Author - Travis Lane

Recently, I have noticed several websites selling e-books that claim to reveal hidden ways to make a fortune at storage auctions. Allow me to be blunt; there are no hidden methods to the storage auction business, there are just things you may not have learned yet. If these self proclaimed gurus were making so much money in the storage auction business, why aren't they still doing it? If they were doing something different that was making themselves rich, why would they want their competition to know about it? Besides, how can you trust a word they say about the storage auction business when their main goal is to sell you something?

Of course they're going to tell you that everything is just peachy keen in the storage auction business, they make their living off of selling you their books. They'll even tell you that you can buy units for pennies on the dollar. They won't tell you that ever since the storage auction reality shows premiered, the number of buyers attending storage auctions has tripled and that most storage units are selling at or above retail cost. These prices are fueled by the buyer's hope that there will be some unseen treasure inside the unit. Don't get me wrong, there are still ways to make a profit in the aftermath of the storage auction reality shows; However, we will cover these tactics in other articles.

There is one guy out there trying to teach you how to avoid storage auction mistakes, well, paying for a book should be #1 on the list. Some of these sites even claim that you only have to invest a few hours per week. I recently read the following statement on one of these websites - "Anyone can now make tons of cash working a couple of hours on the weekend & without quitting your day job! My response to this is, yeah right. This is a full time job which requires lots of time and physical labor. The people that are truly successful in this business attend auctions five, sometimes even six days a week and they aren't afraid to get their hands dirty.

Although I personally don't consider attending storage auctions to be work, because they can be a lot of fun, you have to consider the amount of time you have to spend at these auctions. Also consider the time involved in doing research, cleaning out units, sorting through the contents, taking pictures, posting items online, answering phone calls, meeting with customers & having sales. This can easily add up to over eighty hours per week.

Now, don't get me wrong, you can do this business part time, but even part time is twenty to thirty hours per week minimum. If you make this your part time job, don't expect full time income.

Truth be told, you don't need to buy a book to learn about the storage auction business; you can learn everything you need to know about the storage auction business right here. Keep in mind, I am not trying to sell you a book or a learning course. The reason I'm not selling this information is so you can trust that all content on this website is completely objective.

Lately, I have noticed that around 15% of storage facilities in our area don't have storage auctions at all. Although some facilities claim to have a perfect payment history and that they haven't had to have an auction in years, one has to wonder what these storage facilities are really doing with contents of the storage units.

Now, I can understand that some storage facility owners don't like dealing with the expense and headache of holding a public auction. Placing a legal notice in a newspaper can be expensive and if the unit or units aren't worth very much, the facility could actually lose money by holding an auction.

I have even spoken with facility owners who claim that the contents of the foreclosed units are mainly trash and that they are taking the property to the dump. Who are they to decide what has value and what doesn't? Most storage facility owners are millionaires and in their eyes, common items could be viewed as worthless. Besides, you've heard the old saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." If a storage facility throws away the tenant's property, this isn't fair to the tenant because they could possibly have recovered some money from the sale of their goods.

In the state of Texas, storage facility owners are obligated to contact the delinquent tenant, if they have recovered more than what was owed in back rent and late fees from the sale of the tenant's property. Any overages must be refunded to the tenant.

Lately, I have spoken with several storage facilities that dispose of the contents in storage units by having a garage sale. Basically, they place an ad for the garage sale in the local newspaper, then they remove the contents of the unit and sell each item individually. This can be a good way for the facility to get top dollar for the merchandise, but is it legal? When these storage facilities have garage sales, the contents from multiple units are mixed together. There is no way to tell how much money is recovered from the sale of each tenant's property, thus depriving the tenant from any refund.

Some storage facility owners even have a small group of people that they contact when they have a unit for sale. They make a few phone calls and then the unit is sold. They never even notify the public. In my opinion, the only way to fairly dispose of a delinquent tenant's property is to offer it for sale to the general public..

Lately, I have even noticed a few storage facilities that have opened resale shops. Now, I'm not totally against this but I do believe there is a conflict of interest. If a storage facility owner has to keep the inventory of his thrift store fresh, they are less likely to make payment arrangements with the delinquent tenant. I can understand placing the contents of the unit in a resale shop if the storage unit went to auction and nobody bid on it; But, I feel that selling the contents of the unit in a resale shop without holding a public auction is unethical. Another thing to consider is, if your personal property was foreclosed on, would you want it displayed at a thrift store in your community?

So what's your opinion? Should storage facilities be required to hold a public sale in all circumstances? Should storage facility owners be allowed to operate a resale shop at the storage facility? Do you think it is legal, ethical or that a conflict of interest exists?

Please leave you interesting & creative responses below.

Due to to the popularity of the storage auction reality shows “Storage Wars” and “Auction Hunters,” new buyers have been flocking to storage unit auctions across the country. Some amazing treasures are found in the storage units on these television shows, leading the general public to assume that this is a common occurrence.

Although you can find some amazing & valuable items in storage units, it just doesn't happen that often. Because these buyers assume that they are going to find some valuables hidden within the unit, the bid amounts have doubled if not tripled since November, 2010. I knew it was just a matter of time before someone figured out a way to capitalize on this change in our industry.

This new scam takes advantage of newcomers, people who like to gamble & people who profile a storage unit. This scam only works in states where the storage facility is required to refund any overages to the delinquent tenant. In order to even think of this scam, you would have to have a knowledge of the storage rental business & storage unit auctions in general, which means that the people involved in the scam could be present at the auction and you would never even know.

Basically, this is how the scam works. The unscrupulous individual rents a storage unit with no intention of ever making another payment. They then stage the unit to peak the interest of the buyers at the storage auction. After 3 months of non payment, legal notices are placed in a local newspaper and the unit goes to public auction. If the unit sells for more than what is owed in back rent & late fees, the overage must be refunded to the perpetrator of the scam . Although the possibilities are endless, here are a few things to look for that these scam artists might do in order to make a storage unit appear to have value.

They may rent a large unit and fill it full of new moving boxes. A unit with nicely organized contents used to be a strong indicator that the owner of the unit had something inside worth protecting. The scam artist could even write things on the side of the boxes to peak your interest. For example: “Grandma's Collectibles”, “Lionel Trains” or even “baseball card collection”. When you open the boxes, they might be empty or filled with worthless items or trash.

In another scenario, the scam artist may place some expensive items in the front of the unit, and then place a mattress or boxes in the way to block visibility of the back of the unit. Keep in mind that the expensive items may have condition or mechanical issues that you cannot see. The scam artists then fills the back part of the unit with worthless items or trash or just leaves it empty. If you assume that the merchandise in the back is as good as the front, not only will you lose money but you might have to make a trip to the dump.

Just remember the number one rule. “Only bid on what you can see.” If you follow this rule, you will have a better chance of making a profit on every storage unit you buy.

I truly hope this article helps some of you avoid making an expensive mistake.