You're just going to have to attend auctions a both/every location a several times and see how they run their auctions and then only you can make that decision.

Some of the things I look for:

How professional are the auctions run?
Do the units auctioned match the notifications?
How well attended are they?
Is there a buyer's premium or sales tax?

Then comes the experience part:

What do the regulars say about the facilities?
What is the general quality of the units auctioned?
what is the quality of the units you win/what is your ROI?

Went to a auction today in Northern Illinois. 

Red Flag #1: They had 17 units advertised and upon arrival they said it was up to 20.  I have been to many auctions and the number of units always goes down, never seen one go up. 

Red Flag #2:  They cut the lock on the first unit.  First time I have actually seen them cut a lock at any auction but actually liked that.  Gave a sense that everything was on the up and up. 

Red Flag #3:  EVERY unit had antiques.  Every door they opened had old items. 

Red Flag #4:  If it had a shelf it had something sitting on it.  Labels always faced front letting you know exactly what it was.

Red Flag #5:  No Dust.  Not one piece of furniture had a speck of dust on it.

Red Flag #6:  Not a single tote or trash bag.  Not a single article of clothing. 

Needless to say one person bought two units and when it came time to pay he demanded his money back.  They actually gave it to him and just resold the units.  I talked to a few people and each one said they found nothing great.

Icing on the cake.  A few people who live in the neighborhood were there and they said the storage facility was built 3 months ago.

I bought a unit for $175.  Just furniture and I bought what I saw.  One large table top that would of been worth $500 had damage that wasn't visible but I will use it as a table at the flea markets so not a total loss.  One dining table had a auction house sticker on it.  I asked the owner of the facility why my items had auction house stickers and she said all the units were owned by the same person.  He owned a auction house that shut down and he called and told her to just sell the units. 

I still wouldn't of minded so much if they at least put things together.  I have 13 ocean or great lake fishing rod bottoms but missing the tops to all the poles.  So somebody else has 13 tops and no bottoms.   

Everyone at this auction left feeling cheated and really angry.  I had mixed feelings.  You bought what you saw.  If you bought the unit because you "thought" it was going to hold great treasures then that was your mistake.  I will make a few dollars on my unit and that is fine with me.

My first impression before reading through the entire post is the stuff in the units came from an auction house. Now it's hard to say if the facility purposely set this auction up, (going to a local auction house, buying a bunch of furniture and knick-knacks, putting them in their units to auction). A year ago this would have probably been a winning formula for doubling or tripling their money, but now I believe in many places the interest in storage auctions and the crazy high bidding have dropped eneough to make it a risky strategy to buy at an auction house than sell at a storage auction.

Don't get hung up in thinking you should ONLY see the contents of someone's home or apartment in a unit. There are many reasons why people rent storage units and they will store very odd things from time to time. Don't let an "odd" looking unit scare you into thinking it's staged. Forget about where you are and just focus on what you are seeing (& smelling) & determine what value it has to you.

I remember one time I got a unit with a washer & dryer & a drum set in it. Nothing else. Well because there were no boxes & bags to hunt through I ended up winning the unit for $150. Sold the washer & dryer for $250 & the drum set for $150, an easy $250 profit cause so many people want a unit that looks like it's full (or potentially full) of buried treasure. Most of the time they're filled with buried trasher. 

Thing I don't like about online is you are only shown the photos that the facitly wants you to see. Nothing beats a live auction! If people want to waste there money and are that lazy to attend a live auction then dont be in this bussiness. Plus you have to pay for the online convenience of buying online. It like buy all your food at a convenience store, you pay more and its a waste

The concern going forward, especially for those that live in smaller cities/markets that have relatively fewer auctions, is what happens if many or most of the major facilities go to this format over the next several years? Choices are limited to trying to win units at locations that still do traditional live auctions, quite the business all together, or start practicing using the online auction format & seeing if we can develop new strategies for successfully bidding in an online environment.

Bwd111, I think you said you had some luck with this format in the beginning.

Rockin,

Hmmm, I think I might start a little debate here with my comment, but here it goes...


Went to a little known caravan on Friday.  Just regulars in a rather 'rough' area of town.  First location 3 lockers.  First a 5X10 went to our whale for $25.  It was full, but looked rather crappy.  He'll do great on it, but most (us-7 regulars) felt the work wasn't worth it.  Next two almost as icky and went cheap.

Next facility was more of the same.  There was one nice unit that ended up going for $600.  I was in up to $400.  Our whale and a buddy of mine landed the remaining (5) lockers for cheap.

Next facility I decided our whale had won enough and challenged him on a 10X10.  It had some interesting items showing including some Earnhardt Jr diecast boxes, vintage furnishings and tons of boxes & bins.  Landed it for $425.  With our whale saying 'let them have it'. 

There were some other nice units with one having 7 beauty parlor chairs, a nice washer/dryer, small fridge and other 'beauty' items.  Whale got it for $150 after I ran him up $25.  He asked why I ran him up and I said "I wanted that unit.....just didn't know where I could move 7 dryer-chairs"  He laughed and said he takes stuff like that to an auction in NM.

We came to the last unit at this facility and it was a 10X10 packed.  I looked at it and told the whale I wouldn't run him up.  He got it for $100 and will do great on it.  He laughed and told me he'd trade me straight up for the first we won!

It sounds like you have developed a "relationship" with your local whale that you seem comfortable with, but if I'm reading the story right it looks like he won 8 units to your 1 unit, and he still competed against you on the 1 unit you won. You had to pay $425 for your one unit, & he got good units for $25, some number between 1 & 5 cheap, $150 & he complained about it!, & you (and everybody else) were nice enough to let him win the last one for $100. He won 3 nice units for $275 & he was "nice" enough to let you win 1 for $425?

This is one of the reasons he is still the whale! I guess as long as you & Don are happy with only winning that one unit, then I will be happy for you. I don't know the story behind this "whale", maybe you told the story before and I need to look it up, & I know there is always a story about a "whale" that you can't run up cause he or she is a multi-millionaire, and if you try to run them up they won't ever let you win a unit so you gotta play nice, blah, blah, blah...

I'm not saying you should look at it like you are purposely "running him up", but I would certainly be more competative with my bidding. I can see letting him get a couple of units for cheap early and hoping he gets his fill, but once he made me pay $425 for unit after I let him win a unit for $25 (and other units cheap); it would be on like Donkey Kong. No way would he win units at $100 or $150!

My point is not that I would be trying to piss him off, but If I'm out to win units, & the same guy or gal is winning all or most of the good units, how am I ever gonna grow my business? I don't think he will really respect you until you start making him pay $425 or more for each unit he wins. The reason I say that (and he could be different) but most of the whales I have run into have short memories. They may let someone get an OK deal on one unit if the know that person didn't run them up, but eventually, maybe the next auction maybe the next month, they are back to winning the good units again, and bidding up everyone on the units they don't win. The only why to keep their memory fresh is to bid competively on all the units I want, and bid competitvely on all the units they want.

Just my .02 

It seems that now at least two facilities in my area are going the online auction route. They are using these to websites/services.

sealedonlinebids.com

storagebattles.com

This is not an endorsement of these 2 websites or the practice, just letting you know this might be a trend going forward. I can imagine that it's possible within the next 10 years as many as 50% of the facilities (or more) could be using these services.

It's also possible that this is a "fad" that only lasts a couple of years if the interest in buying storage lockers continue to decrease and the serious buyers reject the use of online auction websites.

My thinking is had these storage facilities and the website creators jumped on this format when the auction scene was getting really popular about a 1-1/2 years ago they probably would have been really successful. Not so sure now that the peak of interest seems to be over.

With all due respect, Utah has probably the best economy in the country right now along with a couple of other states most people in this country wouldn't expect like Wyoming & South Dakota.

Take a trip to Michigan or Mississippi and look around, then tell us the economy is only bad in the media.

Rockin, Craigs, I'm going to make the assumption that you guys are primarily selling furniture & other large items on Craigslist. I would think that sales of furniture that would look good & fit well in a college dorm room would be big sellers right now. Probably most kids have moved in to the dorms by now, but there may be a few stragglers. I did well selling desks (student,office) last month.

Other then the desks and small dressers, my other sales have slowed as well; but I have changed my sales strategy. I'm not a big retail shopper, but i spent some time last month doing product research at retail stores and I was shocked at how much everything has gone up in price!

Even places like Walmart, Big Lots, Thrift Stores of America, Target were selling (albeit new) crappy chinese furniture for hundreds of dollars. Little crappy computer desks go for $150 at Walmart now. Little crappy 4 chair dining table sets $250!

So I raised my prices and advertised solid wood furniture, made in the U.S.A. Sure the calls have slowed down, but I think  a lot of sales were going to other pickers and re-sellers who were just gonna flip the furniture themselves.

I've decided I'm not gonna sell vintage solid wood American made furniture for less then the crap they sell at Target, Walmart, Big Lots, et. al.

Most people in this "business" with "lessons" to share are not going to freely give them . An honorable mention pales in comparison to the book royalties that the author will get for never having got his hands dirty in this business. Add to that the idea of giving away secrets to newbies that will come out and bid against us and drive up prices, all for the bargain price of a 15 or so dollar book. No thanks I'll pass, as I'm sure most everyone else will as well.

Word!

With that being said I am finding other ways to procure inventory at cheaper prices then storage auctions, so I sure as heck don't want anymore books, TV shows, movies, documentaries, etc. coming out about the re-sale business!

Maybe it's just the fact the I am in the re-sale business and never noticed it before; but it sure seems to me on my day to day travels in running my business that there are a LOT of people trying to get into this business. I am constantly being asked by family, friends, neighbors, and especially customers; how I do what I do. They want to know where I get the inventory, where and how I sell it, how much money is to be made, etc.

Long story short, we don't need anymore competition. Good Luck with your book!