Yep, AH has gone downhill. The show that did me in was when there were four lkrs at the site; two were crap; they got the good two that were left. One had the Quadzilla and the other had the hovercraft. The chances of that happening at all (existing in the same place) have got to be enormously high in the first place, but for them to get both? What, no other money there or people afraid to spend it?

On the other hand the most recent episode had them up agains G-Mar in Ft. Lauderdale. The G-mar spent about $6K and beat them out of 4 of the 6 lkrs there. So, there might be hope, but doubtful in the case of AH.

SW is getting better with more realism. I am still waiting for a dump run to be shown on either show.

All of this is my opinion.

Welcome to the forum !

Nice play by play!

Why the hell did Dave Jr. pay $5,550 for a storage unit with no real visable valuables. Has anyone here ever seen lockers go for prices like this? The highest I have seen in my short career was $2200, over $5k is a bit ridiculous....

You can catch a re-run of the show and take a look at the locker. When they get that high it is scary. I have seen $2,900 (I got that one), $3,100 ( didn't get it...I was in at $3K)....I think those are the highest I've seen. Plenty of $1K to $2K though.

A couple of hours ago I was in a "greenbelt" area near my home and saw billowing cumulus clouds on their way to the mountains from the central valley. I didn't have my camera then and by the time I got home (and distracted) they had moved further away and weren't as impressive, but still..a beautiful sight.  This summer we won't see a cloud in the sky.

Feel free to add your "priceless" images whether of nature, pets, people...or things.

Please try to add actual pictures as links are just one more step in our computing day.

One auction today with 7 lkrs. Crowd about 60. Prices...as usual...high for the return value. My area remains in the clutches of inflation.

First pic below is of about half the crowd. I thought both lkrs open in pic would go for $600 each. One on right went
for $375 and one on left went for $625.



Next picture shows two lookeyloos about 200 feet away from the auction.



I did bid on a really clean 5 wide by 15 deep. All nice boxes and one visible back of sofa table. I thought $500 would be a reasonable price to pay and maybe still make money.

I started it at $300 and not a blink. Went up by $25s. I went $500 and slight reaction from crowd, but kept on going. I stopped at my $500. A newbie was in it with a regular up to $700 and the regular got it for $750. It's going to be close for profit...if any....in my opinion.

Ft Lauderdale opens in a couple of minutes....will give the blow by blow (without too much detail for those who want to watch it another day).....

You know when you take out the minutes for the commericals and other show promos a 30" program only ends up being about 21" of content. Tonight we see what a Florida "pro" looks like...hope he beats the two guys  on at least one lkr!

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We'll walk by the unit single file....don't stop and gawk! (OK, 10 seconds to size it up !)

First unit went for $250. One down 5 to go.

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G-Mar jumps it from $1k to $2500 !   That's a first....wonder if he'll make any dough. He gets the 2nd one too!

Lkr 3....G-Mar, you the man !

Lkr 4....G-Mar...holy cow !

Lkr 5....

Good grief...they value an army ammo box at $50. Lucky to get $10 in my area at the flea...usually more like $5 to $8.

Spear gun, wooden horse, sold big furn for some good bucks and no lifting on their part. Still they spent a lot for the lkr to beat G-Mar.

Horse value...they might have been close on this one!

Old gambling device...pretty nice !
Disco Fever...pinball machine (1978)....Looked nice...better than the one I got a few years ago which sold for $200 (didn't light up).

Rest of show dedicated to selling the booty!

This has only happened a couple of times in 7 years of auction buying.

Today I attended an abandoned house auction and there were only 5 of us there. Actually, there was a married couple, me and two guys who were together, so I think that might count as 3 bidders.

First, the house. Walked into this home from the 1940s and was almost overwhelmed with the cat piss smell.
Walked right through the living dining area and out the back door. Nothing in the rooms I walked through worth buying or selling....mostly empty with some trash left over from the abandonment. When I came back through the bedrooms were empty too.

Went into the cellar through the old, angled basement door and down some steps. This house was built about 6 feet off the ground with a barely walkable space underneath for about 10 feet in by 10 feet wide, then it tapered up to about a 4 foot crawl space. Saw a couple of old things here, but nothing special.

Out to the back yard shed, a bldg about 12 by 20 about 18" deep in trash. Did see an old fake fireplace front with 5 pieces of nice porcelain flowers on top. Looked at bottom and they were made in Italy, but I couldn't make out the mfg name. Also saw an old cash register, smaller, greenish/wrinkled paint job. This space too smelled of cat piss.

Around the side of the house piles and piles of old wood. Basically, I wasn't interested, but thought I would see how it went.

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Auctioneer told us we could take what we wanted and leave the rest behind...no kidding; no one would have bought it otherwise. Anyway, he started it at $50 and the two guys didn't say boo but the couple did. I went up with them in $5 increments until we were both tired of the $5 jumps and one of us said $100, then $125 and so on. Auctioneer couldn't believe it...he would have gone in 5s all day.  So, we went up to $300 and I stopped and couple took it for $325.

If the 5 porcelains sell for $50 apiece and the cash register for $100 or so they'll be even and then whatever else they find. I would have liked it (and lived with the odor) for $150 to $200, but after that it was pushing it.

So, another bust, but I got some good work done around the house today ! 

Feel free to add stories of SMALLEST CROWD I EVER SAW !

It's a good beginner strategy to only bid on a unit based on what you can see from the door, but in my part of the country you will almost never when a locker that way. I first started out counting up the furniture, o.k. $15, $20, $40; a couple bags and boxes of clothes and who knows what $25 to $50, and said to myself o.k., I will bid up to $80 maybe $100 and then watch the units go up to $350-$500! 

This describes the way it is in my area. Even the junker lkrs that used to go for $5 to $25 sell for 4 times that amount and you have to figure there is no money being made and probably money being lost.

Your new approach will bear watching!