Tag - Barry Weiss

A life-long collector, Barry Weiss has been attending auctions since he was 15 to satiate his need for collectibles. Now in his 60s, Barry has a lot of experience to draw from and a keen eye for the unusual. Though he has more money to spend than most of his competitors, he still loses his temper frequently when he loses money on an auction. This sort of intensity is one of the things that's propelled him through his career and certainly endears him to fans.

Unlike others on the show, Barry doesn't have a long history with storage unit auctions. Indeed, he only began frequenting these auctions after being invited by the producers of Storage Wars. He is, however, a lifelong antiques collector, and many of the items he buys go toward his own private collections. Everything he doesn't want to keep gets sold or donated. As a wealthy retiree, Barry is more interested in the thrill of the hunt than making a profit on his findings.

Prior to his retirement, Barry and his brother actually made a fortune in agriculture as an importer and exporter of exotic produce. His business, Northern Produce, is located in Commerce, California and is still operating, though Barry has since retired. His brother is still the CEO of the company. Barry's 25 years of owning a business has given him plenty of money to spend on his passions, which include collecting antiques and traveling the world. He's estimated to be worth about $7 million, but much of that money is tied up in antiques and collector's cars.

Barry's known among other auction-hunters as a bit of an odd-ball. Some of his tactics are certainly unorthodox, from consulting psychics to wearing night vision goggles to peer into a dark storage unit. He also tends to wear outlandish and flamboyant clothing, especially his signature skeleton-patterned gloves, and certainly stands out in a crowd.

Of course, some of these tactics may simply be a way to put his competitors off, and he certainly succeeds with that quite often. Either way, he as a lot of fun doing what he does, and his energy is a breath of fresh air in an often tense industry.