Good Part Time Income??

True story Cobia!

On 4/1 I won 4 lockers. Haven't bought one since. I still have stuff to post on CL and inventory for the flea market. That day marked the first, and probably last day I'll buy 4 units. With that day, came the added expense of renting a storage unit/flea market space, had to rent a truck to get my stuff there in one shot, and my weekends are now consumed with getting rid of this stuff! But I love it!

Is $500 - $1000 doable, I would say yes depending on your location.  As a part-timer it will be much harder.  If you have a 5 day, 9-5 type job you will miss 90% of the auctions.  If you work nights, or shift-work it's more doable as long as you are willing to give up some sleep and/or any free time you have.

Out of 27 units last year I cleared $1360 before I got lazy and didn't track my sales/purchases.  That was me selling 10 times at the flea market and selling some items on ebay.  Very casual buying and selling.

This year - I've not kept up with it that much.  I mostly sell at my buddies store (50/50) split.  I avg about $30-50 every week in income.  The store is only open 3 days a week.  90% of my sells are smalls.  Most of my inventory now is coming from yard sales as the prices for units are just still to high for profit.  I can buy a $1 item at the yard sale and sell it for $8-$10 in the store. 

At the flea market, the smalls are selling like crazy. I have a sectional couch for $200 and a double lounge/chaise for $100. I can't move these pieces! I think I've got it priced really well, almost at a steal.. just can't move the big pieces.

The auction prices are still ridiculous. Today I saw 17 units. Didn't come away with anything either because they were too junky or too expensive. I can either buy a poop locker for $1-$25 or a decent locker for $400+.. There's no happy medium recently.

At the flea market, the smalls are selling like crazy. I have a sectional couch for $200 and a double lounge/chaise for $100. I can't move these pieces! I think I've got it priced really well, almost at a steal.. just can't move the big pieces.

Yeah, I'm having a hard time moving the larger pieces as well. I think it may have something to do with the April 15th tax deadline or people owing the IRS.

At the flea market, the smalls are selling like crazy. I have a sectional couch for $200 and a double lounge/chaise for $100. I can't move these pieces! I think I've got it priced really well, almost at a steal.. just can't move the big pieces.

In my experience, bedding, chairs, sofas, loveseats almost always take longer to sell. There is a big difference in yuk factor for someone to buy a used dining table compared to a used sofa. For me, sofas & loveseats tend to take 2 to 3 times longer to sell, so if you think they are priced right just let them ride. Very nice sofa & loveseat sets that are worth more money will take even longer to sell. I've held sets for six months waiting for the right customer to spend more then $500 on a USED set.

Is $500 - $1000 doable, I would say yes depending on your location.  As a part-timer it will be much harder.  If you have a 5 day, 9-5 type job you will miss 90% of the auctions.  If you work nights, or shift-work it's more doable as long as you are willing to give up some sleep and/or any free time you have.

Out of 27 units last year I cleared $1360 before I got lazy and didn't track my sales/purchases.  That was me selling 10 times at the flea market and selling some items on ebay.  Very casual buying and selling.

This year - I've not kept up with it that much.  I mostly sell at my buddies store (50/50) split.  I avg about $30-50 every week in income.  The store is only open 3 days a week.  90% of my sells are smalls.  Most of my inventory now is coming from yard sales as the prices for units are just still to high for profit.  I can buy a $1 item at the yard sale and sell it for $8-$10 in the store.

Hey Craigs, when you gonna update your forum profile to show the units you won?

this is just my personal opinion but you really have to love what you do to be in storage auctions. there are other businesses that are going to be less time, less work and better margins. with storage auctions there's a thrill to the surprise of whats going to be in the unit, many people find it enjoyable networking and talking with others at auctions as well as when selling at flea markets and garage sales. if your strictly looking for some side money there's better ways but if you actually enjoy what you do yes y ou can make some money

Be aware that around Feb., March and April people get their tax refunds and are able to pay for their units. Things really slow down around those months.

First off, I do enjoy it.  Thrill of hunt.  Like the researching of items.  All that.
It's a hobby.

As far as part time income it's the best for me.
I can make a lot more in autobody, detail.....maybe even a second job at times.

But all of it I have to set aside time and work around other people's schedules.

But this is the only thing I can do truly in my spare time.  Watching TV at 11pm I can research and list.
Find I have a Saturday morning free?  Go picking.    Hour here, hour there?  Work on refurbishing items.

Plus, since my accident I can't do a lot of he physical things I once did.  Reselling?  I just concentrate on smalls.     I hurt or have migraines unexpectedly?  Doesn't affect my sales.

I've never wanted this to be a job.  Have to count on sales.  Simply a little extra to build up the emergency fund, pay for trips, buy non-needed stuff like T-bone instead of New York cuts......and most important, find items I want or need WAY cheaper then retail.

Are we still talking storage auctions, or did we switch to the stock market, or casinos? 

i actually would argue it is a business for the underfunded. obviouslythe bigger bank roll hte bigger the possibility in terms of buying more units, buying better units, etc. The beauty of auctions however is that its  possible to buy a $25 locker. waht other business can you start with $25. i bought my first locker with the last $300 i had to my name and wound up making a few grand off it. thats few and far between but the beauty of it is it doesn't take a whole lot of startup money

I’m really finding this quite informative. As a self storage manager, we appreciate the auctions a lot because it does help us to clear units out and help us get them ready for the next users. I'd love to chip in my 2 cents - have any of you decided to go into collaborations for storage auction units? I would think that as long as each party puts in the same amount of effort as the other, you can cover twice the number of units, halve the costs of clearing and share the haul. More importantly is finding the right partner to get into this kind of thing into, but they always say 2 heads are better than 1!

I've been doing this since December and have purchased two units and have made around $1500 total for the last three months with the potential for a lot more on those two. I've been to a lot more auctions, but have waited to purchase till the price and items were right for me.

For me, this is a great part time job/hobby that I do out of my garage and house. I have a full time job (teacher) that gives me health benefits, bills paid, and regular time off. I see this as capable for a lot of people part time that have the time to put into it. Going full time requires a lot more capitol, resources, and infrastructure that a lot of people don't have.

In the end, it has been a lot of work, but I have really enjoyed the process and am learning as much as I can.

TraderA - glad to have you here. Yeah, this business is great for part time income and it's a lot of fun. Plus, you get to keep a lot of cool stuff for yourself. As a teacher, this is the ideal part time business for you since you have summers off.

TraderA - glad to have you here. Yeah, this business is great for part time income and it's a lot of fun. Plus, you get to keep a lot of cool stuff for yourself. As a teacher, this is the ideal part time business for you since you have summers off.

Thanks for the welcome!

Yeah, it has worked out very well so far. There are lots of ways to go about this and tons of auctions every week, with some on the weekend which is where I scored my last locker. Spring Break is just around the corner and I'm hitting three auctions next week.

The thing I like about this the most is that if I don't want to work, I don't have too and I won't have to worry about not paying the bills. So part time is great for me.

     If you know how to work the system you can make a TON of money part time. There is a local loophole so i can dump anything free because they charge me a $3 landfill bill every month with my water. If you are doing this part time there is NO reason to go to an auction more than 10 15 minutes away(unless you live way out in the boonies). I personally dont go further than that unless i just cant find an auction(and i do this full time btw) sometimes ill go to nashville which is about an hour away. DONT rent a Uhaul. if you rent a uhaul 10 times thats $1500-$2000, you can get a pickup for that, another $500 and you can get a trailor. DONT hire help. I'm 5 10' and about 140 lbs. so not a big guy, but i can load a fridge or a buffet on my own. use rolling carts, a truck, a winch and you should be able to unload anything. I had ZERO overhead before i had the store and was consistently processing and selling between $500-800 per week working out of my garage about 15 hours a week. only about half of that was profit and I flipped things FAST because i had no warehouse.

Bottom line, the only expense I had when i started was unit cost and a new smart phone. Keep the expenses down and the profit flows nice