Contrary to what Storage Wars would have you believe, most of the units at self-storage auctions contain tame items like mattresses and old CDs. Rarely do people find units stuffed with doubloons or original comic books in mint condition. Every once in a while, however, a lucky auction attendee will come across a unit deserving headlines. Here are some of the biggest storage auction finds of 2012.
[ by Susan Cohen ]
Harper Auction and Realty is the company in charge of the self-storage unit auctions that snake their way through the Charleston, S.C. metropolitan area. On the last Friday of every month, Mike Harper and his associates break the locks on units at the various Extra Space Storages in the area. The day starts in Summerville at 10 a.m., makes its way to Goose Creek, drops south to the farthest reaches of downtown Charleston, and ends in West Ashley. At each stop, Harper or another auctioneer offers up delinquent storage units to eager buyers who pay for the contents, which range from a cookie jar collection to a couple pieces of old furniture. Depending on what’s inside, the bidding can get competitive.
Sunday afternoon. Possible chance of rain. Netflix.
As I hovered my mouse uncertainly between Law and Order: SVU and No Reservations, a new addition caught my eye: Storage Wars. I won’t lie— my interest was piqued based solely off the name. Storage Wars? So was this a reality show about people’s quest to store things? Did they compete over who had the best self-storage unit? Did network executives seriously just come up with yet another thing to clog up our TVs?
[ by Feliks Garcia ]
Amidst the usual Tetris-like organization of dusty boxes and retired furniture, storage units can contain truly strange, fascinating, and even horrifying items. The most noteworthy auction wins of 2012 certainly reveal the dark side of self-storage.
by Val Doty, Storage Unit Auction List
When searching through potential storage auction winnings, you never know what historical treasures could be waiting for you. Without a trained eye, it’s very possible you end up discarding something that’s worth more than you buy the unit for. Before you pass over a sad-looking unit or decide to donate that “junk” to a thrift store, take a look at this list and see if any of these dusty gems look familiar.
With 5.1 million viewers last year, “Storage Wars” became the highest-rated show in A&E history. Eager to cash in on the success of “Wars,” TruTV and SpikeTV followed A&E’s lead, launching “Storage Hunters” and “Auction Hunters” respectively. These shows have all seen tremendous success, but by no means are they an accurate representation of the self-storage auction business; in fact, labeling these shows as “reality” television is a complete misnomer.
SpareFoot Auctions is our new national database of storage auctions that makes it simple to find upcoming storage auctions near you. We found that other storage auction directories were either not comprehensive (they only listed a few auctions) or not user-friendly (they were difficult to search, didn’t include phone numbers, or buried details within large blocks of information), and decided it was time to step into the arena ourselves.
Oh, “Storage Wars.” After weeks of learning about storage auctions and wondering how entertaining they could possibly be, I finally tuned in to my first episode of the A&E show that changed the game. Thanks to its influence, storage auctions are now bigger than ever. Ideally, this gives facility owners a better chance of recapturing lost revenue from abandoned units. It also brings a bit of welcome attention and excitement to our admittedly unglamorous industry.
The A&E television series “Storage Wars” and the SpikeTV series “Auction Hunters” have helped bring light to the world of storage auctions. They depict the plight of people who, for various reasons, haven’t been able to keep up with the monthly payment for their storage unit rentals, and have had their abandoned belongings auctioned off. If you rent self-storage and find yourself in this predicament, what are your options and how long do you have before your stuff is put up for storage auction?
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