Lookey Loos Part 12.....December, 2011

Sounds like good days for both of you.  I have my 7 facility caravan Thursday but I'm not holding out too much hope.  I normally get a locker or two on this run but I expect the crowd to be a 100 strong.  With Monday being about 50 people with new people bidding like mad it just doesn't bode well.

On top of that I was listening to the radio station this morning and they were talking about Storage Wars and Storage Wars texas.  Sort of glad they made fun of the show and how prices seem to be way overflated.  Still will not stop the stupid people.  Will just have to wait and see.

U-haul is on the 9th.  Will hit the 2nd facility at lunch but most of their units are low-income, trash filled units most times.  The second facility normally has an issue with rats also.

Got another one today; 5 x 10 for $150. Coming out OK, though nothing great. Tools are sort of ordinary but add up.
Some DVDs (almost always do well at flea for $3 each).

Crowd and prices OK. Couple of big lockers went in the $500 to $650 range; I stayed away from the big ones, but their prices were right on I thought.

The lkr I got yesterday is getting better. Bottle of Scotch, uopened. Nice shiny Kodak digital in a velour bag...I can't seem to sell digitals for more than about $30 though; there are so many new ones at $100.

I went to the 5 stop auction that had said there would be 74 lockers. As alway units get paid up and it was down to 33 units. This was in Harrisburg Pa and my first and most likely last trip there. For starters there was 85 registered bidders and about 250 people there in the rain. The first locker was about a $75 locker and it went for $360. The 2nd locker was about $350 to $400 and it wen for $1050. 3rd locker has a painting that looked like a black Jesus and 2 plastic totes and it went for $340. After seeing this I knew this was not the place for me and I left.  I'll be back at the more local auctions on Thursday were there is less than 20 bidders and much lower priced units.

@ Movieman glad things were a little normal for you yesterday. Digital cameras that is cheap. We sold a VHS video camera at the yard for $20, we did not have the battery charger, or the cord to see if it worked, have another one that is a Sony with everything and works, It did not sell 

@ Boxlot sounds like what we hit last month. We are going to the same one today will see if it has improved or not, not planning our day around it though. 

Update on the not so good $105 Locker. Gave the couch away sold the chair and the TV for $35 to the person who took the couch. Still have a nice dining room table, foosball table, air hockey table, and two curved pieces to a sectional which make a half circle chair... LOL So not huge profit but at least not backwards. Oh and not buying furniture locker for a while.  .
Husband learned how much you can pack in a 5 x 10... Couch, two bookcases, dinning room table 4 chairs, recliner, two coffee tables, 2 end tables, play pen full of stuff, and big baby walker toy. This was the $150 locker.

Will keep you posted on our auction run today.

If you have the knowledge for furniture, or just as good - a good outlet to sell furniture that is where the money is many times.  However, I myself try to stay away from furniture unless it's a specific item someone has me looking for.  I just don't have the storage space, nor a good outlet to sell it.  That may change.

Today was my 7 facility auction.  Crowd actually surprised me - was less people then Monday which is backwards.  Plus, as the day went on people were leaving.  Normally the crowd increases as the day goes on.  Still a large number of newbies that were running the price up.

Only bid on a few lockers.  First was a 10x10 with some fishing gear, heater, totes, and looked like other camping gear.  Went for $220.  Second unit I liked worried me too much so I stopped at $200.  This unit was a 10x20 inside unit, that had no lock on it, nor was advertised.  Seemed the lady removed the lock that morning and told facility to put it up for auction, is what was announced.  Opened the door and you see a PS2 in a box, various UGA gear, some speakers, totes, a DELL laptop box in front, a ipod plastic case in front, behind it was a pioneer radio box, etc. etc.  Was also a lockbox that I missed somehow.  It just looked staged to me so I didn't bid much.  I started to walk out when the bid was at $400.  Saw the people that won it later busting the lockbox that turned out to be empty.  Last unit I liked I started to laugh during the bidding.  There is a group of us that you could say are "auction friends".  We help each other out with labor, advice, etc. at times.  We normally don't bid against each other but today we started to is which made me laugh.  I stopped at 100 when saw it was the other 2 bidding as I wasn't that interested in the unit.  After the auction the two had a good chuckle as they didn't realize they were bidding against each other.  Got a text later saying be glad I hadn't won.  Was 3 good items and the rest junk.  He should break even or loose only $50 or so bucks.  Not a winner today.

If you have the knowledge for furniture, or just as good - a good outlet to sell furniture that is where the money is many times.  However, I myself try to stay away from furniture unless it's a specific item someone has me looking for.  I just don't have the storage space, nor a good outlet to sell it.  That may change.

Today was my 7 facility auction.  Crowd actually surprised me - was less people then Monday which is backwards.  Plus, as the day went on people were leaving.  Normally the crowd increases as the day goes on.  Still a large number of newbies that were running the price up.

If we did not have the outlet for the furniture we would be shying away from them too. Sold the Foosball table for $30 = $24 to us. So at $59 total so getting closer to that $105. 
We did not make it to the auctions today. Late start it was cold here. LOL  No really went and dropped the rest of the furniture to the thrift,  and pulled our bed out of storage to take down there too. (What a pain).
Heading to an estate sale in the am then will hit the auction (same one different day) They do three days in our area. This is the one on Craigslist. So we will see. 

Well today found me at U-haul and once again walking away with all my money.  First location - 2 units, about 40 people.  Both units sold at $400.  Second location - downtown, normally pretty low end stuff, rats, etc - 13 units up for auction.  Prices were all over the board.  Had a good 30 registered bidders and 60+ people. 

Talking with the auctioneer as he does all the U-hauls in the region he said the crowds have increased all over.  I thought winter would keep many of these people in, watching storage wars.  Not out in the cold trying to be the neck Brandon and Jarrod.

Anyways, crap units that myself and few other new-regulars would buy at $50 or less were going for 125 and up.  One unit looked old, was stacked to the top, but was all trash bags, and smelled like something or more died in there went for $200.  I just started to sit back and watch.  Did have one surprise.  One of the upstairs units had furniture and all in it.  We figured 150-200 or so with what all the others were going for.  It went for $10 to one of the regualrs.  Guess the new people got scared off at the work or already had blown their cash.

I still remember being new but I hope like hell I was never so raw and stupid as a few we had today.  Talking with two of the older guys before the auction.  We was mostly BSing and talking about the show some for the benefit of the new people.  Had a pair of what I consider kids (prob 18-20) come up and ask a few questions.  We try to answer them and disabuse them of riches like seen on TV.  They kept inching closer and closer to "listen in" on our talk.  So we get to the first locker and open it up.  Kid takes one look and is -- that is all junk - $25.  I'm sitting there just laughing to myself.  Was an older locker, with old style plastic Santa, boxes, old TV, many boxes.  Is one that I'd normally pick up as it had alot of mystery.  I thought the kid was going to choke when the old cally regular opened up at $75.  I had to stop myself from laughing.  Unit sold for $175.

Last newbie of the day story - We finally get to a sparse but neatly packed unit.  Nothing out of this world but sellable things and not too much work other then the stairs.  People start to bid in $5 increments from $10 opening.  Unit finally sells for $180.  The couple that purchased it sort of had a blank look on their face.  He tells the auctioneer his name and such and then just stands there.  He doesn't even remember what unit he bought or what was inside of it.  I sort of nudge him and tell him "you can put your lock on the door now".  He was like "Oh, thanks".  I just sighed and watched one of the guys I hang with alot roll his eyes.

Well Craig we finally got going this morning. And we saw what you saw sure you weren't in Fl ? 

We missed the first two auctions on the caravan but caught up. There was a car in the one before we caught up 1963 4 door Chevy impala sold for $1700. Everyone talking about it. Saw a few regulars and a bunch of Noobies. One was there just observing he was also at the one we went to on Tuesday, He ask questions but not over barring. He is doing his homework. Another regular that we see almost everywhere we go was there. He went to one I had on our list he said it was bad will mark off our list. He was chatty today normally very quite. He is a treasure hunter.

A 10X20 packed full sold for $350. To one of the regular treasure hunters.
A 5x10 with mattresses and a table $1 + .10bp +6%
A 10x20 full of old trash was an abandoned unit. Had a Beta player in it.. LOL Think it went for $25.

We were talking to one of the regulars and we have bought from him at an equipment auction.
He had bought a unit at the first stop (that we missed) Said there was some furniture in it not much but he did not want it. We offered to help him load it up. (husband did not want to drive to the other side of town) But we did. This guy was funny he has a large van and when we got to his 10 X 10 1/2 full that he paid $80 for, He handed us large garbage bags and everything went in the bags Glass and all then throw it in the van.     The van was half full so we had to throw it to get it in.

So after helping him we filled our truck up with a recliner, coffee table and matching end tables, TV, dresser (not a good one), Kids large plastic toy box, two small wooden kids chairs, kids TV trays, like new ironing board, king size memory foam mattress, and two crib mattresses. And a cargo net (we were going to buy one). He was happy the unit was empty and he did not have ot come back to it. Took to the thrift sold the dresser for $5 and the toy box for $15. had not even finished unloading the truck.

Last stop on caravan it is out of town (on our way home). It was two hours from the last auction. We went just to see who was there. They were all Noobies. They saw us pull in with our truck full, It was funny seeing them looking and guessing what we had done in those two hours. They finally asked if we hit a different auction. We should have said yes but said no we helped someone. They were killing themselves trying to figure it all out. Brandi and Jarrod

"I still remember being new but I hope like hell I was never so raw and stupid as a few we had today"

10x10 nice upper end furniture. 1/2 full $450. To one of the nobs.

So we went out spent $15 at yard sales, came home with all or money and about $100 of sell able stuff. Did not buy a locker but did the work. It was a good day Even with all the new people. 

I bought a locker today, my first since the computer monitors. Paid $55, first thing I did was take all the scrap metal out of it (old ass PC towers, old bikes, trashy baby stuff) and took it to the yard. Made $50 so I'm pretty much in the clear already...went back and hand picked a few things, found a 30 pc brand new-in box china set. I'm pretty excited about it but have had a hard time finding any info on it...I will prolly end up making a thread in the 'whats it worth?'. Got a huge Scotty Pippin poster, and a few Bahamas dollars.

Fayettenam Man Sounds good.  How were the crowds?

I forgot to mention also there were about 50 people at the ones in town. The one on our way home about 6 Nobs, and us.

The Nobs I notice are the ones that are rude and Bi**h about everything.  Just don't understand complaining about the people and the managers. One of the nobs talking to much about what they see in the unit. Same one did not win the unit and after the bidding went sticking his nose back in it. WTH.

I could go on but want.

 Off to an estate auction this morning. Last minute on site, they had pictures looks like a whole storage facility threw up.  Keep you posted

Three auctions at one time yesterday, so crowds were pretty thin. Locker prices were good across the board, and out of 11 lockers 3 or 4 came up empty. Pretty rare to see an empty locker in this area. 

I'm glad someone is getting a or some decent lockers at a good price.  I'm starting to know how the rest of ya'll felt with the crowds and locker prices.

I'm in GA money so not too far from ya'll.

Fayettenam - if you keep getting computers and such look into taking the cases to the yard and storing up the cpu, cards, ram, and motherboard.  Once you start getting some weight in those areas you can make some money from the e-scrap people.  It just takes a number of computers and space to store it all of course.

Friday, Dec 9, 2011...

Went to 1st of two auctions today by same auctioneer. First place had 6 listed, 5 when it started and 4 as we walked along. Darn "pay at LAST minute" people.

First couple of lkrs nothing special but they went at slightly inflated prices. The auctioneer was pitching a 10 x 30 that would be the last one...didn't know if that was the best approach for him, but lkrs were still doing ok price wise.

I didn't bid on any of the first 3 and we got to the large 4th and it was pretty full, but all stuff looked medium old, broken down....maybe a few treasures in there, but I just walked off with other fish to fry elsewhere....didn't stay for the final gavel and haven't heard yet what it went for.

*****

The next auction by this auctioneer....they make a big deal of saying "we cut the locks". This has been discussed several times before...for this auctioneer and this facility it makes no difference to me. Too many opportunities for fraud to take place. Last time I was here there were 100 attendees so I decided not to go to this one and instead continue working on the 3 I had bought earlier in the last week or so.

More auctions coming up Monday, Tuesday Dec 12, 13....THERE ARE ALWAYS MORE AUCTIONS !

Well have 2 different facilities on tuesday coming up.  One starts at 10 and then at another location at 2.  The other starts at 11.  SecurCare has more units in the paper then the 11am facility.  Big difference other then # of units is SecurCare uses an auctioneer and thus you pay a 10% BP.  Other place is like most in this area and the regional manager, owner, local manager does the auction.

If the unit is still up for auction Tuesday around 10:30 I'll save my lunch break and hit the 2pm auction.  Very curious to see how many people come out just for the motor/car and what it goes for.

290-T. Walton-motor/car
271-T. Walton-Frig/tool cart

Finally auctions again here in Tucson.  Very small crowd (about 15 people) due to weather.....we don't do rain here!
NO lookie-loos, only a couple newbies.  Pretty hardcore crowd.  At the first location there was only one unit up and it was a dandy.  Don & I both decided $550 would be a good price.  Went for $675 and I think it was worth it.....I just didn't want to gamble that much.  It was a 5X10 full with a few antiques showing.  Much accumulated dust and just a gem of a unit.  It was won by our version of Dave Hester.

On to the next site where we picked up a couple regulars.  5 units up for auction. All 5X10's.   First was kinda sparse with at least 3 mattresses and a bunch of junk.  Went for $35. 

The next was a about the same, but with some 'decent' furniture showing.  It went for $375. 

The 3rd was only about half full.  It had a gorgeous coffee table laying on it's side so you couldn't see the top, an old mirror, a beat to heck leather sofa and some kids items.  Went for $50.....to us....more on that later.

4th unit had some tools, a couple totes and some boxes.  Ended up going for $275.  The Milwaukee drill case  really drove the price up as everybody 'betting' on the item being in there.

5th unit~full to the rafters with junk and more junk.  It ended up going for over $400.

All in all~nice albeit soggy day here.

Our unit should net us about $200 or so when all is said and done.  I have a record-low one garbage bag (well plus the sofa) to take to the dump.  Should easily move the toddler bed, changing table and kids toys out at our local flea market.

The coffee table was in good shape and with minimal work should bring in about $75 to $100.  The art & mirrors are probably going to be the easiest sell as they are inexpensive and yet tasteful.  There is a Last Supper print that is in one incredible frame.  Anything having to do with Christ sells quickly here.

All in all an easy day.  We had no wow factor, but also didn't have a ton of work/stress/dirt.

On a side note......how many sterilite tubs/totes and the like can one household have?  Add in the 50+ milk-crates and I have enough storage to last me a lifetime!

Tomorrow is our busy day with 3 different auctioneers having sales and two being caravans.  Don & I will be splitting up and hitting the two caravan ones. 

Hope to have a 'gem' story by tomorrow at this time~