Auction Scene #7...July, 2013

Opening the new month with temps over 105 degrees for 5 days in a row in central California and flooding in the east !

What a way to start a new month, but it looks like the summer temps might be making the crowds a little smaller, and maybe the newbies are finally seeing there are few fortunes to be made unless you're in the tv end (or the website publishing of storage related activities  )

Speaking of high temps....Death Valley in California has been flirting with 117 plus temps. Maybe Charli of this forum can comment on what it's like there this first week of July.

not stopping us so far.  But the crowds were smaller.  Lot more kids and college students.  The heat is brutal though.

Here in NC, the constant rain only made the crowds grow like the weeds that they are! Saw 7 lockers today. Most were above average as far as content. One was a knockout and went for $2,100. The rest went for too high, as usual. Still waiting for people to forget about this business so that I can succeed again!

Really getting a lot of mixed bag experiences around here. Some auctions lightly attended, decent prices. Others, heavy attendance and STILL ridiculous prices! Come on people! It's not the Spring of 2010 anymore! WE ALL KNOW THE SHOWS WERE FAKE! For some reason a lot of people just can't break the habit of bidding up the units. Oh well. Crowds & prices seem to be coming down enough at various locations that I think I can just start being more patient and pick units here and there from the more sane auctions.

Heat is always a good thing for driving down the prices. We haven't had any excessive heat yet so far this summer, really pretty rainy so far.

Auction this morning advertised 5 units. Only 3 left at auction time. About 10 bidders. 4 regulars and 6 newbies. Unit one was interesting but I would not have gone more than $50.00. It went for $135. (newbie) Unit two had a lot of junk furniture. I was not interested but it went for $75.00. (Swap meet guy) Unit three was a good one at $150.00. It went for $525. (personal buyer) Was really disappointed as it was stuff I could have really used for the store. Man stuff. Fishing poles, guitars, tools etc.
Tomorrow I hope will be better. Facility one has 19 units advertised and facility two has 7. Fingers crossed for a good day.

Last Thursdays auctions.
Facility 1 had 9 units when we got there. There were about 20 bidders. Unit #1 crap furniture and garbage went for $325. Went to a newbie
Unit 2 & 3 were the same owner. Auctioneer announced that no motorcycles or anything that went to the motorcycles were up for auction in either unit. What??? They opened the first one and I am sure very few saw anything but the motorcycles. In this unit there were 7 vintage street and dirt bikes. How do you bid on a unit that you can't see past bikes? Anyway this one went for $125. Unit 2 had at least 6 newer dirt bikes and a lot of brand new bike tires. Again how can you bid when you can't see past the bikes. This one went for $235. Someone asked the manager when the bikes were going to be auctioned. He said that DMV was not done yet but they would go at the next auction. His intention is to auction them off separately. #2 went to a newbie and #3 went to a regular.
Unit #4 was a bunch of boxes. $425 Went to a newbie.
Unit #5 was a bunch of stuff that started flowing out when the door was opened. Yuck! It went for $45. Went to a regular who said he just wanted something to take back. He drives 50+ miles one way to these auctions.
Unit #6 was 4 garbage bags and a duffel bag. I bought it for $5. Not a lot in there but will make about $50.00.
Unit #7 again was a bunch of garbage. Went for $75. Went to a newbie.
Unit #8 had two mattresses, a dirty couch and a few boxes. $50.00 Went to a newbie.
Unit #9 looked like garbage to me and I didn't stick around to see what it went for or who bought it.

Auction #2 had 4 units.
Unit #1 was a pretty good looking unit. Looked like someone could have been doing Yoga in it. Rug in the middle and boxes lining the walls. It went for $425.00 to a regular. I wouldn't have gone much over $150 as I didn't feel there was that much stuff in there.
Unit #2 was all high end bedroom furniture. Queen size sleigh head and foot board. Two night stands, one nine drawer dresser, mattresses, three bags which I assume was the bedding. One off white micro fiber couch and a leather recliner chair. The chair was in bad shape. This unit was a what you see is what you get. No surprises. I gave myself a limit of $250. A newbie bid at the last minute and go it for $275.
Unit #3 was some beat up furniture. Went for $45 to a newbie.
Unit #4 was a big one. Looked like it was full of stuff from a junkie. It went for $350 to a newbie.

Missed a few good auctions the last two weeks while I was on vacation out of state, but went to a piece-by-piece today.

Unfortunately, it was a bust. Twelve locker, 12 losers. I didn't place a single bid on any item. Only took about 2 hours to go through the 12 lockers.  On a GOOD day (and a good locker) it can take 2 hours to go through ONE locker.

Oh, well. More auctions always around the corner, and picking is out there too.

There isn't much going on here.  Last two weeks there has been a lot of cancelations or 1-2 units per facility by auction day.

Was heading deep South today to attend but got a call and given box seats and free valet, food and programs at the Track.   Sounds way more fun and probably have better odds on the horses than auction....

UGH!!! Todays auction had 4 units. Around 20 bidders. Four regulars and the rest newbies. First locker had clothes and suitcases. Went for $25.00. Second unit was no bad. Lots of white file type boxes, several clear plastic boxes. a few black garbage bags and a couple pieces of vintage furniture. This unit was very dusty. Set my limit at $300.00. Unit went for $550.00. Third unit had a crappy nightstand, 2 clear plastic bags with some crap in them and a lamp. $210.00 Really? Last unit was the same owner as the second unit. Same type of boxes, vintage adding machine and old pipe threader showing. I set a limit at $200.00. It went for $700.00. Prices are just to crazy right now.
And to top it off our local news had a blip on storage sales tonight and gave info on a sale next week that has always been mostly just the regulars. Not looking good for getting a unit anytime soon.
 

UGH!!!   .....  Prices are just to crazy right now.

I ditto the ugh but not because of prices......north of you and then inland the prices aren't so bad right now, but the contents aren't that great.

Used to be if you looked at 40 lockers in a day you would see at least one really good one, lots of average and a few trash units.  Of late there have been more trash units, definitingly more less than average and NO good ones.

I went to half a dozen auctions yesterday and did't bid on a single locker. Prices were ok with lockers going for $75 to $500. The $500 was a pretty full 10 x 25 but a LOT of big stuff, and when I see multiple sets of washers/dryers and refrigerators I get a bit suspcious and not a enough boxes of smalls to really get excited about.

So, the search continues.

The newbies and bidding prices have increased since the beginning of the month. I agree, quality of units has been noticeably worse in July compared to May-June. I still won some units last week but after doing a quick inventory I'm at the edge of what would I would consider being worth the time and effort to bid on.

I'm going to have to watch what's happening a little closer this next month (August) as far as prices and quality. May have to back off a bit.

Folks, It's just NOT going to ever get back to the days of making 4-10 times or more your money on most units. I believe the new reality is double or triple your money at best, and every once in a while we hit a light attended auction with a great unit or two gotten on the cheap; but those are going to be few, depending on your area, maybe a couple of times a year.

Folks, It's just NOT going to ever get back to the days of making 4-10 times or more your money on most units.

My best year was 2.68 times the money. Last year was 1.59 times the money. The first 7 months of 2013 I am sitting at 2.23 times the money....and that's from buying 2 lockers in 7 months with the rest from PICKING !

Still plugging away at the auctions within 15 miles or so of my home and went to one about 5 miles away yesterday.

Good crowd....maybe 30...9 or so regulars.  None of the regulars bought any of the 11 lockers. Value just wasn't there. Quality of goods at auctions I go to has been LOW for a good 9 months to a year. People who are about to lose their lockers (with better quality stuff) are coming up with payments and clearing out. Meanwhile the marginal lockers (yes, I know you can still make money) are the prevalent kind available.

The prices at the auction were within reason...I guess...but the fact no regulars bought any is a sign. Maybe in my area things are starting to "normalize".

I talked to one regular who had bought one elsewhere for $1,700 and felt good about it. I saw half a dozen large items on his cList offerings and quality was there.  ON THE OTHER HAND, I talked to another regular who has a store who was AT THAT AUCTION and said he didn't see $1,700 in value there. Only time will tell on that one and the  buyer is an honest, regular guy who has admited to his mistakes before...unlike other buyers who have NEVER bought a bad locker or broken even.

Bought a locker for $160 today. has a dinette set. Perfect for college kids, I'm thinking $125-$150 for that. Lots of boxes and dusty stuff. Not much to throw away, but a bunch to give away it looks like. The front of the locker has most of the junk and I'm able to salvage a bunch of stuff. I should do okay on the locker, haven't gotten to the good stuff yet.

Two facility sale today. Around 45 bidders total with a potential of 23 units. Most of the regulars were there and after the news report last week I was surprised to not see a lot of newbies. 3 units at the first facility left. Two were not really great (went for $120 and $225) and one was not bad. I put a $350 dollar limit on it and it went for $550. Not enough profit in that for me.

Second facility had 7 units available. They went like this... Crap $175, empty $000, Crap NoSale, Furniture not bad $500 (not that good) Owner paid as we were looking at unit, Really? Crap $20.00, Dryer and blue plastic 55 drum $5.00.

Wasn't all bad, depending on how you look at it, as I bought the $20.00 crap unit. There is truly a lot of crap in it but have already made $200.00 on a set of tree climbers. Should pay for my costs. Found three cases of some kind of trading game cards brand new in box. My son did some research and says I should be able to get $10.00 per set. Here is my math.   3 cases X 6 displays in each cases X 8 boxes of cards in each display X $10.00 = $1440.00.  Should be ok on this one even if there is nothing else in it worth money.