Storage Wars

[spartacus53]

I have now caught more than 1/2 dozen episodes of the "Storage Wars" series and I'm hooked. They do have a cast of characters in Jarrod, Dave, Bruce and another guy. Each playing mind games with each other in order to get a unit at the best price. The bidding is part of the fun and excitement, but the revel is the best. See someone buy a unit for $600 and walk away with a comic collection worth over $150,000. Some units are winners and others total duds, but the best part is you don't know what you have until you sift through the sometimes mountains of boxes.

You can catch it on A&E. To me, this ranks right up there with Pawn Stars. So I give it

[papajos]

I have now caught more than 1/2 dozen episodes of the "Storage Wars" series and I'm hooked. They do have a cast of characters in Jarrod, Dave, Bruce and another guy. Each playing mind games with each other in order to get a unit at the best price. The bidding is part of the fun and excitement, but the revel is the best. See someone buy a unit for $600 and walk away with a comic collection worth over $150,000. Some units are winners and others total duds, but the best part is you don't know what you have until you sift through the sometimes mountains of boxes.

You can catch it on A&E. To me, this ranks right up there with Pawn Stars. So I give it

I have done this for real, sometimes you will find some real 'treasures'! Lots of storage units all over the country, all you have to do is call them and get on their list.

[stefen]

After 10 years in storage, I helped my wife and sister-in-law sort thru their folks and grandfathers junk...

Found several California Gold coin bracelets, a extensive stamp collection dating from 1880 thru 1960, and a mhyriad of other valuables...

They spent $100 / month for 10 years ($12,000 total) and maybe broke even.

An acquaintenance bid and was awarded the contents of a storage unit...it contained about 200 tuxedo's...all in bebop colors...bright orange, greens and yellows...something clowns would wear on a bad night...sold them all in several yard sales to mostly hispanics...and claimed he made a profit...

If it was me, i'd spend my hard earned money betting on cockroach races...

[Smudge]

I am absolutely hooked on that show. It is my favorite!

[calisdad]

Although its entertaining I find it unbelievable at best.

Last night one of them 'found' $6600 worth of silver coins in a tub on a unit they paid $400 for and only bid to drive the price up. Same guy then turns around and 'finds' $1800 cash taped behind a painting.

Another guy buys a bin full of old newspapers. Value=$90,000, paid $875. say what??

And in all of Southern California why do these same guys show up at all the auctions that happen to have cameramen at them?

[spartacus53]

"And in all of Southern California why do these same guys show up at all the auctions that happen to have cameramen at them?"

They have a cameraman because it's a taped TV show. I guess someone must have gotten wind of this crew and thought it would make an interesting show. You will notice all of the players, except maybe one have stores in which to sell their booty.

[SeaninNH]

I'm hooked on this show. It's entertaining to see the things they find. The money behind the painting was awesome. I could not imagine finding that.

[mts]

I'm definitely going to tune in based on the recommendations here. But I don't get it... don't the owners of the storage facility go in and clean out all of the good stuff first? That's exactly what I would do if I owned one of those facilities. Other threads about this show say it is fake. Any comments on that claim? Again, I haven't watched it so I'll have to tune in before forming my own opinion.

[spartacus53]

In some cases it seems that the units may may been stripped of anything of value. There was one exception where Jarrod got a unit and the only good thing was a safe. After cracking it open and seeing nothing inside he was disappoint until another bidder came by and told him the safe alone had great value.

I would also guess that some circumstances may revolve around around the people relocating and having no way to get back

[jeff of pa]

I'm definitely going to tune in based on the recommendations here. But I don't get it... don't the owners of the storage facility go in and clean out all of the good stuff first? That's exactly what I would do if I owned one of those facilities. Other threads about this show say it is fake. Any comments on that claim? Again, I haven't watched it so I'll have to tune in before forming my own opinion.

I always thought the same.
IF I Had a storage unit & Knew I was late
or Going to be Late, I'd go take everything of value out,
& Store my Garbage in it, instead of paying
the Garbage man

However I'm sure some People
have no Way to move the stuff
Out or to another location.

Or Die without anyone knowing about a Storage unit.

No reason to fake these shows.
These people are Buying Daily in many cases
& only showing the good Finds.
Most likely Reenactments on occasion,
when somthing is found without a camera pointing at them.

[enricodiaz80]

yeah, i think these shows are probably staged, at least to a certain degree, but sometimes you will find a treasure but you'll have to sift through a mountain of trash before you find it. it's best to have a strategy when attending these auctions. I recommend doing research on income demographics in certain areas before you decide which auctions to visit. Higher income areas mean higher valued goods in storage. You can easily do this by using Hotpad's nationwide income heat map. http://www.storageunitauctionlist.com has an e-book that also has some great tips on how to make money, and it's free to download. I bought their NC list and it has been very helpful.

[markmopar]

And in all of Southern California why do these same guys show up at all the auctions that happen to have cameramen at them?

If you notice, all the auctions are run by the same couple, the Dotsons. They're the ones that the show was built around, not so much the buyers. They set the schedule for the guys to come bid, then the network/producers rounded up the bidders to follow.

[allen]

I love the show and it has now spun off two other shows,
Storage hunters and auction hunters with Ton and Alan.
My favorite character is Barry, he always has bad luck.
Dave Hester is a plain a%&*#@$ and Jerrod and Darrel
both make the show a riot !

[calisdad]

I think Storage Hunters came first and it was definately salted. NOBODY leaves behind brand new Browning shotguns and handguns, corporate storage or not. And while finding 18 $100 bills behind a picture is possible no way is it plausible. But yeah, I watch it too.

[jeff of pa]

Best thing to do if you have a storage
& Know you can't make the payment,
remove everything good, get alot of
boxes that had expensive items in.
Fill them with your houshold trash,
& hope Storage Hunters show up to bid

[allen]

Best thing to do if you have a storage
& Know you can't make the payment,
remove everything good, get alot of
boxes that had expensive items in.
Fill them with your houshold trash,
& hope Storage Hunters show up to bid

That is too good Jeff !!

[poorhunter78]

Sorry Spart,

Before I had My mornin I thought this Thread

Read...Stooge Wars...You Know Larry, Moe, Curly, Shemp.. Love watchin

those guys they never get old....My 12 Yr old is Hooked...

[W6PEA]

Although its entertaining I find it unbelievable at best.

Last night one of them 'found' $6600 worth of silver coins in a tub on a unit they paid $400 for and only bid to drive the price up. Same guy then turns around and 'finds' $1800 cash taped behind a painting.

Another guy buys a bin full of old newspapers. Value=$90,000, paid $875. say what??

And in all of Southern California why do these same guys show up at all the auctions that happen to have cameramen at them?

I have to agree these guys are a joke.

[Smudge]

Seeded or not, its fun to watch.

In my area, I'm hearing of people flooding these storage unit auctions and spending a fortune on eachunit expecting a Picasso hiding in the back. Instead all they find is some seriously used Tupperwear.

Hilarious.

[tnt-k9]

I find the show very entertaining. For those doubting Thomas's of course they don't find those treasures everyday. It's called editing. If they showed every auction no one would watch. Kind of like MDers, not everyday ends up with gold in the scoop.
What I don't like about the show is that it has ruined storage unit auctions. I started going to storage unit auctions in the early 90s when I lived in TN. It was great fun and you didn't have to spend a fortune to get a unit. You could put items for sale in the local paper for free as long as the asking price was under $150.00. Didn't get rich but it was fun. The best one I had paid $65.00 for it. I ended up making over $600.00 profit selling the items that I though had value. I was young and probably missed something really good. When I moved to SC I went to several but stopped going after awhile. I didn't like that they auctioned each individual item instead of the whole unit. THey would put stuff to the side and say they were not allowed to auction this piece or that. It took for EVER to get through 3 or 4 units. Also you saw the same people there every time. You knew who had thrift stores or consignment shops and who were just there trying to find a deal.
Now I'm sure there are a TON of people who go to these with hundreds of dollars jacking up the bidding. It probably will not be much fun to go to them anymore.