From Storage Auction to EBAY

During the housing boom from 2002 to 2008, my locksmith business (Columbus, Ohio) got a few calls per year to make keys for some old car found in a storage unit by one of my clients.  Most of these cars were in very poor condition and had sat under piles of junk for many years.  My client was (IMO) a junk-reseller, he would buy whole storage units, clear out everything and put it on ebay and other online sites.  He employed from 8 to 10 people at any given point of time that shopped estate auctions, storage auctions, etc.  He rented several large buildings to warehouse all the junk while it was being sold off.  During a time, before the storage-war tv shows; I remember him calling me wanting keys made to a 1957 chevy convertible that he found burried in a unit that he told me he paid $500 for.  The car was in very bad shape, had no keys [reason I was called], and IMO needed to go to the JUNK YARD.  I was able to make him a set of keys and left the jobsite.  About a year later, he called me to rekey his office and buildings and I asked him whatever happened to that old chevy.  He laughed and said that it fetched $12K online.  This guy was a great client, and he was making a killing. I retired after the 2009 housing bubble meltdown and have not seen him since.  However, it was because of him that I loved watching storage wars tv shows.   

Joe, welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing that.

Thanks Joe