Thread: Went to a storage auction.

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There is a storage place near us that periodically holds an auction for storage units that people have stopped paying on. Last Saturday I went to see what there was for sale. One unit had a 1979 Panhead Harley in it that was pretty complete, but the running condition was unknown. Only one bidder on that one with a starting bid of $ 1,000.00. He was thrilled, said he paid $ 3,000 for one he has and $ 5,000 for another, so I guess it was a good deal.

I bought one unit and got a cement mixer , 3 chain saws, a gas welding cart in good condition, and about 500 feet of Goodyear commercial grade garden hose. I paid $ 50 for it all, and sold the cement mixer on Craigslist for $60. I still have to check out the chain saws to see if they run (2 are in cases) so they might be ok. I put my acetylene and oxygen tanks on the new cart, which was better than the dolly I had been using.

But, the one storage unit I will probably kick myself for not buying was one that was filled with EDSEL PARTS! When they opened the door prior to bidding it was so full of doors, trunk lids, fenders, glass, hoods, etc that you couldn't get through there, and it was a 10 x 20 unit. There were so many chrome strips standing in the one corner that you couldn't get your arms around them. All the stuff was nice, and evidently belonged to a real Edsel enthusiast or business. We could even see engines and intake manifolds stacked up under some of the body parts.

The first bid was $ 400 and I countered with $ 450, then he went to $ 500 and I quit. The real reason I stopped bidding was that I realized I would have to deal with hundreds of parts that I knew nothing about, figure out what they fit, and then market them. It was more than I need in my life right now. But if the guy who bought that stuff does it right he will make a bunch of money.

I feel badly for the folks who lost there stuff, but I guess the economy is causing more and more of these to happen. I asked if we could give back any of the personal effects (pictures, documents, etc) and the lady there said we could. If you have some storage units in your area that have these auctions you might want to check them out, you never know what you might score in some of those sealed boxes. I know one guy who is still cataloging Edsel parts.

Don

I would have kept the cement mixer, but it looked like too much work.

Them cement mixers come in handy, Buddy.
Kurt

Kurt, we kept looking at it, wondering what tool we could build out of it for the shop, but it was just taking up too much room. The guy who bought it was actually after only the motor and gearbox. His Wife grinds wheat to make their own bread and stuff and he is tired of turning a hand crank.

Don

How 'bout a rat rod cement truck? That thing would look pretty cool behind a 40 something cab on a A frame.

Hehe, never thought of that.

Don

HE! HE! HE! Can't hold that beer turn a crank and relax at the same time.
Guys will do anything to relax, and women will do anything not to let a guy relax.
I would have thought a concrete guy would have gave you more then $60 bucks for it.
It was a good buy for who ever got it anyway.
Kurt

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

There is a storage place near us that periodically holds an auction for storage units that people have stopped paying on. Last Saturday I went to see what there was for sale. One unit had a 1979 Panhead Harley in it that was pretty complete, but the running condition was unknown. Only one bidder on that one with a starting bid of $ 1,000.00. He was thrilled, said he paid $ 3,000 for one he has and $ 5,000 for another, so I guess it was a good deal.

I bought one unit and got a cement mixer , 3 chain saws, a gas welding cart in good condition, and about 500 feet of Goodyear commercial grade garden hose. I paid $ 50 for it all, and sold the cement mixer on Craigslist for $60. I still have to check out the chain saws to see if they run (2 are in cases) so they might be ok. I put my acetylene and oxygen tanks on the new cart, which was better than the dolly I had been using.

But, the one storage unit I will probably kick myself for not buying was one that was filled with EDSEL PARTS! When they opened the door prior to bidding it was so full of doors, trunk lids, fenders, glass, hoods, etc that you couldn't get through there, and it was a 10 x 20 unit. There were so many chrome strips standing in the one corner that you couldn't get your arms around them. All the stuff was nice, and evidently belonged to a real Edsel enthusiast or business. We could even see engines and intake manifolds stacked up under some of the body parts.

The first bid was $ 400 and I countered with $ 450, then he went to $ 500 and I quit. The real reason I stopped bidding was that I realized I would have to deal with hundreds of parts that I knew nothing about, figure out what they fit, and then market them. It was more than I need in my life right now. But if the guy who bought that stuff does it right he will make a bunch of money.

I feel badly for the folks who lost there stuff, but I guess the economy is causing more and more of these to happen. I asked if we could give back any of the personal effects (pictures, documents, etc) and the lady there said we could. If you have some storage units in your area that have these auctions you might want to check them out, you never know what you might score in some of those sealed boxes. I know one guy who is still cataloging Edsel parts.

Don

I would have kept the cement mixer, but it looked like too much work.

Hey Don...a 1979 panhead? Maybe you meant shovel with pan tops??Not normal. I would check #s on a Harley or bike parts in a storage...most are stolen.Its your problem to check not the owner of the storage unit.
Those storage units have some good finds.
Full set of snap on tools one time 85 bucks after i tossed all the suit cases full of clothes....salvation army not garbage. Plus i got a receipt for taxes LOL

I went to 1 of those auctions.. 1 person had a few 10x20's full of stuff and stopped paying on all of them.. when it came time for auction. he was trying to get all of his stuff back ( for free ). then he was bidding, and won 1 of the units back.. but refused to pay, so it had to get re-auctioned.. we got 1 of them for like $100. and kept some furniture.. there was a beat up lawn tractor in the mix that we sold for $100, and did a lawn sale on the other stuff.

The way this one was run was that a bunch of people showed up at 9AM Saturday, and the owners of the storage place took all of us around to the various units that were being sold off. They had 7 units this time. They would open the door of a unit and let you briefly look in to see if there was anything that caught your eye. On some you could walk inside, but weren't allowed to open anything or touch anything. After that they would say "does anyone have an opening bid?" and it started from there like a normal auction. Some units had a minimum, like the motorcycle one. (It may have been a shovel head now that you mention it, I know squat about bikes)

The rules were, all the stuff had to be gone by Sunday evening, so my Son Don helped me Sunday morning load my stuff and get it to the shop. There really wasn't a lot of good stuff in the one I bought, but I viewed it more as fun than a money maker. The worst thing was my unit had 6 -80 pound bags of concrete that had hardened from age. Those went into the dumpster.

Some units had some really nice stuff from what we could see, and I think there were some fleamarket type buyers there bidding on those units. A couple went in the $ 800 range, but those had what looked to be some salable stuff in them. I think I'll go to the next one just to see what I score.

Don

Sounds like fun. I won an ebay auction for a bronze Remington statue that a guy got from one of these blind storage auctions. He got a good deal, and so did I. I love it when you get a good deal.

State laws regarding the foreclosure of rental units varies; here is a beginning web link to laws: http://www.storagelaws.net/

Some states require payment in cash only, some allow the default occupant to redeem his stuff right up to the start of bidding, some states allow visual inspection but no touching of the goods, some states have a procedure to get a title to vehicles purchased from storage units....it is important to note the variance in state law.

On the TV show "Pawn Stars", the wrecker driver scored a real cobra body/chassis from a storage unit and got it in trade for hauling it off!!!! Not a bad haul from a foreclosure.

Mike in Tucson

Good info Mike, I wondered why our situation up here differed from some of the others.

On that "real" Cobra body/chassis, that was a pretty neat deal. But, based on the numbers they were tossing around, and the way they "restored" it with vinyl seats and so on, I'd bet it was one of the "real" continuation, series 3000 cobras rather than the genuine '60s era stuff.

Yep, he really scored on that Cobra body. I think the Pawn Shop gave him $ 50-60,000 for it and it was worth something like $ 100,000.00.

A few months ago I bought that Camaro ex-drag car. Got it for $ 400 and I tallied up about $ 3,000 in engine and transmission parts that were in it. Like I mentioned, I really feel bad for the poor folks who are losing their stuff, but someone is going to buy it, so it might as well be us. Plus, the storage business has a right to cut their losses on non paying units too.

Don