Do you still participate in any auctions in the area? (london+surrounding)

Well, he lives near MEMPHIS, TN so I doubt it !

I'm down in Sarnia and those are definitely within range.

I have access to the London Free Press and have some friends in hamilton and chatham, would they have information about auctions in the papers? How did you go about it, mr andersen.

Start with this link and then do some exploring of this area on your own.

toronto.kijiji.ca/c-community-events-Storage-Auction-1472-The-Queensway-Etobicoke-On-M8Z-1T5-W0QQAdIdZ280232268

hey everyone, looking for a fun hobby while also looking for a job. I have a nice chunk of start up money and i won't lie, the shows got me interested. While I look for a legit full time job, I would like to try this entertaining gig. I also posted a couple of questions in the noobie thread.

Peace

Welcome to the forum !  I also saw your noobie question about border crossing, duty, etc. Can't help you there and doubt any of the others here can either, but they might surprise me.

Was wondering how possible it is to profit 1000-1500 a month on storage units. Doing this on a part to full time basis.

It is certainly possible to net $1K to $1.5K on a part-time basis. Here are factors which would affect that.

1) How much you pay for lkrs.
2) How much you sell contents for

3) The quality of the goods you obtain which you then sell.

Numbers one and two above are the most important of course. Also, the three things I mentioned above don't take into
consideration the following as you asked is it possible to "profit" by 1k or 1.5K.

These things of course have to be accounted for in the "expense" column.

1) lkr cost above
2) dump cost (for the inevitable trash that must be disposed of)
3) storage cost (if you run out of space at home)
4) labor cost (if you hire someone to help you)
5) selling location cost (flea market?)
6) value of your time invested (?)

Further, if you did this FULL-TIME, it certainly would be possible to NET that amount (or more) depending on all the factors above.

This is a business like any other. You have to plan what your expenses might be and project what your income might be. Every time we buy an individual lkr we are looking at all those factors. If you do this on any regular basis you will get good and bad lkrs. You can't control the contents until you get them in your hands. Thirty clean totes might contain nothing but old clothing, past bills, statements, income tax records, old newspapers, 40 photo albums from 1970 that have no value, you name it.

 IT'S A GAMBLE !  If you can't afford to lose the money you spend on a lkr then you shouldn't even spend it. Typically, you wouldn't lose everything you spent, but getting only 50% of your investment back is pretty discouraging and might make you shy the next time out.

As to "HOW" possible it is, that's not easy to guage. I personally couldn't tell you that the next 3 lkrs you buy are going to make you "x" profit. There are just too many variables. I can tell you that if you buy 50 lkrs, ONE might be a REAL BIG WINNER, or it might be 1 in 100.  I can also tell you that out of 50, maybe 5 to 10 you might LOSE money on. So, that leaves maybe 35 to 40 lkrs (out of 50) that you would make SOME money on...might be a good return or an average return. Generally speaking, yes, some people will disagree with this...the thought is that you should try to DOUBLE YOUR MONEY; so in a month's time, if you spent $1000 on lkrs, you would have hoped to have sold the contents for $2,000 and thus achieve your $1,000 profit.

Maybe you' do THAT, or ..... make $800 profit or.... break even..... or lose money.....you might only sell $900 worth of goods. Lots of possibilities right? You have to jump in (even partially) and give it a try. Don't quit a full-time job !

Thanks for your opinions.

Movieman - your as encouraging as my husband.  Can you please expand on your answer?

I actually have the plans in works to do what jrossjr suggests.  I'm going PT at work.  I am going to give this a shot.  I have been thinking about it so long - I have to give it an honest try.

Wish me luck!  And I'll keep you posted.

Sounds like you have made a decision, and certainly PT is a good idea to begin.

From your initial post the following things came to my mind and that's why I said "no".

1) Immediate loss of full-time job money (if you quit altogether).
2) Initial returns would not meet what you said you cleared at full-time job.
3) You didn't mention anything about having vehicles to to the work with.
4) You didn't mention who would do the moving of stuff.
5) You didn't mention where acquired stuff would be kept until sold.
6) You didn't mention if husband was working full-time.
7) You didn't mention if health insurance was a concern (two kids to consider).
Other things I probably haven't thought of in the moment.

It just didn't sound to me like a good idea considering what I knew about your position, but IF, I repeat IF you have the chance to go part-time AND, I repeat AND you could go back full-time, then that might be another story.

With your children active and needing transport, care and feeding, this business might get in the way more than you think. It would not simply be substituting one 4 hour block a day (at the 2nd half of your full-time job) for another 4 hour block a day. If you have an 8 hour work day now it's hard for me to imagine there would be the chance for floating work time there when you consider that auctions happen typically from about 9 to 3 or so during a typical day.

Anyway, that's the long answer to my short answer "no".

Today I paid $4.17 per gallon at an Arco. Name brand across the street is $4.27.  This is in central California.

In 2008 our high was $4.54.

16 days later (May 21, 2011) same gas station.....unleaded now $3.99 a gallon.

My question is, do you use some kind of formula ........?

No.

or do you just wait till the you get better merchandise from the next locker(s) and "mix it in" with the old stuff that is not selling well, and just "let it ride".


Yes.