Seattle Auctions AFTER Unreality Television Storage Shows!

Man, I went on one of the Storage runs yesterday.  This was one where they had 10 facilities and 40-50 units for sale.  It was BRUTAL!!!  Just since last month (which already had some stupid prices), prices have skyrocketed on units.  A typical 300-400 unit was selling for 900-1150!  A one dollar garbage unit was selling for 25-80 bucks!  WTF?  How do these people expect to make any money?  I have plenty of cash to be buying these things up if I want to, but I'm not STUPID!  The whole atmosphere has changed......instead of bidding on value you can see in the unit and spending a reasonable amount that will just about guarantee you will at least get your money back, these guys are "rolling the dice" and hoping they are going to find some valuable hidden treasure in the back.  For most of them, it's not going to happen, and, it's not just the new guys doing it.  Hopefully this is just a quick fad and the auctions will turn out to be like January and February are for the gym.....lot's of activity for a while and then things are back to normal by March!   

Yea I think it will take until spring for most the noobies to die out.

Yes I went to a auction today they had 26 units at one facility. I ended up with 3 units two were one dollar each one was $200.  I bid what I thought was stupid prices on 3 other units and did not get them.  The crowd was only about 30 people but even us regulars seemed to be bidding to high.  I cleaned out the units and the one dollar unit had a Harley exhaust system and front wheel in it.  I think I did okay on it. The other had over a dollar in change and some tools but I have not sorted through everything yet. The $200 unit should have been a $100 though it looks okay I will still need some luck to make any money on it. Best hing about the second dollar unit was that when I got my change back the clerk gave me a 1966 Kennedy half which is a 40% silver coin worth more then the dollar I paid for the unit so the unit was free.  There was one unit that no one not even I would buy all it had were mattresses and a old TV in it. Oh one unit sold for $350 that was a bid and hold in July in July the bid was $600 I guess it got redeemed then now it sells for less and it was a unit worth $350 IMHO.  My son bought a $25 unit which is what used to be a $5 unit.  He got some DVD and some junk. 

I skipped that one.  Sounds like I should have gone to it!  Oh well, lot's of auctions coming up next week.  I'll spend a little time over the next few days cleaning out the warehouse so I'll have plenty of room to bring in some new stuff then.

Did another run today got 2 units one was a 10X10 for $250 full of mostly boxes and bags, unloaded it and it looks like a hoarder, lot of odd older things not sure of value yet but I got a ton of video games and systems. Other was a 10X10 and it had a air compressor showing a Smith and Wesson Air compressor no less. Cost was $170 and it has 2 pieces of antique furniture.  Prices were higher then they had been but only about 30 people showed up.  I think that being only a couple days before Christmas is why so few showed up.  I am done shopping this month my garage is to full to enter right now and I have one load still on the truck/

Today the scene was a little better than it was last week.  Maybe people on vacation still or something, I don't know.  Anyway, picked up four units today for a little over 800 total, and got some really nice stuff.  Got auctions every day this week, but going to try to get these four all cleaned out tomorrow afternoon.  It's just me and one more guy, and we both have trailers, so we may be working a little later than I like but should be able to get it done.

Sounds more or less normal 4 units for $800.  Let us know if you find anything great.

I got three totally cleaned out today and went to another auction.  I didn't buy anything today, lot's of new faces at a silent auction, and prices were going crazy.  I think the facility owners are loving this new action, they are finally getting most of their money back on delinquent units!

Anyway, I just did a quick sort to separate out the personals and got everything else stuffed in the trailer, so haven't really done a thorough inventory yet.  But, some of the goodies so far are:  Really nice microfiber sectional (should be able to get 400-500 anyway, it looks new), the already mentioned Air Compressor....nice Campbell/Hausfield 80 gallon upright (pretty sure it's already sold for 400), a black leather couch and love seat, all kinds of tools......air compressor guy was a concrete guy, so all kinds of concrete finishing tools and various hand tools in that unit, a bunch of brand new in the boxes small kitchen appliances (looks like maybe wedding gifts, most everything from Macy's), a nice outdoor gas BBQ, a bunch of paintings, a HP Laptop (running Vista, so not totally ancient, and in very good condition), a couple of fairly large tv's, and outdoor patio furniture set, lot's of DVD's and some CD's, some clothes I haven't really had a chance to look at yet, but did notice some nice shoes and athletic gear, and other misc. stuff.  Overall, very happy with the purchases so far!

Sounds like you got a winner

Well, ended out my auction week with a total of 7 units.  I've got five cleaned out so far and two to clean tomorrow, then the fun starts of digging through all the stuff so I can find out what I actually got!  It helps in this game if you have a place to store the stuff until you can process it!

Sounds to me you will be smiling all the way to the bank with your units.

Good work!