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

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.

So anyone who spends $1,000 - $2,500 on a unit is sure to lose money? I don't think you learned everything about this business in those first 20 units you won if you think that way. Hell, who would'nt want to win a 10 x 30 full of furniture for $50! Even a monkey on crack could make a profit under those conditions, but here in the REAL world sometimes you have to put real skin in the game to win the great units.

I think I do believe one sentence in your post.  "I stare at the contents pretending I know what Im doing"

Laugh - that is one of those 1 million candle lights.  I found one in a unit and joked to my buddies I was going to use it come winter when it started to get dark.  Sucker didn't work but I'd of found it a hoot.  My little spot light works very well but I could see just standing back behind the crowd with this HUGE search light 

Ya I know - it is dangerous to the health of my computer.  Just can't help myself.  Is either coke or tea...no coffee for me.

#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.

something ding in my head

it was a setup from the manager perhaps, they opened the unit, saw a super nasty whore den, and put some tool boxes, to intice bidders to clean that jizz den up,

I feel sorry for yea, how did you make off it?

something ding in my head

it was a setup from the manager perhaps, they opened the unit, saw a super nasty whore den, and put some tool boxes, to intice bidders to clean that jizz den up,

I feel sorry for yea, how did you make off it?

I did fair on that unit after all the trash i found a few salvageable items. profit is still debatable since 1 of 2 window units the DH needs to test and recharge. DH also kept the new engine hoist ($50 or so at Harbor Freight)

but to answer the ? of staged.... a big NO. I know the owner. He doesnt do that. He is an honest guy kinda on the naive side actually. it was all dusty and no hand prints at all. Same  with all his units. He does his own auctions, upkeep, etc. too much of a cheapskate to hire anyone to help with his 4 diff sets of units around town.

Not sure why the old-timers (most of which were newbies a few months, years ago) get so bent out of shape by someone earning some extra cash the same way some of the older newbies do. This isn't rocket science. If you like what you see, you bid. You may win, you may not. Everyone see's pretty much the same items during that initial glance over. Though SOME junk collectors may be able to better "price" some of the lockers contents than others. Lay off the whining about the TV shows. Everyone knows it's TV, already. Whether real or fake, everyone knows that only select lockers make it past the cutting room. Many people are simply trying to squeeze out a few extra bucks because of lay-offs, the worst economy in decades. This "Noobie" guide seems to have a flair for the obvious. I can think of hundereds of jobs much more disgusting and dreadful than cleaning out storage lockers! But, this business is sooo disgusting, dreadful, and burdensome, that's why we all keep doing it, right?

#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.

i agree with what you said i was always a part time and still am though very part time these days. i got lazy and just not willing to really hustle selling the dollar items anymore very picky about my units now but very true if your disciplines and buy smart doesn't matter fulltime or part time.

Whoever said this was hard dang work was dead on. It used to be an old joke that no one ever made big money digging ditches...well sometimes this runs a close second. It can wipe you out and eat all your spare time watching your ebay sales, wrapping stuff up and sitting in line at the post office.

But it's also a good time sometimes, and definitely can make you some decent money. If my family wasn't pitching in from time to time though I really couldn't do it. A note of caution: you will run out of space very very fast. Get a small warehouse space, extra garage, or large shed.

And lastly, I feel like changing my username to "booksaremybane". Any seasoned auction goer will know what I mean...

Not very good advice.  I plan to become a millionaire from buying and reselling.  AND i'm serious.

I too will take EXTREME issue with your #6,I am 68, weight just over 125 lbs, yet i can and do move VERY heavy equipment EVERY day.I build and repair drycleaning equipment and commercial washers.Moving anything in a locker will not be a problem.

I have been out of the storage auction business for about 20 years. I got arrested selling stuff from a locker i bought that had been stored there by ether a big time thief or a fence.
lucky i got cleared of the charges but had to go back to a regular job to pay the lawyers and the money i lost paying bail.
In those days i had a consignment store and a pawn shop that would buy many of the good items i found. but the arrest put a stop to those till i was cleared but broke.

I am thinking of going back to buying again now that i am retired.
i have a few tricks of my own.

Yes the good old days had a few a**h**es and a lot of crooked storage business owners that striped the units before the auctions.

in the last 20 years i worked construction and mining and moved a lot .

i live in a 30 foot motor home so i don't have much room and store my extras in storage places.
In the last 20 years i have never cleaned out any of the units i had i just took everything i wanted and left the trash and junk in nice clean boxes with nice high priced marking on the boxes.
Saved me from having to try to find a way to haul the trash off after i had filled up my truck with my stuff and had no room.

Wonder if anyone here bought my trash and junk.

I always wondered how many people paid way to much for my bait units

I never had any problem cleaning out the units i bought because i always had a few friends that did not work regular jobs that liked to help me cheap or some times i payed them in stuff i found in the units that i did not want.

I know a few full time swapmeeters that can sell items for me when i don't have the time. most are retired and just love swap meets.
Plus now you have the internet and Craigslist that i did not have 20 years ago. 



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