I doubt if the cards are worth much.  It did have a washer and dryer though.  I paid 400.00 for the unit, and some other auction attendees purchased the washer and dryer right after the auction for 150.00!  I only had to help push them into the back of their trailer and don't have to store them or try to sell them now!

I bought two more units the last couple of days, so I am up to seven so far this week.  That's not what I wanted to talk about though!

This past week, I have really been watching people and paying attention to everything going on.  I have noticed that the people that are buying units now are the same people that were buying the units before the.....cough, cough, "reality shows"! 

What I see happening, (at least in my area) is all these new people are showing up and just taking up space.  I would say the vast majority of them are just following the crowd and looking inside the units, but when it comes down to the bidding, with a few exceptions, it's still the same "veteran buyers" that are buying the great majority of the units.

I don't even mind the new guys anymore.  In fact, there's this one new kid and his wife that I'm actually starting to like!  It's not really affecting me that much at all (although a 20 minute auction is taking 2 hours just so everybody can have their look at the unit), and if I have to pay an extra 100 bucks or so, oh well, it's the cost of doing business.

It's a funny business this auction thing.  Go to an auction and look at the camaraderie, it's actually kind of amazing.  We all stand around BS'ing and joking, talking about each others families, latest auction "score", sports, etc, and we might even get together and have lunch together on a run, but when the door goes up and the bidding starts.......it's every man (or woman!) for himself!

Went on a "run" today.  Ended up buying five units from three different facilities.  Not exactly sure what I have yet, didn't really have time to go through much.  I did get an entire Sauna in one of them, complete cedar enclosure and heater.  I also got a stackable washer and dryer, and a nice couch, and a bunch of copy machines.  I won't know much for a day or two, but it was fun anyway!

Yeah, let us know what you find! 

By the way, after you won it and paid, did you rummage around in it really quick just to see if you could find anything cool right away, or did you just walk away to check it out another day?  Just wondering how some of you other guys do it.  I always like to jump in and scrounge through it really quick before moving on to the next facility.  I like it even more when I see find one or two items that I know will pay for the unit!

It's very possible, and there are a lot of people doing it.  It may be a little harder to get started right now because of all the excitement of the reality shows, but still possible.  Just keep in mind, it is a lot of work and to make a decent living at it, you have to work it like a job.  You need to be willing to clean out your units as soon as possible after the auctions, and you need to go through it all and get it up for sale instead of just sitting on it.  You'll have to interact with customers and have to make yourself available to meet at times that are convenient to them, which means 5:00 - 8:00 PM a lot of times!  And, you need to move a lot of stuff, the whole key to making it work for me is volume.  Your area may be slightly different.  But the key thing anyone that wants to do this should remember:  THIS IS A LOT OF WORK!  My advice to anybody that wants to do it is buy a half dozen or so units and try it before you quit your job or go buy a truck and trailer.  If you don't like it, you won't last.  I've had a number of friends do this with me off and on over the last few years.  Even my best friend of 30 plus years bailed on me.  Even though he was making some decent money at it, he told me "I don't want to work that hard"!  It's not for everybody, but yes, if you work it, you can make a living.

Or our biggest dump loads!

I made a short four facility run today.  Worst one yet!  80 plus people (by count, not estimate!) show up at the first facility for a grand total of only ONE unit!  Unit was inside and upstairs, and it took a half hour just so everyone could see it, and it was just junk. 

At the second facility, everybody that was at the first one showed up, along with a few more new people.  This facility had three units going up, and all of them were junk.  As an example......3' x 5' unit with three boxes and an old tv.......sold for $250!  Two months ago that would have been a $1......maybe $5 at the most! 

I skipped the rest of the auctions.  A friend of mine went, and he said he should have skipped it too.  You just never know what might be there, I hate to miss any auctions, but I've been kind of sick today and didn't feel like bumping elbows with 80 other bidders out in the rain!

It's not even the competition that I mind.  The thing that sucks about all these people showing up is how long it takes just for a simple auction.  Something that should have been done in 20 minutes drags out for an hour and a half!