10 step noobie guide and you not going to like what you read

1.   Throw you TV out the window and everything you saw on storage wars, auction hunters  et al.  is fake  and a massive lie to sell advertisement.

2.   Do you really have $50 or $1000  to gamble?
3.  Do you have the time to deal with buying a unit.. im not talking going to the auction   Im talking..you bought one  know you got to clean it out.  Most storage place have very hard and fast rule about cleaning it out...   The big chains   its all about clearing it out and re renting it
be prepared to move  it they dont care if you have no way to move it or no where to go with it... some will let you rerent  unit  and some will not at all.
4.  moving a unit can be a *****   I cant belve all the old people and those n walkiers  and people trying to load units into hatch back toyotas.   If you dont have a truck or larger vechile forget it .  Of if you want your cadillac escalade covered in mouse poop in the back   this is not for you
5.  Are you ready to sell the cheap $1 items out at the fea market every weekend?   If you arent you will fail with in 6 months.
thats why the only reguler buyers ive seen make in last 3 years are mexicans...the whole family workds togther including the kids
If  you think you will jsut buy the great one here and their like berry   you will fail    and you will throw your money away
if your old and only looking for collectiables  and only want to deal with that ,  got to auctions at auction houses  you wont do it at storage places.
6.  Prepare to treat this like a full time job.. I do  and when part timers come around   I make sure you dont buy anything  or I run it up so high   you wont be back
7.  Got to know alot.....ya, I know.  But do you know how to do ebay and amazon and craigslist .  Can you look at stuff and know it needs to be checked by proffessionals  or are you wasting everyones time?   Ok you got some gold jewelry...whos going to give you best price?  whos going to screw you?     first any store you will be lucky to get 70%    I get   95%  casue I know guys   and they get better then me  but they buy wholesale lots  and they have to have like 12-14 ounces to get that   Im lucky to usualy sell 3 grams
have a eyepiece to look for markings on jewelry   have a scale to weigh grams    and shop around   you put any costume jewelry out at flea maket  the gold and silver buyers will be all over it   talk to them  and see who you can trust and who giveing best price...
also go on ebay buy a acid tester kit   its like $10 bucks  and have a magnet handy at all times     works for silver, alluminum, brass and others metals you better get to know for scrap value
8.  Get to know your competition  some auction buyers only want furnitre  some only want boxes.   so if you get furnitre  sometimes you can make a deal they take it right out of unit  you get some money   AND YOU DONT HAVE TO MOVE IT
9.   Manges can be your best friend our your worst nightmare....get to know the managers...if you talk to them before and work with them sometimes you can get more time...They all have a boss and they want this unit cleared and re rented...Then dont want a no sale where they have to clean it out themselves  they dont want people leaving stuff   for same reason   just talk to them  and most will work with you...Some  like PS cant  they are on a 48 hour thing or all hell comes down    so realize that before you buy
10.    Every get rich scheme you have ever saw  is a lie...this is just the latest.....Some people will make it  but  99% of you wont

#3 Time... here I am at 12:20 am California time. First check of the internet today (or is it tomorrow? I'm not quite sure LOL). Been putting in 10 plus hour days all week trying to get ready for my big monthly sale tomorrow/today.

#11 this is not clean work. Be prepared to get very dirty. I have a friend that wanted to start buying lockers until she saw how dirty I get every day going through this stuff. I think she has reconsidered.  I smell like the crap out of this latest locker and everything around me smells like it. Every locker has a different odor that you get used to after being around it for a couple of days and most are not pretty.

I agree with everything I just read, my wife has bugged me for years (even before the tv shows) to buy storage units, being above average smarts and already running a sucessful business it looked like alot of work then and it looks like alot of work now. I can now verify that yes it is alot of work and the starting out the profits dont seem to be worth it. I can also verify that the tv shows are total bull****, it just seems odd to me that every week these guys are pulling out something to even be considered for appraisal let alone the 5,000.00 and up collectibles. I also find it strange they know right where to go with the very item that would fit perfectly in the store or shop they go to for the appraisal. LMFAO

If you can pick out the units that have not been tampered with and you go on a day 150 knuckleheads arent there to drive up the prices there is money to be made. I geared up for buying in bulk with a 20' box truck and have a pretty good routine going ....but I will say it again.......its alot of WORK.

#12 if PORN offends you in the least way.... RUN from this business!!

just now switched channels and find SW gang in Vegas discussing their ventures etc..
Brandi says 8 of 10 units have porn and would have to agree.
5 of 6 I have bought had porn. and I dont mean the mild stuff. these were bad.
Not viewable from the open door but once inside WOW.
1 had a TV/VCR combo set up with car battery/adaptor to view his tapes inside unit.
118 porn magazines and various tapes/CDs. plus 4 plastic "male parts" obviously used inside the unit also. All his power tools, ladders, tires/wheels, a tent, viewable from door sold me on this. upon inspection ALL were broken, parts missing, etc.
All the Mikita power tool blue plastic boxes (visible from door) were... you guessed it ... EMPTY.
This unit was his Dumpster, his "front" for keeping his bad side from his family.

#6 is funny, just because someone is a part timer doesn't mean they don't know how to work this business, I don't get "run up" because I stay disciplined in my bids, if I overpay for a unit it's because I didn't value it correctly not for being outsmarted by someone like you, if I go home empty thats ok cause I go to work the next day and then off to the next auction, seems like all the part timers at the auctions really bother you, maybe you could give us some more stellar advice and we'll all quit our jobs and do it full time.

To millertime    their is part timers  and their are " part timers"
Their are those now that think they can work a full time job have their wife go buy units and they  make extra money.  Their also those retired  people that show up to one auction a month (alwasy the same one and will buy a unit or all of them no matter what the cost)
Their are those that work or dont,  go to maybe 10 a month and buy one or two smartley  (which Ill give you the benifit of the doubt that you are one of them)  so you can take your attitude and shove it
Ive bought over most of the south east and west coast  their are very few part timers that last long.  Either they get bored and move on to something else or just decide to much work for the once in awhile find
You may have been a part timer for  20 years   (heres a crappy bowling trophy from 1981 Ill give you for being such a part timer)
What I was saying to the noobs, is its not a common thing in this business.

Two thumbs up to you majblade...Your ten steps hit the nail on the head!!!

These are guys going to auctions running up a 50.00 locker to 800.00 + dollars and then coming here and telling everyone how deductive reasoning and chance is making them a profit...LMFAO..

Ill buy my 10 50.00 units for the day ...no deductive reasoning, no chance, no luck and make money everytime..

Maybe it's just a Southern thing, but most of the regulars who attended storage auctions in Houston, before the storage auction reality shows premiered, never really ran others up. We were a pretty tight knit group, everyone was hospitable and nobody was openly vindictive.

It's too bad things had to change, everyone was making money.

First of all Maj, you are writing a newbie guide. Correct me if I'm wrong but a guide is something helpful in accomplishing a task. I don't see how threatening part-timers with "when part-timers come around I make sure you don't buy anything or I run you up so high you don't come back" is a helpful item in a guide. Now as for me, I work nights and do auctions during the day, wife just went to her first auction last month (bought a great unit to). I enjoy every part of doing this including the hard work which you are correct that most people won't do long term. As for attitude, you seem to have a very bad one toward those of us part-timers which is why you wrote more of a "How to scare away part-timers guide" not a noobie guide, and I'll pass on shoving it. You sound as though you can't achieve your past success with the changes the shows brought to the business. I'm respectful of those who make their living doing this because I know it's a tough environment. However, there is one thing that will never change - adapt or die. Businesses do both all the time. I do love capitalism.

#3 Time... here I am at 12:20 am California time. First check of the internet today (or is it tomorrow? I'm not quite sure LOL). Been putting in 10 plus hour days all week trying to get ready for my big monthly sale tomorrow/today.

#11 this is not clean work. Be prepared to get very dirty. I have a friend that wanted to start buying lockers until she saw how dirty I get every day going through this stuff. I think she has reconsidered.  I smell like the crap out of this latest locker and everything around me smells like it. Every locker has a different odor that you get used to after being around it for a couple of days and most are not pretty.

I think that is one of my advantages over other people cause I have a poor sense of smell!

Good work on the guide Maj.  All it needs is some polish to make it easier to read.  I do have an issue also to #6.  I agree that you have to treat this like a job, even if you do it as a hobby like myself.  Doing it part-time or fulltime doesn't matter IMO.  Number 4 is true also but I'd take out the old people comment.  Most of our old time regulars are retired guys that do this to stay busy.  It's true they can't life or move the heavy items.  But, that is why they have contacts and/or people to do it for them for free/pay/trade.

Dandy is right on #12.  I've been lucky and only found a few porn items.  I find mostly normal sex related items like rubbers, birth control pills/boxes, and then baby pictures .  Of course I'm like well if you had used this (condoms + pills) - you wouldn't of ended up with that (pointing to pics).

Good work on the guide Maj.  All it needs is some polish to make it easier to read.  I do have an issue also to #6.  I agree that you have to treat this like a job, even if you do it as a hobby like myself.  Doing it part-time or fulltime doesn't matter IMO.  Number 4 is true also but I'd take out the old people comment.  Most of our old time regulars are retired guys that do this to stay busy.  It's true they can't life or move the heavy items.  But, that is why they have contacts and/or people to do it for them for free/pay/trade.

Dandy is right on #12.  I've been lucky and only found a few porn items.  I find mostly normal sex related items like rubbers, birth control pills/boxes, and then baby pictures .  Of course I'm like well if you had used this (condoms + pills) - you wouldn't of ended up with that (pointing to pics).

Old timers also have sons and grandsons to do the heavy lifting. My 17 yr old grandson and his friend will move out a full 20 x 20 for a $25 gas card each.

I think you would be much more likely to fail if you started up full time right away. That is a perfect way to get in over your head with no experience and not solid ways to sell your items. You don't know what to expect and are surprised by a lot of the situations that arise. If you do this as a side hobby or part time business then you learn all of these things without the high risk and can ease yourself into it both financially with the amount of work. It is impossible for a part timer to fail within 6 months or whatever you said because they don't overly invest in it financially, so they will not be hurt much. The way people fail is if they try to jump in full time immediately without knowing anything other than what they watched on TV.

Soooo...doing this part time is a great way to gain experience and knowledge. Kinda like riding a bike with training wheels on first.

Two thumbs up to you majblade...Your ten steps hit the nail on the head!!!

These are guys going to auctions running up a 50.00 locker to 800.00 + dollars and then coming here and telling everyone how deductive reasoning and chance is making them a profit...LMFAO..

Ill buy my 10 50.00 units for the day ...no deductive reasoning, no chance, no luck and make money everytime..

It is quite fortunate you live in a part of the country where you can attend large enough auctions that you can win 10 - $50 units a day. Where I live, we can go two weeks without seeing 10 units total, and around here, except for one auction 2 weeks ago, I haven't seen a $50 unit in about 5 months! Someone spent $90 on a unit that only had a small plastic kid's storage box just to see what was inside. Retail price for the storage box is $25. In fact anyone who even thinks about winning more then 2 units at an auction gets run the f**k up! Around here, try showing up in a 20' box truck and see if the regulars are gonna let you win anything! Don't tell anybody what part of Cali you roll in, sounds like you got it made!

dont hate.....I plan and do all my scheduling the day before I dont have to use any pay sites as I find that following American Auctioneers is more than adequate to find and buy lockers.

Your right....I made it all up...I really spend 10 hours out of the day going to american auctions cuz that is where the money is at. I like to look at the locker when they roll up the door and stand there....I make sure I bring a really big flashlight(goes with the truck) cuz I saw it on tv ...ya with a handle and I wear sunglasses. You see I stand there with the big flashlight and the sunglasses and I stare at the contents pretending I know what Im doing, I like to take a really long time so I can study the contents.....helps me maximize my profits when I win one of the ten for the day.

I also make sure to have one of those small containers of gatorade..(throat gets sore from yelling YUPPP all day) dam this locker buying is hard work.

Ok.. I dont really buy 50.00 lockers I buy those high dollar units... come on you know the ones.......1,000.00 1,8000.00 2,5000.00... YA BABY ....fillin the truck with the WOW factor and mystery...thats how I pay my bills.

So now that we bought our unit I dont do any of the work, hell noooo....I hire two guys out of the Home Depot parking lot, I find they are very trustworthy loyal and hardworking. As long as we dont have to drive through any check points we should be OK. I dont do any of the lifting except for my wallet...dont want to get my shiny silk shirt dirty or dusty.

Thank God for Dan Dotson ,American Auctioneers and tv ...If it were not for this auction company I dont know how I would learn to make a profit.