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Messages - Travis

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76
Company News / Re: We're moving back to Cloudflare
« on: September 11, 2015, 04:12:07 PM »
Months...it's been going on for months now. It started off as a mild DDOS attack, then came the XMLRPC attacks, then they hacked our PC's, then fake Google and MSN bots came swarming in. As of now, the hacker/s is/are focused on me and my new computer. (Which is currently undergoing a factory reset due to an early morning attack.) The hackers are logging in and taking control of the hidden administrator account, system, and a handful of trusted other names. Heck, they've even cloned my Kasperski total security account.

What's most frustrating of all is whenever I announce to our members that we will be publishing the schedules on a certain time or date, the hackers/bots go out of their way to make sure that doesn't happen. They overwhelm my PC forcing me to shut down or lose my equipment. I can't explain in words how frustrating this is. We have about 2500 unanswered emails as of now, we can't field all of the calls, and everytime I think we've fixed the problem, it just intensifies.

Some good has come of this. We found several back doors to the site, a cloned site that was reselling our auction lists and the remnants of a negative SEO attack from earlier. Well my PC is back up. Gotta reinstall programs, run some malware scans and then a few friends of mine and I are going to try to take back these sites. If we can't get this cleaned up by Sunday night, we're going to launch another site. If that happens, I will post the new URL here.

Those of you who know me know that I don't give up. I want everyone to know that we're not going anywhere. We will get through this. Once I have some free time, I'm going to write about this experience. It has been an eye opener for me. Dont take internet security for granted. Take every precaution to protect your privacy, because something like this could happen to you. Or even worse, you might not even know that it happened.


77
The Lounge / Re: Houston, We've Got a Problem!
« on: July 18, 2015, 04:43:15 PM »
Must be their new storage auction show that's generating all of the interest from there.

Actually, that was my first guess too, but most of the U.K. traffic was coming from Auction Hunters related articles. I'll look into that when I have some free time.

78
The Lounge / Houston, We've Got a Problem!
« on: July 17, 2015, 10:51:20 PM »
Or perhaps "London, We've Got a Problem!" would be more appropriate.

Some of you may have noticed that our server went down several times today. I couldn't figure out how that was possible because we've never been knocked offline, even under some extreme loads.

Well, the server took a beating from the British today. Over the past year, we've been getting a lot of global traffic and this afternoon we had a spike unlike anything we've ever seen before. I'll just show you the numbers and leave it at that.

79
Storage Auctions "In The News" / Storage unit buyers find meth lab
« on: July 17, 2015, 04:56:15 PM »
So these guys uncover meth lab equipment with a batch of meth still inside a beaker, then call the cops. They come in HAZMAT suits.  :-[

Funny thing is, the buyers look like the type that would instantly recognize the product.   :72:


http://m.nydailynews.com/news/national/calif-men-find-meth-lab-winning-storage-unit-auction-article-1.2290677

80
Company News / We're moving back to Cloudflare
« on: July 16, 2015, 03:52:39 PM »
We're moving the site back to Cloudflare this evening (07/16/15)

We're tightening security and improving the site's performance, but we did have some issues with this service in the past that have since been resolved.

Hopefully there will be no issues, but just in case, here is an alternate way to reach us to report any issues.  http://auctionstx.com/contact-us/

81
New to Storage Auctions? / Re: Unit full of bikinis
« on: July 16, 2015, 01:59:42 PM »
I personally would never buy used swimgear but I suppose platos closet probably sells some used suits if they are brand names.

You know, Plato's Closet has really come a a long way in the past decade. Who would think that a resale shop could franchise over 400 locations and be ranked the #1 franchise investment by Forbes Magazine in the $150,001 - $500,000 category?

I like the concept, but man are they picky about what they buy. If it's not the latest and greatest in young men's & women's fashion, don't expect to get a dollar from them.

 

82
The video won't load, but judging from the article it does not sound like Halloween decorations to me.

If they had only told us what the guy went to prison for....that's quality reporting there folks!

83
Came across this news story from 2013: http://www.local8now.com/home/headlines/Man-turns-to-police-after-strange-storage-unit-find--230601411.html

So what do you think? Some sick fetish, or just someone's twisted Halloween decorations?

84
That reminds me of this auction I went to in Houston. It was a strange place, half storage facility, half apartment complex. They were auctioning off around 70 units and 60 of them would have been refused at donation centers. Same situation, trashy units, buyers leaving, overly enthusiastic auctioneer, units from decades ago. One of the few auctions I've left while in progress.

85
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Portable Storage Auctions
« on: July 15, 2015, 10:17:10 AM »
I'll find out today and let you know travis.

Sounds good! I've been to a few and in my opinion, the quality seems to be about the same.

I've noticed that most of these containers are irregular sizes and they're usually are packed to the ceiling, so it can take a while to get a feel for how much merchandise is actually there. 

86
The Lounge / Miami Vice Ferrari Goes Up For Auction
« on: July 10, 2015, 01:58:09 AM »
Okay, this is just a cool story. As a child, I loved Miami Vice. I wanted to be Don Johnson. At 8 years old, I went out and bought a white suit just like his. It's quite embarrassing to think about now, but not quite as bad as the red leather zipper pants and jacket I owned during my Michael Jackson phase...but that's a whole different story.  :67:

Anyway, it looks like ol' Crockett's white Ferrari Testarossa is up for auction. It's estimated to fetch $600,000 to $800,000. The average Testarossa is selling in the $60,000 to $80,000 range, so that's quite a premium for 80's nostalgia. At least it's a V12.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3153121/Miami-Vice-1986-Ferrari-auction.html

87
public storage?
that means the auctioneer will be 2 hours late and once she does arrive she will sit in the office for another 45 mins doing paperwork.

i'm not bitter.

Right! I love Public Storage auctions, but they sure could improve their efficiency. Perhaps one day they'll just partner up with us. One can always dream, right?  :)

88
Online Storage Auctions / Re: Hard Close v/s Soft Close
« on: July 09, 2015, 08:55:37 PM »
Depending on which side you're standing on I suppose? It looks like the general consensus is that hard closes work for the buyer and soft closes work for the seller. Unfortunately I don't think we have much of a choice unless we run the auction…

If buyers prefer a particular format, it's in your best interest, as a seller, to appeal to the masses. Storage Battles experimented with this format a while back. Took them all of a week to realize that people didn't like it. But who knows what the future holds. Perhaps Online Storage Auctions will include it as an optional format.   

There is no denying that soft closes bring in more money for the seller; however, some of these auctions can be extended for hours costing buyers valuable time. 

I wonder if buyers would be open to a penny auction format?

89
Reality Shows about Storage Auctions / Dave Hester / Dan Dotson Fight
« on: July 05, 2015, 11:27:17 AM »
A few weeks ago, I heard that Dan Dotson & Dave Hester got into a fight. Didn't really have time to read the article. Does anyone know what happened? Did they air the episode yet?

90
Rat, roach & cricket infestations...yes. Bed bugs, thankfully no. It could be worse...you could have picked up a drug resistant, flesh eating bacteria.

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