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I was watching storage wars and I know it's somewhat staged. But I have been doing research and the storage places around me have weekly auctions! Anyone ever bought a unit and if so how much did u get from it and what Goodies did u find:) thinking about going to one just to look
I've tried it a few times...some places don't even open the door to look at it. Others take pictures of the lots available and give everyone a sheet to bid off of. I only bid what I can see, because nobody ever puts super expensive jewelry or anything like that in storage.
My dad and i bought one for $100 and made $100 and a large clothing donation. Its luck of the draw, and with weekly auctions you will come across regulars
Some what staged? LOL...it's totally staged when it comes to the items.
Feel free to google the lawsuit between A&E and Dave. They eventually settled an he's back on the show.
It's about as real as pro wrestling(which is predetermined..sorry to ruin it for all!) You can also read all about the show an others working on it. Just like all so called reality tv it's scripted an staged for the best story. I highly doubt it'd be successful if it was based on real storage bidders.
An we have plenty of folks on here who've discussed this you might want to search if you haven't.
Oh an I like the show at times, so I ain't just hating. I also enjoy Hardcore Pawn sometimes, an Pawn Stars. Both are staged an scripted.
Sirscrapalot - Reality is faker then wrestling. - Mick Foley, from one of his books.
I have bought a number of units...it works like this...about 70-80% are going to be small profit (assuming you buy at the right price...ie WHAT YOU SEE), 10% will be pretty good and the last 10% will be HOME RUNS.....as an example...I was bidding against a guy on a unit that had a cell phone kiosk like form a mall....could not see any real phones...I bowed out right around $400 since I didn't know if the whole kiosk was there etc...well the phones were hidden in the back...he had about $4-5K in stuff for his $400 investment. There are also some that will just put you in the hole....I bought one that was crammed FULL 10x10 unit...whole hose...no one wanted and I gambled at $25....buried in there were 7 mattresses and almost NOTHING of value...I also cut my knuckle to the bone and needed stitches while loading that **** thing up...without the medical stuff, I was in the hole from the dump run...but it was a gamble on that one.
You just have to make sure to bid CORRECTLY and know what you are doing...go to a few and WATCH and learn...I missed on several because I didn't know what some things were (custom horse stall doors that were worth GOOD money). Anyways...that is my story. If you are smart, you will go and hand out your cards and offer to take all the computers, electronics away...just pay them something for them and they will gladly let you do it most of the time....gets that crap out of their hair. :)
Luck of the draw is right. My father in law decided that when he retired he and a buddy of his would do this. My F-I-L was somewhat smart in the fact that he had a flea market booth.. then when he retired and started buying units he now had 2 flea market booths. One day he calls me and says "Hey I just bought out a dude's entire garage sale- will you come and help me load it?" Holy POOP!
This is how it all shook out: He found a few goodies, he stuck everything he could fit into both booths.. then he priced things so outrageously high- he barely covered his rent each month.. Waiting in the wings filling his own garage were 4 storage units worth of junk AND an entire garage sale that he bought out. His plan was- move the stuff through the flea market and keep a fluid stock of stuff coming and money coming from the flea market.
End of the story: Ended up selling very little in either booth.. but kept buying.. this was 4 years ago or so.. and I bet 90% of that junk is still in his garage. Both booths are shut down.. and he has a lot of nothing!
I think that if you play it smart.. it is a do-able thing. IF YOU HAVE A PLAN FOR THE JUNK.. I think it is a do-able thing. See my F-I-L couldn't separate the wheat from the chaff. He needed to ID the crap right away and purge it immediately. If you don't sell clothes in the flea market- bag ALL of it up and donate it (and get a tax write off) Garbage is GARBAGE.. he failed to treat it as such. Take the goodies, price em at a good deal and it will sell. And he way overbought- bit off way more than he could chew!
Sledge is dead on....I NEVER EVER sold any clothing unless it was high end...I would bag it all and sell by the garbage bag to the fleamarketers I knew from the facebook yard sale groups...like $10 a HUGE BAG...not my market so got it eh F out of there...I did the furniture and the electronics...heck STORAGE units GOT me into the ewaste recycling business and landed me here LOL......and now look...I do ewaste and buy and sell cell phones/tablets for the bulk of my business....
I fear no man, no beast or evil, brother.
Hulk Hogan
I think as a young and internet savvy person you have a much better chance of success if you decide to go in on this endeavor. See my F-I-L didn't use Ebay.. he didn't know how to snap a picture and toss things onto CL. Set himself at a huge disadvantage right off the bat!
This has always been my plan for anything that comes my way that I want to purge. Say I have someone who wants me to take "a pile of junk.. and I must take it all" We will stick with a storage locker (although I've never bought one)
This is how it would go down:
1. Garbage is Garbage and goes into the trash that day.
2. Anything scrap worthy (i.e Broken housewares or metal- not of a "more than scrap value"- gets sorted and broken down.)
2. Anything I deem as Garage Sale items (Just above Trash) goes in a garage sale.
3. Anything that is say a $10 item or more in value- That goes to CL
4. Something that is less mass produced, shippable and maybe even "rareish" Would go to Ebay
5. Things that are good- but I have no medium to move them (i.e. Clothes, shoes etc) Those would most likely just get bagged and donated
6. Anything that was deemed "garage sale stuff" that never sold after one season- would either end up as "donate" or "Trash"
Simple enough right?
So basically don't do like Storage Wars.Quote:
Originally Posted by sledge
Noted.
Sirscrapalot - Reality tv needs more you know..REALITY.
I do it. I haven't been able to quit my job yet. Pretty much what everyone has said is true. Best thing to do to get started is go to a few auction with NO money. None. Nothing. Just watch. See what is in them. See how much people are spending. See where the better facilities are. Figure out who the main guys are. I went to 10 auction before I bought my first one. And than sold half the stuff before I loaded up. I have the time a space to hold on to things before I donate them. Things like cloths, home decor, shoes, etc I bring to the flea market a few time. At the end of the year, I purge and either sell it to another dealer, or donate off. I haven't bought a locker in a while as I have had plenty of business just hauling off peoples stuff for free. There are plenty of people who just want the stuff gone and you don't have to pay a dime for it. Sometime you can even get them to pay you.
Well if you have watched storage wars.. you see the guys who have been successful know how to do it. They load the locker up and haul to their store.. they offload at their facility.. they have staff sort through it.. Good stuff goes to the store-front. They don't show the donation usually or the amount of garbage (isn't TV sexy) but you know they are really good at separating that wheat from chaff- QUICK!Quote:
Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot
Stated perfectly! Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by sledge
Watched it many times, an they over inflate the price on a lot of things. That show is rigged an came out in the law suit. I hear what your saying, an I'm not saying bidding on storage units is bad. I actually agree to do it an do it like you an others stated, just not the Storage wars way. I think you missed in my post where I said I watched it an do enjoy it..it's still set up tho. Items are planted in those units. Again..search for the law suit Dave filed against the show when he first got fired.
Didn't say it was a bad thing at all to do storage auctions it's been talked about here before on the forum. I'm just saying..don't buy into the hype of scripted an staged reality show. Anyone can bid right. Not hard to do if you know the value of the items your bidding at. Ya'lls posts above said just this.
Anyhoo..Storage auctions are great. Make sure you know what your doing before you drop a ton of money...just like you(Sledge) an WBSTS said above. ;)
Sirscrapalot - Reality TV shows are about as real as the tooth fairy. - Me an countless others, sorry. :)
Sirscrap-
Sorry.. I knew you have seen and watched it.. and you are right about the "staging"
This would be like any other business out there- If you Fail to Plan.. You Plan to Fail!
As long as any eager bidder here wants to jump in and try their luck.. I say "go for it" The only caveat is you are banned from saying "Yeeeeeep" when you are asked if you want to up the bid! If ya do- you are liable to get sued!
>:)
Those shows are ridiculous! I use to go to storage auctions before these shows came out and I would make some money here and there but not always. Then people started to think they could become rich buying people discarded junk they forgot about. So I'm waiting for all of them to go broke before I go back to the auctions. In the meantime I do stuff that hasn't been made into a show that leads people to believe they can strike gold doing it. Someone here has a signature Ive lived by for a long time "You make money when you buy not when you sell."
I wish they would show how much trash, scrap metal and donations they do.Quote:
Originally Posted by sledge
DID YA'll see the episode of Ivy's back lot behind "Grandma's Attic".......Piles of garbage, mattresses, etc.........I will have to admit it has been more realistic lately and you do have to remember they are in California where all prices are inflated and I'd say you do find better items based on location..........In a high end part of town I would expect to find better furniture, household goods etc than in a very low income area
I was at an ewaste auction and started doing the YEEEPP........Everyone knew what it was and got a good laugh (Hoping not to get SUED!!!)Quote:
Originally Posted by sledge
What hobo said is what I'm talking about. All you see on watching the show is the big scores. Never that unit with nothing of worth in it, or where they show the people admitting it was a bad score. Now SW-Texas..is a little bit better about this. Not a whole lot, but a little bit better. Of course showing them doing the donations or throwing away an entire unit won't make ratings.
Same with Shipping Wars, which I do enjoy also now an then when I need mindless entertainment I don't have to focus on. They make Uship look like some huge money maker an that anyone could transport goods. Which is totally false but now you got a ton of morons out there without a CDL, without Numbers(Their own authority), insurance, etc.
Pawn Stars while funny at times, an having interesting items(I like the history of the items) is all staged also. They pick an choose the interesting stuff of course, but it's far from a true take on the life an times of a pawn shop. Hardcore Pawn is the same, but they play up the people drama, an don't really hide the fact it's staged. American Pickers I don't know their angle but I'm sure there is one.
Either way...I find reality shows faker then the stuff Hollywood puts out. lol.
Sirscrapalot - Every crowd has a silver lining. - P.T. Barnum