Hi Cobia,
I am Kevin with Sealed Online Bids. I haven't checked this site in quite a while (months), but what a coincidence.
Actually, we are almost rounding our THIRD year of business. We honestly started this business model before the TV shows even began airing the teasers - probably a year before the shows started.
Business is great for us and growing daily - if you have any direct questions, please feel free to ask.
Have a great day,
Kevin Gorzny
Sealed Online Bids
801-893-1345
Kevin,
I will make a suggestion here in public that others can read and perhaps if they agree, they can call you or the facilities and ask to ammend the process.
The primary problem with the online auction format is the lack of sensory information bidders get from attending a live auction as opposed to an online auction. Since it's the facilities taking the photographs, there are often multiple problems with the photographs being used to show the units on the website. Blurry photos, grainy photos, photos at strange angles, photos were the subject is too dark or too light, bad use of flash, multiple photos of useless information (I don't need 2 photos of a closed storage door to verify which unit I am bidding on). Photos also do not properly show depth perception & often do not reveal what can be seen in the back of longer units. There are also other clues that bidders use to determine the value of a unit, for instance are there any noxious odors coming from the unit? (rotting food, dead animals, gasoline or other potentially dangerous chemicals); How much dust is on the surface of the boxes and such? Can't see that in the photos. Has the dust been disturbed? (fingerprints & footsteps that tell use the boxes have been gone through). Any visable water damage on the boxes & furniture? Smell of mold? The photos are not detailed enough to sight water damage. How about just the condition of furniture? A clean piece of furniture is a lot more valueable then a piece of furniture with many scratches, scraps, nicks, etc. that can't be seen in those photos.
I'll get to my point.
I believe your service and the facility will realize greater support & higher bids if they offered a preview day and a guaranteed lock out. Advertise a time and a day for all potential bidders to preview the unit before the online auction starts. All the manager would have to do is gather the crowd, open the door for say 5 or 10 minutes then close it, and direct them to the website were they can bid on it. A guarantee that the unit will not be re-entered by anyone (barring emergencies) until the winning bidder arrives to claim their property would be great too.
I realize one of the reasons for using the online auction site is so a facility manager or owner doesn't lose the whole day conducting the auction, and doesn't have a huge crowd on site, but having a preview day wouldn't take up nearly as much time as conducting an auction, and the added benefits of having more & higher bidding would probably make up for the trouble.