Secrets to Self Storage Auctions

E-Zine Articles ^ | June 17, 2008 | Kamyar Shah

[ez]

… Just as it’s ethically wrong to burn grain to power a Cadillac, while people starve for food.

Especially when the pols writing the laws are wallet deep in the industies making a profit off that legislation.

[RobRoy]

I don’t exactly know why you put me on that list, but I liked your post. :)

I did not know some people were considering that this was somehow morally wrong. Heck, I get most of my stuff from garage sales and estate sales. I hope that when I die a lot of people get a lot of good stuff from the resulting estate sale and my wife picks up some cash.

People really need to think some of this stuff through and see the ramifications and implications of their positions, as you have somewhat done in your post.

[My hearts in London - Everett]

I have compassion for the storage unit owner who is being taken advantage of by this person who isn’t living up to their legal contract. I have compassion for a business owner who most likely has a mortgage on that storage facility and is being denied legally owed payment for services rendered that go to pay that mortgage. There are two sides to this compassion idea.

[csmusaret]

Not to mention that an auction is the only way the facility owner can legally offer that unit for rent again.

[Daffynition]

You *have* to have a convenient means to dispose of the *stuff*. Have you noticed the *personalities they are featuring in the show all have *junk shops. to unload the stuff that is not so valuable? It's an oscillating redundancy. Take some worthless stuff from one storage place and put in another place where *you * are responsible for its labor, rent and security....*again* LOL

[RobRoy]

>>It’s disgusting how some people gain off other’s weakness.<<

Like the farm auctions during the depression? When one farm went under, the neighbors were there bidding at the auction. It is not disgusting, actually. It is prudent.

[RobRoy]

>>I’m referring to the prowling leaches looking to gain off these bids.<<

What are you talking about?

[Daffynition]

AT some point in life people learn the answer to:Do we own our possessions, or do they own us?

Only keep things that are beautiful or useful...says my guru.

[RobRoy]

>>For some who get behind, they can’t catch up and their life’s belongings are sold to highest bidder.<<

Yep. Kinda like foreclosure. I have to admit, though, that if I had enough “life’s belongings” to rent a storage unit, I’d have enough money to pay the rent or, if not, get the stuff out of there and sell it off. The only way I’d let a storage unit contents get sold off is if I didn’t care about what is in it.

We have a $25 a month unit near our place in Kentucky where we store everything we just “couldn’t do without” when we downsized from a 5 bedroom to a one bedroom in preparation for our move from Seattle. We paid six months in advance - less than half the price of a video game. It contains a lot of record albums and my wife’s collectibles, dinnerware, etc. If it burned down, we’d live. It’s just stuff.

If “our life’s history” were there and we just had to have it, we would get the stuff out before we let it lapse. That is, unless we thought the world today was like it was in August of 1939, in which case, it wouldn’t matter that much.

People really need to understand that stuff is just stuff.

[RobRoy]

>>I’m a staunch conservative with compassion for mankind<<

Compassion is good. So is tough love. Back in 1997, my wife of 20 years decided, with no prior warning, she didn’t want to be married any more and ended the marriage. I had three girls at the time - 10, 13 and 16 years of age. I was moved to a small apartment and devastated. All the “stuff” that was important to me was gone, as well as my family.

Guess what?

I found the woman of my dreams TWO STINKING MONTHS LATER, I have BETTER stuff, I put together a band with two of my daughters and my wife and I have a great relationship with the third daughter.

Sometimes losing stuff teaches one important messages about stuff. It can be a good thing.

[stefanbatory]

In my locality, it doesn’t usually pay to go to these cuz the owners loot the good stuff from the units before putting them up for auction...

[RobRoy]

>>I’m a staunch conservative with compassion for mankind<<

Actually, when I am going through estate sales at homes I enjoy thinking about the life that was lived there. Sometimes you see the custom bathroom and bedroom for the spouse that had deteriorating health. Sometimes the “stuff” paints a clear picture of a persons hobbies and activities. It’s very cool.

I’m not really sure what compassion has to do with auctioning off the contents of storage units where the rent has not been paid for a LONG time. Do you mean compassion for the owner of the facility?

[RobRoy]

I’m with you. The early church was communist. People sold everything they had and then each took as they had need.

Unfortunately, communism ignores human nature. But it would be great if we did not have to struggle with the natural man.

[wordsofearnest]

If you own enough crap to have to rent a storage unit, you get no sympathy from me. Sell it. It’s just stuff.

[RobRoy]

Actually, I sold a car to a guy and didn’t do a seller’s report of sale, and he was hit by the Spirit of Washington a week later. I had to pay the storage on the car. It was $365. However, someone bought the car at auction for $300 so I only had to pay $65.

The “leech” saved me $300. :)

[tnlibertarian]

Perfect response. I was thinking the same thing, but you said it much better than I would have. I was going to go with “Life’s a bitch. Wear a helmet.”

[RobRoy]

>>If you have enough crap that you have to rent a storage unit to house it all, it might be time for you to bless someone else with all your crap.<<

:)

I’ve said the greatest testimony against our culture is the proliferation of self-storage units. Sure, there is a need for “some”. I had a friend kicked out of his house and he needed a small unit. We moved from a 5 bedroom home to a one bedroom home in Kentucky so we got a 4x8 unit for my records and some of our antique furniture (obviously not much, if it is a 4x8) while we build a garage/shop. And we plan on building a larger home there as well.

But this business of just buying more stuff and storing it is crazy. I have the luxury of having had my life ripped out from under me. It has made it very easy for me to sluff off stuff. All that REALLY matters now is relationships. And is something is so valuable as to really, really be important to me, it will not be in a storage unit.

[RobRoy]

Yeah, I befriended the owner of the storage unit we used for a couple months during our downsizing. They aren’t exactly rich, if you get my drift.

[ladyL]

thank you for snapping me back to reality :)

[VastRWCon]

later