Storage Auctions
The Storage Locker => The Treasure Chest => Topic started by: TN_Hunter on February 17, 2012, 10:13:30 PM
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Been at this since Sept 2011 and have been a rather consistent lurker of this message board.
I have been gaining a lot of inspiration from everyone's stories and hope to contribute with my most recent find.
So let's start with my stats : 11 units total to-date and am still down by 12% of my original investment.
Been primarily using Craigslist and eBay to sell my product so once I include all those fees and gas my true return to-date is much worse.
Going to be doing my first Flea Market in a couple weeks so am hoping to improve my percentages soon.
This has certainly been a learning experience and a super tough thing to do in my "spare" time.
With the exception of the most recently purchased unit, all of the rest of the units have been rather uneventful and nothing really great to mention.
So, on with the story....
I Went to a very small town in the middle of TN about 1 month ago. My first time to this facility and there were 35+ units up for auction
and about 40 folks in attendance. I was not able to recognize any of them as being regulars from the Nashville area. They all looked to be locals from the area.
All of the units were going very cheap where most of them went between $50 - $200. There were a few getting more than that including the one that I got.
I managed to score a unit that appeared to me to be about a 20x20 packed full for $535. This was my first big unit and was very excited to get one but
realize now just how much work and planning you need to do ahead of time to buy one properly. There was a ton of items visible from the enterance to justify
the price and to continue the gamble there was more to be discovered. It took me 6 trips with my van and 2 trips with my brother-in-laws trailer to get it
all cleaned out. It took me 3 very long weeks of inventorying, researching and taking pictures. The entire contents of this unit was like walking
back into the 1960 - 1970. There were so many Fisher Price and Playskool toys in great shape
and stored in their original boxes that I lost count. There was even more without the boxes. I must have 7 totes fully packed with nothing but
collectable crystal items. I have 2 full totes of nothing but old Halmark Ornaments. I have 6 totes full of nothing but old sewing fabrics.
3 totes of old sewing patterns. 2 old doll houses with lots of furniture. An old metal toy stove and fridge.
Lots of odds and ends type house hold items from various countries. 1 tote of old oil paints and brushes still new
in the box and packages. 1 tote of old action figures. 3 totes of old dolls. A six foot grandfather clock with an castle shaped top all made of match sticks.
An old coca cola carrier along with 3 trays. 7 Silver plated trays, copper plated pots and pans, etc.......
My inventory spreadsheet for this unit is already over 400 items that I would classify as better than Flea Market pieces.
If and of course this is always the big "If" statement... If I can actually get it all sold for the
prices that I have researched to-date than this unit should come in around $7,000 to $10,000. I will be happy with $5,000 and do feel that this
will be more than attainable but will realistically take me until around mid summer to unload it all. I just don't have the time to attend to the sales
side of the business as it properly requires but heck... I don't mind the slow turn-over.
I have just barely gotten started listing some of the higher end pieces on eBay and have managed to bring in $425 before fees. I cannot wait to get the next couple
of months under my belt with this inventory along with a few Flea Market trips.
I realize to some of you out there that your not buying this story without proof. The only proof that I can provide are the pictures of the items as I inventoried them along with a few pictures of the items as they stood in the unit while we were cleaning it out. My only issue with providing pictures is that I have no idea how to do so using this message board. If someone out there can message me throughout it then I will update this post with some of the picts.
So, it is my intentions to periodically revisit this post to keep my sales-to-date figure updated and slip some pictures of the items in.
To-Date (fees not taken into account) :
Unit Purchased : $535
Gas : $325
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$960
Sold : $425
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44%
Wish me luck as I am out of the buying side of this business for a good long while I try to sell it.
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Sounds good !
As far as pics go, I save my pics to a place out on the web; I know the address to that spot and a particular pic and I use a statement that looks like this:
Edit: took out all the explanation I had posted earlier...too difficult to make it look like anything that could be understood. If I typed it the way it would actually be written, a picture would show up !
Basically you are using some basic html inside image brackets.
I do see people do attachments of pics to their posts, but since I use the other approach I've never learned how to do that here. It gives a small thumbnail which can then be enlarged. Maybe one of the other folks can help you with that.
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I have 6 totes full of nothing but old sewing fabrics.
Congratulations on a great unit. You should be able to sell the fabric on eBay. I have a friend who sells that stuff (bulk thread, fabric, misc.) and makes good dough. There's actually a pretty good market for it. ETSY is another good place to sell fabric. Good luck - looking forward to updates!
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(img]http://webs.xxx.com/xxxmovie/images/pictureiwant.jpg(/img]*
Drew, be careful... MovieMan is looking to post XXX movies on your boards. Possibly inspired by some of the porn he found in a unit. :P
@Cheesehead: My wife and I got a good bit of fabric and notions a couple months back and know we will make good money from it, but my big concern is properly identifying fabrics for the shopper. Just another thing to learn, I suppose.
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@Cheesehead: My wife and I got a good bit of fabric and notions a couple months back and know we will make good money from it, but my big concern is properly identifying fabrics for the shopper. Just another thing to learn, I suppose.
I will check with a couple people I know and see what I can find out. They buy in bulk and sell it - so there must be a system for ID'ing the merchandise.
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Congrats!
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Drew, be careful... MovieMan is looking to post XXX movies on your boards. Possibly inspired by some of the porn he found in a unit. :P
Actually, there IS money to be made in porn, but there are so many providers of it on the internet I don't know what percentage of the biz a newcomer would get.
At the four fleas in my immediate area three of them allow porn to be sold in a booth that has no visibility from the outside and signs posted that say one must be 18 to enter.
The best flea does not allow it to be sold and that's the flea I sell at. They called me on it one time when I had an issue of Playboy with Anna Nicole Smith on the cover...just after she died.
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TN_Hunter
that sounds great. Glad you have the patience for your return. And not a "greedy buyer" Will be sharing the wealth buy waiting to buy another unit. ;)
We all have to live and learn in the beginning and sometimes even the pro's get burned part of the business. Our 1st bad unit is a little in the black with a table left to sell. Fortunately we bought two that day at the same place or would have been really bad applying all the gas. ::)
So Movieman that is how you get your pictures so big. Not sure I can follow the mud. ???
To attach pics the other way, When you post Left hand side Additional Options (in blue) Open it buy clicking on it and it has an attach Line just click browse and find your pic they have to be small though.
On the fabric and craft supplies remember women can not resist it. Even I bought a tote of silk flowers at a yard sale ??? I used some of it to make up three wreathes (also bought at yard sale) Hopefully will break even on the $ definitely not on the time. :o Took some old yarn to the Flea had 20 women look at it, and had to touch it. Didn't sell to fine of a yarn (why I am trying to get rid of it) even tried the pitch it makes great eco friendly shopping bags. ;D
But fabric is a feel thing. @ Cheeshead would be great if there is trick to it. When recovery chairs digging through my totes of material husband says "that color would look good" me "yes but I don't like the feel of it for a chair." ::)
good luck and sounds like you have done your homework.
Oh and your numbers look a little funny
Spent $860 ????? Or did you pay your buddy to help you? Not that I do better I find mistakes in my spreads all the time. ;)
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Congrats TN_Hunter~
our first unit was also in Sept, but unlike you we started out with a 10X20 packed to the gills. Luckily we live on just over an acre, so had plenty of room to sort, inventory and store. We're still moving stuff out of that unit, but most of it is gone. Still have a couple odds & ends.
Since then we've landed 10 more units, but none quite as full. We're now desperate for another big unit as our inventory is rather depleted.
And thanks for asking how to post pics. I've been tempted to ask, but figured I'd get the 'use the search option' speech. Instead MovieMan answered it and I have to admit.......with directions like that.....don't think I'll be figuring it out anytime soon~ ???
Nice to read about treasures. While microwaves and electronics pay the bills, the unusual & unexpected make it sooooo much more fun!
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Movieman and Money4Nothing... thank you very much for all of the picture posting tips and Money4Nothing... thanks for catching my math error... My spreadsheet doesn't account for gas (yet) so I was running the numbers on the fly. So, the bad news is that I am not a math genius but the good news is that you made my percentage better :)
I don't have a place on the Web establish to dump my pictures yet so I am opting for the attachment technique for now. Attached are some of the larger sized items we found in the unit. If folks out there continue to be interested in the additional items then as I update the stats then I'll continue to add a few pictures... if not then I'll just periodically update the stats if anyone continues to be interested (don't want to wear out my welcome).
So, I did manage to stumble across a rather easy technique for taking pictures that are too large to attach and quickly shrink them down in size. If you open up a file browser such as (My Computer) then right click on the file and click on the send to -> email an option to compress the size of the picture appears... then an email will be generated with the smaller sized picture attached. Just save that smaller sized picture to your hard drive and cancel the email.
To-Date (fees not taken into account) :
Unit Purchased : $535
Gas : $325
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$860
Sold : $425
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49%
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For those of us in our mid 40's here are some pictures from our childhood retrieved from this unit :
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Thanks for sharing we love hearing about good units.
Glad I could help the bottom line. ;D My husband says just remember "Figures don't lie but Liars can figure" LOL
Boy those are some old toys. Love the clock that is really cool.
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Hey TN_Hunter, I am in Tennessee too, can you tell the name of the town that auction was held or to you wanna keep it a secret?
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Hey TN_Hunter, I am in Tennessee too, can you tell the name of the town that auction was held or to you wanna keep it a secret?
Can we say "chutzpa" ? ;)
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Congrats TN! Tenacity = $$$
(btw, the secret facility is near Nashville, give or take 350 miles!!) :D
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I really don't mind saying that the storage facility was in Centerville, TN. After all... I am in a Noobie status and already know the following moons have to come into alignment to find a special unit :
1) Do I have time to go to the auction ?
2) Do I have the $ to buy a unit ?
3) Do I have the space to store the inventory ?
4) Do I have time to process and sell the inventory ?
5) What is the weather the day of the auction ?
6) How many units are left by the time the auction starts ?
7) How many bidders are there and how many selfish people are present ?
8) Are there any decent units up for auction ?
9) Can I see anything from the door that justifies a bid let alone a high enough bid to win it ?
10) How far is it from my home and what does that equate to in gas $ ?
11) Do I have the ability to clean out the unit in the allotted time ?
etc..............
What are the chances that Centerville, TN is going to have another unit like this next time around ? For me personally, I won't go there again as questions # 10 and 11 were not well thought out on my part let along the do I have enough time to deal with the processing and sales.
Good luck Cobia.... I hope you do go to the next auction and you do score a fantastic unit.
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What are the chances that Centerville, TN is going to have another unit like this next time around ?
Well, the chances MIGHT be 1 in 100, but if that is true you have to look at 100 units there...might take a year or so. Then, if you saw another 100 units in the next year, maybe units 199 and 200 would be the 2 out of 200 that were GREAT.
I like your list of points for judging a unit's suitability for purchase ! ;D
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Centerville is about 200 miles from me so it might as well be in another state. I would have more luck getting on a plane and flying to California and doing auctions with Movieman then trying to hit whatever auctions come up in Centerville again.
That was a fantastic unit, but 9 out of 10 times going to out of town auctions I see the same type of stuff selling for the same prices if not a little higher and then I have to make up the gas money and time, so I like to stay within 30 mile radius of home.
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That was a fantastic unit, but 9 out of 10 times going to out of town auctions I see the same type of stuff selling for the same prices if not a little higher and then I have to make up the gas money and time, so I like to stay within 30 mile radius of home.
That sums it up for me too. However, California auctions, contrary to TV show belief, are very similar to anywhere else.
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However, California auctions, contrary to TV show belief, are very similar to anywhere else.
No don't tell. We hear a long with your favourite "You never know" Is " This is not California" Your letting the cat out of the bag. ;)
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No don't tell. We hear a long with your favourite "You never know" Is " This is not California" Your letting the cat out of the bag. ;)
Here are some selected lyrics from “Not California” that are appropriate to our biz.
Later on you’re breakin’ the boxes down
Come a time when I may just walk away
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Here are some selected lyrics from “Not California” that are appropriate to our biz.
Later on you’re breakin’ the boxes down
Come a time when I may just walk away
Guess we will have to use these. ;)
AND IT’S NOT TRUE
AND IT’S NOT FAIR
AND IT’S NOT NEW
AND IT’S NOT CALIFORNIA HERE
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I had that parking garage when I was a kid.....Wow Im old......LOL
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Just like what my domestic accomplice, a clutter-hating proponent of financial responsibility always say with regards to storage, ''Save the box. We're going to have to live in it someday.''
gets me to thinking sometimes LOL ;D ;D
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Just like what my domestic accomplice, a clutter-hating proponent of financial responsibility always say with regards to storage, ''Save the box. We're going to have to live in it someday.''
gets me to thinking sometimes LOL ;D ;D
Love It. :D
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yes I say that a lot someday I will if I can't make money of these boxes I am hoarding now. ;D
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Attended my first Flea Market as a Vendor today !!!!! A very good experience all around and have a lot of confidence that I will do even better the next time around. Sold a little from the latest unit and updated the stats below accordingly but mostly sold items from units purchased prior. The primary lessons learned is ... watch out for those little scum bags that are making a deal for certain items they pull out and then suddenly change the deal to include other items. Me personally, I told him to get the heck out of my booth. Granted he came back and bought a lot more once the ground rules where established :) Regardless, it was one heck of a day of dealing with folks that want something for nothing and convincing them to pay up anyways.
In Summary, my previous unit returns are looking a whole lot better for doing this and the big unit is getting better as shown below... got a deal with a local auction house to sell the majority of the big unit in 3 weeks for a 20% cut so will update you all then on the results... wish me luck.
To-Date (fees not taken into account) :
Unit Purchased : $535
Gas : $325
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$860
Sold : $482
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56%
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Congratulations on a great unit. You should be able to sell the fabric on eBay. I have a friend who sells that stuff (bulk thread, fabric, misc.) and makes good dough. There's actually a pretty good market for it. ETSY is another good place to sell fabric. Good luck - looking forward to updates!
Just following up on suggestions of "how to sell thread." Here's a buddy of mine and his latest listing. Thought this might help a little. Will post more when I find more.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Your-Color-Choice-of-Sewing-Surger-Quilting-Thread-from-American-Efrid-Inc-/320857152330?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item4ab4939b4a
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First the bad news, the Auction folks that I was banking on selling off this units worth of product flaked out with me. After giving me a great sounding story, when I actually showed up the deal changed for the worse and I hit the road. Attended the Flea Market 4 times to-date, granted this particular Flea Market is only open on Sundays and the Customers and Vendors pretty much disappear around 1pm so the selling window is small. Been supplementing my storage unit product with deep discounted products from the local stores. Been finding the store bought product has been selling great with a handful of storage unit items selling each week. Over-all, the Flea Market has been turning out to be a profitable experience. Especially when you consider it only takes up 1/2 of day / week to deal with. Been selling a few of the items here and there on eBay also. The big news is that the Match Stick Clock sold over the weekend for $1000 so that was very helpful and it went to a new home with folks that will really appreciate it. The best news is that I found an Antique shop that is will to consign all of the product for only a 30% cut. So, I plan on keeping the remaining product that I can get a better deal on eBay and send the rest to the Antique shop.
To-Date (fees not taken into account) :
Unit Purchased : $535
Gas : $325
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$860
Sold : $1,676
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195%
Summary / Lessons Learned :
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Buying is easy but until you have your sales side of the business built up your going to end up with a full garage for a long time. So, lets hope we all have understanding spouses in the interim :)
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Buying is easy but until you have your sales side of the business built up your going to end up with a full garage for a long time. So, lets hope we all have understanding spouses in the interim :)
Hooooh yea I know how that is. I'm only 18, so I'm doing much smaller scale stuff with the help of my mother's van. She's VERY understanding and even drives the full-to-the-roof van to and from work :o.
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Hey TN_Hunter, I'm in Murfreesboro and planning on going to Tullahoma this Friday, 3/30. Auction is at 11am if you're planning on going. Would be nice to meet someone from here. I promise not to bid against you...lol, but I will bid with you if you want to partner up on a unit.
I've only won 2 units so far and still processing the one I won this weekend. I scored $240, so far, on a unit last week that I won for $20. That was a auction in Spring Hill.
The one I got this past weekend has some very interesting stuff in it. 1-Happy Days Script signed by Henry Winkler, 2-Antique Handmade Knife, 3-couple of CB radios and a bunch of other stuff. There are thousands of photographs. Some of Muhammed Ali, Frank Zappa, Ted Nugent and a lot of other rock stars. This guy must have known somebody to be able to get close enough to get these peoples' photos.
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There are thousands of photographs. Some of Muhammed Ali, Frank Zappa, Ted Nugent and a lot of other rock stars. This guy must have known somebody to be able to get close enough to get these peoples' photos.
Any celebrity publicist will send you a pic of the talent they represent. How many of the thousand are autographed ?
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The only autographed pic is one from a preacher...lol. All of the pics where taken by the owner of the unit so they are unique. Muhammad Ali in a hospital on a gurney. I googled it and there are others of him on a gurney but not this photo. So, it is original and I have the negatives.
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The only autographed pic is one from a preacher...lol. All of the pics where taken by the owner of the unit so they are unique. Muhammad Ali in a hospital on a gurney. I googled it and there are others of him on a gurney but not this photo. So, it is original and I have the negatives.
Now it is sounding as though this photographer was taking candids of the celebrities you mentioned, and that might indicate he was a news cameraman of some kind (newspaper, magazine, etc). If they are in black and white that might be an indicator of "when" they were taken, as would the age of the people pictured of course.
You mentioned negatives. Are the photos arranged in folders of some kind with the negatives in the folders too? If so, is that true for the "thousands" you have?
If marketed properly, these could be worth some money. I think another poster in these forums has a similar situation a few months ago. Never heard the end of the story. Maybe do a search in these threads for "celelbrity photos" and see what comes up.
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Those photos and negatives are a great find. You do what you want, but unless you need fast money, take the time to sort and sell them as individual items. You will get your money back as these types of things sell pretty well on eBay. I have a buddy from Milwaukee who buys, then prints, and then re-sells Milwaukee Brewer photos/negatives and makes a killing. As a guide, check out these two links from eBay -------> Even at $10-20 each, you are bound to make some good $$$. ;) Good luck and be sure to report back on your progress.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=Milwaukee+Brewers+Negative&_sacat=0&_odkw=Sports+Negatives&_osacat=0&_from=R40&LH_Complete=1
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=Muhammad+Ali+Negatives&_sacat=0&_odkw=muhammad+Ali+NEgatives&_osacat=0&_from=R40&LH_Complete=1
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Been a long time and a lot of work but finally got rid of 95% of this unit. Most of the sales were generated through eBay, a little more through the auction house and an even smaller amount through the Flea Market. I sent a great deal of the larger sized items through the auction house but just wasn't generating the $. I am sure this was due to the quality of the auction house and their customer base but it was a good way to get rid of the product in mass so I stuck with them. With so much activity going on trying to sell this units products and discovering my new love of vending at the Flea Market, I pretty much lost track of the sales on this unit. So, I can safely say on the low end estimate that I sold approx $2500 out of this unit to-date. Still have a few remaining nice items but am considering this unit done. So, I went back out to the auction scene with the intent to buy. Went back to the same facility this unit came from over the weekend. Was supposed to be weekend prior but when I called the owner said it really isn't until next week (RED FLAG but I missed it). So, I went last Saturday and there was somewhere between 40-50 units being sold. Noticed something strange about this facility in that they were allowing tenants to run garage sales out of their units. Must have been about 4-5 different Garage Sales going on during the auction. Then started to notice a lot of the units had price stickers all over the items in them. All but about 3 of the units were very picked through and trashy. The only good 3 units were still trashy but didn't appear to be picked through. The owner and his helpers were constantly talking the units up and announcing what was in them. One of the helpers even announced that a unit had a play station 3 in it and it worked just fine when he plugged it in. The owner kept walking into the units and moving stuff around to show us the contents and even brought items out to let the bidders get a closer look and handle the item. One unit had a mattress blocking the view so they removed it. It was a real disappointment and a huge waste of time. I can say that this facility is now on my do not attend list.