Auction Scene #10...October, 2013

Welcome to Fall, 2013 !

Nice weather and hopefully good auctions leading us to a good Thanksgiving two months from now. 

Still pretty hot here in Dallas but I went to my first October auction today at 1:30 so it was hot.  It was advertised as 11 units but only three when I called around noon.  Over 30 people waiting around when I pulled up at 1:20.

Not looking good.  A couple of regulars and a nice mother son I have seen around a lot. 

First unit tons of clothes in trash bags.  I was shocked when opening bid was $20, still it went for $40. 

2nd unit was a nice little furniture unit.  It looked like a showroom with a couch, love seat, a couple of coffee tables and some other end tables.  There was a nice dining room table in the back.  I made a play at it but when it got to $150 I was out.  Unit went for $240

3rd unit
Dream unit
Amazing 10x20 unit filled to the back. In the front was a stainless steel fridge.  I could see 4 guitar speakers with a Fender cover.  There where 2 6 ft long remote control airplanes with remotes.  Nice shelving all the way to the back on one side full.
Other side had a nice workbench with tons of tools.  Mystery boxes all over the unit, nice wooden ones, stainless steel ones, camera cases. 
In the back was a guitar case.
to much to list really
If I didint know better I would have thought it was a staged unit. 
The guy might have even lived there, he had a heavy duty extension cord attached to the light on top.
Anyway so I started to look up fridge on phone and I hear the bidding already to $1000

Oh well still I was going to make a play
1225 me
back and forth and its to 1400
me 1425
and then suddenly I got it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The storage facility did not use a pro auctioneer and it hurt them but it helped me. 
Bad news I had to run back to get kids from school and attend a meeting.  I took a quick look around and it was actually better than I thought.  I will fill in details tonight.  I think I finally have a really nice score

I will fill in details tonight.  I think I finally have a really nice score

Details would be nice...pictures even better !

Went to an auction the other day and .... bad news. This was one of the 4 major auctioneers in my area and he has a following.

About a dozen lockers...I stayed for the first 5 or so. One of the ones I saw looked decent; a 10 x 10 with a 32" tv up front waiting for some sucker to get drawn in (most don't work; why they're save I don't know).  Anyway, I would have gone maybe $200 to insure some profit but the first words out of the auctioneers mouth..."I have a starting bid of $500, who wants to go $525?"

The crowd went all right...straight down the aisle to the next locker. I think it must have been the lkr owners who bought it but I didn't inquire. Scoffs were heard all around thinking it was a newbie, but no newbie I've seen talks to the auctioneer while coming away from the lkr view...that's why I think it was the lkr owner.

****

A couple of more lockers and I'd had enough...the NEWBIE population here was about thirty and then the regular 6 to 10 regular buyers.  Not a good day to get a bargain and I had other things to do.

Ok here are the dirty details. 

The Good
Stainless Steel Frigidaire Stainless Steel Fridge works great water dispenser works all tested.
Sold to old partner for $400
A mini fridge
sold for $25
Power Tools Galore
Highlights
2 Black and decker cordless drills 18v
2 Dewalt cordless drills 18v
2 Milwaukee Sawzalls
4 Circular saws
2 sanders
1 belt sander
about another 12 I haven't inventoried

hundreds of hand tools screwdrivers, saws, hammers, wrenches etc
Precision wood tools

Speakers are interesting getting them all checked out tomorrow
2 unknown 3 ft speakers
1 Leslie Amp
2 Leslie speakers
2 home theatre subwoofers
6 misc speakers RCA, Sony, etc
rolls of speaker cables

shelving units
2 stainless steel restaurant shelves 6ft by 4ft
3 metal garage shelves 6ft by 4ft

Harley Davidson collectibles
5 1:18 die cast bikes
lots of mics HD stuff

2 toy fender guitars that are listed on Ebay for 79.99
some ok furniture
2 desk
2 bed frames
2 file cabinets
tons of cool nice little wooden boxes

The bad
4 empty guitar cases
2 power washers with cut electrical cords

The ugly
a drawer full of needles
a box full of condoms (at least the were unused)


Thats just the good stuff we processed last night and today.  Still got a third of the shelves to go through and more furniture.  I reached an agreement with manager for a couple weeks.
Going to have a big parking lot sale at a friends business on October 19th.
It was a fun unit and hopefully get some good news on speakers.
Not the grand slam but a nice hit overall.  I have to still be careful of getting overexcited on these units.


 

Guitar cases still have some value and power cords can be replaced very inexpensively. It's only bad because it wasn't ideal, but there's still money in the bad..

Yes the guitar case is an older TKL and is really cool.  Already had an offer to buy it from a musician friend for $75 was just sad cause if the case is worth that much imagine what could have been inside. 

I am looking up in youtube DIY and awesome resource BTW to replace the power cords.

You guys are great resources to bounce ideas off.  I have been so stinking busy, I am a chef that works at my kids church and school and we have a big wedding tomorrow.  It is hard not to process more. 

Went to a local auction yesterday supposedly 7 lockers including managers own locker full of tools. only 6-7 people there, me and 1 other regular, and the rest first timers. First locker was the managers tool locker, lots of good stuff in there, minimum opening bid $2000, hence no one bid and we moved on, 2nd locker full of trash, looked like good stuff had been removed by tenant before deciding to stop paying, Newbie got it for $25. Next was a 5x10 with lots of boxes and tubs stacked neatly including a 42" LCD HDTV box, as well as what appeared to be a loveseat and some nice lamps and other decorative. I decide to go to $300 and see how I felt from there. Opening bid of $25, other regular bids, I bid $50, he goes $75, me $100, him $125, me $150, he drops out.  I scored it for $150. (Deets later). next locker was empty except for some dust, next one had just some broken furniture, other reg got it for $25. Last unit had old washer and dryer only, other reg got it for $25. Auction ended, The manager let me look closer at his tool locker after I cleaned out mine, I estimated in resell value there to be $2000-2500 in tools there, and he would not budge on his $2000 minimum, nor would he sell anything indivdually so I had to pass, even though I love tools, they sell really well, the profit margin just was not there. Well back to my unit, The TV was in the box, not only that but it was never opened brand new. Also found a almost brand new kitchenaid mixer, an ikea TV stand, and a ton of high end dishes and pots and pans(I think mostly wedding gifts). My wife is replacing alot of our personal dishes and cookware with items out of this unit as well as keeping for herself a bunch of other decorative items.(I have never seen her so anxious to help process a unit. The loveseat turned out to be a small sectional that my wife wants to keep even though she said she would never use a used couch(germaphobe). Anyway even with my wife keeping $300-$500 worth of merch, I will still pull out $500-$700 on this $150 unit. The best part is it only took 3-4 hours to process it all and only one box of personal items to return and only 1 box of garbage! Now if every unit could be like this one 

Those are the best lockers!!!!  Good job.

Got a pretty good unit the other day. U-Haul caravan, 9:00 AM, only 5 bidders. They open the door and you can see a washer and dryer, nice flat screen TV stand, a bunch of totes and a bunk bed. Won it for $150. Knew I could get $200 for the washer and dryer so it was a no brainer.

Found several pairs of almost new men's & women's shoes and some nice purses. The wife was happy. The totes were full of military gear which I resold to one of the other buyers for a quick $100. There were 3 used pair of Jordans which I also sold to another buyer for a quick $50. As I was cleaning out the unit, a guy driving buy asked if the washer and dryer were for sale. Sold him the pair for a quick $200. Also found a JoJo diamond watch (to be appraised), 60 DVDs and some other things we needed for around the house. Still have the flat screen TV stand & the bunk bed to sell, that's another $170. Only took a few hours to clean out. Not too shabby for a couple hours at the office.

Went to a sale on Saturday. Usually the weekend sales are packed. I was really surprised to see only five other bidders there. First unit had some furniture, a very old jet ski, mattresses, and some boxes. Everything looked pretty rough. Went for $180.00.
Second unit the lock was cut and the door wouldn't come open. Manager started questioning if we were at the right unit. Turns out we were not. Lucky for him the door wouldn't open.
Next unit (true #2) had a twin bed, small flat screen tv and two boxes of xmas decorations. Went for $30.00.
Third unit had a few tool and a refrigerator that blocked most of the vision. $10.00 won me that one.
Forth unit was a 10 X 30. The smell when it was open was awful. Manager said the people lived in it at one time. You could only see the first 5 feet. Went for $225.00.
Fifth unit was full of office furniture. Went for $10.00.

My unit ended up with a 2007 Whirlpool side by side refrigerator with ice and water in the door. Sold the next day for $450.00. Tow straps, clamps, and a few other mics. sold to my dad for $50.00. There are several pairs of mens tennis shoes and boot, three pairs of brass knuckles, two sets of boxing gloves, a portable dvd player I sold for $20.00, a few other things I can sell for a few bucks. I should clear between $600 and $700 dollars on this one. Not to bad for a few hours labor.

The auction yesterday was horrible! Lots of new people spending ridiculous money! I saw a room with a mattress that was ROUGH and 2 bins go for $75! I saw a queen sized bed frame with cracked rails, mattress and box spring and mystery dresser (pushed against the wall drawers in) go for $200. Insane!

Not to mention the $5 chip raises. Drove me crazy all day when the auctioneer/manager would ask for $175 bid from a $150, and these newbies would bid $155!!! What drove me even crazier was the management would take the bid!! Just encouraging ridiculous behavior!

have you seen this advertised on C/List OCTOBER 26th  Fall Facility Yard Sale! It is in a town out by the airport.
   I didn't think that they were supposed to sell a lockers contense in this type of sale?

have you seen this advertised on C/List OCTOBER 26th  Fall Facility Yard Sale! It is in a town out by the airport.
   I didn't think that they were supposed to sell a lockers contense in this type of sale?

No, they're not. There is no way to track each unit's sales thus depriving the tenant from any overage.

Two facility auction today. Six units at the first one. About 50 people with 33 bid numbers handed out. 10 regulars and the rest newbies. First two units were junk. They went for $60 and $25. Next four were good. Most expensive went for $525.  I bid on one that had a couple pieces of furniture and some art. Went for $150 and I had set a limit at $125.
Second facility had three units. Not all that were at the first showed up at the second. First unit was trash $35. Second unit was dirty furniture with no surprises $20. Third unit was stuffed with a mix of good stuff $625.
Not totally great but six to seven months ago three of these units would have went well over $1000. Maybe things are calming down? Only time will tell.