To Calcoastgal, if your Grandpa came to one of my garage sales and offered cash for everything leftover I would take him up on it too! I always wait way too long to have a garage sale and have so much tonnage that there is no way to sell it all even though it's all good sellable stuff. Since I have no emotional attachment I always just post a CL add and give it all away (usually it's a couple truckloads of stuff). I've tried selling it in bulk like all for $150 or whatever with pictures but after an hour of two change it to free because I just want it gone.

Actually 8 hours isn't really that far....got any pics? Just how big is this house? How much ton-age are we talking about?

Went to one that wouldn't open, at least not easily. Large facility, an outside unit that is accessible 24/7. First problem was it had a lock on it that wasn't put on by the facility. Auctioneer got power tool and cut lock off. Latch won't move. More tools and lots of brute force (several buyers joined in) and finally managed to get it open. Destroyed the latch in the process. On the inside a clamp was attached to the inside of the latch to prevent it from opening. Further back there was a big board on the wall covering a big hole that led to the unit next door. Still lots of stuff in the unit but obviously they had been removing stuff through the hole. Owners of the neighboring unit were there the whole time and had been moving stuff from their unit into yet another unit when we arrived. They were actually making a scene and yelling at the auctioneer and some of the buyers during the whole process. We were out of our usual area so we didn't know anybody but these people seemed to all know each other. Once the unit was opened and breach to the next unit discovered the people yelling seemed to disappear. It was all pretty entertaining. The auctioneer did not sell the unit. 

I have no complaint about paying a cleaning deposit anywhere. I always get it back. I think it is good for the facility to have just a little guaranty that the locker is going to get cleaned out and without a deposit they probably get lots of trash left behind that they would then have to get rid of. Further more if letting them hold $100 of your cash for a day or two while you clean out the unit is going to break you, you probably have no business buying the unit in the first place.

I buy and sell at auction houses. Pretty much my last resort for selling.  I sell the stuff that I can't sell anywhere else. Stuff that is too big or fragile to ship and hasn't gotten a bite on craigslist. Gotta watch the commissions though because some auction houses are really expensive. The one near me that gets the highest prices also charges 50% for items that sell from $0-$150 so not really worth it in the long run. I do have one that will try to sell almost anything and I have done well with stuff that I would otherwise have taken to the good will or sold at a garage sale for almost nothing. 

Welcome

Last year I attended one with 200 units. It was a moving and storage place that had changed owners. They were all wooden crates. It took 2 days to get through them all. They all had last names and dates on them. All were dated from 1975 to 1995ish. Lots of fun. Bought 4 or 5 of them from the late 1970's. Fun stuff.