Storage Auctions
The Storage Locker => General Storage Auction Talk => Topic started by: Travis on November 15, 2012, 03:35:08 PM
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Why do you think most people fail in the storage auction business?
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1. Laziness
2. Laziness
3. Laziness
lol. I think alot of people get into this thinking its gonna be like the tv shows. You get one big ticket item, take it down to your expert and sell it for 3x what you paid for the unit. i think most people refuse to accept the fact that yeah you will hit those liqs but most of the time its clothes, dishes, dish racks, garbage cans and things you gotta really hustle and nickel and dime on craigsilst and flea markets and garage sales. Most people won't put in the work in my opinion. I think tht's the reason most people fail.
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Yep I agree, high expectations, low returns.
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Quick story... Guy buys locker for $25.00. It was pretty full. He does this for fun. He hauls two truck loads to the dump. Takes three trucks to donation. Finds a couple of silver coins. He gives me 6 boxes of hard back books and a box of rocks.
I dump rocks out in planter at the shop and there is $5.00 worth of rolled pennies in the bottom. Go through books and find a signed copy of Johnathan Livingston Seagull that I sell for $50.00.
He maybe made his $25.00 back on locker and gave me $55.00 for free. In my opinion that was a very lazy way to handle any unit. I haven't seen him at a sale since. Most people don't take the time to find the money in a unit.
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Calcoastgal, excellent point. I'm going to start a new thread on just that. ;D
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Like everybody said.
1. High expectations of a get rich quick livelihood based on the TV shows.
2. Little to no research or knowledge of what buying & selling storage units really involves (thanks to the misinformation from the TV shows).
3. No realization that building ANY business takes a lot of time and effort, doesn't matter if a person is trying to start a restuarant, a dog groomy business, or resale business based on storage auctions; ALL hard work!
4. Lack of business education/experience.
5. Lack of work ethic & determination/need for instant gratification.
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One thing we have noticed is that "some" people do not want to do the dirty work. They look for the obvious and never deal with the digging in handling of all boxes, tubs, etc. They haven't a clue that this job can be backbreaking, hard, dirty, nasty work! I told a young man yesterday, we were going through all these dirty purses checking like normal and in a child's tiny purse in a zipper area were two gold and diamond rings. Haven't a clue why they would hide them there but they must have forgotten, (our luck). Also, was about to dump a bunch of dirty socks and something clinked, found one tied at the end and it had old coins packed in it. You just never know what you will find in the oddest places, so you have to get dirty at times. :-) JMHO
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One thing we have noticed is that "some" people do not want to do the dirty work. They look for the obvious and never deal with the digging in handling of all boxes, tubs, etc. They haven't a clue that this job can be backbreaking, hard, dirty, nasty work! I told a young man yesterday, we were going through all these dirty purses checking like normal and in a child's tiny purse in a zipper area were two gold and diamond rings. Haven't a clue why they would hide them there but they must have forgotten, (our luck). Also, was about to dump a bunch of dirty socks and something clinked, found one tied at the end and it had old coins packed in it. You just never know what you will find in the oddest places, so you have to get dirty at times. :-) JMHO
I agree I think most people are happy to sell the flat screen tv on craigslist and bring the louis vuitton purse to a high end resale shop or sell it on ebay but most people aren't willing to do the work to sell the plastic ikea trashcan for 0.50cents or a buck.
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All of the above and probably a few we haven't thought of.
The lack of desire to do what it takes to be successful is probably the largest reason for people quitting the business.
More power to that group !
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The same reason you have to spend countless hours on the phone with people to get things done correctly; like cancelling your phone plan Damn you Verizon!!! STUPIDITY STUPIDITY STUPIDITY :-[