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Messages - blaknite

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16
What's it Worth?? / Re: Alcohol Stove
« on: January 14, 2014, 04:59:57 PM »
Was thinking it'd make a pretty good item for a prepper.  (emergency stove)  Might try to market it that way.  Crazies who think the world is coming to an end pay high prices for the wierdest junk...

17
What's it Worth?? / Re: Alcohol Stove
« on: January 13, 2014, 08:49:58 PM »
No real reason, Just caught my eye is all.   Usually when something catches my eye 2 minutes on google or ebay and I have a pretty good idea what it is and is worth.  This one I couldn't find anything on.

18
What's it Worth?? / Alcohol Stove
« on: January 13, 2014, 08:23:24 PM »
I've seen a fair number of alcohol stoves, but usually they're very small for backpackers.  First one I've seen like this.  The enamel color on it, as well as the age of most things from this unit leads me to think 1970's.  Beyond that I can't identify a brand or any way to assign a value.


poohboy.com/ebay/20140113_190156.jpg
poohboy.com/ebay/20140113_190229.jpg
poohboy.com/ebay/20140113_190239.jpg

The label lead me towards the possibility of it being a fondue heater, but the design looks more like a stove.  Much shorter and closer to the flame than the fondue sets I see online.

19
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Do facilities in your area sell the best units toward the end of the auction ?
« on: January 07, 2014, 04:05:53 PM »
One chain starts at the unit furthest to the back of the property and works their way towards the gate.  A few independents seem to go the other way or jump around a bit.  The ones run by the popular auctioneer in town always have the best unit last.  (or at least what appears from the door to be the best unit.)

20
Donations & Taxes / Re: The Tax Man Cometh
« on: January 02, 2014, 12:42:53 PM »
So lets say I spent $20 on steel, wheels, spray paint, and welding rod.  I then manufactured a cart that I sell for $100.  Do this all day long as a business...  Now say I donate a cart to a homeless shelter. Can I expense the donation as $20 my cost of materials, or as $100 the value of goods?

When I buy a storage unit, I pay a flat rate for a box full of raw materials.  From that I clean / refurbish / dispose of trash, and do whatever I can to add value and generate sale-able product.  I should be able to value the goods at what I've made them worth.  Just one way of looking at it... 

You could also look at storage unit buying as gambling and put the numbers in as gambling loss / income.  (probably a stretch...)

21
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Monikers for auction buyers
« on: December 31, 2013, 01:15:47 PM »
We've got one guy we call Fester.  When the door goes up and the overpowering smell knocks the crowd back, you can just about bet he's getting that unit.  I'm pretty sure he doesn't sell the stuff he buys.  Just piles in in a big heap somewhere and nests in it...

22
Donations & Taxes / Re: The Tax Man Cometh
« on: December 31, 2013, 01:06:26 PM »
I can't see how the value of a donation could be linked to the original cost of of a unit.  It would have to be the real value of the goods.  I paid 1900 + taxes and buyers fee for the unit the donation came out of.  My ledger says $2550 but that includes all costs, gas, storage space, helpers, etc.  The goods donated was two loads out of seven I got from the unit.  (10x25 hoarder's unit literally full from floor to ceiling front to back...)  While I could value it at 2/7ths of the total, that doesn't seem close to actual value.

I'd sooner throw the donation receipt in the trash than deal with an audit, but I know I made enough on the side this year that tax time is gonna really hurt if I don't claim everything I'm legally entitled to.

23
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Does Anyone Sell Textbooks?
« on: December 30, 2013, 10:01:23 PM »
I once came across about 50 brand new inkjet cartridges and tried selling them to a site that claimed to buy them.  Packed them up real nice, paid for shipping, never saw a dime.  Unless you know the business you're dealing with, better off with ebay IMHO.

24
Donations & Taxes / Re: The Tax Man Cometh
« on: December 30, 2013, 09:56:17 PM »
On the topic of taxes...  A month or so ago I dropped two trailer loads (6x10) full of thrift type stuff.  Donated the stuff to a church owned thrift store, and was given a blank tax write off form.  Guy signed it and told me to fill out what I was donating was worth myself.  Not sure if that is the norm or not, but it leaves me with a dilemma.  I have no idea what to put on it.  If I value the stuff too high I can see an audit coming, too low and money is left on the table.

What value would you put on it?  Was about 50% clothing, the other half made mostly up of things like picture frames, baskets, toys, craft supplies, quilts, etc.  (stuff I probably could have sold but would have taken forever to move...)

25
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Baldwin Keyed Locksets Without Keys
« on: December 27, 2013, 10:42:47 PM »
Have a key made for one, then test the key on the others.  Might be all keyed alike.  I've had it work for candy machines anyway...

26
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Anyone bought a really bad unit lately?
« on: December 17, 2013, 04:00:40 PM »
There is at least one auctioneer in the area here who has bidders sign a contract agreeing to sell back the unit for what they paid in the event of a dispute.  Before you go get all legal make sure you're in the right.  For me, the right thing to do is to get my money back and move on to the next one.  There's plenty more where that one came from...

27
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Is it legal to keep property owned by a rental company?
« on: December 17, 2013, 03:55:08 PM »
Utah state lien law 38-8-3 subsection 10:

(10) A purchaser in good faith of the personal property sold to satisfy a lien as provided for in this chapter takes the property free of any rights of persons against whom the lien was valid and free of any rights of a secured creditor, despite noncompliance by the owner with the requirements of this section.

Seems pretty clear to me.  You bought it, you own it outright.  The person who leased the item in question still owes the company he leased it from, but they have no claim to collect the merchandise from you.  Elsewhere in the statute it calls out specific exclusions / restrictions for stolen property and anything with a VIN number.

Either way its probably not worth having to spend a day in court to prove ownership.  Repaint the thing and save yourself some trouble.   

28
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: The item that saved your a$$
« on: September 25, 2013, 10:08:33 PM »
Found a rusty piece of metal in the corner of an automotive unit.  Mostly car parts scrap metal stuff.   Nearly had it in the scrap, but didn't know what the heck it was so decided to do some research.  There was enough of the label left to make out most of the word thermadore.  Turned into $350 on ebay.

29
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: What's a Yo-Yo?
« on: September 10, 2013, 06:34:43 PM »
I suppose I'm a yo-yo then...  I visit auctions only on the day off from my real job, and rarely ever bid.  No point in buying something I'm not positive I'll make a profit on.  When I see something I will profit from I take it home.

30
Storage Facilities / Re: Storage facility policies
« on: August 25, 2013, 10:58:32 PM »
I love when unit managers charge bigger deposits.  I always get it back and if someone hears they have to put 100+ just to play it trims my competition.

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