I have to say, I'm really enjoying shows like Container Wars and Storage Auctions. Sure, there's some theater behind them, but I'd like to think that there's also some truth buried somewhere in the back of a container...
I started to wonder if I could make any money at shipping container auctions, but I found them surprisingly hard to locate in my area, or any area for that matter. It seems like it's the best kept secret on the internet. Storage auctions are a little easier to find, but I'm swinging for the fences.
After some diligent searching I found this article published on ContainerAuction.com called "Abandoned Shipping Containers". It seems to make sense, and I'm left wondering how to find this exclusive container buyers club. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please leave them in the comments section below.
Happy Bidding!
Friday 7 March 2014
Wednesday 24 July 2013
Think your Storage Container Auction was a bad deal? Check out this one!
This guy picked up a terrible unit at the storage container auction in his area.
Learn from his lessons, hopefully!
Tuesday 2 July 2013
Storage Container Auctions are Booming!
There are very few industries that do we'll in both good and bad economies. Doctors will always have patients, funeral directors will always have "clients", and auctioneers will do well in both strong and weak economies.
Auctioneers? Really? Yes. In a strong economy there will be estate sales or people looking to maximize the return on their assets. If you own a nice piece of art, or a classic car, the best way to get the real market value for it, without haggling, is at an auction. In a weak economy, there will be the unfortunate people who aren't able to pay their bills and lose ownership of their assets. Once the bank or property owner takes possession, they don't necessarily want the asset, but the money that they're owed. What's the best way to convert an asset to cash? You guessed it, an auction.
Storage auctions are an unfortunate part of the self storage industry, because it means that someone was unable to pay their bills and was forced to forfeit the items which they had stored in their unit. Occasionally, the items in the locker are usless cast offs that are generally meaningless. However, in many cases if someone was willing to pay to store it, they intended to keep possession of it. For the storage container owner, they've provided the service and need to reclaim their cash when a tenant can’t pay their bill, so the container is forced into auction.
Auctioneers? Really? Yes. In a strong economy there will be estate sales or people looking to maximize the return on their assets. If you own a nice piece of art, or a classic car, the best way to get the real market value for it, without haggling, is at an auction. In a weak economy, there will be the unfortunate people who aren't able to pay their bills and lose ownership of their assets. Once the bank or property owner takes possession, they don't necessarily want the asset, but the money that they're owed. What's the best way to convert an asset to cash? You guessed it, an auction.
Storage auctions are an unfortunate part of the self storage industry, because it means that someone was unable to pay their bills and was forced to forfeit the items which they had stored in their unit. Occasionally, the items in the locker are usless cast offs that are generally meaningless. However, in many cases if someone was willing to pay to store it, they intended to keep possession of it. For the storage container owner, they've provided the service and need to reclaim their cash when a tenant can’t pay their bill, so the container is forced into auction.
How to Find Storage Container Auctions?
There are plenty of online directories that can help you find the best storage container auctions in your area. Check out the following:Thursday 21 March 2013
Top Tips for Storage Container Auctions
You've seen a few episodes of Storage Wars or Container Wars, and think that you can compete with these guys and get some great deals at a storage auction... after all, these guys find cheap containers, and almost everyhing inside is sold at bargain bin pricing, right? The big question is, where do you start, and how can you be sucessful.
After our experience, and stories shared with us by other auction hunters, we've compiled a list of tips to help you be successful
1. Three things: When you look at the items in the unit, you need to find three things that you can sell, and sell easily. If you find these three things it's a good start.
2. Buy what you know: Look for items that you're familiar with. If you see a set of golf clubs, but have never set foot on the greens or picked up a club, it's probably better that you don't attempt to buy them. Chances are, someone else at the auction knows more about them than you do and will run the bidding up on you (the more money you spend on that unit means the less money that you can spend on later units).
3. Organization: Look at how the items are stored. If they're tossed in their like they were shoveled out of the back of a truck, chances are there's nothing valuable. If it's packed and stacked nicely, someone thinks it has some value. "If there's bubble wrap, that sh*t ain't crap!"
4. Plastic "lock and lock" type boxes: If the items are sealed in a plastic box there's less a chance of rodents, bugs, and other critters you didn't bid on.
5. Know the neighborhood: If the storage facility is in a nice area, chances are the people storing things there will have purchased nicer things, and the reverse of this is true... do some research on the local demographics and you'll have a good understanding of what could be in the units.
Good luck, and remember that each unit is a gamble!
After our experience, and stories shared with us by other auction hunters, we've compiled a list of tips to help you be successful
Tips for a Successful Storage Auction
1. Three things: When you look at the items in the unit, you need to find three things that you can sell, and sell easily. If you find these three things it's a good start.
2. Buy what you know: Look for items that you're familiar with. If you see a set of golf clubs, but have never set foot on the greens or picked up a club, it's probably better that you don't attempt to buy them. Chances are, someone else at the auction knows more about them than you do and will run the bidding up on you (the more money you spend on that unit means the less money that you can spend on later units).
3. Organization: Look at how the items are stored. If they're tossed in their like they were shoveled out of the back of a truck, chances are there's nothing valuable. If it's packed and stacked nicely, someone thinks it has some value. "If there's bubble wrap, that sh*t ain't crap!"
4. Plastic "lock and lock" type boxes: If the items are sealed in a plastic box there's less a chance of rodents, bugs, and other critters you didn't bid on.
5. Know the neighborhood: If the storage facility is in a nice area, chances are the people storing things there will have purchased nicer things, and the reverse of this is true... do some research on the local demographics and you'll have a good understanding of what could be in the units.
Good luck, and remember that each unit is a gamble!
Wednesday 20 March 2013
Storage Auctions! Buy storage containers at auction!
There are a lot of really popular television shows on about auctions. Storage auctions, container auctions, auction wars, auction hunters - the list goes on. What it comes down to is that a lot of people are getting great deals when people auction off storage containers around the United States.
You can find local storage auctions on the website Storage Treasures.
Used shipping container auctions occur regularly online on the website ContainerAuction.com. These guys auction off used, empty shipping containers and you can find a great deal on a cheap shipping container.
Unclaimed Freight Container Auctions occur less frequently, but they can be found. When a container goes unclaimed or unpaid for a set period of time, the shipping line no longer wants to pay for the storage costs at the port so they auction it off. Once it's auctioned off, the winning bidder pays the customs an the items inside are theirs! You can watch this type of auction on television on the show Container Wars.
Getting anything at an auction can give you a great deal. Be ready, have your cash on hand, and good luck bidding!
Storage Auctions
In the case of storage auctions, the unit or containers has probably been forgotten about by the owner and they've fallen behind in their payments. Maybe they've moved out of the area, maybe they've decided it's just as easy to abandon the container and let someone else sort it out - after all, the storage company makes a lot of effort to contact the original owner so that they can reclaim their things. Whatever the cause, the end result is a storage auction. The most popular TV shows on storage container auctions are:You can find local storage auctions on the website Storage Treasures.
Container Auctions
Container auctions happen one of two ways, either the shipping line auctions off old, empty shipping containers that are no longer in use, but still have a lot of life left in them, or unclaimed or unpaid freight is auctioned off.Used shipping container auctions occur regularly online on the website ContainerAuction.com. These guys auction off used, empty shipping containers and you can find a great deal on a cheap shipping container.
Unclaimed Freight Container Auctions occur less frequently, but they can be found. When a container goes unclaimed or unpaid for a set period of time, the shipping line no longer wants to pay for the storage costs at the port so they auction it off. Once it's auctioned off, the winning bidder pays the customs an the items inside are theirs! You can watch this type of auction on television on the show Container Wars.
Getting anything at an auction can give you a great deal. Be ready, have your cash on hand, and good luck bidding!
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