[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Storage wars question (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 12/26/2010 9:23:18 AM EDT
| After watching this show what prevents the owner of the storage facility from looting these units before they are auctioned? In addition I'm sure now that these shows have hit the airwaves that these auctions would have to be crazy? |
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Do you really think that most folks are going to put anything valuable in a storage unit anyway? Most are unheated and not climate controlled.
The 1 in 10,000 chance that there is something valuable is tough to bet on. AND the fact that 99% of the unit owners are going to at least look inside before they sell/auction/give stuff away just on the off chance that deadbeat renter was actually keeping something of value. You can make that appraisal pretty quickly just by standing in the door. Unit full of junk store furniture or boxes of crap (hoarders)............How quick can I get a dumpster or someone to empty this out??? 99.99% Unit full of wood boxed paintings, power tools, work boxes or an old car............something to look at before it goes?? 0.01% |
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I'm betting a few "props" are added just after the auction to spice the show up a little. Kind of like Antiques Roadshow did to boost ratings.
And where and why the hell do they keep calling the same crusty old man that keeps telling them every gun they find is in rough condition and not worth investing in? |
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Do you really think that most folks are going to put anything valuable in a storage unit anyway? Most are unheated and not climate controlled. The 1 in 10,000 chance that there is something valuable is tough to bet on. AND the fact that 99% of the unit owners are going to at least look inside before they sell/auction/give stuff away just on the off chance that deadbeat renter was actually keeping something of value. You can make that appraisal pretty quickly just by standing in the door. Unit full of junk store furniture or boxes of crap (hoarders)............How quick can I get a dumpster or someone to empty this out??? 99.99% Unit full of wood boxed paintings, power tools, work boxes or an old car............something to look at before it goes?? 0.01% My point exactly if you think the owner of the storage facility isn't going to take a cursory glance rummage around inside the unit your crazy! |
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Do you really think that most folks are going to put anything valuable in a storage unit anyway? Most are unheated and not climate controlled. The 1 in 10,000 chance that there is something valuable is tough to bet on. AND the fact that 99% of the unit owners are going to at least look inside before they sell/auction/give stuff away just on the off chance that deadbeat renter was actually keeping something of value. You can make that appraisal pretty quickly just by standing in the door. Unit full of junk store furniture or boxes of crap (hoarders)............How quick can I get a dumpster or someone to empty this out??? 99.99% Unit full of wood boxed paintings, power tools, work boxes or an old car............something to look at before it goes?? 0.01% My point exactly if you think the owner of the storage facility isn't going to take a cursory glance rummage around inside the unit your crazy! Most storage facilities are large businesses with lots of locations. I doubt someone from corporate is going to come out to ransack foreclosed units. Now the managers on site may be a different story. The selling of a storage unit is a legal procedure & in most states I don't think manager/owners have the right to remove items from a unit. In Texas, the units to be auctioned off must first be advertised 2 weeks in advance. Most of the time this will be in the "Legal" section in the classifieds. After the sale ,if a unit brings in more than the facility is owed(including auctioneer fees,etc.), the balance goes to the person who rented the unit. When I lived in Tx, I did this for a living for about 7 years. |
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I think this TV show glorifying people's misfortune is a new low for reality TV and then I discovered there is a second show with the same plot on TV. Previously expressed my revulsion here: http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=1121012 |
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Do you really think that most folks are going to put anything valuable in a storage unit anyway? Most are unheated and not climate controlled. The 1 in 10,000 chance that there is something valuable is tough to bet on. AND the fact that 99% of the unit owners are going to at least look inside before they sell/auction/give stuff away just on the off chance that deadbeat renter was actually keeping something of value. You can make that appraisal pretty quickly just by standing in the door. Unit full of junk store furniture or boxes of crap (hoarders)............How quick can I get a dumpster or someone to empty this out??? 99.99% Unit full of wood boxed paintings, power tools, work boxes or an old car............something to look at before it goes?? 0.01% A lot of people store stuff that has value in them. I've known a few companies to store extra materials, tools, etc. Same goes with furniture. People think they should keep the extra bed, dresser, whatever not realizing they are paying a lot more then what the stuff is worth. As far as looking in them before hand every auction I've even gone to they remove their lock from the locker and cut the renters lock off. Unless they are buying a bunch of different locks and letting them get worn they are noting going in before hand unless they pick the old lock. Mind you I wouldn't be surprised if A&E staged the entire thing. There are treasures to be had in them. You also have where someone dies and family throws all of their stuff in storage without really going through it. The show also doesn't show all of the lockers the guys avoid. I'm sure most of them are filled with worthless junk. When I went to auctions maybe half of them had stuff that looked useable. |
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trash, my old church rented one out for years before my stepmom got involved in the Sunday school and found out. she promptly went looked at it and volunteered me to help her take it all to the dump. nothing beats paying for years likely decades to store old school supplies from the <70's books chairs globes etc. |
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I dated a girl who's parents owned two different storage places.
When people missed one month payment they locked the unit with their lock (the slide lock had a place for two locks), when people missed three months payments they sent out letters to the renter of the unit and to the courthouse (like a notice of foreclosure). I think it was at 6 months that they could go and cut the lock, however, they used a bonded auction place that came out and did the inventory and the sale of the stuff, plus they had to clean out the garbage. Her parents didn't want to have anything to do with other people property except to get the money they were owed via the sale. |
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Haven't seen storage wars, but I watched a couple episodes of Auction Hunters last week. I think it has the same premise. I believe that either A) They stage items to be found in the units; B) Only show the units where they find cool items. I think option A is more probable. They seem to find firearms with some regularity, which seems unlikely. |
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nothing stops them from looting it before the auction I used to hit a few of those auctions when my folks had a pawn shop it was normally all crap old clothes and dirty dishes mostly id just pick out a piece of furniture and bid what i felt it was worth anything else in the unit is a bonus only time I ever really made any money was a unit full of R/C car stuff as it was the sort of stuff most people who hit those auctions do not know what it is worth |
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Quoted: nothing stops them from looting it before the auction I used to hit a few of those auctions when my folks had a pawn shop it was normally all crap old clothes and dirty dishes mostly id just pick out a piece of furniture and bid what i felt it was worth anything else in the unit is a bonus only time I ever really made any money was a unit full of R/C car stuff as it was the sort of stuff most people who hit those auctions do not know what it is worth You do realize that the owners have the right to try and get their money out of an unpaid unit? Nobody is "looting" anything. Those auctions are not done for the public's benefit so the "auction hunters" can make money. It's done because they've lost at least a $1,000 or more in back rent, certified mail, public ads, etc and the owners usually aren't fond of losing money. |
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Quoted: you are correct looting was a improper word Quoted: nothing stops them from looting it before the auction You do realize that the owners have the right to try and get their money out of an unpaid unit? Nobody is "looting" anything. Those auctions are not done for the public's benefit so the "auction hunters" can make money. It's done because they've lost at least a $1,000 or more in back rent, certified mail, public ads, etc and the owners usually aren't fond of losing money. rummaging would have been more appropriate but yeah more power to um to try to get what they can to recoup their loss My folks had a pawn shop for a number of years I am sure we both dealt with the same caliber of people |
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Quoted: Quoted: you are correct looting was a improper word Quoted: nothing stops them from looting it before the auction You do realize that the owners have the right to try and get their money out of an unpaid unit? Nobody is "looting" anything. Those auctions are not done for the public's benefit so the "auction hunters" can make money. It's done because they've lost at least a $1,000 or more in back rent, certified mail, public ads, etc and the owners usually aren't fond of losing money. rummaging would have been more appropriate Thank you. I have done plenty of rummaging. I never looted nothing  |
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If there is anything of value that is worth more than the rent ..... You would expect that the owner is in jail and can not get to his merchandise... You'd be surprised what people leave behind. Yes, it's mostly junk, but it only takes an item or 2 to make your money. I bought one for $5 and made a 1,000% 10,000% return on 2 items. (I think my math is right now, I spent $5 and made a little over $500) |
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Quoted: If there is anything of value that is worth more than the rent ..... You would expect that the owner is in jail and can not get to his merchandise... That's the thing. If somebody has a car or guns or welders or coin collections, etc etc etc, he's very likely to come up with a way to get the past due rent and get back to current. A majority of the time, the ones that go to auction, it's people that realize their belongings are worth less than what they owe on the unit. But people die, go to prison, divorce, etc and that's when you find a lot of items that people wouldn't normally just let go. |
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you guys would be surprised at the stuff that is found in these units. Instead of me buying the units I go to the auctions and give the guys my card on the items I seek. I get calls all the time.
I have bid from time to time and lost out on an interesting unit recently. I am going this coming week to see what i can find at 2 local auctions. If youre going to these auctions prepare to swing heavy 
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| I see it like this, along with other reality type shows ( american choppers , american pickers) its possible its all scripted, or items planted. Seems like way too much production. Its a TV show, no where does it say it has to be real life. If its on tv, and has advertisements they are there to make money. I like it, but it will probably end up like all these shows, ice road truckers, that crab fisherman, choppers etc. You will be able to predict what happens next as they can only do so much. |
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I was at a storage unit auction and in the middle of one unit.The owner of the facility walks into the auctioneer truck.You hear
over the mic the owner says to the auctioneer." The owner of this property in this unit showed up to pay the balance!Can you explain to her my legal right?"The auctioneer looks over at him and says "No.It's your facility ,YOU explain your legal rights" 
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I've been to about three storage unit auctions.
Total crap. YMMV.
I know its done for a TV show, so I'm sure there is alot of thought that goes into which ones they film. And its in Cali, so I'm sure there are lots of famous people out that way, or at least more with money. In this area, I wouldn't think it would go over too well. I wonder how many they film that are just crap? |
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Quoted: saw one on hulu with stacks of elvis newspapers.... guy got about 90k out of his 800 buck buy I saw that one too. He didn't get a dime. They were worth about $10 each on the high side and he had about 6000 of them. Now he has to find 6000 people who want to buy some old ass Elvis newspaper. Then the fact he's flooding the market with that paper and he's driving the price down even more. In reality that jackass might have broke even but I doubt that. Of course they don't tell you that on the show you have to figure that out for yourself.Some folks do, some people not so much. |
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saw one on hulu with stacks of elvis newspapers.... guy got about 90k out of his 800 buck buy I saw that one too. He didn't get a dime. They were worth about $10 each on the high side and he had about 6000 of them. Now he has to find 6000 people who want to buy some old ass Elvis newspaper. Then the fact he's flooding the market with that paper and he's driving the price down even more. In reality that jackass might have broke even but I doubt that. Of course they don't tell you that on the show you have to figure that out for yourself.Some folks do, some people not so much. The guy will make money on it. It will just take a while if he tries to sell them himself. If I found that stuff I'd try to sell it to a company that sells elvis/music/celebrity gear. I bet you could still make a few grand and then not have to deal with the years it would take to get rid of all of it. |
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I have a friend who manages a mini-storage facility in a big college town while he is back in school finishing his degree...
...and yes, he said that the management "cherry picks" all the foreclosed storage units before they go to auction. What you are bidding on is nothing more than "sloppy seconds". |
| How it happens on the show is how it works whether or not they plant stuff is up for debate.. The auctions me and my mom went to always looked like junkiest junk out there like they said you have to buy mulitple units and hope there is something in there to get your money back. Heard stories from stuff found but its pretty rare and then you have to have the time an dplace to get rid of all the junk you just bought. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: saw one on hulu with stacks of elvis newspapers.... guy got about 90k out of his 800 buck buy I saw that one too. He didn't get a dime. They were worth about $10 each on the high side and he had about 6000 of them. Now he has to find 6000 people who want to buy some old ass Elvis newspaper. Then the fact he's flooding the market with that paper and he's driving the price down even more. In reality that jackass might have broke even but I doubt that. Of course they don't tell you that on the show you have to figure that out for yourself.Some folks do, some people not so much. The guy will make money on it. It will just take a while if he tries to sell them himself. If I found that stuff I'd try to sell it to a company that sells elvis/music/celebrity gear. I bet you could still make a few grand and then not have to deal with the years it would take to get rid of all of it. Sorry it took so long to respond, I've been trying to sell all my Air Wolf vhs tapes I won at an storage wars auction. I should be a millionaire soon. Look for me to be a life time member here.  I also won some ocean front property in Arizona just waiting to get the titles sorted out. Anyone want to buy 20 pounds of unicorn shit? Makes good fertilizer for giant been stock beans!
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LOL...
people have to Way to much time on thier fkn hands. i would never bid on someones Junk or misfortune. i read a story about a Army Soldier that was in Iraq, and for some reason missed the payments... i cant see why ...lol, AND the owner knew he was there... they auctioned off all his shit, he came back to Nothing. Now how would any of you guys feel if you sold off all the guys stuff ???? id feel like Shit, and would wind up buying him all new stuff. while the storage place laughs and puts the won bid in the bank. i think friends helped him and bought him new stuff. Fuck all that low life shit. sit there like an asswipe throwing money at piss. TV must have no good material anymore. i don't even watch it. im to busy working or shooting and living my life. and before someone opens thier mouth and tells me he should of paid for a years storage... ill give you the ol SHUT THE FK UP. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Cute ain't the word. She's got huge.... eyes.I only watch because that one dumbass guy has a cute wife. http://static.tvguide.com/MediaBin/Galleries/Shows/S_Z/Sq_Sui/Storage_Wars/season1/storage-wars-05.jpg If anyone bids on my storage unit, you will be very happy with the results. Ya she wears things that really highlight her eyes. |