Beware or Not???

Ok, plan to hit a storage auction that is about an hours drive from me.  From reading their local paper they have the following:
B029 Teeter-W/D, Outdoor Equipment, Tools
B046 Morris-Furn., Boxes, Ice Chest, Stuff Animals
C073 Foster-Boxes, Furniture, Baby Supplies
C077 Horsby-Boxes, Furniture
E165 Carpenter-Boxes, Furniture, Jewelry
F195 Corley-Furniture, Crafts, Books
F196 Thomas-Mattresses
F199 Callahan-Clothes, Boxes, Mis. Goods
F201 Stannford-Mattress, TV, Boxes, Storage Tub
G300 Tony-Boxes, Carpet, Suitcase
G309 Jones-Clothes, Chairs, Books
G315 Jones-Clothes, Furniture, Mis.
H368 Blake-Furniture, Microwave


However, when I just called them to check to see how many units they were down to she said they had 18.  They added a few of their own.  So now I'm like....hmm did they just stage a bunch of units or what is the deal.  The place was recently purchased and the name changed.

Many, many reasons why this might be.....but as a auctioneer, I'll tell you what I can.

1. sometimes folks just show up to move out and are driving a Ford Escort but the units contents requires a
small/large U-Haul to move and they don't have the money to rent one.....so stuff gets "left behind"....
even if it still has some value.....the site owner/operator puts the good/better stuff in a unit and throws the
true "junk" away.

2. sometimes folks have a family member that has passed....they don't want any of grandmas junk...so they
(renter/site owner) work out a deal to sign over the rights in lieu of "bill collection" and the site sells the stuff
to try and recoup some funds

3. site owners are just like me & you....they have stuff they no longer want/need....put it in a empty unit and sell it

4. "showcasing"...if you had alot of stuff that was left/abandoned....that was "going" in the dumpster(every pickup cost), would you not "showcase" it first....before you payed to have it hauled away?

It seems like most bidders think the storage place is "always" trying to "get one over" on the bidders....which
in the grand scheme of things is just not the case.

Many, many reasons why this might be.....but as a auctioneer, I'll tell you what I can.

1. sometimes folks just show up to move out and are driving a Ford Escort but the units contents requires a
small/large U-Haul to move and they don't have the money to rent one.....so stuff gets "left behind"....
even if it still has some value.....the site owner/operator puts the good/better stuff in a unit and throws the
true "junk" away. (or not)
2. sometimes folks have a family member that has passed....they don't want any of grandmas junk...so they
(renter/site owner) work out a deal to sign over the rights in lieu of "bill collection" and the site sells the stuff
to try and recoup some funds

3. site owners are just like me & you....they have stuff they no longer want/need....put it in a empty unit and sell it

4. "showcasing"...if you had alot of stuff that was left/abandoned....that was "going" in the dumpster(every pickup cost), would you not "showcase" it first....before you payed to have it hauled away?

It seems like most bidders think the storage place is "always" trying to "get one over" on the bidders....which
in the grand scheme of things is just not the case.

Isn't the statement I put in red above essentially what you were saying in your points 1-4? (at least to some degree)
And anytime the word "always" is used, that's a red flag in itself. Seldom (if ever) does something take place in an "always" way....that is called a "glittering generality" but if any of your points 1-4 happen, it is something that is not a true LIEN situation and IMHO to be watched for.

Isn't the statement I put in red above essentially what you were saying in your points 1-4? (at least to some degree)
And anytime the word "always" is used, that's a red flag in itself. Seldom (if ever) does something take place in an "always" way....that is called a "glittering generality" but if any of your points 1-4 happen, it is something that is not a true LIEN situation and IMHO to be watched for.

Wow MovieMan, 1214 post...you have been busy.

How many post have you seen here where folks are "complaining" about "the Storage place" or "the Auctioneer" has/is committing Fraud  by moving stuff, show casing stuff, cherrypicking etc....?

I stop by everyday and read(don't post much though)....and I cannot recall a day where there is not a thread or reply stating this....or when I'm onsite, I hear it each and every day from bidders....so yea, for me "ALWAYS" applies

So keep on looking for them "red flags".....maybe that will keep you too busy to bust on another's reply

You have yourself a good day

Wow MovieMan, 1214 post...you have been busy.

How many post have you seen here where folks are "complaining" about "the Storage place" or "the Auctioneer" has/is committing Fraud  by moving stuff, show casing stuff, cherrypicking etc....?

I stop by everyday and read(don't post much though)....and I cannot recall a day where there is not a thread or reply stating this....or when I'm onsite, I hear it each and every day from bidders....so yea, for me "ALWAYS" applies

So keep on looking for them "red flags".....maybe that will keep you too busy to bust on another's reply

You have yourself a good day

Roger, I am not saying Movieman or you is right or wrong. However me myself looks at more units going up to be a good thing. However this may always change when I am actually there to see it. For the ones that are actually built by the management for various reasons that you have said, I usually do not bid on. When it is announced anyway, and sometimes the facilities are upfront with bidders (not all the time) letting them know that this unit is here because of this or that.

keep it safe and only look at the units that are listed in the paper....  Make sure to yell out "managers special" at the others.

I have two comments.

1. If you're concerned about buying a managers unit, only bid on the units where the auctioneer cuts the tag/seal.

2. If you only bid on what you see, you have nothing to worry about.

Wow MovieMan, 1214 post...you have been busy.

How many post have you seen here where folks are "complaining" about "the Storage place" or "the Auctioneer" has/is committing Fraud  by moving stuff, show casing stuff, cherrypicking etc....?

I stop by everyday and read(don't post much though)....and I cannot recall a day where there is not a thread or reply stating this....or when I'm onsite, I hear it each and every day from bidders....so yea, for me "ALWAYS" applies

So keep on looking for them "red flags".....maybe that will keep you too busy to bust on another's reply

You have yourself a good day

Maybe I'm missing something in reading your original post or you are missing something in reading mine.
What I was trying to say was that your original 4 points seem to support the idea that something is amiss at some auctions.

I further was trying say that this is not ALWAYS the case, because it is seldom (if ever) true that something is ALWAYS the case.

I know you take umbrage at any comment that lumps all auctioneers together as a group....I would too, but please understand that when I or others are talking about "auctioneers" we don't mean YOU specifically. We know you are the  penultimate honest auctioneer. Unfortunately, YOU are not at all the thousands of auctions going on everyday.

It just occured to me; that last sentence above will ALWAYS be true as you can not be at the thousands of auctions going on in a given day. I guess I'll have to re-think my ALWAYS premise.

I'm sorry if it sounded like I was skeptial of the auctioneer (no idea who it is yet) or the location.  I just side on caution, and thus why asked if I should be aware that this isn't normal or is.  Since this is my first unit auction I'll be attending I wanted to know what would be the reasons for another 5 units.  Since they were not in the paper they couldn't of been lien holding units.  Thank you Roger and all for the info.

I'm sorry if it sounded like I was skeptial of the auctioneer (no idea who it is yet) or the location. 

No need to say you're sorry. IMHO it's better to be a skeptic than the flip side of that the "gushing optimist" who says on a regular basis ...."You never know what you're going to find."   Statisically, the bad lkrs are going to outnumber the good ones I would guess....and I think that's a pretty safe ALWAYS statement. 

Lol - I'm a long way from a "gushing optimist".  Even raising my eyebrows at some of the other disclaimers and such I'm finding in papers.  Really starting to wonder how many storage places do bid on auctions if they reserve the right and also how many reject a bid.  I would think they would be happy to reclaim any money.  Shrug - it will be a learning expirence and soon I'll be able to stop asking so many questions.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice / comments.

Lol - I'm a long way from a "gushing optimist".  Even raising my eyebrows at some of the other disclaimers and such I'm finding in papers.  Really starting to wonder how many storage places do bid on auctions if they reserve the right and also how many reject a bid.  I would think they would be happy to reclaim any money.  Shrug - it will be a learning expirence and soon I'll be able to stop asking so many questions.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice / comments.

In my area, all they really care about is if it just gets out of there space so they can rent it out again. Seen them go for only a dollar or 5 dollars at times. Just take notes of which facilities will rather hold onto a unit if it dont sell at a certain bid. Then also take not on auctioneers. Most of the time, the auctioneer wont let it go below x amount of dollars. I have one here who wont sell a unit if it does not go over 50 dollars. and another who wont let it go below 20 dollars. Which I can understand, since they are there to make money too.

Statisically, the bad lkrs are going to outnumber the good ones I would guess....and I think that's a pretty safe ALWAYS statement. 

I beg to differ with this statement. On auction hunters, you hear them say that they lose money on 80% of the lockers they buy.

I just don't understand where this mentality comes from. If I lost money on 8 out of 10 units, I would have been out of the business a long time ago.

Not to brag, but I bought about a hundred lockers in a 7 month period last year. I can count on one hand how many lockers I lost money on, and if I did lose money, it wasn't much. On a bad unit, I would pretty much break even. On most units I doubled my money.

Once again, I just don't see where this come from. You don't have to lose money in this business if you bid conservatively.

I beg to differ with this statement. On auction hunters, you hear them say that they lose money on 80% of the lockers they buy.

I just don't understand where this mentality comes from. If I lost money on 8 out of 10 units, I would have been out of the business a long time ago.

Not to brag, but I bought about a hundred lockers in a 7 month period last year. I can count on one hand how many lockers I lost money on, and if I did lose money, it wasn't much. On a bad unit, I would pretty much break even. On most units I doubled my money.

Once again, I just don't see where this come from. You don't have to lose money in this business if you bid conservatively.

If I saw 10 and only liked 2 then I would say 8 were "bad". Not that they couldn't make money if the price was right, just that they didn't strike me as something I wanted to buy. Lord you could buy any number of lockers if you lowered your standards enough.

On Auction Hunters if they bought 100 lkrs and lost money on 80% of them (maybe paid $10,000 and only sold stuff for $9,000) they certainly would have "lost" a $1,000, but on the 20% that did REALLY WELL, they could easily make up that loss and THEN SOME. 

That's the difference between my style of buying. I'll buy anything if I can make money on it. Some people don't want to fool with a unit that is unorganized or that requires a lot of heavy lifting. That works to my advantage. I'll buy the units others don't want because you tend to get the best deals on them.