The link below takes you to a thread at selfstoragetalk.xxx which is a forum designed for storage facility managers to talk about THEIR issues. I have no affiliation with this site.

The link below is just one of a dozen or so I found by doing a search on "auctions" at that site. You do not need
to join or be a member. If you want to explore that site just go to the home area and/or do a search from wherever you can within the site. Again, it's mostly for managers, but their perspective is of interest to us as buyers.

selfstoragetalk(dot)com/day-day-management/6161-should-we-charge-auction-admission-fee.html

Been in Denver area for 4 days now and enjoying my children and grandchildren and the different atmosphere here.

It's nice to not be moving boxes, taking pictures, making listings on eBay/Clist !

Hiking, watching soccer practice, etc.  Going to the big flea here Saturday before moving on Sunday to New Mexico to visit my brother for a few days.

Also nice to visit the forum here (no matter where I am) and see how you are all doing.  Posts seem to be slowing down a bit, but maybe that's a good sign...maybe the newbs are finding enough answers on their own or maybe not as many even inquiring about the biz in general.

Every subject has a life of its own....this one has too. Still predicting a good year before any kind of return to "normal".

Well, there are 3 U-Hauls in my immediate area and another 3 maybe 30 miles away.

They are all clean (some more than others) but no rat-infestations. One did have a cockroach problem, but that was only once in the last 8 years.

As to the auctioning process, the one's here are conducted by the regional manager.  If you are on good terms with the individual managers you can stop by and they will give you a general rundown of quantity and maybe even quality based on their short looks when cutting the locks.

The auctions are held on a very regular basis which allows for some planning on our part. If there are multiple auctions by multiple auctioneers, I will typically go to the U-Haul over the others.

The U-Hauls here are known for the integrity of their units whereas some of the more "independent" facilities have less reputable reputations.

No complaints from me about U-Haul.

A 6' chain saw? Yep, I'd bet people are beating down the door to get at that one so they can put it in their toolbox! 


Chainsaw staged IMO.

Still, $5 for that locker is a great deal! Not sure i would like trying to liquidate all that paint however.

Think they were all opened...sell cheap at flea or off to hazardous waste facility.


Victor seemed to get get lucky to find someone for the video games... Good profit as well.

I think a REAL buyer would have given him a few hundred for all the machines.

The tea set was cool. I about fell off my chair when I herd how much it was worth!

As an oldtimer I'm pretty sure you MEANT "what they said it was worth".

Sorry, but the cynic in me has a hard time buying the items themselves being in the lockers in the first place, and the suggested retail prices are out of this world.

On Friday we had several hundred people show up and not one unit started for under $100.00 and these were the units where the auctioneer used to pay you $5 to take them......................Rant................ give it a few months till peoples tax money runs out. 

Or a YEAR and a few months ..... the end is not in sight (IMO).

I count Moviemans 1 out of 500 to 1 out of 2000. 

Actually, I've always said I think it's about 1 out of 50 to get a "really good" locker....one in which I can make
5 to 10 times the money, but I think that ratio has changed. Maybe it's 1 in 100 or more now.

Now the prices are so high that the profit margin has gone down substantially.  More people are paying up their locker fees and bailing stuff out so that means fewer good lockers to get.

Yes, there are just plain dummies who think they TOO will find a rare pistol in a locker, or just any weapon. There are more of those people than there are people who are smart enough and who will persevere enough to make it in this business and they are just in the way at this time.

Replies #72, 73, 74, 75 above are super indicative of what's going on right now and it's not a pretty picture.

I am relying on picking more and more; the prices are outrageous and we have to rely on our experience
and an occasional prayer if we involve ourselves at some of the higher prices.

The $1K lkr I bought about 3/4 weeks ago is paying out and will end up making bout $600 to $800 profit, but it could have been a break-even just as easily. Oh, for the good old days of just 15 months ago.

I'm 15" into the rerun (an hour after the live show) and not that interested in it.

Thing most notable to me ?  How many times they call each other "dude". I remember that from the other shows.

Sorry, AH, I'm sticking with SW (and even SW Texas)...I enjoy the first and can laugh at the 2nd.