Auction Scene #12...December, 2012

Ho, Ho, Ho !

Yep, it's that time of year and in addition to hurricanes, high winds, rain and snow, the networks will be assailing us with new editions of old favorites (Storage Wars) and a new city with some funny accents to boot...New York! It's a helluva town...the bronx is up and battery's down.

So, here we go again and for the last time in 2012.  I went to a piece by piece auction the last day of November, 2012 and only came away with one box of books and some binoculars, but enjoyed  the rain and cold. A friend got about 6 good items for a total of $90 and he will triple on that.

Regular auctions will probably be thin in December as some facilities won't sell delinquent goods in the mistaken feeling that it just isn't right. Meanwhile those folks who aren't paying up will continue to not pay up, spending what money they do have on rent and Christmas gifts which might end up in another locker !  Smile.

I went to a POD style auction Wednesday morning.  It was kind of a weird combination auction....they had some pods full of household goods, and they sold some "by the box" lots also.  The company had gone out of business, so they also sold off some moving equipment, a couple of trucks, and a bunch of their office equipment.  I did fairly well there, it was unusual, but there were some bargains to be had!

I went to a regular old storage auction this morning.  40-50 mph wind gusts, short periods of driving rain, and a pretty big crowd.  Prices actually weren't that bad, but out of 10 lockers up for auction, there was only one locker worth buying, and instead of bidding the guy up, I let a thrift store owner I know have it for $350, which was probably a fair deal. 

The holidays are here and I don't usually attend as many auctions this time of year anyway.  I've got plenty to do, and I have a fair amount of inventory at the moment.  Picking has been going VERY well and craigslist is still on fire......I'm enjoying that while it lasts......because if I've learned anything, I know it won't!

Dec 1 found me at one of my faveorite 3 location trains.  However, this month they only had 7 units in 2 locations.  Mostly all regulars this time with a few returning old-newbies / new-newbies in the mix.  First facility was ok but nothing I bid high on (silent bid).  First unit at the 2nd location was interesting and I honestly just didn't know how to bid.  Two other units were nice and I know went for over $200.  Rest were so/so.  I didn't win anything - got outbid by $21 on one.

Now for the "how do I bid this" unit.  It was a 10 x 20 arts / crafts unit.  In the front you saw clear totes with craft magazines, paint brushes, paints, decorations, just a mix of stuff.  Stacked a good 3' - 4' high.  Look over that and you see a old wood box coca-cola carrier, some newer plastic 2 litter coke carriers, 2 or 3 wood plant stands with the heart design.  From 1/2 way in the rest of the 10x10 was taken up with totes.  Small to mid-size totes stacked 6' to 7'.  They were above my head.  Marked as "easter", "misc", "xmas", etc.  Wish I had a picture of the unit.  I know arts and crafts can be very lucrative or a huge to the dump pile.  I honestly couldn't tell which was the case here.  So I jotted down a $153 bid and went to the next unit.  I was outbid by a good margin.  I figured the unit would go higher but since I have no exp in arts/crafts I just couldn't bid to much for the unit.

Tuesday finds me at my other 3 train location and then u-haul on friday.  Tuesday is not the normal time/day for this facility but they split Nov and Dec due to holidays.  Will see how it goes.

Well my tuesday auction started out with 82 units listed in the paper.  We were down to right at 30 units by tuesday's start time.  Still a large number of units for a change.  I purchased 2 $20 units.  Nothing super great in them but will make a little money.  Buddy also bought a unit for $225 and looks to make ok, but not as good as we both had thought.

Unit of the day may of been the computer/furniture/staged looking unit.  Was a 10x15 that had 15 CD drives from a computer, keyboards, etc. in a few boxes.  A dresser half way back facing the door with several magazines on it and a watch.  Guy found a box of jewerly that may or may not be real.  Also found a post card / coin set.  If the jewelry is real he will have done very good.  If not he should still make a decent amount of money from the unit.

Friday is U-haul -- will see if can grab a unit from there also but doubtful.  Due to the large # of mice / rats in this facility I always cut my bids by 20-50%.  Mostly lower quality items and furniture in these units.  But I have turned some profit before out of them.

Hey! Mice/Rats don't eat gold bars, expensive rifles, or Coca-Cola collectibles, so you should'nt have to lower your biddng at all! 

Yes, but the rats could have chewed holes in the seats of the sandrail, the mini boat, the Bobcat or antique horse carriage. 

Well U-haul was a bust.  Only 4 units and I didn't place but 1 bid.  My caravan last week turned out good.  Purchased a $35 junk unit that I'll do ok on, but this one didn't pay off.  I did take another gamble on a 10x20 half filled on one side.  Futon, floor buffer, part of a sectional, and lots of random crap showing.  Only paid $70 for the unit.  Futon was crap, the glide rocker works well, but the cushions are done and the wood was gnawed on by I suspect a bird (they had birds).  The floor buffer does work and should already have it sold for $50.  The bike that was in there needs work but is another $30-$50 come spring.  What really surprised me was the military stuff I found in the back.  Lots of BDU's (prior to the digicam they wear now), boots, rank, etc.  Did find 3 entrenching shovels, 2 camel water packs, a dozen canteens, 2 load bearing vest, etc.  So just out of the unit I gained back $10 in lottery tickets, bills, and coins I found.  Old computer I can scrap that I normally buy for $5 each.  So this unit will make me money even after I keep some of the things for myself.  Wish can find more of these surprise units.

The month is over for me.  Auctions this week that I can't make due to work.  So my next auction is in January.  Most of the normal auction runs take January off also.  So Jan will be a slim month IMO.  Good time to get rid of some stuff before buy anything else.

This week is filled with auctions between PS and NW, but we chose Uhaul's 40 unit auction about 45 mins north of us today.  They had the 40 units still that they had when I called last week, though most of it was not good.  About 60 people showed up, but it was moving so slow that by noon we dropped about 20 people.  We ended up winning 6 lockers for a total of around $1300 which was great.  The first was one of the upper little cubby type ones for $105, 2nd was same owner right next door for $55 (someone ran us up just to do it because they knew we were going to get it since same owner), 3rd was a kids unit that I wanted for $55, 4th was a nicely organized and sealed in plastic california king bedroom set unit for $150, 5th was what appears to be a mexican store that closed with store racks and an ice cream freezer for $350, and the last was an asian family unit that is still a mystery but had good stuff from the door and was a 10x20 for $400.  We won the most expensive units of the day except for 1 which went for $600 and we were in it until around $575.  We haven't dug through any of it, so it could all be a bust.  We will go back tomorrow and start the clearing process, it actually began to snow here and the auction took hours to complete, so we had to leave and it was later than we had planned.  This was my first experience with this many lockers in one location, and I almost prefer to jump from location to location just because it feels like it goes a little faster.   

Having that many lockers at one location makes moving day easier. Good luck, it sounds like you got some good deals.

Absolutely, good point!

Auction yesterday was not bad. Six units and around 20 bidders.
First unit 10 X 12 full of what looked like dirt bike and quad parts and tons of plastic totes. Went for 695.
Second unit 5 X 5 was garbage. Some one paid 5 for it. Guess the trash can was worth that.
Third unit 10 X 12 had a lot of pieces of wood, several boxes and the sleeper (I don't think many could see it) was a Craftsman table saw. Went for 30.
Unit four and five were owned by the same person. Both 10 X 15 nicely packed with several tools showing. Went for 700 and 550.
Last unit 10 X 20 had gotten wet. Facility had pulled several things out so they could fix the water leak. Still kicking myself for not bidding. Water was only in the first 5 foot. Went for 90. Wet items were nice bedding, fake fur jackets (2), vintage lamp and art prints.
Guess I'm just not that motivated right now as the lease has just been changed and I am looking for a new location for the store. I have a great one in mind but it needs a lot of work so probably moving sometime in the near future. Actually kind of excited about it just not sure how much new inventory I want to bring in right now.

Good luck with the move. Sounds labor intensive but hopefully the new location will work out even better for you.

Well, This months auction scene hasn't been as popular as previous months 

The first part of the month gave us thin crowds and some great deals. The end of month gave us large crowds (people taking vacation leave i'm sure) and extravagent bidding, AGAIN!! 

A lot of one year on-and-off again newbies plus many old timers were back in the auctions at the end of December.

Question for all, especially the newbies... If bidding stupid high on units didn't work back in January, March, August, or October when you dropped out of the scene the first time, what makes you think bidding like that in December will make things better?? 

I know, you can't win if you don't pay, I mean play. The Old Timers weren't letting the Newbs get anything cheap, and the Newbs weren't letting the Old Timers get anything cheap.

Guess folks had Christmas money from Aunt Betty burning in their pockets.

Now we've got 3-4 months of Tax Season "Thousandaires" to look forward to! 

Glad I'm loaded down with inventory to sell!! 

Well, This months auction scene hasn't been as popular as previous months 

I think overall the interest in storage auctions and all things storage auction related is on the decline.

Look at the people who have been posting the last month. Here's a list that's more or less accurate:

Travis, Cobia, Alloro, Alias300, MovieMan and a sprinkling of others....recent new members and the occasional older member.

Do you think that this forum is an appropriate gauge? Especially since the overall activity on this forum has doubled, even tripled in the last two months.

Before the storage auction reality shows premiered, search volume for storage auctions was unmeasurable. The limited data I have over the past few years indicates that interest in storage auctions declines during the end of the year. The search volume for the past three months indicates that interest has leveled out, although we did see a spike during the holidays.

http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=storage%20auctions&date=today%203-m&cmpt=q

Also, my data indicates that interest peaked during January & February 2012, which were the two busiest months our company had last year. This is probably a result of people getting their income tax returns and having disposable income. There is just not enough data to predict where this niche is going; however, if I had to rely on my gut feeling, I would say that the way things have been for the past 3 months will be the way they will be until the storage auction reality shows go off the air.