Auctiva Storage Wars: Locker 2 Less Profitable

4

After our first-day scores, we (myself, Auctiva Product Analyst Rebecca Miller, Communications Director Robert Green and our cameraman Sam Johnson) were raring to go at the second storage facility auction we attended.

We decided that a second auction would help us better understand this sourcing venture so we could share tips with Auctiva Blog and Auctiva EDU readers. We had already purchased the contents of one storage unit for a mere $50, and had found plenty of gems: vinyl records, a men’s road bike, collectible metal Coca-Cola trays, high-end hats and more. We expected to make at least a few hundred in profits. We hoped to find more at auction No. 2. But like we learned at auction 1, you really never know what you’re in for at locker auctions.

We still had $700 in cash to play with. The storage facility where the second auction was being sold had a reputation of housing higher-end items, and we were dying to see what we could find.

But we had competition. The previous day, about 20 treasure-hunters attended the storage facility auction we went to. During the second auction, more resellers, including many familiar faces, were ready to bid and buy a locker.

The bidding begins

The day started off promising. An early unit was filled with well cared-for sports equipment like snowboards that were still in their original plastic wrapping, a black wet suit, scuba gear, a golf bag, golf clubs, tools and a very enticing plastic bin.

“Who knows what could be in there?” I thought.

We could definitely make a buck flipping that locker. The items were in great condition and had a lot of value to them. We were seeing why this storage facility had a reputation of high-end goods.

We set our bidding cap at $250. The opening bid was $100. Soon it was up to $150 then $200 then $300. It sold for $375. We didn’t go past our bidding limit.

We had already scored with the locker we bought at our first auction, so we were careful to not get caught up in the bidding frenzy and end up with more inventory than we knew what to do with. After all, we still had to unload the previous locker we had purchased.

Next, we saw a locker filled with heavy-duty tools like a hole digger, a dolly, several drills and painting tools. This was definitely valuable. Several of our competitors felt the same way. Bidding started at $300. Before we knew it, it was up to $425, then $550. That was too much for us. The unit was enticing, but researching the tools—something none of us had sold before—and the time needed to ship and prep goods for sale kept us from bidding.

A perfect find

Finally, we found a unit that seemed just right. It had fewer items than the other units and contained several Wii games sprinkled throughout various boxes of the unit, two computer towers, a box marked “parts,” an unopened car stereo, text books, three fishing poles and household items like pots and pans.

Off to the side was a workout bench that, in our eyes, had “Craigslist” written all over it. “Someone will definitely buy that on Craigslist,” Robert noted.

The fit seemed right: the unit’s size and the size of the items would make clearing out the locker easy in comparison to the mammoth unit we had purchased the day before. The unit’s contents were in disarray, which made us think few people would be interested in it, so we were certain we could get a good price. And a pile of blankets that sat in the back corner sparked our imaginations.

We started the bidding at $50. A few other bids made the asking price go up to $100. Then a last-second bidder bumped it up to $275. We were stunned, but didn’t back down. We came back with $300 and won. Robert quickly slammed the unit shut and put a shiny gold-colored lock on our unit. He seemed like a pro now.

Once the bidding was over, we returned to our unit to peek inside, excited about the computers and the fishing poles. We figured we could get at least $50 for each computer if they worked and, being in a city like Chico that’s so close to great fishing, the poles would be a hot commodity, we thought.

The Wii games were also a score. There were tons of them, and as we dug deeper, we found a box of Wii gaming accessories, including controllers.

“Someone will definitely buy these,” Robert said.

‘Gold mine’ not so golden

The controllers were in good condition and should fetch a decent profit, we reasoned. However, when we opened the Wii games we realized that only a handful had games inside. Most were empty. There went that potential profit. Strike one.

Next we inspected the pile of blankets that had been so intriguing. We found more blankets and a few school binders. Strike two.

As we dug deeper, we found a few cooking pans that needed a good cleaning. An inexpensive organizer sat to the side. Strike three. Nothing valuable.

But we weren’t out just yet. The box marked “parts” contained computer monitors keyboards and mice. “Those will earn us some money,” I thought. But such flippable finds were few and far in between.

Most of the items in the locker proved to be everyday wares like a dented crockpot and inexpensive blender with a missing lid. We did find a tackle box and toolbox mixed with odds and ends, but these likely wouldn’t fetch more than a few dollars, Rebecca told us.

When we were done looking through everything, we decided about half of the items should be donated to a local thrift store. They were in working condition, but weren’t worth the cost of reselling. However, a few items would bring us some money.

“We’ll probably break even,” Rebecca, an eBay seller of more than 11 years, told us. “It’s not the gold mine we found at the other unit.”

We decided that it was more cost efficient to sell the few items of value that we found in that unit locally via Craigslist and a yard sale. Few things were valuable enough to justify the expense of shipping and listing them online, so we put our heads together and came up with a game plan to flip our lockers. Check back to see what we did, and if we came out ahead.