Good news here in Memphis,TN.

They are now starting up a new thing. Wohooooo could not come sooner.

All storage auctions in Memphis,TN will from March 2011 start with fees for newbies.
It will cost you as a newbie 100 dollar to even be able attend the auction. Bring your family and it is 100 dollar per head.

If you can not show that you have bought more then 10 units or attended more then 50 auctions the last 3 months you will have to pay up to get in. Of course they give this deposit back to you if you don't buy a locker. And if you buy a locker you get it back after the locker is inspected by the manager. (Must be empty and clean)

This will here in Memphis,TN reduce the crowds with atleast 40-50%
The same thing is beeing looked at in Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas.  And more and more places will be doing it

Best thing about this, it is supported by fedral law as guidelines for the auctioneers.

I like the concept, particularly reducing the family crowd just taking up space and wasting our time.  In practice I think this will be more trouble than it's worth.  For example, are you going to carry 10 locker receipts with you? Will they honor receipts from other companies? Will you get receipts for attendance but not purchasing? What if I leave a tour early - who gives my money back? Or does each location take the $100 bill deposit? These are just a few of the many problems I can imagine.  More than likely larger crowds are here to stay, but the "lookers" should fade away before long anyway so why would the auctioneers/storage companies invest time/money/effort into deterring people? I'm willing to bet the crowds=max revenue far outweighs the occasional locker left with stuff in it.
 

That was me 

Mostly auction east of Memphis but nothing going on this weekend. Most likely will attend public's tour on Sunday (finally found the ad).

Good luck!