How To Tell If Storage Units Are Worth Your Bid

The following article is a guest column.

Television shows like Auction Hunters and Storage Wars have turned the masses on to the money-making potential held within storage auctions. By attending these auctions, people can bid on the units and re-sell the contents for a profit. If you’re looking to maximize your profits but are wondering how to tell if a unit is worth your time, here are a few tips.

Educate Yourself

Many regulars at storage auctions have backgrounds in antiquing and furniture resale. They have an eye for goodies that can only come with years and years of experience. If you’re like many of us, you don’t have that background. But don’t let that get you down. There are many television shows, web sites and magazines that teach all about antiquing and how to discern a priceless artifact from a hunk of junk.

Let There Be Light

At storage auctions, you are allowed to stand outside of the unit and look in. Most of the time, the storage units are not lit so you will want to bring a flashlight to make sure you can get an idea of what is inside each unit. This will let you get at least a decent view of the items held within, which will help you determine if the unit is worth your bid.

Old Doesn’t Mean Valuable

When you’re looking in at the unit and you see a lot of old items, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee that there will be anything valuable amongst the other old items. It might just mean that someone had to clean out grandma’s house and this was the best place to dump her old junk. Instead, look at quality. Are the items held within in good shape? Also, quality of the containers can be an indicator of value. If there is a safe that appears to be locked, that should be a good indicator that there might be something interesting in the unit. If everything is in crushed cardboard boxes, you probably shouldn’t waste your time.