly crap.
Highest one went for $600 which in my opinion was about $300 too much to make any profit. Cheapest one went for $5 and guy was groaning he had even bid on it.
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UGA - glad she at least told you that up front. We have many places here that combine units but don't say anything. Or do company units and don't say anything.
I'm off for my caravan Thursday - not many units however. About 20 units total for 7 locations. Suspect will be down to 10 or less by the morning. Friday is U-haul, Saturday an out of the way town, then more next week. Will try and hit as many as work permits. Should be a busy next 12 days.
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caravan started at 10:30 big crowd for this place (40-50)
4 rooms ranged from $30 -$1500
wasnt happy with what i saw the sales going for and bailed after that location
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Finished the normally 7 facility caravan today, but we only had lockers at 5 places. Starting crowd was 25-30 people, mid-day saw close to 50 people, last stop (1 locker out of way) we only had 15 people. We had one really good unit go for $1420. I bid on 4 units but was outbid by a large margin. Still kicking myself for not bidding another time or two on one unit. Wife had wanted some of the text books in the unit. Oh well, U-haul Friday.
Overall prices were still higher then what I want to pay. In fact the normal whale was even talking about how high prices are. Most of the high dollar units went to people I've seen but not often. Only one regular purchased multiple units today and he paid out the nose IMO. He said they needed inventory bad so who knows.
I did spend $10 to buy 2 desktop computers and a monitor from one of the winners. Also pulled some scrap out of the dumpster at one of the locations.
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Whats the highest you would bid on a 40x40 full of lcd tvs and other items like dell computers and vacuum cleaners. With lets say over 300 tvs maybe 100 in the box. Looking like a customer return locker. ?? No idea weather they work or not.
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Whats the highest you would bid on a 40x40 full of lcd tvs and other items like dell computers and vacuum cleaners. With lets say over 300 tvs maybe 100 in the box. Looking like a customer return locker. ?? No idea weather they work or not.
$100
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Took the truck and trailer down to finish cleaning out my "build up" unit. When I was done we decided we weren't far from a auction I had seen, so we decided to go hit it.
There was about 60 people, 7 untis, 2 were bid and hold units. I don't like this practice.
I ended up buying a unit for $225. Pretty good unit. But I have soooo much inventory now it's ridiculous. I will stop buying for a while. Going on a trip for a week and when I get back will sel sell sell!
All the other units were junk except 1 and it went for $375. 2 of the units didn't even sell, they were trash.
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$100
100 Bucks? 40 x 40l<
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100 Bucks? 40 x 40l<
You're right $100 is too much. Make it $50.
Remember that expression "If it looks too good to be true, it probably is" ?
I'm a gambler, but I don't mind letting someone else gamble too. There are always more auctions.
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I buy complete computer systems (case, memory, cpu, hdd, cards) for $5 off people. Don't care if they work or not. Old style TVs I wouldn't touch. The new LCD flat screens I'd have to do some research on. Disposal fee's may eat into any profit that you could make. Would have to see the locker to give you my bid.
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U-haul today, two locations to choose from. Can't make the first location but did the second. I was surprised - about 20 of us today compared to the 50 or so last month. Auctioneer said he is seeing the crowds starting to drop some. Mostly regulars today with a few new faces. Most of the lockers went to regulars and one I know went to a newbie. Prices were moderate to high. Bid on several but got outbid so still dry so far this month.
Buddy of mine got a double unit for $600 at the first location. Said it is 2 10x20 units combined and packed full. Asked me to come help him after work since U-haul only gives you 24 hours. Glad he got back in the game. He had been dry for the past 3 months not wanting to come off his cash.
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Three auctions coming up - one single and one a "brother & sister" caravan. With all the rain in the Mid-South, I hope I can either find a locker with hip waders, or the auctioneer is named Noah so I can borrow his ark! Good luck to everyone. ;)
Whoever said "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain" didn't live around here!
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***UPDATE FROM 3/10/12***
Facility #1 - 3 units and only 9 bidders. They were also three of the nicer units I have seen in the last six months or so. Not "nice" in the sense of designer clothes, VanGogh paintings, guns, and safes - but nice "turn-and-burn" resellable merchandise. Because of this, the prices were fairly high.
1) Pictured below- went for $525, bought by local whale. Had a nice tool box (in front) - half a dozen designer-type lamps in good shape - otherwise it was chucked full of boxes. No big stuff. I went up to $350.
2) Not pictured - went for $270 - interior 5x10 unit with a sleigh bedframe (wood) - TV, couch, tables, chairs, dresser with a missing drawer - it was packed and dusty. People I knew won, so I helped them unload. WOW - couch turned out to be leather sectional. Found the missing drawer - loaded with every leg they needed - and bags full of cushions. Couch and all cushions in great shape, no rips. They should be able to double or triple up easily.
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Unit #3) Picture below - went for $450 to an older gentleman I've never seen before - sorry for the split screen photo - some folks just won't get out of the way! Right side had two small fridges, bike (hanging on right side), new storage rack, cleaning equipment, TV with remote, and on the left side was a bunch of weights - both iron and cement filled. Also other workout equipment, some sealed DVDs, several tubs, and a near new Dirt Devil vac. . Good stuff. I went to $350 on this one too - figuring about $600-700 in sale potential.
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Those do look like good units Cheesehead. Prices still seem a little high to me, specially with the number of people you reported. However, if it's like around here most of the store people are starting to run low on inventory. So they may not be bidding against newbies but each other now.
Auction today was a total bust. Buddy and me both went to this small town auction. Had 4 units and 2 in other town. Got there and they only had 1 unit. Opened the door and the 8 of us that were there just groaned and said just close it. Unit was empty except for the pile of trash / moldy cloths in a line on the left. I buy trash units all the time and make money but even this one made me take a step back. Try another small town again next saturday.
Saw an estate sale sign on way into town so stopped into there. That was a waste also. Asking $12 for tire iron and $8 for a wrench (minus 20% off). Dresser was $800 - I just shock my head.
Day wasn't a complete bust. Made $63 turning in scrap, plus sold a dryer for $25 and fridge for $15 before scrapped it. So $103 bucks for next week. Buddy headed back to his store and then called me later. He hit a yard sale in a upper scale area in his area and came home with 53 CDs, vac, and bunch of other stuff all for $50. Sent me a text later saying he sold the corner cabinet for $49.99 that he got out of the $35 unit he bought last week. Still has a very nice mirror from that unit (rest of furniture was junk).
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Havent been out much lately. So on Weds I went out to U-Haul, they had 2 stop's with 8 and 7 units each, (At least in the paper.) I called both places many times to check on the # of units but got busy signals at both locations all morning.
Get to the first stop, and it was packed 35-45 people, most of them are regulars and what I call the "new" regulars. Turns out they were down to 1 unit. It was a 8X10, we went to it and he opened the door. Everyone walked up and most of us never stopped to "look". He then told us the other location only had 1 and looked almost the same.
1 dresser with a missing drawer, 1 crappy tv stand, one single box spring.
We skipped the 2nd location.
Saturday auction, 12 lockers, over 30 people signed in, (I think 34 signed in.) With nearly 100 people in total. Mainly new people who I don't know. I spoke with a full time regular and he said he doesn't know nearly 2/3 of these people.
First unit is a 10-X20, 1/3 of the way full. Has a HUGE disco ball, with 4 big speaker boxes (about 5 foot tall, 3 feet wide.) 2 couches, 2 or 3 turntables and about 40 milk crates with records/cds in them.
Bidding starts at 30, then 40, 45, 55, 200 (I belted that out and got a weird look from most people.) Bidding went up and stopped at $450.
Next few units were all small with crap in them. Luckily people felt like spending so they went for 85-300, but the regulars were all standing around the next unit wondering what we all missed.
One unit did stand out, it was a 6X12 which was loaded with old vcr tapes, old books old boxes, some kind of dresser/vanity facing the wall. 25 or so boxes,and it was FULL. Everything in the unit made me think it was easily 10 years old, (Which the property manager said that it had been rented out to the same lady since he started and that was 7 years ago.)
I stayed in the bidding for that one up to around 95 dollars but it went for about 350 or so.
Last unit of the day was a 7X10 with about 9 tupperware containers. Had several army boots and bdu's but it was all the old ones. In the corner was what looked to be a old very nice looking 45 player. Bidding started at 50 and I jumped it to 250. Next guy went 400 and then I started walking away. I stood talking to a buddy and when everyone else came through they said it went for 950. I shook my head and hoped that thing was trimmed in gold.
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Not much to report .... got a couple of auctions coming up mid week, but supposed to be pouring rain, and if crowds are still big, what's the point of going.
More and more of the regular buyers in my area are foregoing auctions altogether until crowds go down a bit. People are buying 1 a month (and paying for it) rather than wasting time going to over-crowded auctions, wasting time and not buying any.
SOMEDAY, the crowds have to start getting smaller, but when that is, is anyone's guess.
****
Meanwhile, did well at flea on Sat the 10th and bought some good tools on Sunday the 11th which should do well on eBay. Picking still doing well for me.
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Tax money is still coming in it seems. People are paying up on the units. Wasn't going to make the afternoon auction due to work so texted my buddy to see how many units at the late afternoon sale. Two units at the noon auction, and none at the late afternoon. This is down from 20 or 25 units (don't have paper in front of me). I'm surprised they even bothered other then it's an auctioneer that brings in large crowds normally.
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Not much to report .... got a couple of auctions coming up mid week, but supposed to be pouring rain, and if crowds are still big, what's the point of going.
More and more of the regular buyers in my area are foregoing auctions altogether until crowds go down a bit. People are buying 1 a month (and paying for it) rather than wasting time going to over-crowded auctions, wasting time and not buying any.
SOMEDAY, the crowds have to start getting smaller, but when that is, is anyone's guess.
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Meanwhile, did well at flea on Sat the 10th and bought some good tools on Sunday the 11th which should do well on eBay. Picking still doing well for me.
Same here nothing to report, plus with a slow in our sales at the thrift still inventory rich ::) of the larger items. Picked up a few things at the monthly equipment auction, a lot of dealers there buying also so guess still rough at the storage auctions.
"SOMEDAY, the crowds have to start getting smaller, but when that is, is anyone's guess."
posted on another thread the noobies still hitting hard thanks to the shows. ::)
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Not much to report .... got a couple of auctions coming up mid week, but supposed to be pouring rain, and if crowds are still big, what's the point of going.
More and more of the regular buyers in my area are foregoing auctions altogether until crowds go down a bit. People are buying 1 a month (and paying for it) rather than wasting time going to over-crowded auctions, wasting time and not buying any.
SOMEDAY, the crowds have to start getting smaller, but when that is, is anyone's guess.
****
Meanwhile, did well at flea on Sat the 10th and bought some good tools on Sunday the 11th which should do well on eBay. Picking still doing well for me.
[Just wondering what is a large crowd for you guys? We are getting 50 to 200 people on a regular basis.
Have been going to "un-advertised auctions" and flipping appliances on craigslist.
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I sort of hate when these places bring out-of-town auction people. Hate the real auctioneers anyways....don't like paying an extra 10% but that is just normal.
Missed all the auctions so far this week due to work. Saturday I have a few options open to me. Will call friday to see which one I hit. Both are small town places so I'm hoping less then a dozen people. Monday is my 3 facility evening auction that I got 2 units last month from. Have a few other auctions this month that are the normal once every other month or once a quarter type places. Only a few units but if can make the times will be great.
Normal crowd for us (depending on facility) is 20-40 people. Large crowd is anything over 50 to me as you really start to get either a ton of looky-loos that are wasting your time, or newbie jacking prices up. Some of our auctions are 150+. Metro can be 150-200 people, was over 300 in January as they had almost 60 lockers posted online. That was a long day to snag only 1 unit.
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A facility I thought was my personal honey hole brought in an auctioneer from Florida (not the metro guy) a couple of months ago. All I can say is this guy has a big following! There must have been over 200 people there. Crazy!
The prices were sky high and it took forever to see the contents of the lockers. If it weren’t for this guy having one of those great personalities I would have boogied down the road earlier. I won’t be going back to the facility.
Don't You just hate it when that happens ? Has happened to Us too , We are just biding our time till all the insane crowds and prices go back down .
These new idiots have to run out of money and storage space ( because most of what they are buying isn't saleable ) soon ( I hope ) .
Bob
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I went to metro on Bankhead and Northside drive on tues.9 units up for bid. About 60 people mostly rednecks.
1 unit went for $300 and it had some broken furniture, a matress some trashbags and a set of old and ugly 20inch rims.
1 unit went for $70 and it had some trashbags and a cheap walmart mountain bike.
1 unit went for $650 and it had a decent looking fridge with water and ice built in the door. 2 stoves with the eyes missin and a dishwasher. All were stainless steel looking.
1 unit went for $450 and had about 7 storage totes a **** load of trash bags a couple of broken nightstands a dirty matress and boxspring , a halfway decent fold up wheelchair and a couple cheap looking lamps.
All the other units went between $30 and $150 and were basically full of stuff to scrap.
Out of the 60 plus people only about 7 actually bid, but about twenty wanted to stand in front of the unit the whole time and not make one bid. Whats up with that
Where do you find the auctions with the smaller crowds? Do they even exist nowadays?
I guess when you go to auctions that they have a caravan following them around you will always have the bigger crowds.
I wonder how many people will be at this auction on sat the 24th where they say they have over 40 units up for auction?
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Where do you find the auctions with the smaller crowds?
Sorry, I can't tell you that...it's a trade secret !
Do they even exist nowadays?
No. ;D
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I went to metro on Bankhead and Northside drive on tues.9 units up for bid. About 60 people mostly rednecks.
1 unit went for $300 and it had some broken furniture, a matress some trashbags and a set of old and ugly 20inch rims.
1 unit went for $70 and it had some trashbags and a cheap walmart mountain bike.
1 unit went for $650 and it had a decent looking fridge with water and ice built in the door. 2 stoves with the eyes missin and a dishwasher. All were stainless steel looking.
1 unit went for $450 and had about 7 storage totes a **** load of trash bags a couple of broken nightstands a dirty matress and boxspring , a halfway decent fold up wheelchair and a couple cheap looking lamps.
All the other units went between $30 and $150 and were basically full of stuff to scrap.
Out of the 60 plus people only about 7 actually bid, but about twenty wanted to stand in front of the unit the whole time and not make one bid. Whats up with that
Where do you find the auctions with the smaller crowds? Do they even exist nowadays?
I guess when you go to auctions that they have a caravan following them around you will always have the bigger crowds.
I wonder how many people will be at this auction on sat the 24th where they say they have over 40 units up for auction?
That is actually a small size crowd for Metro. Prices don't seem to bad either. That $70 unit would be about right in my area ($20 for bike and rest a $50 gamble) depending on the look of the unit. Your $450 to me was high - was getting those type of units for $150 - $200 bucks.
Small crowds are still out there but very few and far between.
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You wil not find a auction within 50 miles of downtown with less than 60 people, some of the time 100+. I attend auctions all over north Georgia, YES all over north Georgia. I sometimes have travelled 90 miles from home. The east, southeast, and northeast seem to have less people than anything on the west side.
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No surprise that today's auction has been canceled. They only had 1 unit. Now to make a decision of in the morning which of 2 auctions I hit out-of-town at 10am. Trying to find a phone # now for the places.
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Today's auctions were a bust. The first small town 8am auction was a no-show. Figure everyone paid up and I didn't have a phone # to call. Not a wasted trip since now have that # and # of another place in the town. I then had to decide between two auctions at 10. One was close, up near my sister and her hubby/kids, and the other farther away. Closest one had 2 units, the other 7 or 8. I decided to hit the closer one thinking most people will hit the 7-8 one. Made a mistake. Only 12 people at the 2 unit auction. Guy opened up both units. One was crap - matress/boxspring and junk dresser. It went for $30. The last unit was nice. Had a stand-up closet, wood chest, rocking chair, so/so couch, chair, old washer, and a few other things in back I couldn't tell what. Bid opened at $100, I did 110, and guy jumped it to 150. Thinking he figured could scare people off. I bid 160 and stopped. At $180 didn't see it being worth a trip back up there to unload. That and I don't normally mess with furniture.
Monday has our 3 facility auction I got 2 units at last month. Then only 3 more auctions that I know of for the month :-[
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SAFE IN LOCKER UPDATE FROM 2/17/12
Re: Auction Scene #2...February, 2012
« Reply #66 on: February 17, 2012, 12:18:29 PM »
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Two units went for a bundle - one with commercial cooking equipment and Sysco Food items ($2000) and a 5x5 with a safe! ($500) Oh yeah, the safe unit was won by a Thrift owner I spoke with, so I will find out what was in it and report back.
I finally got a chance to catch up with the thrift owner who purchased the safe noted above and thought everyone would be interested in the contents. She said it was filled FULL OF CDs. (Certificates of Deposit) Someone help me, but the only person who can mess with them is the name on the paper. Basically worthless to anyone else....???
So once again, no Pirates Booty, unmarked $20s, or anything else of value. I didn't ask if they broke the safe open, or called and got a combination, but since they also own a scrap yard, I figured it was the former.
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I talked to him back in January about the show. He said he HATED it and the shows. Due to the increase in crowds, he now has to take longer to do 1 facility and can only do 2 or 3 a day. Before he said he could do 4 or 5 facilities. So while he may be getting more per unit he is spending 2 and 3x as long.
Your right Cheesehead - those CDs are worthless to anyone but person named on certificate. You would need a certificate of death, and few other legal documents to get anything out of those CDs.
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About 40 people at Saturday's auction (3/17/12) with 20 units plus some old cars up for bid. There were two other auctions on opposite sides of town, so it did thin things out a little. This is one of the oldest storage facilities in my area - with OLD cinder block walls and gravel/grass walkways ::) As you can imagine, many lockers had mold and water - and it seemed like every locker that had anything good in it, also had something REALLY bad in it too! (Projection TV, six moldy mattesses, fire ant infestation, etc.)
Winning bids were from $50-$900 - I bid on three units but stopped at my limit and got outbid. I knew I would have to bust my hump and to make little if anything. From what I saw, the winning bid took all the profit out of the three lockers I was interested in.
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Over the last few weeks I have missed more auctions than I have gone to.
Part of that is that I am still cleaning out a packed 10 x 20 I got about 3 weeks ago but MOST of it is final
acceptance of the changes that have taken place since the tv shows started.
Once again the crowds are large, the prices are staying high and in my area we are doing as much work for
1/3 the profit we used to get. Used to pay $300 for a locker and maybe make a $1K profit if it was a good locker.
Now pay $1k for a good locker and make $300 profit. That alone is a downer, but the time involved in watching 60 people loiter in front of a locker I can assess in 1 minute is pretty discouraging.
Starting in a week I'll miss some I wanted to go to as I am taking a 10 day vacation and going out of state...a needed break from the madness and the box moving !
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I'm with ya.
I stopped WAY before the shows. Started again and shocked at the difference. Also going from industrial/business lockers to personal lockers is something to get use to.
With industrial, even if 30 people showed, everyone had their specialty. Door opens and 25 just walk away.
Now you got everyone bid'n on everything!
Everyone keeps saying "let the noobie loose a ton and they won't be back."
But everyone that leaves is replaced by two more!
Went to one last month that the auctioneer asked who was attending an suction for the first time. Out of 22 people, 14 raised their hand! And gotta figure some were embarsssed to admit it.....
I'm still going but my focss is more on picking and automotive.
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I concur with Movieman and Alias,
I don't see any predicitable trend in the storage auction industry as far as bidding and crowds. One or two auctions the prices will come down and seem about reasonable and then all of a sudden the next auction comes and the prices go right up to and past what they have been since the start of the TV shows. The faces change but there is always somebody willing to gamble their money. There is almost no such thing as a $50 unit any more. Units last year that were in the $25 - $50 range (or $5 to $25 pre TV shows) are now going for $100. It seems like nobody can let anybody get anykind of room for less then $100. So many people think "Hell, I can risk a $100!"
I'm changing my strategy a little bit myself. I am trying to hold my money and "pick" great units. I know, they are few and far between, and I will have to pay a premium, but kinda like Movieman said, i am getting a little tired of the low profit units myself. Thought about fighting for a unit today, a 10 x 20 packed out! Then I realized there was nothing really showing but a bunch of nice totes and marginal furniture plus the usual mattress & boxspring to the dump. Not to mention the hours and hours of loading, unloading, sorting, researching, listing, re-packing, hauling, shipping, meeting customers, etc. There was NOTHING in view that said I could make my money back, forget about doubling the money. Of course a unit stacked like that has a lot of stuff so who knows what was in those nice newer totes or what the furniture you couldn't see was like. Nothing but a big gamble based on volume. I'm gonna stick to units where I can "see" and count my money first, then take a risk on the totes or boxes. Not spend hundreds of dollars on totes and crap furniture just because it's "packed out".
END OF RANT, SUCKS GOING HOME EMPTY HANDED FROM THE AUCTION! >:(
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saw 4 totes and 3 trashbags go for $600 today , it wasnt even newbies just 2 whales who dont like each other
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saw 4 totes and 3 trashbags go for $600 today , it wasnt even newbies just 2 whales who dont like each other
Now the "winner" of that match will hate the other guy even more and the loser will be saying "Enjoy your stuff a**hole !" ;D
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@ Movieman enjoy your vacation.
We have also missed more than attended Oh wait have not attended any yet this month. Planning on hitting one on Wednesday, on the way to visit my son.
The low profit + all the work = - (not worth doing).
We have slowed mainly because of still high inventory on large items.
Have noticed that people are only buying what they need and maybe a cheap splurge .50. Granted this is in our area.
And like Cobia said no predictable trends. The auction on Wednesday is where we got our first unit, they were shocked at the turn out then. They don't have them very often so will be interesting to see the crowd.
@ fredgsanford that is just sad.
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Well today was my 3 facility late afternoon auction. Only 6, 2, 4 units this month. Crowd was pretty big again (30-50 people) but just about the same "bidders". Units were priced a little better then what is "normal". I picked up a gamble unit for $50. Could of had it at $5 but a newbie jumped in to $10, so I jumped to $20, him $25 and then me to $50. Has a grill, junk cooler, 2 boxes, and 2 totes (1 looked like cloths). Just wanted to see what all would find so rolling the dice.
Buddy got a good tool unit for $310.
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Well today was my 3 facility late afternoon auction. Only 6, 2, 4 units this month. Crowd was pretty big again (30-50 people) but just about the same "bidders". Units were priced a little better then what is "normal". I picked up a gamble unit for $50. Could of had it at $5 but a newbie jumped in to $10, so I jumped to $20, him $25 and then me to $50. Has a grill, junk cooler, 2 boxes, and 2 totes (1 looked like cloths). Just wanted to see what all would find so rolling the dice.
Buddy got a good tool unit for $310.
Good luck on your return on 50-bucks....let us know how it pans out! :)
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It was a roll of the dice and I lost :( The grill is one of those grill/cooler combos that came out a few years back. Looked inside the cooler and it's trash. Not sure if can sell the grill by itself as a "tailgate" grill or not. Need to check it out still. Tote only had hangers in it. Other box is mostly ratty pillows and some personals. Big ticket item will be the breadmaker if it works. Then a few smalls and some scrap metal. So figure a loss or break-even once finish testing and selling. No biggie - even the walmart giftcard came up empty.
Today's auction saw even more people out and about. Units today to me were poor. Only two units interested me. First had a 3-gallon and a 1-gallon air compressors in it and body parts of some car + seats. I bid up to 50 max and it sold for like 180. Can buy both of those size compressors new at Walmart for less then that. Other unit I was interested in had lots of cloths, a window AC unit, and what looked like a old shiftrobe / chrio cabinet? Back was turned to us. This one went for just stupid money ($510). Two newbies got in a bidding war. All the regulars just sat back and shook our heads. Last unit was a bigger unit with washer, dryer, furniture, etc. I didn't stick around as needed to get back to work.
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It was a roll of the dice and I lost :( The grill is one of those grill/cooler combos that came out a few years back. Looked inside the cooler and it's trash. Not sure if can sell the grill by itself as a "tailgate" grill or not. Need to check it out still. Tote only had hangers in it. Other box is mostly ratty pillows and some personals. Big ticket item will be the breadmaker if it works. Then a few smalls and some scrap metal. So figure a loss or break-even once finish testing and selling. No biggie - even the walmart giftcard came up empty.
Big ticket item is a breadmaker? I can't give those things away. I'd offer to send you any I find if you can sell 'em, but the shipping alone on those behemoths would be a bear!
LOL at the giftcard. After reading (all the success stories) here, I started (doubly) checking any that I found and I finally found one with a balance.....Panda Express for $0.14.....that's like a bite of an eggroll...... :-\
We're heading out today on a 5 facility caravan that takes us about 60 miles south (right to the Mexico border) with one of my favorite auctioneers (he's soooo hollywood! 8)). I've never purchased a unit from him as his crowds are huge and prices go skyhigh, but I enjoy the heck outta him and he conducts a good auction.
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I highly doubt it will sell. However, as my daughter said about herself...."I've never taken one of those apart yet". So will get the few bucks worth of scrap out of it and spend time with daughter. Is part of the reason I do this.
Most I've found on a gift card so far was $33 or something like that to Best Buy. Gotten a few $.40, buck here, two there, etc. So far it's always been to a place I shop at anyways so I count that into my profit. Is money I've not had to spend.
Good luck today - hope you have fun.
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I highly doubt it will sell. However, as my daughter said about herself...."I've never taken one of those apart yet". So will get the few bucks worth of scrap out of it and spend time with daughter. Is part of the reason I do this.
Good luck today - hope you have fun.
I like your daughter. Sounds like my eldest. She is sooo danged curious.
We did have fun today. Bid on numerous units, but only landed one. Small one for $185 with some profitability. Had a blast with the auctioneer and looking forward to day 2!
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Missed the auction yesterday. Unexpected appointment came up. Have none today, a few tomorrow and a hand full next week. Have to get my fix has been toooooooo long. Have conceded to just go even if we don't get one. ::)
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I highly doubt it will sell. However, as my daughter said about herself...."I've never taken one of those apart yet". So will get the few bucks worth of scrap out of it and spend time with daughter. Is part of the reason I do this.
Most I've found on a gift card so far was $33 or something like that to Best Buy. Gotten a few $.40, buck here, two there, etc. So far it's always been to a place I shop at anyways so I count that into my profit. Is money I've not had to spend.
Good luck today - hope you have fun.
2 gift cards for me have been $50 sirius card and $10 coldstone card.
Btw almost 4 months into the year and I am 0fer on lockers. Can't buy a break right now.
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Today's auction was canceled as everyone paid up :( 50% chance or rain Friday and Saturday, 40% Sunday - so flea market is out this weekend. No auctions for saturday either unless travel 90 miles or so (tempting). Next week we have a few auctions but it's looking like I'll miss them due to work (dang meetings). So after the 29th we are done till the 6th. Luck has it I'm off on the 6th so hoping the one place that has auctions on the 6th doesn't pay up.
D-38: Empire Payphones, Inc. - Sevenpay phones & Parts.
R-58 L. Ware: Two beds, Sofa, Dining Table and chairs, end table, dresser and misc. boxes, pictures.
A069: C Reed: Four tool boxes, TC, Car ramps and misc. boxes.
D024: C Reed: Tool boxes, engine lift, ladders, dollies, and misc. boxes.
Flip side things are selling on CL and Ebay.
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Btw almost 4 months into the year and I am 0fer on lockers. Can't buy a break right now.
Don't feel bad. The prices are crazy stupid in my area right now. We were warned it always gets bad around tax return season with the newbies and thier tax return checks but this is rediculous! Definitely worse then tax season last year without a doubt.
Going rate for a 10 x 10 half-full is now $800, 10 x 15-20 half-full is now $1000. I know some will say I need to suck it up and I have to pay to play, but I have done enough research to know that there is a 80% chance of zero profit in those size units at those prices. (based on the standard quality of the product we find in units in my area)
Oh some "Fools Gold" stories from the last week.
STORY #1: 5 x 10 unit, empty except for small plastic storage trunk. Retail price new $30. Winning bid $93.50. Of course a bunch of us gather around so the lucky gambler, I mean winner can see whats inside the trunk. Drum roll please.... EMPTY!!! YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, HOW COULD A COMPLETELY EMPTY STORAGE UNIT WITH JUST A PLASTIC TRUNK INSIDE BE EMPTY!!! Oh well, if you can't gamble $100 on unit in this biz, then you should just stay home.
STORY #2: (not an eye witness account, so some facts might be fuzzy) 10 x 10 unit?, 2 power tool cases showing (Dewalt?), 4? gun cases showing, 2 LCD flat screen TV boxes showing, other nice nickety nacks showing. Winning bid $1700-$1870 (can't remember if the buyers premium was all ready added into the total price). Eye witness asks to see the guns, might be interested in buying them. 1st. gun case, empty. 2nd gun case, empty. 3rd gun case...you get the picture. Tool cases? Empty. LCD TV boxes? Whew! That was a close one, they're not empty, they're full of........ clothes!!! Oh well, hey if you can't gamble $1870 on a unit in this biz, then.....?????
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Btw almost 4 months into the year and I am 0fer on lockers. Can't buy a break right now.
Only one for us in 4 months, surviving on a box lot auction and freebies.
@Cobia that is scary.
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Day two with our 'Hollywood' auctioneer brought HUGE crowds, upwards of 100 folks. I bid on numerous units, but landed none. There was really only one unit I 'wanted'. 10X10 full to the brim. Could see (buried in the back) an electric guitar and amp, numerous electronics, a few pieces of furniture (but nothing exceptional). I knew the crowd was hungry and many thought the unit would go upwards of a grand. I set my cap at $800. It went for $850. Oh well.
The next facility was down to one unit. They opened the door and there was a microwave, one tote with garbage bags in it and that's it. It went for $95. I kid you not.
I bowed out to get home to my youngest daughter while Don and my eldest carried on. The last locker of the day was in an expensive neighborhood. 10X10, 2/3 full with lots of sportsmans equipment showing including numerous gun (and archery) cases. The auctioneer said that any guns must be turned into the facility manager. Don figured he'd go up to a grand. It ended at $2100 to a gal that just loves to gamble (and mostly lose). The crowd was shocked that it went that high, but that was the trend o' the day. One guy in the crowd told Don that bidding her (and her boyfriend) up was the most fun he had that day (insert maniacal laugh here).
Auctions for today are cancelled, so will spend the time sorting and packing for a swap meet run manana~
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acman....same story for me, haven't got a unit in 2 months
cobia......the Nashville area is supid right now, experimented at auction yesterday-I came to my reasonable value for the 3 units I liked, doubled it, and still didn't win. This included a 40% full 5x10 I couldn't get for $450.00!
Been expanding into bulk lot online auctions, yardsales etc. and picking up some stuff that way.
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Replies #72, 73, 74, 75 above are super indicative of what's going on right now and it's not a pretty picture.
I am relying on picking more and more; the prices are outrageous and we have to rely on our experience
and an occasional prayer if we involve ourselves at some of the higher prices.
The $1K lkr I bought about 3/4 weeks ago is paying out and will end up making bout $600 to $800 profit, but it could have been a break-even just as easily. Oh, for the good old days of just 15 months ago.
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I am relying on picking more and more;
May have to go back to that myself. Only real issue is I live rural and the gas I spend on hitting 'decent' sales is too much.
I did hit a yard sale last Friday where I landed 5 vintage pennants for $3~just sold two on ebay for $49! I was shocked when I got home and saw the final sale price!
Also bought (at the same sale) an antique cast iron headboard for $10. It's in very rustic shape. I've got it on CL for $75, but will take it to the swap meet tomorrow and see what I can do. Don't think I'll go lower than $50 on it and at that price, it will....ok~should....sell~it's just too awesome!
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Some of those prices are just scary. We've had a 10x20 in January that had lots of goodie type boxes showing. Lady that won the locker said everything was in the unit. I'm VERY skeptical of that since she is one of the dredge buyers and overpays on trash units that even I wouldn't touch. No one that I've talked to has seen these goodies in her store either.
$93 for a trunk is just way stupid. I'll gamble $50 all day long on 1/4 full units with totes, trunks, but I want to see a little something. Prices in my area are still all over the place. Small town auctions are dozen people and under $200 units. Just not seen anything really worth my time/effort. Main city auctions are just all over the place. Many auctions with 30-50 people, and normally the same dozen of us bidding. A few newbie bidders. Think prices are staying up in my area due to those few newbies wasting money but also the store people fighting each other for inventory. Will see how things are next month.
No flea for me Saturday since is stormy now and 50% chance Sat and Sunday. Going to try and hit the flea to shop for a change and look for some yardsales. Not holding my breath. Need some new smalls and computers to get me by. Running low on items to list on ebay.
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American Auctioneers have invaded just about every storage unit auction in my area lately. 5x5s are $500 to $1000.00 and up. On Friday we had several hundred people show up and not one unit started for under $100.00 and these were the units where the auctioneer used to pay you $5 to take them......................Rant................ give it a few months till peoples tax money runs out.
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Well, took my wife to an auction yesterday hoping to change my luck. Bang, picked up 2 units. The problem is the unit I liked is not looking to good and her unit is looking real good. She saw one thing in a bag, had a "feeling", and damn she was right. She might going some more. Prices and crowd were a little better than I've seen lately and only 4 miles from the house, didn't want to go home empty again.
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On Friday we had several hundred people show up and not one unit started for under $100.00 and these were the units where the auctioneer used to pay you $5 to take them......................Rant................ give it a few months till peoples tax money runs out.
Or a YEAR and a few months ..... the end is not in sight (IMO).
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Haven't got a unit in a couple of months. It's getting really crazy around here. Even at the local auction houses its getting nuts. Went to a caravan last week. Prices were through the roof. a 5x10 unit with a broke church pew, a particle board dresser, and a ripped up couch went for $525. Also a 5x10 with 2 totes, and a computer monitor went for $600.
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That is great Miller - glad you got some units. I like when my wife goes with me as she spots things I don't. It's more "women" things but it always helps. First two units I ever bought was due to her being with me and wanting the units.
gapajeff - ouch, there had to be something else in a unit for $600. Or was the monitor in a box and looked brand new and people just wanted to pay retail. Seen that a few times now.
I've come to really like units that are really crappy looking or has a ton of stuff and people don't want to do all that WORK.
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Well, took my wife to an auction yesterday hoping to change my luck. Bang, picked up 2 units. The problem is the unit I liked is not looking to good and her unit is looking real good. She saw one thing in a bag, had a "feeling", and damn she was right. She might going some more. Prices and crowd were a little better than I've seen lately and only 4 miles from the house, didn't want to go home empty again.
Millertime, I think you may have just touched on something important here. Many of us have been dealing with a lot of newbies and super high prices the last couple of months and it has been discouraging. Getting in a negative mood is gonna start making all units look like "junk" for the money so we might miss some good stuff right in plane view. It's good to have some "fresh" eyes on the scene, especially from someone who is not emotionally attached to the outcome of the auctions.
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Just as a point of reference - I was back in Wisconsin (for a funeral :() - and checked out an auction in Milwaukee. Three units (heard it was down from 6) - with prices about average with what everyone has been posting. $150-$500 range - mostly clothes and worn furniture - only one had a washer. Crowds were about 20, but this was a weekday.
The thing that killed me was gas was $4.26 per gallon! My local price is about $3.62, which still makes me choke to pay $50+ to fill up. But at that rate, it's closer to $65! I didn't see $4.00+ in any other state than Wisconsin. (bastards) $3.89-$3.99 at most places. I feel for those of you with super high gas prices. Makes the job of buying/selling a unit even harder than it has been. And it looks like no end in sight......
Remember, Memorial Day is coming!! :P
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Well Don did it again~consignment locker.... Major differences~prominent auctioneer that informed everybody via an announcement and explained the situation. A local construction contractor was now outta business (something too common in Southern AZ) and the 8 units were all his. Don bought one for $130. Will easily double to triple our $$$ on it.
No surprises, no treasures, just a dusty unit with a profit~
I was at a single facility with another auctioneer and many of our 'regulars' were there, choosing not to go (on a caravan) with the more 'popular' auctioneer Don was with. They all kept asking how the crowds were 'over there'. Amazingly enough crowds were minimal (under 40) and prices stayed 'reasonable' at both auctions.
Heading out for PS in a bit.......
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Nice Rockin - that sounds great. I missed yesterday and today's auctions due to work. Somehow they are starting to schedule meetings just before, during, or after an auction where I don't have time to attend. Thursday is PS and the same thing. So my next auction isn't unitl April 6. Hope the crowds and prices will be the same here. Would be nice to get some new inventory in. Just paid the $45 for a military post spring flea. It supports the families of troops so I didn't blink at the cost. Would still love to make some money.
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Rotflmao at today.
Went to a auction down in Benbrook TX today to show my aunt and uncle what a real auction is like, and was entertained with a jaw jacking fest/mini fight with a previous tenant. So apparently I need to drive 1300 miles to witness something like this.
It was fun getting to check the scene in a different city. It was also fun knowing I could have been a Whale for a day(uncle is loaded and he wanted me to get both units, but I refused to bid).
Then went to moe's place, interesting but everything was way overpriced, but when I talked to Moe's helper he said they overprice purposely knowing they will get undercut in negotiations. Like the teak bar he got from Lesa sold for $2200 but was in the store for 5 months. I guess he is an avid estate sale guy more then a storage guy.
If you guys ever get a chance, he has some nice stuff in his store, but you need to check out the whole area as the stores around are really something to look at.
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Today was a bust. Couldn't make the first two auctions of a small caravan so figured would try the third. They were 30 mins late getting it started for 1 unit. Unit was a 10x10 with a black leather couch (missing leather on armrest), cloths on couch, particle board entertainment center with some VHS tapes and a few dvds. Also was a particle board dresser I think and a few boxes. What caught the eye of everyone I'm sure were the 3 swords in the corner behind the dresser. You know those long Japan style swords that fantasy people love. Unit went for $300 I think. Crowd was small - only a dozen or so people. Only 2 regulars and they said about 1/2 the crowd didn't show up here from the other 2 auctions.
That is it for the month of March. Next auction isn't until April 6th.
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Started off on the Public Storage caravan.....first stop had one locker with mostly junk, old bed, china hutch......just mostly old dirty crap, and it went for $400.00. Moved on to the next facility.....17 lockers, I stayed for 10 but except for one small locker that had a front load washer and dryer ($575.00), they were literally garbage.......most going in the $200.00 price range.
I took off for another smaller facility that I usually do well at......but not today! Way too many people, and only three lockers. All new people, bidding stupid amounts. So, I headed off to another facility, again, one that usually just has a few bidders, even in these depressing times....and they had 30-40 bidders for one small unit.
Back to Public.....they were moving so slow that I didn't even miss a facility! Even more people than earlier, prices outta sight, I was wet, it was lunch time, to heck with this! I left and went home, changed clothes and got something to eat.......my friend has called me a couple of times telling me how many people and how many crappy lockers he's been dealing with today. I made the right choice!
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Re: making the right choice by leaving the auction trail....boy, did yo ever!
Madness !
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Better watch out StorMe - pretty soon he will start out-selling you. My oldest helps me buy and sell units. She works her tail off at the flea greeting people, answering questions, etc. Is a great learning exp. Some days I think she sells more stuff then I do.
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Hard working and proud of my daughter - yep. However, I may have to start seeing her as the competetion :P
I have now invested just under $100 for her to make survival bracelets (she learned how to make few weeks back). On top of that she now pushes aside the punny non-impressive items from the best spots on the tables to display her bracelets. Pretty soon a 1/4 of the 10x10 space I have is going to be her items for sale.
I showed her that video of the 14yr old I posted here. That has given her some insperation.