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76

The Lounge / Rain Rain Go Away

« on: June 25, 2012, 09:19:55 AM »

Over 24 hrs of a constant rain. Actually saw the sun for about an hour this morning. Enough time to feed and weatherize the animals.

Need the rain but sure do wish this early storm would move !!!!! has not moved in 24 hrs. just setting in the Gulf.

Oh the rain is starting again. Oh goody.

We are safe hoping we weather this one well.

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General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Dwindling interest in auctions and in talking about them ?

« on: June 25, 2012, 09:10:21 AM »

@ MovieMan you have too much time on your hands.

.

Think it is summer time and people are playing in stead of working. My .02

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Flea Markets / Re: Celebrating my 400th time selling at a flea market !

« on: June 16, 2012, 08:36:38 AM »

Congratulations !!!! on your "stick-to-it-tiveness"

"I need to get a life !" That made me laugh.... Think we all need one in this business.

Hope with the 400th time pays well and you have a good Fathers Day.

Was hoping to get out this Sat and sell but the current job situation has me tied down. Hopefully it will pay off in the future.

Have good weekend.

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General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Can't get rid of the goods...help!

« on: June 16, 2012, 08:23:42 AM »

@ Cobia wished I had your talent of writing.

Still with StoreMe on the slow economy everywhere. Went to the thrift the other day just checking in. She said when the little grocery store and Kangaroo's parking lots are empty she just needs to go home.

Looked around and she was right nobody in the parking lots. Bad. Kangaroo has at least 5 to 10 cars all the time. It was empty.

Uncle lives in town and says when there is no traffic on the major Hwy around quit-en time it is bad.

Hoping for the best for everyone to survive this current time. Could be just people on vacation.

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General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Can't get rid of the goods...help!

« on: June 14, 2012, 05:57:53 AM »

Quote from: StorMe on June 13, 2012, 12:42:10 PM

FWIW. the WSJ Reported retail sales have dropped in the last two months.

This recession is far from being over and maybe becase of the length of it, it is finally effecting the second hand sales market. I fear that when the second hand market gets really, really bad we will be in more trouble than we want.

...Fingers Crossed...

Have to agree with you. Our Fingers crossed too.

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General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Dwindling interest in auctions and in talking about them ?

« on: June 14, 2012, 05:55:23 AM »

Quote from: Cobia on June 13, 2012, 12:19:16 PM

In light of this thread I thought I would add a story that only storage auction pros would appreciate and I didn't think it was worth it's own thread...

So this weekend I decide it was time to go through all the plastic storage totes in my garage and match totes with lids, discard lids without totes, and totes without lids, and just plain nasty, broken totes. As I am doing this in the yard I notice a dead bird lying on the ground, don't think much of it just kick it in the bushes, then I find an empty tote full the feathers and poop. I guess sometime over winter/spring this poor fella got into my garage, fell into the bottom of a storage tote and couldn't fly out and thus starved or dehydrated. Sad I know.

The funny thing is I never noticed the smell of a decaying bird in my garage!

I guess that is one of the advantages I have doing storage auctions is I have a poor sense of smell so mold, mildew, rat feces, cat piss, garbage, rotting food, general human B.O. that come from units doesn't bother me.

I guess your hearing is a little off too. Did not hear the thing screaming? Sad story, but sure when I go to do the same will find the same.

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Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: Low unit #'s and junk units.

« on: June 12, 2012, 10:02:48 AM »

Quote from: Cheesehead on June 12, 2012, 09:31:18 AM

Dang it, I knew I should have gone to school to become a locksmith instead of a nuclear physicist......

Also, good luck if you decide to go the restoration route - sound like a lot of opportunity....and a lot of work!!

The hardest part of the restoration is cleaning with no water or power. Yes a lot of work but it would be like getting paid to attend auction and clean out a locker you don't have to pay for.

Yes Movieman a lot of different avenues. Why we have slowed way down. I do the paperwork end of this, keeping me quite busy. Plus we seem to get really busy on the weekends cutting into sells or picking.

We have only been at it for 3 months so getting easier also picked up another similar job only for insurance, so learning that now. But hoping to be able to jump back in the storage market next month.

Just thought the trend of people just walking away from their personal items instead of storing them, was interesting.

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General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Dwindling interest in auctions and in talking about them ?

« on: June 12, 2012, 08:34:14 AM »

Quote from: Cobia on June 12, 2012, 08:18:29 AM

I have to say what has surprised me the most is how fast the marketplace changes on the selling side.

Yes the trends are hard to keep up with. Ours has really dropped. Granted for Fl this is the slow season, the Snow Birds (no offense just what we call them) leave. And we only get vacationers now.

Can't sell dressers that are usually fast and easy sells.

But in general all sales have slowed greatly. Going down to the thrift to pick up some more of our non selling items, and hopefully some cash from a few sells.

Think our slow sells are due to the local economy still really bad.

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Stories about Storage Auctions / Low unit #'s and junk units.

« on: June 12, 2012, 08:25:34 AM »

Ok have noticed here on the forum the chatter of low unit #'s and junk lockers.

Been wanting to share.

Husbands new job is an inspector for bank foreclosures. Not all inspections are in full foreclosure, (they have not made their payment on time). But a lot of them are. He has to do interior inspections.

He did 500 inspections last month, about 150 were full forecloses. He is one of 8 inspectors.

Most of these places look like a storage lockers. (Some good, some not). Some are full, looks like they moved out in a hurry.

So low storage #'s.

The flip to my husband's job is what is called restoration. You go in and clean out home. (we are looking into this avenue). So a seller in the restoration side could make a killing. Get paid to clean out the home, take what is sell-able and sell. Total win. ( I had to stop looking at the pictures, drooling over sell-able stuff)

I did something similar years ago but for reality companies. Not such high volume.

What he has noticed is the locksmith, who goes and changes the lock on the home gets first dibs on visible goods.

Just our insight of trends.

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General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Dwindling interest in auctions and in talking about them ?

« on: June 12, 2012, 07:39:09 AM »

Quote from: TN_Hunter on June 10, 2012, 10:36:11 AM

I can only answer the 2nd question regarding interest on my own personal behalf. I suspect that there may be others out there with the same experiences. I am still a little green at this and landed my first big locker back in Jan 2012. My sales channels and experiences were not and continue to not be as strong as they need to be to efficiently dispose of the items at a profit. And on the story goes........

Just doesn't make sense to me to be out there taking lockers from others when I haven't properly disposed of the contents of those lockers that I have already obtained.

Hope this helps.

Think we fall into this a little. Started strong with resell avenues, but things change and we need new and better ones. Then life kicks in. Hoping to get out and sell this weekend. Been raining for two weeks. $:-\$ . Need the rain really bad but sure puts a damper on selling at open venue Flea market. Also we are coming into a slower sale season. Too hot and most visitors gone.

Got info from fellow buyer that crowds have really dropped from 6 months ago. He is 2 hour's from us in a very large metro area. So hopefully that means our crowds have dropped because most of the buyers were from his area (how we met him).

Started limiting my contributions to the forum due to being out of the auctions and sales for a while. Don't want to be the all talk no action person.

.

Have to agree with Cobia "getting to the meat and potatoes" .

But with what we see as common sense in selling others may have not even thought of it. Love all the different inputs on the selling side have learned a lot here.

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