With the rise of the storage unit, storage unit auctions have become a profitable business in themselves. Simply Self Storage reports that 155,000 storage units are auctioned off nationwide each year. With an average auction price of $425 a unit, storage unit auctions have become a $65-million-a-year industry.
Arguably, the single most common way in which auctioneers are paid is commission. The auctioneer may receive a flat 15-20% of the maximum bid price. Assuming the unit sells for $1,000, for instance, the auctioneer would receive $150-$200, paid for by the self-storage facility.
The unit is sold to the highest bidder. The winning bid must be paid in cash upon winning. A deposit may be requested by the site at their discretion until the unit is cleaned out. The winning buyer is typically given 24 to 48 hours to clean out the unit or rent it under their name.
Making money in this business takes knowledge of how items will sell, as well as implementing smart bidding strategies.
Generally speaking, it won't, Arizona auctioneer Casey Jones said. Like most things, the “reality” you see on Storage Wars doesn't match what takes place at real-life storage auctions. Still, when understood correctly, storage auctions can be a worthwhile—and even entertaining—way to spend your time.
In most cases, storage units are abandoned simply because owners are no longer willing to pay the rental fees or could no longer afford to do so. This is a lot more common than you might think, especially when you consider that the cost of renting a storage unit can balloon dramatically over time.
Dan Dotson, who operates his own auction house and stars in "Storage Wars" on A&E, recently recounted a crazy story about found money. Apparently, Dotson had auctioned off a storage unit for $500. The guy who bought it found a safe inside and got the surprise of a lifetime when he opened it - $7.5 million in cash.
Storage Wars star Brandi Passante and Jarrod Schulz are no longer together. On Tuesday's season 13 premiere, viewers found out that Passante and Schulz — who starred in the 2014 spin-off, Brandi & Jarrod: Married to the Job — had split and were no longer a couple.
Auctioneers' incomes can vary by state or district. ... They also earned higher incomes in the District of Columbia, California and Connecticut at $53,000, $51,000 and $50,000 per year, respectively. Auctioneers in Florida earned incomes closer to the industry average at $44,000 annually.
Can a self-storage business really sell your stuff when you fall behind on rent? Yes, it can. ... That lien lets the storage facility sell your unit's contents to recoup what it's owed if you don't pay the rent. The facility can't hold an auction right away, though.
When a storage rental owner has not paid their bills multiple times, the storage facility now has the power to go into the unit. The belongings will be confiscated and will belong to the rental company. Most storage facilities will hold auctions for the belongings, or donate the items.
You Can Bid on Individual Items in a Public Storage Auction. Truth: Storage auctions are unlike traditional auctions. At a traditional auction, items are highlighted individually and sold separately. However, at a storage unit auction, the entire contents of the storage shed are sold together to the highest bidder.
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