THE SECRETS THEY DON'T TELL YOU ABOUT ON T.V.
I've been reselling stuff online for 18 years now and sourcing from storage auctions is part of my business plan but not the only way I gather inventory. Regardless, when I talk to people about what I do for a living they always like to bring up the TV show, Storage Wars. I completely understand why they do but ultimately it irritates me and I would like to set the record straight on a few aspects about the show which are totally false and/or fabricated.
1) Lock-Cutting
On the TV show, Storage Wars, and other shows like it you will see locks being cut live in front of the bidders. This simply does not happen very often. When it does, it's once in a blue-moon and not because they haven't cut it yet but because somehow another lock got put on it after they've already cut it off once before and placed one of their own on it. When someone fails to pay rent the facility will put their own lock on the unit until payment is received so regardless of the storage company or location, locks are always pre-cut before the auctions take place. This allows for an efficient auction day, as multiple units at multiple locations are auctioned off throughout the day. In some cases the company will list certain contents that are in-sight after the lock has been cut on the public notice ad in order to raise interest and garner more bidders.
I suppose the reason they do it on TV is for dramatic effect. You see, on TV they only have less than 30 minutes to capture your attention and entertain you so loud noises and sparks and the feeling that something is being seen for the first time is absolutely crucial to maintaining viewership. In reality, every unit being bid on across the country has been opened and viewed by the property manager or one of their staff members, guaranteed. How do I know this? Not just from experience but because there's no law stating they can't. If you owned a storage facility and had a delinquent tenant, wouldn't you want to know what's inside? However, removing anything from the unit could land the property manager in big legal trouble if the tenant pays-up prior to auction and finds something missing. Above all, cutting locks live presents safety hazards and consumes too much time.
2) Manager Specials
This is a subject I don't hear being discussed on TV. That's probably because doing so would tarnish the show's reputation and throw too much shade in regards of everything being staged. When a storage facility has multiple delinquent tenants it becomes a major problem because those are all units that could be rented out by people who actually pay their bills on time. Naturally, they will put all the units up for auction but sometimes really junked out units or literal trash that people leave behind won't receive any bids. This creates a problem for the facility manager because they now have to hire a company to come clear the units out. Depending on the situation, that could cost a lot of money so what they will do is take all the stuff from multiple units that received no bids and toss it all into one unit while making it look presentable for yet another auction. There will usually be interesting items with potential resale value placed within sight to garner more bids.
Is it legal? YES. Is it ethical? That's for you to decide. When you start to frequent different auctions at different companies you'll quickly realize which facilities utilize this practice and can avoid them in the future. The only way to determine whether or not the unit is a Manager's Special is to closely examine the contents. These types of units will generally contain miss-matched items, furniture with missing pieces, multiple used mattresses or TVs, clashing decor, piles of junk or a variation of these things. The more units you buy and clean out, the quicker you'll realize which ones are Manager Specials and can avoid them altogether.
3) Glitz & Glam
Sure, every city will have it's 'regulars' that attend all the auctions they can. However, you'll never see flamboyant individuals wearing expensive jewelry or driving fancy cars. Walking around auctions looking or acting like you're rich makes you a target. People will talk behind your back and toy with you by driving up bids on stuff they know you want. It's fairly obvious the reason why they show-boat on TV is to keep you entertained. In reality, it's average Joes like you and me and really quite boring. The most exciting thing that occurs is when someone finds something unique or valuable and shares it with everyone else. Personally, I downplay everything I find, as people can be rather nosy and start to follow in your footsteps and try to buy units you bid on after they realize you scored big.
Let's face it, it's a dirty job! When you buy a storage unit you typically have only 24-48 hours to clean out everything, including the trash and leave it swept clean. You will frequently come across spiders, roaches, rats, animal excrement, mold, mildew and plenty of dust. That's just to name a few things. From my experience in life, rich people do not like doing dirty work. The chances of them being at an auction are slim, let alone being at auctions and flaunting their riches. If you had the means, wouldn't you just send a minion in your place? I know I would! Especially considering that auctions are rain or shine, hot or cold. Attending the auctions, moving around facility to facility all day is very time-consuming and a lot of work in itself. The typical people who frequent auctions are resale shop owners, locals and people who watched Storage Wars on TV and think they can get rich off of buying a storage unit at auction. There is money to be made but believe me, it's just enough to get by. No one I've met that has been doing this as long as I have has become a millionaire off of this practice so don't get your hopes up!
4) Treasure!
I'm frequently asked about the most valuable thing I've ever found inside of a storage unit. Probably because on the TV show there's always at least ONE interesting item in the units they sift through. This is not by coincidence. The producers of the show have actually been busted staging items inside of the units for the 'actors' to find. This way they can follow them around to the local shop-owner and make an interesting scene for you to watch where they detail and price out the item. Take a minute to really think about how items end up at auction. Most facilities will give tenants at least 2 months of non-payment before sending their unit to auction. If you had something valuable in your storage unit and knew you were falling behind on your payments wouldn't you go clear out as much as you could before they lock you out? This happens all the time because it's human nature! Even someone who gets incarcerated would get word to a relative or friend to pay their bill if something of great value was left inside, wouldn't you think?
That being said, there are still plenty of small treasures to be found. They're typically not within sight and are usually a surprise when cleaning out a unit. I say this because anything of high value that's in plain sight will fetch really high bids, typically on par with the actual value of what everyone is looking at. It's not uncommon to find some jewelry or coins. Small electronics of high value can also be found. It's generally stuff small enough to fit inside a box or tote and common enough to easily be overlooked by a tenant when they are cleaning out. Either that, or someone really rich who considers what they left behind as 'Junk'. As the saying goes, "One man's trash is another man's treasure". So when I reply to people that ask me what the most valuable item I've found is I generally say, that depends on what you consider valuable!
5) Auction Frequency
When I see these shows on TV I notice them driving across the country, planning for particular days and making it seem like these auctions don't happen very often or require insider knowledge when it comes to scheduling and such. That's simply not true at all. In fact, it's the exact opposite. If you live in a big city you can count on there being an auction somewhere pretty much any weekday of the month. Just check your local court listings for any announcements, as all auctions must be made public. Don't be duped into paying a website for this knowledge because it is completely free to the public.
Regardless of how many people there are at an auction or how many of the units are being bought up by shop owners and other regulars, there's always a chance for you to win something. Especially considering the fact that some auctions in different parts of the city overlap and occur at the same time and people can't be two places at once. When auctions take place it's generally a small route in that particular part of the city that everyone follows throughout the day as all the units for that month get auctioned off. This means that even though someone may see something they like, it doesn't mean they are willing to drive back to that location and clean-out. If it's far from their home they are less likely to bid on something requiring a lot of work and sometimes you can even end up with a unit that only costs you $1 if you happen to be the only one in the bunch willing to clean out the contents. In short, there's plenty of junk to go around for everyone to be happy and full of work. Sure, you can plan on hitting up the auctions in the nicer parts of town but you can also bet on others being there for the same purpose and with a lot of people in the crowd, bids get absolutely insane. My advice would be not to follow the beaten path. Creating your own path and developing your own niche is where the most interesting things occur and bigger opportunities are to be found!