This used to work for me...over a year ago!  No more. If there are any serious regular bidders there they will just take it on up $25 or more at a time. Also, some newbies will think..."Hell, if HE likes it at that price I think I'll bid too."

Anymore, I let the basic bidding start and come in late. Sometime works, sometimes doesn't.

I have gotten so tired of the madness at the auctions that I have completely changed my bidding strategy. Two things are happening now at the auctions. New newbies are just gambling so they will pay any price to win what looks like a good unit. older newbies are "bird doging" the regulars, basically any unit a regular shows interest in, they jump on. So now I start every unit i am interested in at 75% of the maximum I am willing to spend. I think I have done enough research to guess the total value of a unit based on size, volume, and quality. The other regulars look at me like"what the heck are you doing?" but we all know the price is going to get that high anyway and higher. In fact I haven't won a unit since mid December so I am still getting out bid. What other new bidders don't know is when I start the bid at 75% of my max, and the final bid settles at twice that amount or more, the chances of making any money on that unit are probably less then 10%.

7) Box of same from above wrapped in bubble wrap, tissue, etc.  Get all excited and find they are the dollar tree crap.  Who wraps up $1 ceramic figurines.

Everyone!! Better get use to this.

It appears I already have a stalker..... 

Yep, North West.   Nearest city everyone would know is Seattle.

Where I'm at, if there is a "slight chance" of snow in Seattle...we get a foot. But only in my driveway.

Movieman is our resident private investigator. If you leave enough information on the forums, he will find your Craigslist account, Ebay account, your current employer and the current location of your first girlfriend/boyfriend! LOL 

Oh don't be that guy.  I have 'overbid' a time or two and the old regulars will say 'you paid too much for that!' to which I reply "yeah?  Aren't ya glad I didn't use YOUR money?!"

I had an old-timer yesterday tell me I paid retail for that 5X5 for $600.  I looked right at him and said 'Well I recouped and will make a profit.' and then just walked away.  He trotted after me asking 'what did you find in there?'  I kept walking.

Bottom line~nobody truly knows the hows/whys and whatfors of anothers locker, save the one who cleans it out.

I think your right, it's just getting harder to win profitable units. It really comes down to knowledge about the business nowadays to be able to tell the difference between a $600 unit that is showing $800 value and you know you will get your money back, and a $600 unit only showing $100 and rainbow.

I have come to the conclusion that I will just have to pay a premium for the units I know will be profitable and stay away from the "dreamer" units. I just have to realize that the days of 10x - 5x return are over for now, unless I get lucky, and concentrate on units I know I can double the money.

Please keep us informed on your research about the stock certificates. It sure would be great if there was some way to transfer the actual stock value to a new owner. You have obtained the property through a legal proceeding (lein auction) so I wonder if that carrys any weight?

Being that you are from Tuscon?, you my get a lot of Navajo, Apache, Hopi Indian artifacts, arts & crafts. That stuff might be common in your area, but there are quit a few people on the East coast that collect anything Native American and would probably pay more for those things then your local market. I would try Ebay with a 30 day buy it now price. Don't do the 7 day auction, there is not enough time for your retail shoppers to see your products.

So my wife works at a music repair shop. The other day a guy walks in and asks if they buy musical instruments. She says sometimes, what do you have? The guy says he has a violin he wants to sell. She tells him to bring it in they will look at it, determine what condition it is in, and give him a value and an offer if they are interested. So the guy goes back to his vehicle, brings back the violin and hands it to my wife. As my wife looks it over he tells her he does storage auctions as a hobby/business and got this violin from a storage locker. Well we have to give the guy credit for trying to do his do diligence in getting the violin appraised and perhaps sold. Unfortunately for our unnamed competitor, the violin he gave my wife was a "VINO" violin in name only. It was a childs toy, and beat to crap at that. After looking at it for a couple of moments she broke the bad news, "Sorry, this isn't even a musical instrument, it's a toy."

Of course I don't know the particulars about this storage auction buyer, or what he spent on that unit, but the way prices have been lately I can only imagine he spent in the neighborhood of $500, went through the unit finding nothing but common household junk, and thought this violin was his "Dave Hester like" saving item from the unit.

Would'nt you love to see something like this happen to Alan and Ton? I know I would!

Tuesday, Jan 10, 2012...

The "barracuda" is back....

Barry rides in on a scooter and sets up free donuts for the crowd....

No Brandi and Jarrod.

****
First lkr...lot of stuff...quality ? Maybe not.
Dave bids Darrell up...Darrell gets it for $1.9K.

****
Nabila.....gets the next one for $500 after Dave bid her up a couple of times.

****
A 5x 10 with hardly anything in it. Barry gets it for $2.50....if all goes as usual it will have a $250 item in a drawer.

****
Darrel's $1950 lkr has....collectibles, lawn mower...some special bear...worth $1500. That's a lot of beanie babies.
Estimate for value....$3800.

Barry's cheapie...drawer contains...glass containers for catching flies....valued...$1,550 to $2,000. Hell I was only off on my value guess by a factor of 10...I guessed $250 before I knew what was in the drawer.

Nibala....scores an estimated value of $???....with currency and coins all in plastic !  All money worth...about $1900 and she made about $1,200 profit.

Is there a re-run of shipping wars on anywhere?  I enjoyed that more this evening !


Darrel's bear...worth $800.

Now I know why the price/bidding on units keeps going up and up in my area. People actually beleive they can drop $500 - $1500 on ANY unit and they are going to DOUBLE their money!

You must be fairly young 

http://youtu.be/vFWZ37ziMag

Classic!!