I did make assumptions based on what I have seen without any behind the scenes data, but most facility owners won't have that data either. They will just make their own assumptions on what they see. Plus storage battles will charge the CC of the buyer if they don't show up to pay(whether you agree with that or not is a different story) but with the free site who is to stop somone from bidding up units way high and then not paying, wasting the facilities time and costing them more money.

Whichever offers the most value for the facility. I think the speed of disposal and the net proceeds after all fees are paid is the main driver.

Say I was a facility owner and I had a unit that owed $500 in back rent including late fees and anyother penalties legally applied according to state law and the terms of the initial contract. I wanted to recoup as much of that $500 as possible, assuming by state law any monies collected over and above that amount are returned to the tenant.

I have the option of using a free service that has few auctions listed, or another service that charges buyers a 15% fee and sellers a 10% fee and has several hundred auctions listed. Both sites claim to get alot of traffic, one site that traffic is directly to the listed auctions, the other site that traffic is to blog posts about storage auctions with a few to the auctions itself.

Say the facility was only 70% occupied and so not in a hurry to clean out the unit. They decided they could eat a cancellation fee to test out which site works better. Just in case though, they list on the free site first, ie no cancellation fee.

They list it on the free site. It gets a number of views, the majority being from anywhere in the country because there are so few auctions listed that anyone visiting the site looks at the listing out of curiosity with no intention of bidding(I know I have). The bidding ends with 4 bids for a total of $215(number made up). They cancel the auction without taking any monies and immediately relist on the other site with more auctions.

The listing gets approx. same number of views, but the vast majority are local, the auction ends with 28 bids for a total of say $475(number made up). The seller then has a 10% premium of $47.50 bringing the income from the auction to. $427.50 which is $212.50 higher then the other site.

In site 1 they are still $285 in the hole as far as what the tenant owes and probably want to attempt to collect on that still. Site 2 they are only down $72.50 and may just write that off as a loss. Theses are all hypotheticals, but it is the way I view it.

The logic is different if the facility is @ 100% capacity, they will get more money renting it out to another tenant then the hassle of collecting from the previous tenant is worth and will therefore go with whichever site can get it cleaned out fastest. Ie the site with more local traffic.

Bottom line it is the value of the service in the end result of monies collected if they are not in a hurry, no matter what the fees are. If they need to rent the unit out to someone else, it is whoever can get the unit cleaned out quickest.

Main first impression for buyers and sellers is number of auctions. Hundreds vs 6. Thats why eBay survives even with price gouging, because they are the biggest and no other auction service has as many auctions or as much traffic.

I apologize for being so long winded.

Here is a wiki link to the full epsiode which ended up not being much more about storage auctions, the first few minutes was pretty funny though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgeous_Grampa

I thought I would update, I have sold 5 items out of the unit so far for a total of $270 so I have made all my inital investment back including buyers premium and fuel costs. I am having a yardsale on Saturday to get rid of the rest, This unit wasn't the greates, but if I can pull in at least another $500 at the yardsale I will be happy, but there is potential for more than that. We will see how it goes, I will update after the sale. Cheers

Here is the entire text of the email I received:

"Storage Battles Announces Merger Details

Many of you may be aware that we've been planning a merger with storage auction community, Storage Treasures but now we're ready to bring you more details on this exciting news!

Over the next three months, we'll be moving out auction information and our subscribers over to Storage Treasures. While we make the switch, Storage Battles will remain up and running, but beginning in December, you'll be able to visit one site for both online and local storage auctions at StorageTreasures.com! 
What Does the Merger Mean to You?

You'll have the chance to interact with an even larger community base than ever before in order to share your stories, find buyers, and appraise your items on the site.
You'll have access to Storage Treasures tools that will help you improve your business, such as the Treasure Chest! The Treasure Chest is a resource that allows you to sell, appraise, and share items with the Storage Treasures community of over thousands.

You'll automatically have access to a FREE Storage Treasures account an 10 local listings a month.
PRO Membership
Want even more account information? Become a Storage Treasures PRO Member now!
When you become a PRO Member, you'll have access to an unlimited number of auction listings each month!

On top of that, Storage Treasures Subscribers pay just 10% on Buyer's Premiums for Online Storage Auctions, offering them a savings of 33% on average over non-subscribers who pay a 15% Buyer's Premium for each online auction that they win.

Monthly subscriptions are $10 a month, and offer a 50% savings on the purchase of the PRO Training Series. That's $139 savings!
Yearly subscribers receive the Pro Training series at no cose with their $100 subscription. That's a value of $300, completely free!
The Pro Training series is a complete training program to help you succeed as a reseller or picker while getting expert advice from the Pro's.
For a limited time, we're offering Storage Battles members their first month at the reduced price of only $1! Don't miss out on your chance to save money on your Membership and the Pro Training video series!

Become a PRO Member Now! "

Anything to make a another buck off of the buyers. I won't be buying anymore online from them.

One time it started raining and the auction turned into one amazing wet t-shirt contest.  Then that became

I've yet to see anyone at a storage auction that I would want to see in a wet T-shirt, but hey to each his own.

My first and only unit online was just under 100 miles away, I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere that has maybe 6-10 auctions a year between 5-6 facilities, my only other options are about 100 miles away.

From what I could tell it might of been the 2nd of two units the people had rented, the way it was packed definitely not a setup, too much work and too neatly stacked. Also definitely, 1 persons items, lots of boxes still to go through, already found a couple of boxes with some interesting things. I think there other unit is still there or may have been sold already. The real work is just beginning now, it only took me and a buddy about 3 1/2 hours to get it all loaded. Like I said not a gold mine, but still profitable.