We make and sell signs and vinyl stickers there.  pretty slow.

Portland, OR is 3/4 the size of austin, and has several large adjacent cities as well...might not be a bad one.

So I decided to contact the owners of a locker to see how it would go.  Overall pretty well!  And...worth it I think.  So this is how and why:

1. I use a Google voice number.  Not linked to me or anything I do.  This is my "i am going to talk to potentially bad people" number.

2. I'm polite, explain I've lost my own locker before, and tell them I went through and got a bunch of their photos out-and left them with the storage facility for them to retrieve free of charge, and ask if there was anything they might want that has personal value that isn't a photo etc.

3. I don't call voice, I do this through text messages.

Now...why?

Well to be honest...Karma.  90% of people dont KNOW they get their pictures back. 

and....it sometimes tells me things I didn't know.  For example if they ask for a item back, investigating it has revealed that the $2 item is actually a $400 item.  Yes that item your grandfather gave you before he died is of immense personal value to you.....uh huh. 

On the other hand...that cast that has a signature of your deceased husband on it for your daughter whose dad passed away?  Yeah I can arrange for that to be given back by adding it to the box at the facility.

So far most people have been very appreciative surprisingly enough.  I'm still never meeting them in person.

So I'm showing my wife some collectables I found in a handbag.  She sees the handbag and is all excited.  What?  Its just a bag, wait til you see whats inside!

Shes not impressed by the contents.  the bag however...

WTH is wrong with people?  This bag is apparently worth some money-couple hundred!  Even more perturbing is discussing it with a friend....I learn my friend owns a bag....she paid 19K for it....on Sale!  She got it instead of a engagement ring. 

What the heck is wrong with humanity that anyone would pay that much for a handbag?  Even worse...the 19K one...is white....she takes it out about once a year.

Even the one we found doesn't look THAT special.  Yes everything on its perfect, the stitching is perfect, etc...but still...its just a hand bag!  And its not even great bragging rights as you have to look closely to see the name on the buttons. 

My mind boggles.  On the other hand...we've also ran into some truly truly expensive clothing as well.  Even used some of its going for 100+

Then theres me.  A $8 shirt, $30 pants, $30 wallet, $50 wedding ring (titanium carbide-amazon sells for abut $50 jewelry shops $500....same ring), $120 shoes (I do spend on shoes as the really good ones aren't cheap-but oh so worth it).  And $300 glasses (Bendable!).  The things I spend money on I spend for their usage.  I cant imagine spending 19K....for a brand name.  Really?

Lockers are a fascinating insight into humanity.

You would be wrong on how many pay taxes on this business

I know I do, as do several others locally.  Course we do our best to minimize those taxes as much as we can like any business owner, but I assure you, we pay them.

I live in a metropolitan area, so I tend not to know the people whose lockers i am buying.  But that being said...in this day of everyone having a online presence its not hard to find them. 

I bring up her Facebook, no mutual friends.  OK.  I bring up her friends list...2 people have a mutual friend with me.  So she is a friends, friends friend.  4 degrees of separation.  And the thing I realize is....I need to be a LOT more circumspect about buying lockers on my facebook page.  It wouldn't be that hard for these people to find out about me through that as a result of others talking about it.....  And lets be honest here....some of these people losing their lockers are great kind people.....others......well I've read their jail correspondence, and their letters from before they went to jail.  In some cases I've read their psychological reports they sent to the judge!  Not people I want finding me.

Actually read them-very few have to deal with us getting their property.  Rather its managers or employees stealing their stuff (and we have all seen enough of this we KNOW its occurring), unexpected fees, and rats, water damage, etc etc. 

A lot of people lose their stuff and don't complain.  Interestingly enough while i am in the business of buying lockers, when I was younger I lost a locker.  It is what it is.  The only thing I hated back then was that none of my photos were returned.