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.