Question to everyone else here. Do you guys try to inform people who are looking into getting into this or newbs at the auction hoping to get a locker no matter what? I just wonder if it would have an impact on prices?
I tell everybody who shows interest in this, that it is and I quote "A truly nasty, dirty business". Yes there is money to be made, but the work and the filth often leave me wondering why. I let them know about unwashed clothing, stains on furniture, food left in lockers, an old broken hutch covered in roach crap, the porn, drug paraphernalia and numerous court documents chronicling broken lives. It's gross and definitely not for the weak of heart, back or stomach.
I have gotten so tired of the madness at the auctions that I have completely changed my bidding strategy. Two things are happening now at the auctions. New newbies are just gambling so they will pay any price to win what looks like a good unit. older newbies are "bird doging" the regulars, basically any unit a regular shows interest in, they jump on. So now I start every unit i am interested in at 75% of the maximum I am willing to spend. I think I have done enough research to guess the total value of a unit based on size, volume, and quality. The other regulars look at me like"what the heck are you doing?" but we all know the price is going to get that high anyway and higher. In fact I haven't won a unit since mid December so I am still getting out bid. What other new bidders don't know is when I start the bid at 75% of my max, and the final bid settles at twice that amount or more, the chances of making any money on that unit are probably less then 10%.
I consider myself a regular. To some I'm considered an older newbie I guess, but I have been told by some friends (who just go to observe) that people hone in on me. When I want a unit they pay attention a bit more than when my husband does the bidding. Could be why I've only won 4 of the 10 units we've purchased. And I've never won one when my husband wasn't there. Seems they always go too high.
Guess I'll have to keep an eye on that and hand the reins over.
And I like your bidding strategy. Think I'll try that. Or let my husband (since I'm being 'bird-dogged') tomorrow if we find a locker worth bidding on~