Storage Wars - Reality or Reality Show?

With the recent popularity of all the 'Storage Wars' shows, people have become aware of the bargains and in some cases treasures to be found with storage auction sales. While the shows tend to glamorize these auctions with nearly every show revealing treasures being discovered by the winning bidders, my experience has been quite different. This article reveals the truth from my standpoint and offers some tips on making these sales work for you.

1. Finding Storage Auction Sales

Storage auctions are usually held every month at most of the large chain storage facilities. Getting a listing of auctions is a relatively simple procedure and while you can find information at various websites and in newspapers, the best way to get a listing of auction dates is to simply stop by the storage facility and ask for a listing of upcoming auctions. While there you can ask to be put on their email list for auctions.

Getting listings for smaller storage sites can be a bit more of a challenge since most don't have regular dates and will usually only conduct an auction when they have enough units to make a auction worthwhile. Oftentimes the smaller storage companies will place an ad in a local paper before a sale or sometimes just put a sign outside the premises a week or two before having the storage unit auction. Checking through the Internet, yellow pages and even driving around town will reveal numerous storage businesses that generally fly under the radar.

2. Basics

There are several things you will need to have with you on the day of the auction. Just about all auctions will want payment in cash so be sure to have sufficient cash with you. Another obvious thing that you will need is several locks. Once you have won the auction on a unit, you'll want to place a lock on it because there may be other units that you're interested in. You don't want to leave your locker unlocked and unprotected while you move on the next location as things can wander off quickly. Be sure to have sufficient locks with you to secure your units. You will also want to have a hand truck since you have no idea what you are going to wind up buying. Don't make the mistake of trying to play tow motor with a large appliance, or you may be making an appointment with the chiropractor in the near future.

3. Auction Process

Most large storage companies with multiple locations plan their auctions within the same day or two. The auction itself is fast paced and bidders will usually only have a minute or less to poke their head into the unit to try and determine if the unit is worth bidding on. If you snooze, you lose when it comes to these auctions as the auctioneer won't spend much time auctioning off the units since they will most likely be holding auctions at several locations that day. The winners of the units have a specified period to empty out the contents of the unit, quite often a day but sometimes up to a week. The thing to keep in mind is that the storage company is not in the auction business, but instead renting out storage space, so they want the storage lockers emptied as quick as possible.

4. Reality versus T.V.

On the Storage Wars show, you'll see the winning bidders taking their valuables to various "experts" to try and find out what their items are actually worth. Oftentimes you will see the winning bidder being told that the strange whatyoumacallit they purchased on auction is worth a small fortune. However, the reality is if you were to ask the person putting a price on that item if they would be willing to pay that price right now, in most cases, the answer is a definite NO!

While you can find the occasional treasure in a storage unit, it doesn't happen as often as the show portrays so don't go into it expecting to find a 'Mona Lisa' in every unit that you purchase. While it is possible that you may run across that rare treasure in any unit that you purchase, keep in mind that you will have your share of duds as well.

Conclusion

Participating in Storage auctions can be quite exciting. It's a landlubbers version of treasure hunting because you never know what you might find in any unit that you purchase. I have a friend who reluctantly purchased a storage unit for $125 only to find to his delight that there was a disassembled Harley Davidson motorcycle in the back of the unit! While these types of finds do occasionally happen, this isn't Storage Wars, so take a more realistic attitude towards the business, and happy hunting!