I have another question

I went to an auction last night! I got there a little early so I could sign in and what not, only to find out there is no sign in, ok not a problem.. So the auction was posted in the paper to start at 5:15, but it started at 5:05, there was no auctioneer, it was the owner of the storage units.

So on to my question, is it the norm to start auctions earlier then what is posted in the paper? And is it also an accepted practice not to have a registration for the buyers?

I don't have that much experience but the auctions I've gone to you do have to sign in here in Florida. But they start the auction earlier then advertised, they usually start it just as soon as the last person to leave the last facility signs in if it is a caravan auction.

I've shown up 30min early a few times to find it has already taken place or finishing up.
Caravans get done quick at previous facilities or just plain old change of time.


Don't know the law here on signing in but have been to a couple with no sign in. All the big facilities make you sign.
It's all for the benifit of facility and auctioneer so I don't care about signing in.  Sometimes I even skip it if I'm not in a buying mood but want to at least check the units out, just in case.   As long as I have cash to pay no one seems to care much......

Thank you all for the information..

In my area we never start early.  They have to follow the time as posted in the paper.  Now we have started later many times, but never early.  Only once can I think of a time we started early.  Was our 7 facility caravan.  We were done with the 4th location and 5 + 6 didn't have any.  So instead of standing around for 2 hours the auctioneer said we would go and auction the 1 room as a bid/hold till time of the sale.  So instead of 20 of us standing around, only the person that won the unit had to wait for the auction time.

Now - a few places are bad about starting late.  Or if it's a caravan the other facilities are later than what is posted in the paper.  One of my 3 facilities post in the paper 4:30, 5:00, 5:30 so that we don't have to wait around once we start.

All of the places around me make you sign in.  The difference is, some just require a name and phone number, while some others actually copy your license.

Also, our caravans usually list individually in the legal notices, but have the same starting time.  U-Haul is a good example - they list six different locations/auctions, but the starting time is always 8am for every one.  They always start at the same place, and hit the six facilities in the same order every month. 

Like Craig said, makes things move along without a lot of waiting.