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General Storage Auction Talk / Biggest Buy I've Made Yet!
« on: April 12, 2015, 11:41:38 PM »
So it seems like nobody is talking about any of their purchases much anymore.....is anybody on here buying any lockers at all?

I went to a storage vault auction at a moving and storage company last week.  I bought 20 vaults, every one of them professionally wrapped and boxed. 

Ended up with multiple sets of boxes belonging to the same people.  One of 11, one of 5, one of 3, and a single. 

So far, all I know is I did get some nice antiques, which I don't normally get very excited about, but I see three or four pieces which should get my money back on the entire lot. 

So to move all this, it took one 26' Freightliner box truck, one Chevy cargo van load, and three loads in a Chevy diesel truck and 20' box trailer.  And of course a warehouse to cram it all in.

I'll be going through it starting this week....I probably have 300 sealed boxes and I haven't looked in any of them yet!  With the quality of some of the furniture I have seen, I am hoping they had some good stuff in the boxes too.  Anyway, kind of excited to see what I got......if I find any golden statues I'll let you know....:-)

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General Storage Auction Talk / Is ANYONE Out There Still Buying Lockers?
« on: December 28, 2014, 10:13:36 PM »
Just wondered if anyone on here is actually buying lockers anymore?  I have an auction in the morning but there hasn't been much talk about anybody getting new units.  Everybody change professions now?

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Storage Auctions "In The News" / Buyer Wins Unit with Two Kids Inside
« on: December 19, 2014, 01:25:21 PM »
COLFAX, Calif. (AP) — Authorities in Northern California are investigating how the bodies of two infants or fetuses ended up in a storage unit.

The Placer County sheriff's office says a woman called authorities Nov. 25 to report an odor coming from the abandoned storage space in the city of Colfax, about 40 miles northeast of Sacramento. She had just purchased the contents of the storage unit at auction.

The Sacramento Bee reports deputies found the decomposing remains of a fetus or infant in a container, and a deputy coroner confirmed the remains were human. Later, a second fetus or infant was discovered in the container.

Sheriff's officials say detectives have interviewed a woman believed to be the mother. They're waiting for the results of forensic and toxicology tests before determining how to proceed.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/19/storage-unit-auction-remains_n_6352590.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmaing11%7Cdl7%7Csec3_lnk3%26pLid%3D585562

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The Lounge / Public Storage Burns in Ferguson!
« on: November 25, 2014, 01:30:19 AM »
So while some went shopping and looting, others started fires.  I was watching Public Storage burn on the news, the office and managers apartment were burning to the ground.  I hope they got out okay or weren't home! 

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The Treasure Chest / Bought 12 Lockers Yesterday at One Auction!
« on: June 27, 2014, 09:36:01 AM »
38 Lockers for sale at a facility that hadn't had a sale in years.  Short story for now because I'm headed out to start loading.......ten people show up......most expensive locker goes for $210!  I ended up buying 12......couldn't pass them up with what I was seeing and the prices.......$678.00 for 12 lockers.......barely even got to look in them yet but already found a sterling silver flute worth at least $300! 

Update in the next couple days, I will be busy!  Let the fun begin!!

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Sometime last night, Eugene Johnson passed away.  He was a good friend and well known auction buyer in the Marysville/Everett/Lynnwood/Seattle area for about the past 8 years.  He was one of those rare guys that pretty much everyone liked.

He was friendly and would always offer to give a helping hand.  He didn't run people up just for the fun of it.  He didn't get caught up in all the gossip.  He was a genuinely nice man, and I'm happy to have known him as a friend.

He had a regular swap meet booth at the Monroe Fairgrounds.  He wasn't in it for the money.  It gave him something fun to do to get him out of the house and keep his wife from going crazy and he had many friends and it kept him active and social.

He will be missed by many........  :'(


7
So I am sitting here this morning eating breakfast and I get a phone call (876-846-0278....for those of you that know what to do with these things) and some guy with a bad accent tells me he is so and so from Publishers Clearing House and that I have won 10.5 Million Dollars and he had to deliver it.  I hung up.

A minute later, he calls back and asked why I hung up.  I told him, I have never, ever, EVER, entered any Publishers House sweepstakes, so I knew it was BS.   He called me an A**Hole and I told him to F'Off and hung up.  I was so close........

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The Lounge / Everybody Enjoy The "State of the Union" Speech?
« on: January 29, 2014, 10:50:05 AM »
So irritating watching those guys clap like trained monkeys over the stupidest stuff.  I made it through a little over half way and couldn't stand it any more!  What do you think?

9
So if you are up in the Seattle area and end up with a locker that has some good furniture I would be interested (by "good", I mean NOT particle board and not broken or missing drawers or ripped up, etc.....some scuffs and scratches are okay). 

I have a truck and trailer and could pick it up if you have a fair amount.  We could also make arrangements to pick up just a piece or two if we can be flexible, I'm not going to make a 60 mile trip to pick up a single chair for example, but if I can combine it with another trip and have to be down there anyway, why not? 

I would prefer between Bellingham and Lynnwood, perhaps as far as Seattle for a trailer load of good stuff.  Thanks.

10
Craigslist / Craigslist is ALIVE! Finally picking back up!
« on: November 15, 2012, 07:47:02 PM »
Craigslist has been kind of slow for about three months.  Now, I've done over a grand in the last three days!  Is it because the election is finally over or something else?  Guess it doesn't matter much....just happy things are moving again!

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This is in Bothell, WA......Public Storage, I've been on this run many times.  These people went to get some stuff out of their locker and found something interesting living there!

http://www.aol.com/video/couple-shocked-to-find-massive-pythons-in-storage-unit/517529278/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmaing7%7Cdl14%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D230253

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The Treasure Chest / Got Two Lockers Today....and Got LUCKY Doing it!
« on: July 25, 2012, 09:49:28 PM »
Went to a small facility today.  Nice crowd, mostly regulars.  Anyway, this place is a "silent bid" type auction.  First unit I got had three top boxes showing....you know, the big ones that sit on a bottom box and hold lot's of tools.  There was also one bottom box showing, and a couple of smaller tool boxes.

I hate to disclose my secrets in case one of my locals reads this and starts bidding against me, but here goes:

I whipped out my bid slip, and I tried to give it my best guess what it might be worth and how much some of the other bidders might go.  I ended up bidding $375.88 (I never bid a solid number on silent bid......I always add some cents).  Anyway, all bids are in, and second bid was $375.00!  I won it by .88 cents!

So we do a few more lockers, I lost another one by 30 bucks, didn't bid on a couple of others. and came to another locker I was kind of interested in.  Had a perfect armoire in it, and nice table with leaves, another glass table with the glass, a nice persian style rug, and some mattresses. 

I don't like mattresses that much, but I have sold quite a few and made money on them.  I also know that most of the guys there would be scared away by the mattresses.  So I asked the owner if I bid on it, would he give me more time to clean it out.  He said I could have an extra week.  Cool!

So, I bid 101.88 on it.  Okay, this is no BS, and there were lot's of witnesses, but second bid on it was 101.01.....I won it by .87 cents!  I couldn't believe it....two in one day and I only left 1.75 on the table!  I'll NEVER get that lucky again!

That's what I hate about the silent bid auctions the most....you want to win without being 100 bucks over the next highest bid.  That was close!  As a note, a friend and I lost one at this same facility a couple years ago by .01 cent!  That was a bummer!

Anyway, started going through the tool box one.  I was going to take a picture before I dug in, but got excited....sorry.... ;D

So far, I got three top boxes, one craftsman, two other I forget at the moment.  I got two bottom boxes of which one went with my craftsman top box.  Now the good part......tons and tons of tools!  Usually they aren't there, or they're all chinese junk, but I got a lot of craftsman stuff! 

Also, got a snap on tool cart!  I was using that to move stuff back and forth to my truck....I may keep that at home and not sell it!  Got a newer video camera, and jumper box for starting cars, a car floor jack, a 1/2" impact gun and a 3/8" impact gun.  A really nice craftsman tool box....like an ice chest with handle and wheels, like new. 

Anyway, I'm far from through it all, but in addition to the tools and other stuff I've already mentioned, so far I have an army foot locker, nice crab ring with rope, (perfect time to sell that!) sewing machine in cabinet, lot's of fishing gear and a nice large plano tacklebox, dewalt screw gun, mechanics creeper, ton's of Chiltons manuals, brand new pair of boots, couple pairs of converse and shaq tennis shoes, some pretty nice jackets and lot's and lot's of other stuff I haven't even made it to yet.  I am thinking I will do very well on both! 

As I clean them out over the next couple of days, I'll try to get some pictures up here. 

13
Picker's Paradise / Picked an Auction House!
« on: July 06, 2012, 11:48:13 PM »
Long story.....lol.....but, I ended up with this pretty cool old document from 1922, signed by one president and one future president!  Pretty sure it's real, came out of the estate of the guy on the form. 

Guess you never know until you have it checked out, but I thought it was worth taking the risk.  I just thought it was kind of cool and can keep it around.......if I end up making money off it later, all the better!

President Warren G. Harding, with the approval of congress, made Henry O'Malley of Washington, the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries.  It has the presidential seal, it's signed by Warren G. Harding (I hope!) and Herbert Hoover, who was the Secretary of Commerce at the time, but went on to become President himself eventually. 

It's in an old, lacquered frame, and the document is in excellent condition.  I just think it's cool!

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The Treasure Chest / Overlooked some Bling!
« on: July 06, 2012, 11:37:16 PM »
Bought locker two months ago....did a quick check, pulled personals and pics and got rid of a couple loads to Goodwill.  Throw boxes in basement.....out of sight, out of mind!  Setting up for garage sale yesterday.....find two fairly thick 14k chains and an earring!

Already made money on the locker from CL and ebay, did pretty fair at the garage sale and still have another day to go, and I'm thinking this should be good for another $450-$600!  I love my job!

15
So I have a bunch of stuff that has been sitting in my basement taking up space.  Part of it is left over from a seamstress unit I bought a while back that is like the gift that keeps on giving and most of the rest was a locker I bought about two months ago from a facility about 1/2 mile from my house.  I was in a big hurry at the time, so I pulled out a few good things for CL and ebay, and just stuffed the rest in the basement. 

Finally, we got a weekend with some nice days forecast!  Ran some ads and sorted through everything yesterday (found 2 x 14K Necklaces and a 14K big, fat earring, but that's another story) and got up early this morning and got it all set up and running by nine. 

Of course the early birds showed up at about 7:15.......but in this case two things happened.........one is that I recruited the one guy to run the hand truck to move bunches of boxes out to the front yard (free Labor.... Hallelujah!) and between him and another guy, I had made $150 by the time I "opened" at 9:00!

It was an interesting and kind of fun day.  I recruited my next door neighbor kid to help out.  He's a 20 year old mexican/american and I got to advertise "se habla espanol" in my CL ad.....smart move on my part!  Met a lot of interesting people today, actually had fun, and didn't really even have any jerks (knock on wood!) 

Two things that happened stood out from today though.  This one girl came by who was really nice but kind of mentally "challenged".  She goes and picks out a dress and a couple little items and comes up to me and says something about just having a little bit of change, and digs through her pockets and pulls out .27!  So then she starts talking about these tattoos that she just spent five bucks on getting them out of some vending machine.  She pulls them out and starts laying them all out on the table.  She makes two piles and she said she just really wanted to keep the three tattoos in the one pile, but I could have the ones in the other pile.  I pulled out this big spider one, and told her I'd take her .27 and that tattoo for what she wanted.  She said I could have them all and I told her that was good enough.  So she walks over to her bike and puts her stuff up, and pulls out a little tiny baby garter snake and had to bring it over to show us.  It was funny!

 Anyway, as she's pulling away, I gave the tattoo to the neighbor kid's nephew who's about three, and we got it on his arm and the rest of the day he's walking up to anybody that came by and held his arm up and pointed at it.  Cute little kid!

The other thing that happened could have potentially had an uncomfortable ending.  This lady asks me if any of my stuff by chance came out of a storage unit.  I said as a matter of fact, it did.  It ended up being her daughters (well, before she didn't pay her bill and I bought it!) stuff! 

She was really nice and bought a few things and started talking about how bummed out her daughter was that she lost all her pics and stuff.  I remembered this one very well, and I remembered going through and boxing up about four big boxes of pictures and personal papers, and I know this facility has a special little room they hold all the personals in for up to a year.  I told her to have her daughter get over and get it, because they were all there.  And a weird thing.....when I was going through the stuff yesterday, I found a birth certificate and this really nice professionally done album.  I almost threw it away, but I set it aside and had it stored downstairs. 

I told her to hang on for a minute, and ran down and grabbed them and brought them up.  I opened the book and it said "happy 54th b'day" with a picture of the lady I was talking to!  I gave her that and the birth certificate and she was tearing up.  She thought that was gone forever!   Her kids had made her this really cool, bound like a book, with some family history and all the kids and grandkids pics in this thing for her b'day, and then her daughter didn't pay her storage bill and she lost it!

We had a nice little chat, and I made her day.  I overlooked it (and the gold!) when I bought the unit and I was glad I hadn't tossed it. 

All in all, pretty good day.  I made just a hair under $600 bucks after paying my helper $70 for the days work.  And there's still tomorrow.............

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