One chain of 2 locations does it this way.

The property manager has a list of what the defaulted lkr "owner" owes in back rent and fees.
Apparently this is used to determine what a satisfactory starting bid would be.

The auctioneer says something like "I'll start this unit at $35".  This totally amazed the old-timers and the new people didn't know what to think, but no one was saying boo.

Finally I said "5 dollars". She shot me a look that would sink a battleship and she wouldn't accept the bid.
Someone then said "10 dollars" and she took the bid. Ended up selling the unit for $35.

Five lockers. She started 2 at $100 each and worked her way down $5 at a time. Each of them sold for $70.

On one of them there was just the one bid of $70 and I thought the guy could have had it for less...maybe in the $50 range.

Anyway, I don't car for that approach myself.

See post below for a similar auction and feel free to jump in.

That was a nice gesture by your friend!

Could be good karma for your first auction lkr buy too.

Don't know how many people will answer this...or answer honestly...but we'll see.

This won't be too meaningful to the new buyers, but perhaps an eye-opener for them anyway. Some new folks think they're going to get a gold-bar locker for $100 instead of $1,000 and up.

Anyway, in my area it is not uncommon to see regular, big bid buyers bringing $5k with them. This wouldn't be used on your everyday lkr of course, but perhaps on a high-end biz that went out of biz. Phone systems, computers, networking systems, plotter printers, etc command a high price here more often than not.

I once lost a collectible store (comic books, action figues in boxes) lkr because I had only brought $3,000. It went for the $3,100 the next bidder offered.

Many of the more experienced bidders are welcoming  to the newbies.   I have had several good conversations with them.  They are helpful and will give pointers to newbies.   As a newbie I am not going to go after the units that the experienced bidders go after.   There are many things to consider other than price.  Size of the unit, how much stuff is in it, if there is a way to get rid of it etc.

All your points are good ones, but just responding to the partial quote above. I talk to new buyers at auctions and for the most part am friendly to them, but there does come a point when I draw the line. That line is when they ask if there are any other auctions today. No point in spoon-feeding that request. They should do the homework and if they aren't smart enough to get the current auctioneer's list then oh well.


I often ask them how many they have bought and the answers is usually zero to 1...usually zero. Once in a rare while they will ask me how many I have bought. When I tell them over 300 the usual reaction is "oh."

I talked to a seller of "military collectibles" at a big show lately and she indicated the surplus sellers are having a hard time right now. Apparently unlike past wars we only stock enough supplies now to meet current needs (uniforms, etc) so there is not as much surplus. She was selling 45 cal holsters from WWII for $100. Or at least that was the price she had on them.

I have gotten vintage WWII items (really like those) and Vietnam era as well. I haven't gotten any clothing or other items from current conflicts though.

My best WWII item was a GI canteen with palm tree picture scratched in by a grunt. This trench art is great.
I have also gotten trench art made from empty shell casings...made into ash trays, etc.

My favorite piece of ammo "art" was a shell that still appeared to contain a slug, but when you pull the slug from the casing there was a knife blade attached to the base of the slug...not a very effective knife, but interesting.

Well, that's hard to say. At one time it was DVDs, but that is slowing down for me.

I got 1,000 DVDs at $2.50 apiece some years ago from a Mom and Pop store that went out of biz.

At that time I could get $5 or $6 for newer titles. Now if I get a newer title in a locker a $3 bill is about tops.

Still, I'd say they go pretty fast.

One fellow bought about 2000 DVDs from Hollywood Video when they went out of biz. He brought them ALL out at one time and was selling them for $1.00 each. In my opinion not good marketing...people are going to look through 2000 titles. And why sell them that cheap? Undercuts the whole biz.


So, what is the easiest item to sell? If you tell us, maybe we can profit from the idea.