I think the auctions are real, but the show plants certain items in the unit before they unload it.
A relative of mine has made his living buying storage bins for decades. 80-90% of what he buys gets hauled to the dump. Every once in a while he’ll find something nice, but it’s rare. His problem started with Antiques Roadshow, which he says made everyone think that their old stuff was automatically a treasure. Storage Wars just clutters the storage auctions with people who think there are treasures in the bins, causing the price they pay for the bins to go up past what they’re worth. He has largely left the business since the show started.
I managed a facility in the Sarasota area and we had quarterly auctions there also. Had our ‘regular’ buyers who did buy most of the units because they had second-hand stores to peddle the merchandise. One guy alone probably bought 80% of our units each auction - had a big store to fill.
As for valuables? A fellow manager watched a unit sold that contained in his estimation $5,000 in guns. He’s an FFL and just stood there with his mouth hanging open. Not allowed by company policy to bid. No idea the guns were buried under boxes of crap.
We sold a unit that appeared to have nothing in it. One drawer had a bag of coins in it. The buyer found three other bags. Apparently the person who rented the unit threw their coins in something instead of carrying them around like I do. I cash mine in every now and then. Unfortunately this person died and left theirs behind. The unit was purchased for $50 and the buyer found close to $800 in coins in there.
I also know of a unit in my old facility that is owned by a retired physicist who lives in Sarasota. The guy has gone a little ‘crazy’. Thinks the government and police are out to get him. So, he fit right in with me and we bonded immediately! His unit is filled with valuables - he showed them to me when we set ‘traps’ to see if anyone was messing with his stuff. No family, when he dies that unit is going to be worth a small fortune.
Interesting note on his ‘craziness’ too. He worked his entire life for one of the alphabet agencies doing stuff he can’t talk about (assuming he remembers it) so I always wondered if he knew what he was talking about re: the government from firsthand knowledge and experience. He talked about surveillance equipment that I’d never heard of and some I did. Guy had me believing!
There was an article about Barry in the first season and it came out (not from Barry) that items were planted and it's scripted. Dave stayed on the show all this time and is suddenly worried about fakery? Sounds a lot like the kid Jake on Two and a Half Men suddenly claiming that show is filth.
I'd sort of figured the price of auctions would rise to ridiculous highs causing the regular buyers serious hurt.