Happy Thanksgiving All! May your day be filled with good food and family.

Auction today had 6 units. Only 10 bidders and most were regulars. All units went under $100 except for the last one which was not bad. I ran it up to $400 but it went for $500. It had a really nice bike, entry table, lawn mower and hedger, several boxes, full mattress and a small safe. Everything was very clean and nice. I have a customer that is looking for a mattress and could have gotten $100 out of that. Next time...

Glasses and dishes. I display them right up front in the store. At least one dinning table every year. Christmas decorations. Coats, coats and lots more coats. Those are on a rack outside the front door.

Bought a unit one time that had an awesome art deco dresser. The way it was sitting it looked great. Once I got inside I found that the side facing away from the door had fatal water damage and two drawers were only fronts. I was disappointed as me San Fran buyer would have paid good money for it. Went into the garbage. You win some and you loose some. 

Nice article. Like you I let my customers "dig" through the back room. At first I din't want them in that area but stuff overflowed at one point and everyone loved it so why not. Love free advertising.

Forgot one...

Erotica awaits you.

I lurk on a storage facility forum once in a while. While there is not a lot of talk about auctions I have gained some knowledge on how they work from their side.  I mostly read because of the funny and weird stuff that happens at the facility and auctions.
Friending managers can be a good thing. I have one manager that really likes me. Last week she had a move out that left some things in the unit. She called and asked if I would be interested. I told her I would be in the following day to look. That morning she called and said they had loaded the stuff into a Uhaul and would bring it to me. So far in one week I have made over $150 on stuff that I put no work into. I have found in my area that most owners/managers just want the units cleaned out so they can rent again.

Wow nice find dbr. I've learned over the years to listen to that little voice. I found a small painting one day at the auction barn preview that spoke to me. I decided to look it up and see what it was. French artist from the 1930 and they go for $150 to $300. Everyone was shocked when I took it up to $27.50. Art normally goes between $5 and $10. I sold it for $175.
Expensive art can be hard to sell. I am still hanging on to two Thomas Kinkade prints I scored early this year and a Fredrick Remington Bronze. I'm not advertising them anywhere because they are a draw for customers but if I were really trying to get rid of them I'm sure they would be a tough sell.