I spent a few hours researching the unit owners for this auction. There were three units I was interested in. Two of those belonged to the same person. The day of auction I felt like I had a really good idea of what might be in these units.
When the first unit of two opened up I knew I had to have it. A 10 X 30 packed full. Bidding started at $100.00. As I bid the unit up higher and higher I started getting very nervous. At $1100.00 ($100.00 below my max) the auctioneer yelled sold.
Now I am sick to my stomach. My mind is racing. What have I just done? Oh My Gosh I just spent $1100.00 on a unit. What if it sucks? I want to throw up. This is not the reaction I expected to have! Four months of bidding and I finely won my first unit.  I though I would be so exited.
Calls go out to the family. All trucks and trailers available to the unit. We have to get this stuff moved! Reactions are not happy.
Everything comes back to the shop. We start digging through it all. Exclamations start coming from here and there. My family is having a ball. When we finely notice the time it is midnight.
The first one was sure a roller coaster of emotions but it ended up being a great unit. I was into profit within three days and though there was dread it evaporated pretty quickly. Deducting costs we made somewhere around $1600.00 on it. Not to shabby for the first gamble. (the second unit by this owner was the bedroom mostly so I got the better of the two).

Went to a sale on Saturday. Usually the weekend sales are packed. I was really surprised to see only five other bidders there. First unit had some furniture, a very old jet ski, mattresses, and some boxes. Everything looked pretty rough. Went for $180.00.
Second unit the lock was cut and the door wouldn't come open. Manager started questioning if we were at the right unit. Turns out we were not. Lucky for him the door wouldn't open.
Next unit (true #2) had a twin bed, small flat screen tv and two boxes of xmas decorations. Went for $30.00.
Third unit had a few tool and a refrigerator that blocked most of the vision. $10.00 won me that one.
Forth unit was a 10 X 30. The smell when it was open was awful. Manager said the people lived in it at one time. You could only see the first 5 feet. Went for $225.00.
Fifth unit was full of office furniture. Went for $10.00.

My unit ended up with a 2007 Whirlpool side by side refrigerator with ice and water in the door. Sold the next day for $450.00. Tow straps, clamps, and a few other mics. sold to my dad for $50.00. There are several pairs of mens tennis shoes and boot, three pairs of brass knuckles, two sets of boxing gloves, a portable dvd player I sold for $20.00, a few other things I can sell for a few bucks. I should clear between $600 and $700 dollars on this one. Not to bad for a few hours labor.

It really depends on how far I am driving and if I know the sizes of the units. Close is just the car or sometimes the truck. If I am going a distance I will take the truck and trailer. If the auction is far and I know the units are small I usually just take the truck.

I love to point out the cost of dump fees. Around here the worst thing is the dump fees for things like mattresses and couches. Upholstered chairs are $10.00, couches are $20.00, mattresses are $25.00 and god forbid you have to junk a hide-a-bed you get charged for both $45.00. Most of the time newbies run from such things.

In the investment circles we call that a short sale.

I'll have to remember that just in case the auctioneer ever gets mad because I sold something before I paid for it. LOL

My very first unit had a Bose radio in it. I was uneducated about such things and put a $30.00 price tag on it in the store. My husband (the electronics expert and hoarder) flipped out when he saw the price. Needless to say it went on e-bay and sold for $175.00.
Twice since then I have found speakers. One set is now in his garage and the other is hooked to a vintage receiver here in the store. The speakers are not for sale as they sound so good I sell the heck out of old receivers with them.

At one sale only two of us showed. The manager was mad at the owner because he changed their regular day from Saturday to Friday so she did the auction just to spite him. Scored 5 out of 7 units and the other person was just there to look because she didn't bid. Total of $335.00. This was a silent bid auction so I bid a little more than I would have otherwise.
One of these units was the best one I have ever seen. I've made over $10,000 on these units and still have over $8000.00 worth of high end art in the store. Art is slow right now and some of it I will hate to see go because it brings a lot of people into the store just to see it.

I like that word Auction Barn!

The one here is actually a metal barn located in the middle of a field where horses are boarded. We have always called it the auction barn. Stinks like horse poop, it's hot in the summer and cold in the winter but hey we are used to it after all of these years. It is just how it works in the country. At least it is dry.