Suggestions for new people looking into this

I am partially new to this. I've been a collector for many years, ran estate sales, and even bid off storage units for a local company that was very shady. (Had me pull out valuable prior to sale).

I have matured since then and have found myself in semi retirement. So, now I have all this free time.

Just looking for some guidance in this. Books, good websites, reputable locker facilities in the Chicagoland area.

Thank

Welcome to the forum, we're glad to have you here. So tell us more about how he would have you pull out valuables before the auction. That's really interesting.

and even bid off storage units for a local company that was very shady. (Had me pull out valuable prior to sale).

Let's see if I have this correct? You're asking for "how-to" auction help, possibly from the very people you helped cheat?

It's easy.  Just raise your hand until the auction stops.  You win all of them that way..

Suggestions for new people looking into this ?

Don't !

well, chicagoland is my home turf so I would be quite interested to know what facilities to avoid for shady practices. I'm also a little curious if I have bid at any of your auctions. There is no great shortcut to the time and money, trial and error method of learning this business. Buy a locker or two, then don't come back until you have sold just about everything you found in them. By the time you come back you will have a better understanding of what selling avenues are open to you, what you can and can't sell, and how much to bid. You will also avoid the scenario where you live atop a mountain of other peoples garbage. To be clear, for example, you can place your nose in antique books all day and find a locker full of them, but the book prices will mean noting to the place you market them. There is no written recourse to go by because the situation will be tailored to how and where you sell what you find, and as you are in my area, those are tips I'm not sharing 

In my experience,
Buy, load, fix junk, load again, kiss a$$ to sell, deal with morons, load again then hopefully you turn a profit.   

I like MMs' advice - Don't do it!

I have to admit it's been harder then I thought. The learning curve is pretty steep, and upscaling the business model is no easy task. It becomes an addiction though, once it hooks you in it's hard to give up, as long as some cash flow is coming in. It really is behaviorally similar to casino gambling or gold prospecting.

I have to admit it's been harder then I thought. The learning curve is pretty steep, and upscaling the business model is no easy task. It becomes an addiction though, once it hooks you in it's hard to give up, as long as some cash flow is coming in. It really is behaviorally similar to casino gambling or gold prospecting.

In my opinion it's the "long haul" that counts and most won't make it for very long given the circumstances under which they are starting in today's environment.

Also, CHANGE is definitely necessary (due to the tv shows) and that's what has kept me going. Picking is where it's at for me right now...tomorrow who knows what it will be.

In my opinion it's the "long haul" that counts and most won't make it for very long given the circumstances under which they are starting in today's environment.

Also, CHANGE is definitely necessary (due to the tv shows) and that's what has kept me going. Picking is where it's at for me right now...tomorrow who knows what it will be.

I know what you mean about change. The last couple of months over half my inventory has come from donations, people bringing my stuff to buy, and commissioning living estates. I have 4 living estates I'm working right now. Storage auctions are only a component of where I get inventory to re-sell (like most ardent re-sellers), point being, things have changed enough with the TV shows, it's difficult to try and depend on storage auctions for 90-100% of the inventory to re-sell like a person could do in the past before the TV shows.

I am partially new to this. I've been a collector for many years, ran estate sales, and even bid off storage units for a local company that was very shady. (Had me pull out valuable prior to sale).

I have matured since then and have found myself in semi retirement. So, now I have all this free time.

Just looking for some guidance in this. Books, good websites, reputable locker facilities in the Chicagoland area.

Thank

DO YOU ACTUALLY THINK ANYONE IN THE Chicagoland AREA WOULD SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES AND TIPS WITH YOU??

THIS GAME IS WON BY THOSE WITH EXPERIENCE, AND THAT EXPERIENCE IS GAINED BY LEARNING & MAKING MISTAKES ALONG THE WAY.

And one BIG mistake is letting your competition know your secrets..................

What real "secrets" is there?  You bid what you think it's worth and hopefully sell the crap.  You never know what you will find.  I just wish I knew what to do with old CRT tv's.

Donation drop boxes or target practice.

Some cautions on crt TV's.  They can carry a substantial charge in their capacitors even after sitting for a while, they can send flying glass everwhere if you shatter the screen.

They are AWESOME for target practice.  Oddly fun with pellet guns....but be aware...they can deflect pellets back.  they're no match for a gunpowder rifle though. 

You can give them away free or donate them.  Craigslist free stuff can make them disappear.  Eventually you will buy a hoarders locker and get them back.

Goodwill around here stopped accepting CRTs. Luckily, where I live, I can leave them by the trash and they'll go away. At the store where I'm "flea marketing" they've had 4 CRT's on craigslist free for a month. They can't give them away!