Storage Locker, Auction Finds?

[Carl995]

Pics aren't coming up, we need pics! lol

last night the picture uploader was acting weird.

 

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[Carl995]

I'm hoping to hear stories from others!!!

 

[Carl995]

I always bought the units with motorcycle parts.
I built this lamp using a Harley cylinder & fender. A lamp from a hotel (was in the trash at the auction I was working at).
The gun is from a Operation Wolf arcade game. Its metal & has a solenoid in it to replicate machine gun firing.
& its does fire when you pull the trigger. This is actually a big lamp!!
I caught hell for spending 4 days building it, theres concrete in the cylinder to hold the gun.

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[kingskid1611]

Some neat finds and good stories, keep em coming.

 

[Sterling]

I been to auctions also, but never wanted to bid for the exceeded way over the amount I would ever spend...guess I might stick to garage, estate, yard sales .... "My sure way of investments". I think a storage auction forum would be great idea...."Treasure Net" all treasures...gl.

 

[Carl995]

It was a 4th of July weekend, the auction house was closed vacation for 2 weeks.
I went out to lockers at the beginning of our vacation to a real crappy location.
2nd locker they opened was a 10X20.
Really old furniture, antique armoire, 50's dinette set, lots of boxes in the back & on the side. lots of dirt on everything,
but I had noticed 2 of those black artwork carriers leaning between the boxes. I knew I was buying it no matter what!
I started the bid at $100.........nobody else bid!!!
So I got it!!!!!
Then they opened another unit that had industrial kitchen stuff that was not really useable (scrap stainless) but it had an old Fender guitar amp in it.
So I told the buyer I'd give him $50 for the amp, it was fine with him so I bought it, (i've been into vintage electronics all my life).
I paid for my unit, picked up the amp then started to dig in to my antique 10X20 unit full of dirt.
unfrick'in beliveable!!!!
It was the contents of Frank Mell a cartoon artist from the early days!! He had passed a long time ago, family moved it to a locker & left it a long time ago!! He did the Frank Mell hot dog caps/hats, funnys for newspapers, Mcdonalds ads (hamburgler etc.) & much more!! His brother in Tucson is famous for his western paintings. So working on the stuff at the auction while we were closed the auction owner came in & goes OMG!!! how much was that?? I said $100.
He would not believe me I had to show him the receipt & he still doesn't believe it!!!
I only have pics of some of the artwork. There was old toys, lighters, advertising signs etc, but most boxes were full of old books & they were heavy.
Night of the auction, 2 guys wanted the artwork so it went pretty high. There were hundreds of pieces of artwork & advertising signs.

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[artslinger]

What a score on the artwork! I'm waiting (but going after it as well) for me to come across a score like that! That's unbelievable, but I know it happens every day of the week! Congratulations on all of those scores! The shows have definitely brought too much attention to the storage units. Now, everybody and their grandma is out there trying to outbid you! You definitely need the financial resources when the opportunity arises. Good luck and continued success.

RJA

 

[Carl995]

i'm waiting for some else to post their finds!!

 

[Beachkid23]

I don't have any finds as far storage units go. However I do have some questions. Do you have somebody directly your deal your furniture to and jewelry and automotive parts like all the big things what do you do with them? Craigslist? I sell mostly on eBay and some things on craigslist. But if I bought a storage unit I'm not sure what I would do with everything as far as selling it goes. Unless you had your own store that would make it a lot easier..

 

[Rawhide]

I was the guy who bought the trash units. I could buy a trash unit for about $20 bucks. I only needed to turn a profit on one laocker to pay for the rest of the lockers I bought. Had a lot of cleaning to do. I only bought lockers that had a lot of dust, if someone had gone though the locker i didnt buy it no matter how much stuff they salted the locker with. There is some unscrupulous people out there. My wife once bought a locker full of books about about satanic murders, hard back, I estimated tons of em, in the shipping boxes. There was 3' foot sex toys made out of black and decker vibrator tools and looked like someone just threw about 40 large trash bags full of clothes in there. I got burnt on that one real bad. Had one locker that was full of pills, like someone just them everywhere. After I cleaned up the meds, I made a cool $500.00 on a $10.00 dollar trash locker. Then came the TV shows. I had guys bidding $400.00 bucks on a $20.00 dollar trash locker. Had one guy outbid me every locker. They had a rule if you bought it and didnt clean it you got a bill. They gave you 72 hours. Im looking at this overweight guy who was getting off buying it all. He had one truck, no trailer. He had three semi loads of garbage to get rid of. I asked him what he was gonna do with all of it. He said Im gonna donate it. Problem is, I have tried that with my left overs and they dont want it either lol. Unfortunately there is always some guy with dollar signs in his eyes buying it all at outrageous prices. I dont hunt lockers anymore. One of my favorite finds was a 1800's seated silver coin, it was made into a love token. I dont know if I still have the pictures or not. But if the lock isnt cut infront of you, or they have the key. Walk away, its been picked clean. You also need to watch out out for folks who run up the bids. If your gonna buy abandoned lockers, have a truck, and count how many truck load of stuff you got in there. If you see tv's or washer and dryers in the front run the other direction. Look for cob webs, dust. If you cant make your time and money back on a locker, let someone else roll the dice on it.

 

[Carl995]

I don't have any finds as far storage units go. However I do have some questions. Do you have somebody directly your deal your furniture to and jewelry and automotive parts like all the big things what do you do with them? Craigslist? I sell mostly on eBay and some things on craigslist. But if I bought a storage unit I'm not sure what I would do with everything as far as selling it goes. Unless you had your own store that would make it a lot easier..

A Lot of the buyers hold yard sales, when I was doing it, I made a deal with a local auction house.
Dropped it off directly from storage & get a check on Friday. You get less money but its a fast turn around & keep the stuff you want!

 

[Carl995]

I was the guy who bought the trash units. I could buy a trash unit for about $20 bucks. I only needed to turn a profit on one laocker to pay for the rest of the lockers I bought. Had a lot of cleaning to do. I only bought lockers that had a lot of dust, if someone had gone though the locker i didnt buy it no matter how much stuff they salted the locker with. There is some unscrupulous people out there. My wife once bought a locker full of books about about satanic murders, hard back, I estimated tons of em, in the shipping boxes. There was 3' foot sex toys made out of black and decker vibrator tools and looked like someone just threw about 40 large trash bags full of clothes in there. I got burnt on that one real bad. Had one locker that was full of pills, like someone just them everywhere. After I cleaned up the meds, I made a cool $500.00 on a $10.00 dollar trash locker. Then came the TV shows. I had guys bidding $400.00 bucks on a $20.00 dollar trash locker. Had one guy outbid me every locker. They had a rule if you bought it and didnt clean it you got a bill. They gave you 72 hours. Im looking at this overweight guy who was getting off buying it all. He had one truck, no trailer. He had three semi loads of garbage to get rid of. I asked him what he was gonna do with all of it. He said Im gonna donate it. Problem is, I have tried that with my left overs and they dont want it either lol. Unfortunately there is always some guy with dollar signs in his eyes buying it all at outrageous prices. I dont hunt lockers anymore. One of my favorite finds was a 1800's seated silver coin, it was made into a love token. I dont know if I still have the pictures or not. But if the lock isnt cut infront of you, or they have the key. Walk away, its been picked clean. You also need to watch out out for folks who run up the bids. If your gonna buy abandoned lockers, have a truck, and count how many truck load of stuff you got in there. If you see tv's or washer and dryers in the front run the other direction. Look for cob webs, dust. If you cant make your time and money back on a locker, let someone else roll the dice on it.

Yes things have changed!!

 

[Carl995]

I was the guy who bought the trash units. I could buy a trash unit for about $20 bucks. I only needed to turn a profit on one laocker to pay for the rest of the lockers I bought. Had a lot of cleaning to do. I only bought lockers that had a lot of dust, if someone had gone though the locker i didnt buy it no matter how much stuff they salted the locker with. There is some unscrupulous people out there. My wife once bought a locker full of books about about satanic murders, hard back, I estimated tons of em, in the shipping boxes. There was 3' foot sex toys made out of black and decker vibrator tools and looked like someone just threw about 40 large trash bags full of clothes in there. I got burnt on that one real bad. Had one locker that was full of pills, like someone just them everywhere. After I cleaned up the meds, I made a cool $500.00 on a $10.00 dollar trash locker. Then came the TV shows. I had guys bidding $400.00 bucks on a $20.00 dollar trash locker. Had one guy outbid me every locker. They had a rule if you bought it and didnt clean it you got a bill. They gave you 72 hours. Im looking at this overweight guy who was getting off buying it all. He had one truck, no trailer. He had three semi loads of garbage to get rid of. I asked him what he was gonna do with all of it. He said Im gonna donate it. Problem is, I have tried that with my left overs and they dont want it either lol. Unfortunately there is always some guy with dollar signs in his eyes buying it all at outrageous prices. I dont hunt lockers anymore. One of my favorite finds was a 1800's seated silver coin, it was made into a love token. I dont know if I still have the pictures or not. But if the lock isnt cut infront of you, or they have the key. Walk away, its been picked clean. You also need to watch out out for folks who run up the bids. If your gonna buy abandoned lockers, have a truck, and count how many truck load of stuff you got in there. If you see tv's or washer and dryers in the front run the other direction. Look for cob webs, dust. If you cant make your time and money back on a locker, let someone else roll the dice on it.

Here there is a store named Bookmans, they thrive on sci-fi, satanic & witchcraft books!!!

 

[LaDigger]

I guess I will throw in my two cents since I am a regular storage locker buyer and would like to read other peoples experiences. I buy about 3 or 4 lockers a month depending on the number of sales in my area and how quick I can sell my merchandise. Most of the auctions I attend you see the same buyers with a few lookers or newbies thrown in. Most of the regulars either have warehouses, stores, or auction houses. The ones with warehouses sell on ebay and have every weekend garage sales. The lockers in my area (Louisiana) range in price from $20 to $500 with most being in the $100 to $200 range. I use the upstairs of my house as my warehouse and my sales are normally 20 to 40% ebay and the rest sold locally. I have a large local customer base built up which takes time. I have a sell at the local market which you can rent about every 2 months, whatever doesn't sell I donate or dispose of after the sell. I am fortunate to live in a parish which still has community dumpsters. My goal is to sell 3 to 5 times the price of the unit, once you figure gas and time you need to hit this mark to make money. I keep records of every locker, price paid and what I sell from them, out of the last 16 lockers I purchased I reached my goal 13 out of the 16 times. My tips are these, I stay away from lockers with appliances, antique furniture, etc. The reason being things seen run the prices up and your margin for profit down. The lockers I look for and buy are ones with boxes, tubs, etc. A lot of buyers are strictly looking for furniture and don't want what they consider trash. I always look for electronics, signs of older toys, video games etc. The video games and systems can be quite valuable and are often overlooked by buyers. I usually stay in the $20 to $120 dollar range on lockers.

 

[Ryans Rust]

Hey! My kind of thread. Been doing this for quite awhile now as a side job. Found out I'm (We're, Wife included) pretty good at it. I've bought somewhere between 200-300 units. Just bought 5 today and I'm now leaving my "normal" job to get started on cleaning them out. I'll be back! But real fast, our favorite was our first, cheap and they were collectors of many different tastes. Very fun to own that unit. Last month got our first ever safe(s). Found two! Small one, poped the door off and it has one penny inside. Spent 5+ hours cutting the other one open. Floor safe that is half concrete. Killed my Makita Angle Grinder. Two cutting discs flew off scaring the heck out of me. Reward- A paper clip. It's not all easy! But sadly around here many are now online. Hate that. People have 20 days to research, presell, and you cannot see the roach excrement. Lift the door, give me 20 seconds and let the educated guessing begin!

 

[gollum]

One storage auction I never went to cost me dearly.

So, on the East Coast, there is this bank robber. He is known and wanted. Finally caught. Known to have taken over a million in cash. Caught with about $10 thousand. Would not say a word about the rest of it. After several years in jail, he decided freedom was more valuable, so he called in the Feds and admitted to everything. He said that the money was in a "Sea Chest" at a Public Storage Unit in Silver Lake, CA (about five blocks from my old house). When the Feds got there, the manager took them to the unit, and told them that since it had been so long, the unit had been opened and the contents sold. One guy remembered that the only thing in that unit was an old chest, and not one person bid on it. They had taken downstairs and every week, their auction goes into that holding area, and for months nobody would even bid $1. It was still there and had over $800,000 inside. Countless people for a couple of years had been stepping over that chest, and could have bought it for $1. If I had been there, I guarantee that I would have grabbed it just to see what was inside.

Mike

 

[Carl995]

Hey! My kind of thread. Been doing this for quite awhile now as a side job. Found out I'm (We're, Wife included) pretty good at it. I've bought somewhere between 200-300 units. Just bought 5 today and I'm now leaving my "normal" job to get started on cleaning them out. I'll be back! But real fast, our favorite was our first, cheap and they were collectors of many different tastes. Very fun to own that unit. Last month got our first ever safe(s). Found two! Small one, poped the door off and it has one penny inside. Spent 5+ hours cutting the other one open. Floor safe that is half concrete. Killed my Makita Angle Grinder. Two cutting discs flew off scaring the heck out of me. Reward- A paper clip. It's not all easy! But sadly around here many are now online. Hate that. People have 20 days to research, presell, and you cannot see the roach excrement. Lift the door, give me 20 seconds and let the educated guessing begin!

I figured out most safes with wheels I can knock off the back & chop thru the concrete. Slap the back on when I'm done!!
Locksmiths around here are privy to storage auction safes, in order for them to open it they want to keep the safe plus cash
....oh & they will only open it when your not there!! NO way i'm falling for that!!

I had a really nice 3' high Canon safe. It sat in the back of the auction bldg for about 3 months. One night just before the antique auction started, I grabbed the safe with the fork lift & I was bringing it in to the sale.......Auction owner saw me & said what are you doing?
I said if I can't open it (I didn't want to destroy it) then I'm putting it in the auction as-is!!
He said I'll give you $200 for it? I said SOLD. He did the stupid deal with the locksmith to have it opened & it had a silver dollar & some misc. stuff in it!!

One night at 1am I was at the auction bldg going thru my locker stuff. Got to a wall safe so I took it out back, using an axe to cut a side off & the business phone started ringing. Answered it, neighbors were complaining their houses were vibrating ....WHATS GOING ON!!!

 

[Carl995]

I been to auctions also, but never wanted to bid for the exceeded way over the amount I would ever spend...guess I might stick to garage, estate, yard sales .... "My sure way of investments". I think a storage auction forum would be great idea...."Treasure Net" all treasures...gl.

A lot of items at yard sales are from storage units, either direct or thru a local auction house.

 

[Carl995]

They opened a 5X15. A huge mound of old junk, old cheap stereos, milk crates of papers.....I saw a headstock of a guitar sticking out of the right side & I knew it was an old Danelectro electric, even tho I had a lot of junk to move, I knew I was buying the unit.

Got it for $135.

After I paid I went to the unit & started moving crates of papers etc. I got to the guitar & got real excited when I saw a Zappa & the mothers sticker on it!!! (Zappa fan all my life, been to many concerts Zappa, Beefheart & Mothers)
Started looking thru the record albums & sure enough lots of Zappa & about 10 old bootlegs!!

Unloading at the auction I noticed the crates of papers
were old mail order paper war games with square "counters" & dice. Most unopened.
I told the auction house owner instead of throwing them out I will take them home.

I get home with a large load of crates of paper & my wife said "why did you bring that trash home?"

She looked them up & turns out the war games are extremely rare!!!
I don't even want to say what they individually sold for & it took her about 3 months (my wife read this & wanted me to revise it took her about 2 years) to list & sell them all!!

If I didn't see that part of the guitar, I would have never bought the unit!!

If anybody else bought this locker most would have been thrown out!!!

I guess this is where one mans trash is another mans treasure!!

 

[Carl995]

When the TV shows just started airing, Barry found a construction hard hat that was engraved.
Sure enough about a week later they opened a 5X5 unit & I see one in the back. I bought the unit for $125.
Sold the hat for $350.

I think tha'ts the only thing I learned from the TV shows!!

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