Storage Auctions
The Storage Locker => General Storage Auction Talk => Topic started by: soup2nuts on December 09, 2014, 10:30:54 AM
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purchased my first huge unit, 10 by 30 and it was a complete bust ! I almost always like the small hit and runs 5x5 or 5x10 's and have been doing well for over a year. occasionally if I get a decent feeling and price I will go a little bigger but this was my first big one. it looked fantastic at the door with well packed boxes and organized in sections stacked well. it went for a great price and I paid what I felt I could sell what I saw easily.
after the auction went to my unit to start sorting. opened the first box and I saw dead roaches.... I threw that box to the side and moved to different area of locker and picked up a box and opened......yup dead roaches. the whole unit was like that. I cant resell any of that to anyone! thank god there were no live ones !
long story short , it took me days to fill back of truck and go straight to the dump. my only saving grace was I did pull some scrap metal and find a jewelry box that had enough gold that I managed to only lose 100 bucks and about 20 hours of labor.
never again will I purchase from that particular location ( in very low income city ) and it will be a long time before I even think of anything that large again!
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Yeah, tough break man. I bought a unit like that, except every box was full of trash.
Every now and then, no matter how careful you are, one of these units will come along.
All you can do is cut you losses and move on.
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after the auction went to my unit to start sorting. opened the first box and I saw dead roaches.... I threw that box to the side and moved to different area of locker and picked up a box and opened......yup dead roaches. the whole unit was like that.
There's always a silver lining.
http://www.amazon.com/101-Uses-Of-Dead-Roach-ebook/dp/B0040711YS
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almost as bad, I did a running tally as I tossed and a ballpark figure of a little under 4000 if it was sellable. Im sure it was more as I didn't bother opening too much and I won it at 200 bucks so the profit margin was right on
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had a tough bust last week 10x20, commercial boxed goods, from the door it looked like about $4k in slow but sellable stuff. Popped at 1k plus rent because it was far outside my usual territory. All boxes were empty or were filled with clothes. Total bust.
win some lose some.
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almost as bad, I did a running tally as I tossed and a ballpark figure of a little under 4000 if it was sellable. Im sure it was more as I didn't bother opening too much and I won it at 200 bucks so the profit margin was right on
Wait a second. You mean that there was resell-able merchandise, but because of the roaches, you tossed it?
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dude, if threw away ANYTHING because it had a roach on it get out of the business NOW. I would sell you a burrito with a live roach IN it tomorrow if I could. You won't make money working like that.
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Wait a second. You mean that there was resell-able merchandise, but because of the roaches, you tossed it?
I just read resellable and didn't open much ... if you didn't open every box and pick through every roach this aint the business for you.
One of my better gold rooms had 36 .. yes 36 dead rats in it. Garbage filled to the ceiling, dirty diapers, cat litter ..etc. Found 6 oz of gold when it was at 1700/oz.
You gots to dig!
Plus no one but you knows that there was a roach on it. Half of the places you eat at probably have some roaches in the kitchen.
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A few years ago, I had to clean to out a rat infested unit with feces everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I mean every item had a turd stuck to it. It really sucked, but you just have to grin a bare it. This can be some nasty work at times.
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oh ya , I toss it. if I wouldn't want it in my house because of roaches or rats then I toss. to be honest.....I cant imagine someone going through and cleaning that sort of stuff. its trash, that stuff has reached the end of the line and now needs to make that last journey to the dump.
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dude, if threw away ANYTHING because it had a roach on it get out of the business NOW. I would sell you a burrito with a live roach IN it tomorrow if I could. You won't make money working like that.
I actually do make money working exactly like that. there needs to be lines that don't get crossed. if its counterfeit, if it touches roaches or rats, has urine feces on it...ya that's my line.
as far as making money... well working my way I make 3-4 grand a month without trying too hard selling storage auction material. this is only about 40% - 50% of my product source so I can afford to be choosey I suppose.
I do see you point, need to do what you need to do. I just don't need to do it but I also do things others have turned their nose down on me too. I have family members who look at me sorting cloths or toys and cleaning them and they judge me.
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im re-reading this tread and I have to say, Im surprised that so many people would have kept going regardless........why?
is it because theres no choice (you have to put food on the table) and you only get a locker or two
is it because the majority of your locker finds are tainted by roaches or rats so no choice
is it because, well......you just don't care?
im really curious. I have to be honest. the thought of selling any of this stuff was in my head for all of 60 seconds only
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we might also have different definitions of roach infested which is why there is a disconnect.
For me anything that smells like animal, animal urine, dead animal hair in boxes ..etc. that goes in a heartbeat.
Any soft good from a really really dirty room goes straight to the dumpster ..etc.
The rat room I got was a 10x30 packed to the ceiling. The rats were all in the bottom. After skimming off the first foot or two I kept the rest and sold.
I've also had rooms where I made 10x my money in the first couple of feet, did a quick sort of the other stuff and tossed just because I didn't have the time or interest to sort, store and sell the balance.
For me winter is my time to buy all the big units. Most people don't have the space or dont want to work out in the cold so I start picking them up for prestoragewars days. The cheaper I buy them for the less I have to be a miser about every piece.
Also my family thinks I'm the black sheep of the family because I do this. However I make more part time than most of them do full time sitting in a cubicle farm wasting their lives away.
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Also my family thinks I'm the black sheep of the family because I do this. However I make more part time than most of them do full time sitting in a cubicle farm wasting their lives away.
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I hear you, no one in my family wants anything to do with what I do and have the opinion that what I do is dirty and unhygienic. which....some of it is but this is one of the ways I put food on the table.
I hear what your saying on how far you go in going through a room. I guess many people have many different ways/opinions etc... mine happens to be small clean units mostly and then I sort right at the unit and make 2 trips. 1 to my place with good stuff and I sell anything with a value of over 3-4 bucks or at least try to group the dollar items together to get at least there. and 1 trip to dump.
dirty stuff doesn't necessarily turn me off, that's why I have wipes /cleaners/washing machine for but I admit I do toss quicker than clean. I would just not want anything to contaminate my storage or myself.
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if its furniture with pee on it its trash, but the point i'm trying to make is that we're in the trash business. I mean really we are. Don't get me wrong we're trying to find the treasure in all the trash but you have to dig. Perhaps you're in an area where the units go cheap enough to where you can be very selective which would be nice. I've had a lot of good hits but some weeks I dig through the trash(and sell it) to make a little profit. If it's working for you more power to you
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I guess im judging based on what I am seeing only and not as a whole.
well to give you a better idea of my point of view:
in my area we do not get the tv show prices for lockers. I have seen a few go near a grand but those had obvious value right in front, but the majority of my lockers I purchase go for less than 200 and maybe half of them , less than 100.
I buy in 2 general areas. 1 is straight middleclass and other is lower income area ( that is 2 different lower income with the roach unit being in the lower of the 2 )
my middle income area has a lot of general items ( my bread and butter ) in decent to great shape mostly
my low income produces a lot of low to above decent general items with always a couple gems inside
my lowest income area always produces low decent items with some above decent items and the once a month gem
I don't even try to sell furniture or mattress or to be honest I don't sell anything bigger than a microwave.bedside flat screen TV's
I do sell washers and dryers but I always price them to move real quick ( usually within a day or two)
my units usually fall in a ration of 50-60 % sellable for middleclass area 30-40% low income and 20-30% for lowest income
we get a average of 40 units per month of units for sale within a 30 min drive from my house and I do see about 8-10 "regulars" that have their "type" of locker that they go for and I only have to compete really with 2-3 of them so I end up with 4-5 lockers a month on average
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I like those odds. Do you do this full time now or is it a part time gig?
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I like those odds. Do you do this full time now or is it a part time gig?
im not really sure what to call full time or part time anymore lol. I spend about 25-30 hours a week on storage locker related activities ( not counting shipping ) , I spend the same amount on estate sales/regular auctions related material. and I also purchase wholesale. they all have much different work attached to them with wholesale being the most.....boring but it brings in a good steady stream of revenue but it takes a lot of space. storage locker auctions are usually the most profitable with about a average of 7 times profit margin. estate sales/regular auctions are at about 3 times profit margin but it has a lot less waste and dead inventory
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For me, what does and doesn't go in the trash vs. what does and doesn't go for sale/in my own home depends entirely on not only the state it is in, but how cleanable it is.
First off, by not going through boxes, you could have missed something easily cleaned (or not even dirty) that would have made you a profit - and unless all of those items were either too cheap to bother with, or things that can't be easily cleaned (or would have an "ick" factor) like clothes/toys/kitchenware/cloth items, you were throwing out money anyway.
I've found things in moldy, cat-piss smelling trunks and cleaned up furniture that was covered in roaches/rat feces and kept them myself. I found three hood ornaments ($410 on eBay) in a trunk that smelled like a litterbox, and obviously they were easy to clean despite where they were; I also use a desk that had rat droppings in it (likely stored in a barn) that has a retail value of about $300.
You are in the trash business. What isn't trash is what can be cleaned up, not what is already clean. If they had things like nice jewelry, they could have had other valuables - or at least things that can't be "dirtied", like video games or so on.
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You see, I don't view doing this as being in the "trash business". I know some units are much better than others but all the units that go up for sale at one point was someone's "stuff" and it was worth it to them to pay to store. I don't think anyone starts to store just to have a place to keep trash.
I understand that we do this as a business and that alone and if need be we need to squeeze as much as possible out of what you get ( trying to make lemonade out of rocks ) but there should be a line. there needs to be a .......I don't know how to say what I mean, but rat **** and roaches should mean that its a dead deal, cut your losses and just move on. there are so many opportunities to get up to bat with another locker that , well we shouldn't move dirty nasty **** to another person that if they knew where or what it came from would have chosen to pass on it. cleaned or not. we don't know for a fact its 100% clean
I know I sound like a ass....im reading what im writing and I think I sound like a uppity ass but....its how I feel.
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nah , i dont think you sound like an ass. I totally disagree with you lol, but that's part of life. Everyone has their own way of doing things, I'm guessing for the MOST part you avoid roaches and rats by just going for the really clean looking lockers, so that probably helps.
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I know I sound like a ass....im reading what im writing and I think I sound like a uppity ass but....its how I feel.
Not at all. Luckily for you, it's pretty easy to tell which units are clean and well organized.
I used to buy anything I could make a buck on. Nowadays, my time is limited, so I try to focus on clean, high quality units containing merchandise that I know will sell quickly.
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im re-reading this tread and I have to say, Im surprised that so many people would have kept going regardless........why?
is it because theres no choice (you have to put food on the table) and you only get a locker or two
is it because the majority of your locker finds are tainted by roaches or rats so no choice
is it because, well......you just don't care?
im really curious. I have to be honest. the thought of selling any of this stuff was in my head for all of 60 seconds only
Why?
1. Because where I live if a unit comes up that looks like it will produce $4,000 then it will take $2,500 to win it. Can't give up on a unit just because it's not "prestine".
2. Even the best units where I live will have some roaches and mice sign. Just part of the mix.
3. There will be many items in the unit that a few roach footprints won't hurt or will be wrapped and stuffed away where the roaches and mice did not get too.
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is it because theres no choice (you have to put food on the table)
Yes
is it because the majority of your locker finds are tainted by roaches or rats so no choice
Yes, bugs & rats are common in this industry.
is it because, well......you just don't care?
Yes and no. After you've been in this business a while, you get desensitized. If I see a stuffed animal covered in rat feces, obviously I wouldn't resell it because someone's kid is going to be snuggling with it. But if I found a box of dishes covered in dead roaches, I'm going to wash them. That's an extra $10-15. If you find an old dresser that you could sell for $75 more if it were painted, you would paint it right? Same thing with cleaning items.
Our business can be disgusting at times. I'm sure no one here likes finding someone's crusty underwear, sex toys or urine in a coffee can, but these are realities in our business. You gotta take the good with the bad.
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A few years ago, I had to clean to out a rat infested unit with feces everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I mean every item had a turd stuck to it. It really sucked, but you just have to grin a bare it. This can be some nasty work at times.
Haha this just happened to me last month so much mouse crap i could have filled a bin and everything smelled like piss 10 x 20 almost all junk, broke even my workers got paid I worked for free
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I haven't purchased a locker since this trash one. I have to admit im gun-shy right now. I understand the need to do what you have to, and fortunately I don't have to. but....I cant get the thought of winning a locker out of my head, so im going to take advise from travis and buy clean high quality lockers. I don't know how to do the cool quote thing everybody else does but if he reads this he knows he said it lol.
I have a auction in my town early next week with about 6 lockers coming up and im going to go and bid on a clean smaller locker and see what happens. I never understood the people who buy what they cant see with their own eyes online but if it works for them great
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I don't know how to do the cool quote thing everybody else does
In the top right hand corner of the post you want to quote, you'll see a blue box that says "actions." Press it then select quote. See the following image:
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Yes
Yes, bugs & rats are common in this industry.
Yes and no. After you've been in this business a while, you get desensitized. If I see a stuffed animal covered in rat feces, obviously I wouldn't resell it because someone's kid is going to be snuggling with it. But if I found a box of dishes covered in dead roaches, I'm going to wash them. That's an extra $10-15. If you find an old dresser that you could sell for $75 more if it were painted, you would paint it right? Same thing with cleaning items.
Our business can be disgusting at times. I'm sure no one here likes finding someone's crusty underwear, sex toys or urine in a coffee can, but these are realities in our business. You gotta take the good with the bad.
This.
I wouldn't sell clothing, stuffed animals, etc. that had been soiled* but those are items that are hard (if not impossible) to sterilize. A box of dishes, a statue, a coffee table, etc. can be cleaned and if I would use it, I would sell it to someone else to use.
The fact is, a lot of things get sullied and you never even know it. A rat can crawl across a can of beans that you then use to make chili; a roach can walk over a roll of fabric used to make your bedsheets. Germs and such are all around us, and fortunately, most things can be cleaned.
There's a difference between throwing out a $.25 mug because it isn't worth your time - and tossing out hundreds of dollars of merchandise because you don't believe in the power of Dawn dish soap.
It's up to you what you do, but even bidding carefully and perhaps even just picking at small auctions, garage sales, etc. you may have a very hard time. Most things get dirty, and in some areas rats/mice/roaches may be almost impossible to avoid. Hell, I stored my OWN belongings for a year once while traveling only to find that mice, geckos and scorpions had gotten into them. Was I going to throw out my family photos, furniture and dishes because of that.
Looking at anything in life as black/white with but a few exceptions is going to make life hard. That's doubly so with the auction business.
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After wiping my daughter's butt for 4 years and cleaning up after a dog with a sensitive stomach, there isn't much I won't touch these days.
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After wiping my daughter's butt for 4 years
4 years? Seems like potty training wasn't high on Mom's to do list.
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4 years? Seems like potty training wasn't high on Mom's to do list.
No, momma liked to do everything for her...but Dad is now giving her a reality check and helping her be self sufficient. She turns 5 in a month, time sure flies by :'( .
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time sure flies by
Tell me about it, my youngest just turned 17 and it seems he was only born yesterday. My oldest girl has graduated college and now lives 1,500 miles away.
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Yesterday I got 2 units, 5 x 10's. I love the smaller units and do very well with them snatching them up for $200 or less. One of my units came loaded with new baby furniture and other high end stuff, the other unit not so bad. I paid $95 for the second unit because it looked really good with plenty of boxes to go through. (l love volume in smalls) Anyhow after opening all 40+ boxes they were all boxed with junk and trash, nothing good. Just a projection TV which I sold for $100 to save my butt.
On the other hand I took my sister in laws with me for their first time. There was a unit which was 5x10 and filled up max with black trash bags. Everyone just passed it up, I did too because it looked like dirty close and I already had two units. My sister inlaw bid on it to my surprise and got it all for $5. After helping her get in there was over 100 trash bags fill with all kinds of stuff. Her first pull was a little purse which had over 50 buffalo nickels, a gold class ring, and silver. I laughed cause everyone just passed it up. :clap:
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yesterday I went to a auction that had 5 units up.It was cold in my neck of the woods yesterday (25 degrees) but a a whole boatload of people showed up ( around 45 ) usually we get like 20-25.
I did bid but I started at 25 on the first one and the auctioneer just looked at me and said "I will keep that in mind" and then started at 300 ! it was a 5x10 that had some low end household goods in it ! I laughed to my self and then....people started bidding it up ! it went for almost 400. the next ones were just as bad till we got to the last one. that one I looked and looked and I saw possibly $100 in items I could see and very little possible profit that I couldn't ( based on the quality and type of items I could.) so for the hell of it to get back in the game after roach locker I bid 25 and was willing to go to 75 for the hell of it..........ya it was bid up to over 500. this is not typical of the auctions here and I did see a lot of people I don't normally see but what the hell. it was cold and these people overpaid for everything.
it seems to me the colder or harder it rains the more people come out to auctions. in the good beautiful days here I see half the people who show up in the crappy days !
anyway, I will need to wait till I get back in the saddle till next month. its a good thing I have a ridiculous amount of stock to work with already ( I could work off my inventory for 3 months alone )
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I laughed cause everyone just passed it up. :clap:
I love it when that happens. I don't why some people pass on trash bags...I guess they associate them with trash. Trash bags could mean:
1. The owner was in a hurry to move
2. Someone other than the owner was doing to packing and they didn't care
3. They ran out of boxes
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Trash bags are used to keep dust off items also. Bought a 5x5 full of fishing gear and a large trash bag and a large styrofoam cooler. The trash bag had a like new high end Graco pack n play in it that paid for the unit. The cooler was full of hand tools. You just never know, which is why love buying lockers.