Holiday items are frequently found in storage units because their owners don't want them taking up space throughout the year when they're unneeded. Things like lawn decorations, Christmas lights, ornaments and artificial trees take up a lot of space, and people who go all-out for the holidays may need a lot of room to store all of these items.
While many auction-hunters avoid these items, they may be worth a second look. The problem with seasonal items is that there's a narrow window of time when they're in demand. In the month or two leading up to the holiday, people will be interested in buying these items. The rest of the year, these items will need to be stored somewhere.
If you have the space to store seasonal merchandise, though, picking these things up at a storage auction can be a good investment. Many seasonal items sell extremely well during the holidays, and you can often make an excellent profit if you're patient. Here are a few things that can fetch a high price:
- Antique or collectible ornaments. You might want to do some research when you find ornaments as some can be quite rare, limited editions or otherwise valuable.
- Large lawn decorations. These are extremely expensive to buy new, so people will be delighted to snatch them up at a lower price when used. Look for inflatable ones as well as metal or plastic decorations.
- Keep an eye out for themes. If you collect ornaments and other decorations throughout the year, you should have a fair number by the time the holidays roll around. Look through your stock and see if you can find a way to combine a few things into a “bundle” to sell together. Ornaments and other small items might sell faster this way.
If you don't have the room to store holiday items or the patience to keep them all year, you might want to pass on these units. If you do have a bit of time to store these items, though, you may be able to make an excellent profit later in the year when they go into style.