Been buying and selling in various forms for over three years as a sideline to my fulltime job. Whatever you do, DO NOT USE NEEDED 'OTHER' MONEY to take a chance on storage units. Use only what you can afford to lose without hurting yourself. Thats my first piece of advice. I started by selling items I didn't need or that were just hanging around the house as nice to have or look ats. I'm lucky as my wife has supported me whole heartedly in making this happen. That said, I laid down a rule for myself that until I sold enough stuff from my extra tools etc etc to put together 2000 in seed money that I wasn't going to get into it. Remember that besides just buying a locker (and the prices have gone up) you have gas to and from auctions (win or lose) you have hauling and dumping fees to get rid of junk, you have gas to take stuff to auctions and some consignment shops to sell and possibly some storage fees of your own if you don't have a large enough space at home to sort the locker once you get one. Remember there are these back end costs. So figure it this way............IMHO

1400 to bid with, 300 expenses and 300 dump / disposal fees. To some that may be high but that way you are safe. Again, just my opinion.

Hey Teach..........where are you at? Anywhere near Atlanta?

Bigger crowds = inexperienced bidders = more money for the house and auctioneer...........

I'd imagine that from a legal standpoint the renter of the unit is owner of all space from the threshold backward into the unit and as such you are entering without permission until the unit is sold. That said, if I were the auctioneer, I'd excersize that kind of control myself because if you don't things get out of hand and the next thing is someone stepping inside just a foot to get a better view. Rules are rules. On the other hand, I went to a weekend auction here in North Georgia and the auctioneer and owner opened up all the units to be sold an hour before the auction and let EVERYONE go into the units and rummage around. Didn't say a thing to anyone. My thought is he did that because he wanted people to know what was really in there so he'd get higher bids and in fact he did. The units he sold went for double (easily) what they should have.

What works for me is my Avalanche and a trailer (5x10) and if extra help, my son brings his Dodge Ram pick up. I'd suggest that if you need a new ride anyway, buy an SUV and even a small trailer. That way you get the best of both. My 5x10 cost me 500 new and you can find them for less used. Also, If it's raining, I have a 10x20 gray tarp that I lay partly in the bottom front of the trailer (so water doesn't splash up from the bottom) with the majority of it folded up on the trailer tongue. Then I load the trailer and when it's full, pull the rest of the tarp up the front of the load and over the top sort of like a taco..lol. Easy and keeps stuff dry and when done fold it up for the next run. 

Personally I take exception with your Belly aching comment. Not BA about added bidders thats just business, BA'ing about looky loos who have no intenion of bidding and are there with the families like its a picnic because they saw a show. I hope anyone who is serious about this is successful (including me) but there is also no place for arrogance either........nuf said.

Sheesh, I normally don't go to auctions on weekends but decided to go to one today. 11 units mostly trash bid on two and didn't win, which was ok. Problem is that the normal 10 or 12 people on the circuit had grown to over a hundred looky loos. Only 3 or 4 of us were bidding and all the rest were just crowding around taking up space and time like it was some sort of athletic event. People who must have been watching the tv shows and were curious or nosy. Women with babies in strollers, whole families of mom dad and 3 or 4 kids from age 2 to 15 or so. What should have taken an hour took three and a half.  Then on top of that when the single decent unit came up, a couple of the Looky Loo Daddies decide to show their bidding prowess and run the bids up to three times what the unit showed as worth...........The normals on the circuit (me too) just quit and walked away. Guess we'll have to put up with it until they get their taste and fill of the show..........Sorry everyone just felt like venting............