A growing trend
Trash or treasure?
Auctioneers who run storage unit auctions say they are busier than ever.
When people fall too far behind on their storage unit payments, the company that owns the unit auctions off the contents to open up the space for another customer.
Business booming for auctioneers
This has been happening more frequently than ever at storage unit companies all over the U.S.
“We are hearing from auctioneers across the country that they are seeing an increase,” said Chris Longley, spokesman for the National Auctioneers Association.
Unexpected contents
The Associated Press points out that while the auctions themselves are a sign of the times, the contents for sale can be even more telling:
“The troubled economy is reflected in the items being sold — trendy clothes, high-end appliances and other indicators that the owners were, until recently, well off.”
Perhaps people who have never needed payday loans or learned about debt consolidation just didn’t know what to do when they couldn’t make their storage unit payments.
Full of surprises
Until the auctioneer yells “sold!” the contents in the unit still belong to the original owners. The entire contents is auctioned off for one lump sum, and buyers cannot touch any items until after their purchase is complete. Auctioneers warn bidders to only bid on what they can see.
People come to these auctions in hopes of finding “buried treasure,” and sometimes they do. Rich Schur of Schur Success Auction Services in Colorado Springs, Colo., tells the story of one unusually lucky bidder.
“There was one where they bought the unit and moved the boxes and found a Harley. For $400 or $500, they got a unit with a $10,000 motorcycle in it.”
By the numbers
Schur’s company has seen the number of units it auctions jump from 950 in 2007 to 1,250 in 2008. In January alone, the company auctioned 250 units. Wayne Blair said his Michigan-based business has seen its number of auctions rise about 10 percent in the last year, according to the Associated Press.
i pull up my local newspaper online and i look under classifieds and they have auctions in the classifys. all the storage units in my area run and ad because by law they have to run an ad to give proper notice. they list times, dates,payment options,the units for sale by numbers. it give you all the info you need. then you can map out your day. carry flashlight, lock, trash bags, broom, dust pan, sort the items out by whats trash and whats not. bring the good stuff home, go back and carry the bad stuff to the dump. sounds easy but its alot of work. i use to do this everyday and i use to find some awesome things, and make alot of money doing ebay. then i started watching my grandsons that were born and gave it up. i really miss doing it,,its like christmas everyday you dont know what you are going to get!
try going to auctionzip.com enter storage auctions in the search area and enter your zip code and pooooooof you will be surprised to see many local auctions including storage auctions or storage units (pod) etc good luck all been doing this for years and my best haul was a unit I paid $500 for and it belonged to a drug dealer who was in jail and I was able to sell the contents for well over $10,000 so there are deals to be had just one tip: when you look at the items see what you can sell add those up and thats your target bid range and everything else you get is a bonus..Again good luck and have fun!
i have been gotong to uncle bobs auctions !!! and am looking to broanen my search for the resale , however i find your website to be lacking theres no auction schedule yours friendly or maybe im just blind
I opened the phone book to the storage section and started calling them. Everyone was really nice, and I found plenty of storage places that held auctions. It takes time but it will pay off.
Hi there I was wondering how you get started in finding storage lockers for auctions. I am really interested in this. Could you please tell me how I do this.
Auctions like at storage units, or estate auctions, and especially police and impound auctions are great ways to pick up a lot of stuff on the cheap. You can buy a car for a few hundred dollars that is only a few years old, if you know what you’re doing.