Auction Hunters: Season 1, Episode 1: “The Wild West.”
Allen Haff and Ton Jones head on down to San Bernardino CA. Three storage units were up for auction.
It’s a small community and no one wanted outsiders to swoop in to take away a bundle. Haff-Ton team did not expect to make any friends while they’re down there. Good thing it’s not called Friend Hunters.
In the first unit up for auction they spot some military gear.
Duo decided to pay as much as $400 for the unit. Ton won at $375.
Next storage unit had hairdressing equipment. They spot some salon chairs worth around $700. A local storage hunter intent on outbidding them. Allen planned to raise the price then dump the local with an expensive room. Haff raised the bid to $950. Ton looked a tad stressed for it appeared they would be stuck with the overpriced unit. In the end the local took the bait and won. Phew!
Unit 2
Allen hope was that the best was saved for last. Lock’s cut, the door’s raised… sparce! A couple of beat up boxes and an old red carpet. Ton was less than thrilled.
They search through the boxes of the red carpet room and uncovered a fake Christmas tree worth $50 bucks. Buried at the bottom of one boxes were some toy trains. Vintage to say the least. Allen must have a thing for trains because he was very excited.
They check out the military unit. Haff-Ton team found some old silver dollars worth a couple hundred dollars. Handcuffs from the 1870’s. Lodged in a leather boot Ton uncovered an antique gun. Allen recommended that they probably don’t want to point the gun at themselves. Smart man.
They drove to a shooting range to meet with a gun expert named Rob. If the gun fired, it would be worth double the amount. Haff wanted to know if an old gun like that had ever exploded and taken off someone’s hand.
The gun expert told him he’s heard of people dying that way… probably not what Allen wanted to hear.
The gun fired and it didn’t cause any fatal injuries to anyone. Rob paid $375. Haff-Ton recouped their money for the unit. Rest pure profit.
Time to appraise toy trains. A friend of Allen dated the trains as pre-1918 and was willing to pay $70. Allen offended on behalf of the trains stated he would find a buyer willing to pay three hundred.
Ton was skeptical. Clearly he was not impressed to hear they trains were seventy years old.
Allen gave the trains a new coat of paint and placed an ad. A man named Carrie dropped by to check out the train set. He agreed to pay $315 for the lot.
Allen looked wistful as Carrie walked away with them.
Allen told Ton he would have kept the trains for himself if Carrie had not been willing to pay the right price.
Here’s the breakdown of storage auctions by Allen and Ton.
- Auction begins when the auctioneer breaks the lock.
- You have only a few minutes to scan the contents.
- You have to determine what the unit and contents could be worth.
- Protect from over paying by profiling the room.
- Noticed how contents are stored (neat, messy).
- Try to see anything and everything possible to calculate worth of locker.
- Once you assess the value, do not go over that amount when you bid.
Auction Total:
Paid: $376
Sold: $1,190
Profit: $814
What did you think of the debut of this new Auction Hunters series?
Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.
