For me I sell the furniture so that's how I bid. Re-sale value on furniture and the boxes is the profit. I have done very good with this method but I have a store and a customer base for the furniture.

We quit even shopping the auctions for vehicles about three years ago. Mainly for the same reasons Travis said. E-bay was great for a while then things went through the roof. We bought several from an auction in Benicia until they went out of business. A couple of pieces of small equipment were bought from Richie Bros. The last couple of times we bought vehicles they came from Craigslist.
I do have to say that most are used in our construction company but a few were bought just for resale because we couldn't pass up the potential profit. Descent used vehicles that we can purchase out right have just seemed to make more since than buying new.

#89 You are moving to Tibet and don't need your stuff so you just surrender it to the manager. ? (true story)

Today was crazy and I am still stunned! Auction this morning had 8 units available. Only one other bidder showed up. The manager went ahead with the sale. This was a silent bid (those don't happen very often around here).
I won 5 units!! (did I mention in an earlier post that I am trying to move soon?) What was I thinking?
Unit #1- $55.00 5X10 ok fishing gear, .22 shot gun, Yamaha drum set (my son is researching so far between $900 and $3000)
Unit #2- $100 10X10 Manager unit. I know your thinking Really? Furniture looks great!! Haven't gotten to go through all of it but I should make $300.00 or so.
Unit #3 $60.00 10X10 There are a couple of antique nightstands, several boxes and a nice metal shelving unit that I can use in the new store. I have't gone through this one at all yet.
Unit #4 $120.00 10X10 This is the unit I am calling the Dale Earnhardt Sr. unit. What I could see from the door. One display case with (and I counted) 250 cars all new in box, another display case that I could not see in, several new truck parts, and lots of boxes. I can't wait to get into this one.
Unit #5 $100.00 10X20 The manager need this one cleaned out right away or I would have waited. It was a mess but a couple boxes marked art caught my eye. This is the WOW factor locker!! My score for the year. First place I looked was under a rug in a wooden crate right up front. It was a  Frederic Remington Bronze statue titled Coming Through the RYE. Auction value is $7500 to $9000. One box marked art has two Thomas Kinkade signed paintings worth over $6000. There are two other paintings worth around $2000.00. 4 original hand drawn maps from 1884 that have certificates of authenticity. I haven't looked them up yet. So many boxes that haven't been opened yet.
I will try to get some pictures posted tomorrow evening. I'm still in total shock and have to wait until tomorrow evening to get back to it.

Every gun store in my area is sold out and can't say when they are getting anything back in. Right now the big stores are first priority for restocking. We have none of them in our rural area. So much for the $400.00 gift certificate I got my husband for his new pistol.
I went to buy .22 shells for him (one of his stocking suffers every year) and couldn't find any anywhere. Guess the ground squirrels are gonna take over the world. LOL   

Auction yesterday was not bad. Six units and around 20 bidders.
First unit 10 X 12 full of what looked like dirt bike and quad parts and tons of plastic totes. Went for 695.
Second unit 5 X 5 was garbage. Some one paid 5 for it. Guess the trash can was worth that.
Third unit 10 X 12 had a lot of pieces of wood, several boxes and the sleeper (I don't think many could see it) was a Craftsman table saw. Went for 30.
Unit four and five were owned by the same person. Both 10 X 15 nicely packed with several tools showing. Went for 700 and 550.
Last unit 10 X 20 had gotten wet. Facility had pulled several things out so they could fix the water leak. Still kicking myself for not bidding. Water was only in the first 5 foot. Went for 90. Wet items were nice bedding, fake fur jackets (2), vintage lamp and art prints.
Guess I'm just not that motivated right now as the lease has just been changed and I am looking for a new location for the store. I have a great one in mind but it needs a lot of work so probably moving sometime in the near future. Actually kind of excited about it just not sure how much new inventory I want to bring in right now.

Most facilities say that you have to have the unit empty by the end of the day. I have found that only one in my area is truly that strict (they have a 100% rental rate and normally already have the units rented before auction). I have a place to bring my stuff to so I have never taken more than two days to empty a unit. A couple of facilities give time based on how much is in the unit.
For newbies just remember if this is long term for you make sure you leave the unit spotless. I always leave them very clean and the managers/owners remember me for that. I have been told several times that no one ever leaves a unit that clean. (My mom usually even knocks down the spider webs. It's her pet peeve) The managers/owners really appreciate being able to rent a unit right away without having to do any work. When they start remembering you they tend to work with you more.

The most I have paid on a locker is $1100. It was a 10 X 30. Great unit.

Like Cobia I bid a unit to $2900 and $1800 and didn't win. Both units were owned by the same person who was a plumber. There was some great stuff in both lockers. I would have loved to have both.