Auction Scene #5...May, 2012

Spring seems to be officially upon us and hopefully will bring good things to all locker buyers !

Going to a "buy it by the piece" auction Tuesday, May 1, 2012.  "Picking" like this has been a good way to
augment the full locker buys when prices and bidders get out of hand.

I cant believe what Im reading...buy it by the piece auction is the worst way to buy merchandise, and in CA. the only auction company I have seen do this is American Auctioneers, went to one one time...first and last what a nightmare. There were over 200 people running up the prices on junk that hardly had any value to begin with. What a scam and they know it. The buy it by the piece auctions are really taking advantage of of the publicity and crowds....its the crowds and the publicity that is making them auction off each piece for maximum profits to the auctioneers and the storage unit owners.. pay attention people this is where it gets important....DONT GO TO A BUY IT BY THE PIECE AUCTION, I guarantee you will be sorry for wasting your time and money.

For the prices the junk was going for they might as well sell it by the pound.

I cant believe what Im reading...buy it by the piece auction is the worst way to buy merchandise, and in CA. the only auction company I have seen do this is American Auctioneers, went to one one time...first and last what a nightmare.

Once again you are entitled to your opinion, however they are not the only company doing it. I (and others) in central California have been going to auctions of this type for almost 10 years. Best buy made by a friend of mine was an oscillosope for $100. He got $1200 for it on eBay.

I just have a hard time believing anything you write about, you can get a new osscilscope brand new for 1200.00 TODAY...not even used on Ebay but brand new!!

You claim to have only been doing this for 8 yrs now you mention you have been doing it for ten yrs... I will give you this..you are a great story teller..

What Auctioneers in CA. other than American Acuctions makes the buyer by by the piece? Because when I went to my first and only by the piece auction it was the old timers that left in droves like the great exodus grumbling and mumbling the whole way out on what a scam it was. I now see these same guys on the circuit as I am a respected regular and they want nothing to do with the by it by the piece auctions!!

The merchandise is over priced, you cant get any volume for your money...as it is by the piece..so when its over the people buying just paid retail.How do you make money doing that?

Please enlighten me, Im not being sarcastic I truly want to know the secrets to this madness.

I just have a hard time believing anything you write about, you can get a new osscilscope brand new for 1200.00 TODAY...not even used on Ebay but brand new!!


Interesting, just a while ago in another thread you were offering to converse amicably. I guess we have a different definition. You seem intent on insult over amicability.

I am simply conveying what my friend experienced about a year ago. He got it for $100 and sold it for $1200. I remember he told me it was a COLOR unit. Beyond that I'm sorry I can't tell you any more.

You claim to have only been doing this for 8 yrs now you mention you have been doing it for ten yrs... I will give you this..you are a great story teller..

I have been doing it for only 8 years. I mentioned that I AND OTHERS have been going to this particular set of auctions...single sales... for 10 years. More amicability ?

What Auctioneers in CA. other than American Acuctions makes the buyer by by the piece?

The auctioneer in question is Whitemore. EDIT: THE CORRECT SPELLING IS WHITTEMORE.

Because when I went to my first and only by the piece auction it was the old timers that left in droves like the great exodus grumbling and mumbling the whole way out on what a scam it was. I now see these same guys on the circuit as I am a respected regular and they want nothing to do with the by it by the piece auctions!!

The merchandise is over priced, you cant get any volume for your money...as it is by the piece..so when its over the people buying just paid retail.How do you make money doing that?

Just as in buying full lockers, not every buy will be a good one and there are more items one would pass on that buy for that very reason.

Please enlighten me, Im not being sarcastic I truly want to know the secrets to this madness.

Well, the wordS MODERATION and COMMON SENSE come to mind. I would guess that even YOU pass on some of those cheaper lockers if you don't see profit in it.  

I hope that you are truly interested in being AMICABLE to everyone who participates in these threads. When I started the Lookey Loo threads in 2011 and then the Auction Scene threads in 2012 it was to TRY to provide an overview from people around the country who would let us know what was happening in their areas.

Differences of opinion are par for the course, but once again I think the ATTITUDE you put forward is over the top. I think people would value your ideas more if you just toned it down a bit. But hey, that's just my thinking. I might be wrong. You will do what you will do and there's nothing I or anyone else can do about it.

There is no such thing as Whitmore auctions in Ca. Topeka KS. yes

Well, the wordS MODERATION and COMMON SENSE come to mind. I would guess that even YOU pass on some of those cheaper lockers if you don't see profit in it. 


along with common sense and a sense of smell...hopefully the noobies can figure out the  advice stinks!!

Dan Dotson...is that you..Dan, please stop promoting your Auctions here..really dont you make enough money already....LOL..

There is no such thing as Whitmore auctions in Ca. Topeka KS. yes

Well, the wordS MODERATION and COMMON SENSE come to mind. I would guess that even YOU pass on some of those cheaper lockers if you don't see profit in it.  


along with common sense and a sense of smell...hopefully the noobies can figure out the  advice stinks!!

You're right...in my original post above I left out one "t" and later an "e". It is Whittemore auctions.  The amicability just keeps coming.

In regard to the common sense and a sense of smell, you continue to prove your real demeanor. No name-calling I could every engage in toward you could ever do as good a job as your posts do in showing who you really are.

I think your offer of "amicable" converastion was a sham and you seem to be proving that with every post.

Ready for that Google search on "Whittemore Auctions in California"?  I'll edit the spelling in the post above.

why do you get so offended...this is more amicable than yesterday is it not?

when I said the advice stinks how do you know I was talking about YOUR advice..why are you so defensive...all anybody can really hope for on this site is truthful advice..are they getting that?

why do you get so offended...this is more amicable than yesterday is it not?

when I said the advice stinks how do you know I was talking about YOUR advice..why are you so defensive...all anybody can really hope for on this site is truthful advice..are they getting that?

That IS funny. I dare say anyone else following these posts would say I have showed MORE than an average amount of patience with you. AND, I thought you were commenting that the advice YOU gave was bad ! Silly me !

Are they getting truthful advice?  Ask them. Start a thread entitled "Are you getting truthful advice on these threads?"

It will be interesting to see what they say. Of course of the more than 2500 members there are probably only 50 or so who ever post, and of those there are probably only 10 or so who post on a regular  basis.

As to the improvement in amicability I guess you COULD say it was more amicable now...after all you haven't called me an asshole in HOURS!

Have you looked up Dale Carnegie yet? And how is that search for WHITTEMORE auctions coming along ?

Ill say I have been just as patient with you and your dribble, made up stories and BS advice, you dont do this for a living and in no way should you be handing out the lame ass advice you think is helpful. Do you want to know why only 10 or more post here....Hmmm..do you

Let me tell you why, becuase ten of you get paid to dish out the bull**** lame ass advice for this site. I now know what this site is about, but I have to admit this is entertaining as I have no life and no interests if I keep myself entertained bantering back and forth with you over friggin storage lockers....LMFAO

See ya tomorrow night as I will be busy during the day buying up profitable lockers and making lots of $$$ ...hey have Dale do a book on that.   

Ill say I have been just as patient with you and your dribble, made up stories and BS advice, you dont do this for a living and in no way should you be handing out the lame ass advice you think is helpful. Do you want to know why only 10 or more post here....Hmmm..do you

Let me tell you why, becuase ten of you get paid to dish out the bull**** lame ass advice for this site. I now know what this site is about, but I have to admit this is entertaining as I have no life and no interests if I keep myself entertained bantering back and forth with you over friggin storage lockers....LMFAO

See ya tomorrow night as I will be busy during the day buying up profitable lockers and making lots of $$$ ...hey have Dale do a book on that.  

So can we assume you will be leaving us soon?  My oh my, what WILL/WOULD we do for entertainment without you?

I'm sure all the people who read your last post will appreciate it.

Meanwhile by way of apology to all those who put some faith in the Auction Scene threads as simple recordings of what is happening across the country, I regret that "alab" has driven the conversation in this direction...at least for this thread.

Hopefully the thread will get back on track with regular contributors letting us know what is happening in their neck of the woods.

Hopefully the thread will get back on track with regular contributors letting us know what is happening in their neck of the woods.

OK~steering that direction~heading out to day 1 of CubeSmart.  Don did PS today with minimal crowds and decent prices, but didn't buy a locker.  Hoping for a nice girls locker tomorrow or the following day, as I've had enough guys stuff to last all of May~

Don said today showed a trend towards 'normal'~hoping to see that continue~

Dan Dotson...is that you..Dan, please stop promoting your Auctions here..really dont you make enough money already....LOL..

Thread-jacking troll... ugh!!

Please keep this crap in the original thread so I don't have to wade through it in every thread on the board.

You do realize that Dotson is connected to Storage Treasures, right?? And that this is a different forum?? Yes?? Do you realize that this forum is run by a normal dude like you or me and not some messianic storage guru?? And I hope he's making a little money from it, just like I root for all our boardies to make money.

The fact is, you're original piece of advice was not wrong, but incomplete and you didn't want to hear it. If what you're doing is working for you, then awesome, keep going with it, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to make money in resale. And you should expect debate on a message board... that's kinda the point.

Anyhow, that's all I'm gonna say on the subject.

I have been to one of the Whittmore auctions in my area. I wasn't very fond of the way they hold the auction. It took over an hour to sell half of what I thought was a crap unit. Just didn't have the time that day to stick around all day.
Auction started at 10:00 and I talked to some friends that stuck it out until 4:30 that afternoon. I will try another when they come back to my area if I have the time. We only have one facility on the coast that Whittmore auctions at and I don't think they do this one very often because it is off of their beaten path.

Please don't get me wrong I am willing to sit all day at an auction. This whole crazy thing started because I love buying box lots at the local Sunday auction house. One Sunday about a year ago they announced that they were doing a storage locker sale the following week. My mom and I thought what is a storage locker but a huge box lot? Let the crazy, dirty, hard work begin.