Its a 2 day auction 2 storage companies with one auctioneer.  1st day is 1 facility with multiple locations and the second day the same.  Up to 18 or 20 locations in 2 days with multiple units at each.  One facility requires a $100 cleaning deposit PER unit.

I found a lady selling cow skulls on craigslist, yes cow skulls.

She has over 30 for $5 each.  They are plain no horns.

I bought 12 for a total of $60.  My brother in law paints for a living, he paints logo addresses on curbs been doing it for 10 years.  I paid him $5 for each skull he painted for a total investment of $10 per skull.  He painted them college,nfl,state flags etc.

I plan on selling these for $40 each tomorrow at the local flea market and I think they will do well considering I see just plain jane skulls selling for $50 and painted for $80 and up.

I had a spot at 1st Monday Canton Tx I paid $450 a month for and was there only 3 days a month.  I sold 100% new merchandise.  My 1st month there I made $1500 and almost sold out. My 2nd month did $1500 the 1st day and $4000 total, these are gross figures.

At the local flea market i sold at the spaces were $7 each and I would get 3.  I wouldn't sell anything for less than $1 and most times I left no longer than 5 hours after getting there with $400 to $700 in my pocket.  Almost every weekend my pickup and 6x12 trailer was full when I arrived and only a few boxes when I left.

I didn't read all the responses, sorry if I'm repeating anything.

I have been doing this over 10 years, way before the shows and I don't go as much as I used to because of the shows.  Right now is a bad time to get in this business because everyone is because of the shows.

But, if you must get into it this is my advice take it however you want.

First off you need at least a pickup, you need a place to store the stuff and sort and you need a outlet to throw away the trash.

When I was going to 5 plus auctions a week I would sell the furniture on craigslist collectables on ebay and the rest at the flea market.  I would fill my garage up during the week and sell it before the next week. I would take my 6x12 trailer to the flea market on Sunday full and come home in 5 hours almost empty. My buyers knew I would deal because I needed the room in my garage. I got the prices I wanted and freed up space for more.

If you havent been to a storage auction yet then I suggest to go to a few. What you see on the tv shows is for entertainment.  You have to take everyrhing out of the unit even the trash you cant be like Barry in Storage Wars and throw everything outside take what you want and leave the rest. If you do you will never be back.