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Tough Times = Better Finds! Storage Auction business Soaring

Marshall Mayer, SATI Consultant

It seems like every day brings another "indicator" of the rough road that we are traveling presently.  Do we need to be reminded daily of those things that are making our journey a challenge?  Maybe, so that we also look for the unique opportunities that present themselves in choppy seas. I will share with you a great, easy home based business that can be started today, for very little money and has been proven to be very lucrative for many people nationwide.

Storage Facilities nationwide are faced with a unusually high rate of defaults on the space that they rent out to folks with extra "stuff".  This creates a nightmare for the storage facility owner but can be a real boon for the rest of us.  When someone has too much stuff (don't we all) they put it in a storage locker.  There are storage lockers available in every town and city in the US, both big and small as well as most of the world, so this must be a "big" business.  

When times get tough and people need to cut back on expenditures, many times the first items to be "trimmed" from the budjet are the non essentials and this can and does very often include that $150 or more per month to store all that stuff.  So they stop paying for the storage locker and this is the nightmare for the storage facility owner.  By state law, there is a list of requirements that the facility owner or manager must comply with in order to clear out the items that are in the locker.  Here is where the opportunity begins for us.  The items must be auctioned off to clear the unit and try to recoup some of the loss in rent.  

The items that are auctioned off in the storage lockers nationwide can and very often do, sell for pennies on the dollar.  And i mean pennies, sometimes tenths of pennies!  These items which can vary from basic household necessities to cars motorcycles, cans full of gold coins, clothes- you name it.  The one basic fact is that these items are valuable.  Have you ever had a yard sale?  Did you have a lot of items to sell?  Made a pile of cash right?  

Flea markets, yard sales, thrift stores and most important -ebay and craigslist !  Reselling these items can make you a six figure income, part time and is a lot of fun.  It is work too.  You get nothing for free and this business does require that you: Buy the items, Sort the items, Sell the items.

Plus there is always what we call the "lottery".  People forget about their storage lockers, sometimes they pass away without any heirs or the heirs don't know about the locker and it ends up unpaid and at auction.  This is where occasionally you find a can of gold coins or a vintage Corvette.  Antiques for the Antiques Roadshow.   Again, you name it and it is probably out there!

Finding the lesser advertised auctions is the key to making a lot of money.  If you go to an auction that is very well advertised and there is 100 other people there, you can expect to pay more for any locker.  Imagine a auction where there is only 1,2 or 3 other people (or no one at all)  and there are 9 units for auction.  You may get those units for $5.00.  This has happend to me personally many times and I turn around and sell the contents, on average, for $2000-$3000 on ebay, craigslist etc.

Storage Auction Times has the listings that are hard to find, especially in Texas.  It is a pay site and therefore the audience is limited.  Try them out, they will get you to the auctions that will make you the most money. http://www.storageauctiontimes.com

 Happy Treasure Hunting!!