Introduction to Storage Auctions

The self-storage auction industry has been around for over a decade now.   Due to the hit TV show “Storage Wars”, the storage auction business has been recognized as one of the fastest growing businesses in the United States. Storage facilities host auctions on a monthly basis to sell the items that lessee’s leave behind when they default on their storage unit payment.

When a lessee fails to make payment on their storage unit, the storage facility has the right to have an auction and auction off the items in the storage unit.  The laws are not same in all states but the basics of hosting storage auctions are fairly universal. 

Many successful business owners have created their own small business through the process of buying items at auction for a low price and reselling them in their own store or on sites like Craig’s list, business website, or eBay.   The best of the best have years of experience in developing systems that include where to buy items in bulk and where to sell storage unit contents.  

Since the launch of the TV show it has grown increasingly harder to buy storage unit items at a low cost.  There can be as much as 100 people bidding on one storage unit at some auctions.  The norm is around 20-30 but the numbers are growing every day. 

There are some sites out there that can help you through the bidding process.  http://storagebattles.com is an online storage auction where you can leave the crowds behind and bid on storage units from the comfort of your own home.

Introduction to Storage Auctions Continued.

Use the link below to navigate to the next article:

• The Cost of Self-Storage Units 
• Storage Auctions - Myth Vs. Reality 
• Marketing Your Storage Auctions & Products on eBay
• Finding the help you need
• Finding the best storage auctions
• Storage Auction Tips and Tricks
• Starting a small business from home
• Is the Storage Auction Business right for you?
• How to Make Profit in a Tough Market
• How to Buy Storage Units Online at Auction

The Storage Auction Help Blog was created by and for storage unit buyers.  Our goal is to give self-storage unit buyers the best possible detailed information and tips on what they can do to become successful in the storage auction business.

Your going to need somewhere to store all your items after purchasing one of these storage units at auction. If you need industrial shelving or warehouse storage solutions and happen to be in the Phoenix, AZ area, give Custom Material Handling a Call.

StorageBattles.com is an online self-storage auction platform, allowing storage facilities to post their auctions online. This eliminates the live auctions entirely. Please read the following to understand how online self-storage auctions will work for your company.

• The way StorageBattles.com works is easy

  Your facility would register on our site as a storage facility/seller. After registration is complete you are now ready to begin posting your auctions online as they come. You no longer have to wait for a group of auctions to get the process started or work around your auctioneer's schedule.

• Are you ready to post an auction?

  Before you post online you have to make sure to follow the lien laws in your state as you do normally, the only difference is you must state the auction is being held online at www.storagebattles.com (where you would normally have the facility's address) and you choose the end date of your choice. This end date is the same date you will enter online when posting your auction. If the tenant has already forfeited rights to their unit and you just have not had an auction yet - no problem, you will choose a date of your choice since you do not have to schedule an auctioneer.

Post an auction 

Once your lien notices are sent out you can cut the locks, take up to 25 high quality photos of the unit contents, and put a locking ID tag in place on the unit up for auction. These photos will be used to give buyers a better idea of what they are purchasing. The site is very user friendly; it takes only a couple of minutes to get an auction online to begin the bidding process.

*If you do not have locking ID tags we will provide them for you.

http://storagebattles.com

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Finding the help you need

Storage auctions are tough work with a lot of moving and lifting.  It’s tough for someone to move all of this stuff by themselves.  Just ask Gary from “Storage Wars” Almost every episode he buys a unit that contains items that he cannot lift by himself.  He is dropping items and breaking things because he cannot physically move all the contents on his own.  MY suggestion is to hire help.  There are a couple ways to do this and I will list them here.

Offer them a percentage.

Offering your helper a percentage of the profit will entice them to help you find a good unit and take care of the merchandise that you acquire.  They will take care of it like it’s their own if they know there is profit to be made.  They want the money just as bad as you and will treat it as so.  They also don’t have anything to lose because they did not put up any of their own money.  Most people would jump at an opportunity like this.  They are taking a chance by only getting profit if you profit but if you know what you are doing you and your helper could make money.

Paying them straight up     

                    

You could always offer them hourly pay like 10 dollars an hour or so but honestly I wouldn’t suggest doing this.  If you pay someone by the hour you will definitely lose more money than if you were giving them a percentage.  Think about it, if you’re at the auction for 4 hours and you’re are paying them 10 dollars an hour.  That’s 40 dollars.  Now, think about it like this.  If you get a unit and pay 200 for it and only make 100, you would only have to pay them the percentage.  If you gave them %20 percent of the profit out of 100 dollars that’s only 20 bucks.  I’d much rather pay someone 20 bucks for a helping hand then handing over %40 percent of my profit.  The best way of paying them straight up is to find a good friend who just likes helping out and offer him 10-30 dollars to come and help you move some stuff.  That way, they do not feel like you are making all kinds of money and you aren’t.  Let them know that you just need help moving stuff out of a storage unit.  Leave all the profit talk out of it.  You don’t want them getting envious and thinking that you are money hungry and making all this money while they are doing all the work.  Keep your business to yourself and only let them know what they need to know.  Some people will be more than happy to come out for a few hours and help a friend while making a couple bucks. 

Find the help you need, don’t pay them too much, and take it easy.  There is no reason to break your back trying to do it all by yourself.  Get help. 

Storage Battles

http://storagebattles.com

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Finding the best storage auctions

It’s easy to find storage units in your area.  All you have to do it type in self-storage on Google and every storage unit facility in your area will be on that list. That’s the easy part.  The hard part is finding an auction that is not going to be over crowded with too many people.  The last thing you want is 30 people bidding on one unit.  This guide is to help you find the best storage auctions in you are that will be attended by less people in hopes that you will get lower prices on your buys. 

Checking out facilities before the auction

Every storage facility is required to announce their storage auctions.  In some states it’s actually legally required.  They have to post the unit number and the name of the unit holder.  You can visit the facility and see how big the unit is and get a feel for the facility.  If the facility is really run down its quite possible that the contents are too.  Research the name of the unit holder.  Do a Google search for the person’s name and see who they are, what they do, and if they are someone important.  If the person is a doctor, athlete, or small business owner it’s quite possible that there might be some goodies in those units. 

Finding the lowest attended auctions

Find auctions that are less crowded.  You want to find auctions that have less competition so that you can get the chance to buy a unit for a lower price.  Research auctions that are held on the outskirts of the city.  Do a Google search for self-storage and look for facilities that are outside of the city.  It might be a little more driving to be done but the money you will save on these units will make up for it if you get a good price on  a unit.  These auctions are going to have smaller crowds of people and the smaller the better.  When too many people are bidding on a unit the bids can get out of control.  At a smaller less attended auction it is much more controlled and there are fewer bidders.  These facilities usually announce their auctions in more obscure places.  I would try calling these facilities to find out when they are hosting their auctions and how many people usually attend.  If you could save a couple hundred bucks every auction it is worth it to do the research. 

Find smaller auctions and do your research to get better prices on storage unit buys. 

Storage Battles

http://storagebattles.com

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Storage Auction Tips and Tricks

If you are at a storage auction it can be very easy to let things get out of control.  The last thing you want to do is to lose your head in a bidding war or pay too much for a unit because you got emotional and didn’t want the other guy to win.  For this reason I created an article about how to play it safe, not get emotional, and never go past your limit. 

Play it Safe

The number one thing I see people doing when they are estimating units is to try to figure out the actual cost of an item and not what it would sell for.  Items in a storage unit are just like new cars.  Right when you take them off the lot they depreciate. You want to bid on the price of the item now.  If you want to be completely safe I would even suggest bidding %15 below what you think the item is worth now.  You never know what you are going to get for items until you purchase them and try to sell them.  You don’t want to get to your selling point and realize that you definitely over-estimated the price of an item and now you are losing money.  Estimating %15 less will give you a safety cushion that will allow you to still profit if you don’t get exactly what you thought you were going to.   Plus, if you get more than what you thought then you get %15 more profit in your pocket.  Slow and steady wins the race.  Be the turtle.

Don’t get emotional

I see this too many times where buyers end up paying too much for a unit because they can’t keep their emotions out of it.  You see it on TV a lot where one guy decides he is going to take the price of the next auction up because he is mad that he lost the previous one.  The last thing you want to do is try to drive the price of auctions up.  You are going to make enemies fast and possibly pay more for every unit that you bid on.  There is also the chance that you are going to get stuck with a unit.  People are not stupid they know when someone is purposely trying to drive up the price of a unit.  Be careful because it is just as likely that you can get stuck with the unit if they decide to drop out of the bidding while you are driving the price up.  Don’t get stuck with a unit.  Bid carefully on a unit and if anything try to make friends.  It’s a lot more likely that a fellow buyer will let you get a better price on a unit if they like you.  This will not always work but you will be surprised on how many people will stop bidding on a unit if they know you want it and they like you.

Never go past your limit

I’m not sure if it’s an addiction or just plain stupidity but buyers love to get into a bidding war where the price of the auction keeps going up and up. Even though the buyer said that they are only going to bid 300, they end up going higher and higher just because they don’t want to lose.  If you set your limit, stick to it.  You don’t have to win every unit that you bid on.  Just because it looks like an awesome unit doesn’t mean that it’s a necessity to purchase it.  The limit is set for a reason.  So you can make profit.  If you bid too high on a unit the chances are not very good that you are going to make money.  If you find it hard to stick to your guns and you’re always going above what you set then you should re-asses your bidding.  Are you bidding high enough? Are the items worth more than you think?  Do your research on what items are worth. Go to stores where you will sell items and get a general estimate of how much they buy items for. 

Play it safe, don’t get emotional, and don’t go past you limit and you will make more profit from storage auctions and be a happier individual in general. 

Storage Battles

http://storagebattles.com

For more tips and tricks on Storage Auctions Please visit my Ezine Article http://ezinearticles.com/?General-Tips-on-Storage-Auctions&id=7902763