Storage Auctions
The Storage Locker => New to Storage Auctions? => Topic started by: meholcom on October 19, 2011, 06:21:24 PM
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My dad and I will be going to our first storage auction this Saturday. We live in rural NC and the auction will be held here. We discussed that it might be more advantageous to travel to more populated areas, but still in NC (i.e. Raleigh, Charlotte). I wanted to ask the veterans if they have had better luck in urban areas than in rural areas. It seems that urban areas would have better stuff since the people there have convenient access to bigger, better stores. I would appreciate anyone's advice.
Thanks - Melissa
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My dad and I will be going to our first storage auction this Saturday. We live in rural NC and the auction will be held here. We discussed that it might be more advantageous to travel to more populated areas, but still in NC (i.e. Raleigh, Charlotte). I wanted to ask the veterans if they have had better luck in urban areas than in rural areas. It seems that urban areas would have better stuff since the people there have convenient access to bigger, better stores. I would appreciate anyone's advice.
Thanks - Melissa
Not necessarily true. But with a small town you are almost gurantee to run into more than one whale. But in a populated location, you may not have any bidding against you. As far as valuables, it can go either way. Also keep in mind, the rich and well to do are starting to move out of the city and into the rural areas.
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I hadn't thought about rich people moving out of the city. This is true, however, it seems that rich people would not fall behind on their payments, unless they lost their job or something. Thank you for the reply. We'll find out this Saturday!
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I hadn't thought about rich people moving out of the city. This is true, however, it seems that rich people would not fall behind on their payments, unless they lost their job or something. Thank you for the reply. We'll find out this Saturday!
They do die. Sometimes family does not know (or care) about the locker.
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I think sometimes the more rural you have older and more established families and the lockers can reflect this.Especially older and not new chain storage places.
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The advantages to going to auctions in the larger cities is that there are a lot more auctions occurring every day.
The advantages to going to suburban and rural auctions is that the crowds are typically smaller; therefore you can typically buy a unit at a lower cost.
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Sounds like we might be better off going to auctions where we are rather than in a larger area. I'm not sure what a "whale" is, though. Does anyone care to explain? Thanks for all the advice, guys!
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Sounds like we might be better off going to auctions where we are rather than in a larger area. I'm not sure what a "whale" is, though. Does anyone care to explain? Thanks for all the advice, guys!
A "Whale" is a discription of a bidder in the storage auction business who exhibits certain traits. These traits can include, but not limited to:
1. Local auction buyer who buys high numbers of storage units per year.
2. Local auction buyer who always or nearly always wins the best of the best storage units that come up for auction.
3. Local auction buyer who protects their territory by "running up" the bids on which ever units the choose, making it dificult for other buyers to win units or win a profitable unit for low initial investment.
4. Regional auction buyer who has an operation large enough to attend auctions in different cities through out the week, and even have representation at different auctions on the same day.
Others can probably give other discriptions, but I think this gives you a good picture of who a "Whale" is.
One of the pitfalls of small town auctions are the small town "whales" who will bid anything to protect thier territory, very few people can do this effectively in larger cities, just too many auctions with too many units available.
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Thanks for the clarification. Sounds like a whale is the storage auction version of an a**hole!
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I attend all the auctions in the Charlotte a area, and have been to the ones in Raliegh and other areas. You are not missing anything special, I no longer travel more than 50 miles one way, just too expensive. Good luck with all yor auctions.
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Thanks for the clarification. Sounds like a whale is the storage auction version of an a**hole!
Pretty close....Our first Auction there was a Whale but now we call him Romeo was hitting up on another bidder... LOL Found out at our next Auction he bought 14 units out of 25 available.. He was a noobie with money to spend don't think we will see him again prices to high...Just go and watch and see what is happening. We went to the next closest Auction after our first to see who were the regulars.... Still no locker tho : ( Keep us posted on how it goes.
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I believe you when you say there is nothing better in Charlotte & Raleigh but I live in the middle of nowhere, NC where there are few auctions going on. I would like to hit at least one a week at some point. I'm going to keep researching and calling around to find auctions that are close by.
I hope I don't run into a whale at the auctions. I got the idea to do this from my neighbor's boyfriend. He is dumb as a box of rocks and it's hard to have a conversation with him. With that said, I think, if he can make money at the local auctions...ANYBODY can!! Or in other words, the whales around here must be manageable.
I'll keep everyone posted on our first auction. Saturday isn't far off!
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I would say city auctions just do to the volume of auctions going on. The more units you get to see the better
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I finally made it to the auction. It was a total bust. After they had us lined up, they announced that they would be selling some items from each unit by the piece and then the rest of the contents would be sold as a unit. Some guy paid 6 dollars for a wooden barrel that contained a dry rotted water hose and a kid's sand shovel. Me and my dad just stood back and laughed at these fools. A mounted deer head was pulled out to be auctioned and the auctioneer looked at it and told the kid dragging the stuff out to "hold off on that". I guess the auctioneer is too lazy to shoot his own deer or maybe just a bad shot. I assume that after all the "good" stuff was out, the auctioneer wanted one of us to pay him to let us haul the rest to the dump. I'm disappointed but not daunted. I will find a good auction that doesn't involve false advertising and cherry picking.
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Thanks for the clarification. Sounds like a whale is the storage auction version of an a**hole!
A "whale" is generally someone who has been in the business long before the storage auction shows popped up on tv and destroyed the market.
They have huge buying power and a lot of know-how. They can buy 5 large lockers and have them cleaned out in 24 hours, and be back the next day and purchase 5 more.
I wouldn't quantify them as an ass hole just because they have a family to support and a business to run.
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They have huge buying power and a lot of know-how. They can buy 5 large lockers and have them cleaned out in 24 hours, and be back the next day and purchase 5 more.
I wouldn't quantify them as an ass hole just because they have a family to support and a business to run.
That is the best description of a whale. To someone trying to score a locker against one thinks in their head a**hole. But all in it for the money. And we all strive to be the Whale. : ). (They have huge buying power and a lot of know-how.)
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Any of the auction whales can be retards or they can be great. One of our local whales everyone jokes with, laughs at, etc. Only time you don't like him is during the bidding. As one of my girls asked about where one of my friends were, I laughed and said during the auction you have no friends.
As for the original topic - I would take the auction with the most units 2 hours or so before you leave for them. City auctions will have more units and happen more often. You can find good or bad stuff in both.
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I just got back from a Auction in Tomball Tx. I thought there wouldn't be anyone there. It was out there and there were 4 units. By the time the auction started there were around 60 people. The crowd seemed to grow as the last couple units were shown. Units went for way to much.
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I just got back from a Auction in Tomball Tx. I thought there wouldn't be anyone there. It was out there and there were 4 units. By the time the auction started there were around 60 people. The crowd seemed to grow as the last couple units were shown. Units went for way to much.
You will see that no matter where you go. Really need to get to those auctions that are not highly advertised. The less advertisement, the better your chances of hardly anybody being there. Also it helps if there is several different auctions going on at the same time that are fairly far apart in distance. If you choose the right one, there will be less people there.
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I'm headed to another auction today. I'm praying that we find something. We have been to two other auctions thus far and have found nothing worth buying. Maybe today will be the day we find our first locker. There are very few auctions around here and the few that are here, are held on Saturdays. There is another one here that will be this Saturday. I called the facility and they said they had 150 people at the last auction they had. This town has been hit hard by the economy and many people are working for less and looking to make extra money on the side to make up the difference and many have no jobs at all and are able to come to auctions held during the week. In this immediate area, it doesn't matter if it's on Saturday or Monday, there will be lots of people there. I am one of those out of work people. Maybe I'll luck up and find a job this coming year. To all the regulars: when you see a large crowd of noobs, don't be too hard on us. We are just trying to survive in a down economy like anyone else. We aren't trying to throw the regulars or the whales that have been doing this for years under the bus.
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I am a nooby too. I don't get intimidated by anyone. I won't pay retail price, and I can run up the bid just like a whale can lol. I definately learned those auctions held in smaller towns might be out of my price range though. I found a auction last week with 30 units but didn't get a chance to go. Monday there is one much closer to home in a big city with 30 units. Happy hunting:-)