Auction Scene #6...June, 2012

my 2 cents

return in investment  is kind of overrated in this business on a per locker basis. It doesnt tell the whole story by a long shot.

using moviemans last example the 1900 locker with the 3800 return

it nowhere accounts time into the equation

if that locker took a week or less to flip its a killer deal
if it took 2-3 weeks to flip it was a good deal
if it took the better part of 6 weeks to deal with all of a sudden its not looking all that wonderfull anymore

and the return on investment stays the same

ive bought several cheap crappy looking lockers for $5-50  and have both scored and lost, for the past year ive tried to stay away from them. I have other things i can be doing and dont want to get locked into  dealing with something marginal at best and losing the time i could have otherwise spent doing something more productive.

that being said the crap lockers are a great way to get started and not a horrible deal for a part timer if they have the time to spare
 

If small and junk units begin to get up in price I bow out quick. I won't pay more than 10 bucks on a unit that is small or junk. and sometimes that is to much. Unit prices have been on the decline where I am from so I don't have a problem picking up two or three small or junk units.

Gas is always a unknown. I always think of gas as something I am buying anyway. Weather I drive my truck to the storage lockers or to work I am driving. (yes i have a real job) I don't travel more then 20 miles from my home base anyway.

I think my orignal premis on this post was if one is willing to do the work, cheap and "junk" units can be profitable.

oh and at the auctions i went to last week crowds dies down a bit and there were only 3 real pricey rooms out of about 30 i looked at

Well, the string of facilities with "low quality" lockers continued in my area today.  The good news is the crowd was down,only about 8 bidders, but the units were not good.  Mostly garbage bags, broken furniture, and empty boxes.  (Hey, at least they weren't staged!!   )  Six lockers up for bid, with prices ranging from $5 -$275 - with one locker not getting a bid.  Most expensive unit had a nice desk, several bins, a couple old tools, and three worn mattresses - and the winning bidder has an auction house, so they were happy to get it. 

Bad thing is the low quality has also spilled over to my local garage sales.  Went picking after the auction, and stuff was either junk, or anything good was priced at ABOVE retail.  No joke, I went to about 10-12 places and people were really in love with their stuff.  For instance, found a really nice coffee table-size Beatles Anthology book - priced at $60 on the dust cover and priced at $75 by the seller!!  And it was beat up a little!  I offered her $10 and she laughed - said if was a collector's item that was selling for over $100 on eBay.......last time I checked we weren't on eBay, we were in your driveway........and so it went......

http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Beatles-Anthology-Book-/320916863868?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book&hash=item4ab822bb7c
($100.....$30......hey, she was close!!)   

http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Beatles-Anthology-Book-/320916863868?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book&hash=item4ab822bb7c
($100.....$30......hey, she was close!!)  

I recently sold two different Beatles books at the flea market....$10 each. On the other hand, I sold an X-Men and a Batman "Cave" book for $15 each.

As to the comment "It sells for $100 on eBay" I think there is some value in saying that. Yes, we're in the driveway or at the flea market, but saying that ....or more commonly..."It sells for $100 at the store" seems legit to me (if true). They then make the comment that "but we're at the flea market".... this after I have offered it to them at $10 !

What I don't get is this. I offer some item at say $4 (maybe a smaller size tool like a new Crescent brand wrench). They balk or say something like "That's more than I want to pay."  When I ask them "How much is it in the store?" They often respond, "I have no idea" or "I don't know."  I find THAT hard to believe. Even the dumbest customer has SOME idea of what something costs at retail.  Now if they just really can't afford that $4, then OK, but keep walking around until you can find some dumb seller who WILL sell you a $10 new tool for $1.00.

Well finally made an auction.  U-haul had 1 at the first facility and 12 at the downtown which I made.  Crowd of about 20 people, most regulars, or some of the 6mo regulars.  Had one old lady and her husband who were proudly claiming they watched the shows and came out.  First unit was one of the two nice units of the day and went for $300+.  Got to the 3rd unit and everyone is walking away.  The whale put in a $5 bid as he buys all of the non-selling units for $5 from the facility.  Said out loud if anyone puts a bid in they can have it.  The new people bid $10 and I'm like - you dummy.  I do have to give them credit.  They were out that night and saturday morning cleaning the unit out.  I bid on a packed 5 x 10 filled with totes/boxes to the roof.  I lost as my max was 250 and it went for 350.  Did snag 2 units they were selling together for $100 which surprised me.  Was mostly furniture which I stay away from but some boxes, big air cleaning holmes unit, and other stuff.  Even splitting the money with my friend at the thrift store I'm already only $30 in the red with a number of smalls, electronics, and few larger items still at his store.  So I'll make some money from this test run.

The majority of our auctions this month is this week.  Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday are all auction days.  Downside is the unit count even in the paper is low.  The 7 facility auction thursday only has 4 locations and I suspect 2 of them will pay up.

OK~a few minutes of 'down' time.

The past couple weeks have been chaotic, as we've been attending every auction available and headed 200 miles north to help my mother-in-law move down here (24' truck filled to the brim....unloading in 105 degrees was a b****).

Don landed one unit on the 29th of May (I know....should be in #5, but I don't feel like bouncing all over).  10X10 full.  Items seen side by side fridge, large glass & metal display shelves, gardening wagon, about 35 tubs. He thought he had it at $120, but one of our buddies decided to go for it too.  Landed it at $200.  Tubs were mostly crafting and Christmas, but we found some nice western items (NFR buckles, belts and boots).  Should be a double + locker.  

Last week was Cubesmart.  Minimal crowd to start.  First locker opened and there was a cheap dining table, dart board, misc crap.  Then they announced that two lockers for the price of one.  opened the next door and there was a full-size mattress set, wrought iron headboard and black floral couch.
I ended up with both lockers for $65.  Will probably make 3 X and clean out was a breeze.  Only 'hidden' treasure was a pair of Ocelot motocross boots.

Since then we've been trying to organize, fix and sell.  Times are kinda tough here as we've been running a steady 100 + degrees.  Craigslist has been ok and I don't have any 'good' ebay items nor do I have the time (right now) to list what I do have.

I'm gonna try to post a random ramblings thread later today to sum up a bunch of what I've been experiencing here in Southern AZ......some great....some sad.....

No auctions here until the last week of June, so went to an auction the other day in a city 40 miles away. Good news: crowds down, everybody in groups so actual bidders were 1/3 of the attendees, about 20 in attendance but only 7 bidders/groups. Prices somewhat reasonable except for a couple of $10-$25 junk units that drew $100 bids. Most expensive unit was $300. Since I was out of town, I didn't recognize anybody, but only a couple of the bidders appeared and acted like true greenhorns/newbies. Everybody else seemed to know what they were doing. Didn't win anything, all the units were to small or poor quality to justify making another trip to clean them out.

I ended up with the reminents of an estate for free! Some furniture and a couple of boxes of kitchen goods, (pots, pans, glass, etc.) So I gotta make a profit on that lot!

Went to an auction house and picked up a couple of pieces of furniture to re-sell, the good news is I sold more furniture that night at auction then I bought so that turned out good.

Hitting an auction this weekend at a facility where two tenants have now been listed FOUR TIMES in the classifieds as having their lockers auctioned off.  Wow, that's a lot of last-minute scrambling. 

You'd think they'd get sick of the horse-hockey and either move out or default - and not have to fight with the facility constantly.  Hello..... ....it's a pretty good sign you can't afford the locker if you name keeps showing up in the Legal Notices.......

...it's a pretty good sign you can't afford the locker if you name keeps showing up in the Legal Notices.......

AND....it's a very good sign for buyers that after that lock has been cut 4 times that the frm owner had lots of opportunities to take out the GOOD stuff.

I followed one of these guys through 3 cycles. The first time it came up the mgr told me (because we are on good terms) that it had multiple Snap-On toolboxes in it. He paid up once, twice....third time it came up for auction.

Pop the door...nothing but the usual crapola !

AND....it's a very good sign for buyers that after that lock has been cut 4 times that the frm owner had lots of opportunities to take out the GOOD stuff.

I followed one of these guys through 3 cycles. The first time it came up the mgr told me (because we are on good terms) that it had multiple Snap-On toolboxes in it. He paid up once, twice....third time it came up for auction.

Pop the door...nothing but the usual crapola !

It will be interesting to run that test this weekend - either her locker won't be up for auction and I'll be Oh-for-four (in baseball terms - the "collar" )- or I will be looking for multiple cut locks and seeing what treasures lie behind the golden door......

Hit the most popular auctioneers caravan (day one) today.  Crowds were HUGE, but amazingly prices stayed relatively low.

Not much to comment on.  Don bid on 6 different lockers.  Me~only one that had my interest.  Went to $525~it went for $625.

I'll be heading out for day two while Don takes a lesser known one tomorrow.  I'm hoping the divide and conquer works again~

Good luck!!

Hey Cheesehead~ran like heck from a locker today as the door opened and there was a Packers Favre jersey staring me in the eye~

We Vikes fans want nothin' to do with that~

Hey Cheesehead~ran like heck from a locker today as the door opened and there was a Packers Favre jersey staring me in the eye~

We Vikes fans want nothin' to do with that~

WHAT!!!??  Brett was one of the BEST quarterbacks in Vikings history!!  (Right behind Brad Johnson, Sean Salibury, Steve Dils, and Gary Cuozzo!!)  Besides, in WI that jersey would have sold for...oh...a buck-and-a-half.  

Who's jersey were you expecting?  Fran Tarkenton?