Look, I’ve seen people show up to our facility on auction day with this look in their eyes. Like they’re about to find a Rolex in a cardboard box. And sometimes I have to be the one to break it to them gently.
So let me just tell you how this actually works. No TV magic.
First thing you need to know
People stop paying for their storage units. It happens all the time. Maybe they lost their job. Maybe they just forgot. Maybe they moved to another state and their autopay ran out.
Whatever the reason, after a while, we have to do something with that unit. We can’t just let it sit there forever taking up space that paying customers could use.
But here’s what we don’t do. We don’t just cut the lock the next day and sell your grandma’s china. That would be illegal. There’s a whole process.
The waiting game
First we send a notice. Then another notice. Then probably a final notice. We call if we have a number. We send emails.
This takes weeks. Sometimes months depending on your state.
Only after all that, if the person still hasn’t paid or even called us back, we get permission to sell the contents.
So when you see an auction happening, just know that person had a lot of chances. Usually more than they deserved if I’m being honest.
What auction day actually looks like
Let me paint you a picture.
You show up at our facility on a Saturday morning. There’s maybe ten or fifteen other people standing around. Some of them have been doing this for years. They know each other. They drink coffee and talk about the last unit they bought.
One guy is always wearing gloves. That should tell you something.
We walk to the first unit. I unlock it and roll up the door.
And here’s the rule that gets everybody. You cannot touch anything. Not one thing. You can look from the doorway. You can use a flashlight. But your feet do not cross that threshold.
This is the law in most places. It prevents people from hiding valuable stuff or damaging things before bidding.
So you’re standing there squinting into a dark box. You see some plastic totes. A mattress. A guitar case maybe. But you don’t know if the guitar case has a guitar in it or if it’s just empty. You don’t know if those totes have tools or old tax returns from 1997.
That’s the gamble.
Then the bidding starts
Someone says “I’ll start it at twenty dollars.”
Hands go up. Twenty. Forty. Sixty. Once it gets going, the bids move fast. You don’t have much time to think.
A hundred. A hundred twenty. One fifty.
Then it stalls. Someone says “going once, going twice” and then a hand shoots up at the last second.
Sold. For two hundred dollars.
Now here’s the part they don’t show on TV. You pay right there. Cash. If you didn’t bring cash, you’re out of luck. We’re not running a credit card machine at the auction.
Then you have 48 hours to empty the whole unit. Everything gone. Swept clean.
What you actually find inside
I’ve been running storage for years. Here’s what most units contain. And I’m not making this up.
- Old furniture that smells like cigarette smoke.
- Boxes of paperback books that got wet at some point and now they’re all wavy.
- Kids toys from the 90s.
- A broken lamp.
- Some clothes that might fit your uncle but probably not you.
- Dishes.
Once in a while, something good. A guy found a box of baseball cards once. Another time someone found a set of power tools still in the box.
But most of the time? You’re hauling someone else’s junk to the dump and paying for the privilege.
And let me tell you about the dump fees. They’re not free.
- You have to rent a truck if you don’t have one.
- You have to pay to drop off mattresses and old electronics.
- You have to spend your Saturday sweating in a landfill parking lot.
That two hundred dollar unit just cost you another hundred in dump fees and three hours of your life.
The gross stuff nobody warns you about
I’ll just say it. Some units are disgusting.
Mice get in. Something died in that old dresser drawer five months ago. There’s a weird smell that sticks to your clothes for the rest of the day.
I’ve seen units with used diapers. I’ve seen one with a whole freezer that someone forgot to clean out before they stopped paying. You can imagine how that smelled.
So if you’re thinking about getting into storage auctions, just know that part exists. It’s not all vintage records and coin collections.
A word about online auctions
These days, a lot of auctions happen online. You bid from your phone. You never even see the unit in person.
Honestly? That’s even riskier. At least when you’re standing there, you can smell the unit. You can see the water stain on the ceiling. Online you get three blurry photos taken from the doorway.
Here’s what you’re dealing with:
- No smell test (and trust me, smell tells you a lot).
- No way to see water damage or mold.
- Just a few photos someone snapped in two minutes.
- You’re competing with people all over the country, not just the ten people in the parking lot.
I’m not saying don’t do online auctions. I’m just saying be careful. Set a hard limit and don’t go over it.
What I wish more people understood
Here’s the thing nobody says out loud.
Those items in the unit used to belong to someone. That someone probably didn’t mean to abandon them. Life just got messy.
- Divorce.
- Sickness.
- A death in the family.
- Job loss.
- Someone just couldn’t keep up anymore.
So when you’re at an auction, you’re not just buying stuff. You’re buying someone’s old life that they couldn’t hold onto. It feels different when you think about it that way.
I’m not saying don’t bid. I’m just saying have some respect. Don’t make jokes about the person who lost their unit. You don’t know what happened to them.
If you’re the one who might lose a unit
Let me switch sides for a second.
If you’re reading this because you have a storage unit with us and you’re behind on payments, please just call me. Or call whoever you rent from.
We can work something out most of the time. A payment plan. An extra week. Whatever.
Because here’s the truth. We don’t want to auction your stuff. It’s a pain for us too. We’d rather have you pay what you can when you can and keep your things safe.
So don’t hide from the letters. Just pick up the phone. It’s easier than you think.
Bottom line
Storage unit auctions can be fun if you go in with the right expectations. You might make a few bucks. You might find something cool to keep for yourself.
But here’s the reality:
- You’re probably just going to spend a Saturday hauling junk to the dump.
- You’ll likely break even at best.
- You might lose money on dump fees and your own time.
- Once in a while someone scores big, but that’s not most people.
If that sounds like a good time to you, come on down to one of our auctions. We run them every few months. Just bring cash. Bring gloves. And bring a truck.
And if you’re renting from us and life gets hard? Talk to us first. That’s all I ask.
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