The First Storage Unit

Every few months, one of the two of us gets a bug to buy a storage unit. Whether it’s an inside tip from a manager at a location or finding it through one of our other sources… we tend to find the really great units and jump on it. Why? Because we are treasure protectors! Most people that buy storage unit auctions are in it for the money. We are in it for the protection of history… whether it’s the history of people and items in general or the family history of someone that was related to the storage unit owner.

The Story Behind the First Storage Unit Purchase

Let me get you started on the first storage unit that was purchased. (I’m writing this in 3rd person, but trust me when I say this is one of the twins writing this… but it’s easier to understand if I use 3rd person.) It was a cool or warm morning when Kim and Crisi were sitting in the car outside of the school where two of their children attended. Crisi randomly turned to Kim and said “I had a random desire to buy a storage unit auction last night, what do you think?”

Kim responded “really, that’s weird because I was looking at some the other day and thought they might be good ones to try out because they had a lot of tools.” She proceeded to show Crisi on her phone the website she was looking at, but she couldn’t find the listings anymore because they were pulled off the site. (This happens for a few reasons that we can discuss another time.)

Crisi went searching immediately and found the “perfect” unit to start with. It had the old style craftsman tool chest that she had wanted to get her husband, Nick, and some other cool “guy stuff” that he might like. Perhaps this was Crisi’s way of getting Nick excited about the storage unit auction idea, or maybe Crisi likes the “guy stuff”, too. Either way, the twins got Nick excited about it as well. Then, the bidding started.

The Bidding Process

The bidding process online is a little different than in person. When you are online, you don’t see the other people bidding and cannot be intimidated by them. Crisi consulted with Kim on how much to bid on the unit. With the number of items in the unit, the cost was bound to go pretty high. You cannot see anything except what they put in the pictures, which does not always show everything. We’re putting these pictures in here to help you know more about what we were thinking as we went along and to help you visualize the rest of the story.

First Storage Unit Auction

There are usually several pictures in a listing, but we’re only going to put three of them in here because most of them just zoom in more on the basic first picture. Compared to other listings, this particular location did an excellent job of taking pictures. Here, though, you can see there is a large area in the back middle that cannot be seen.

There is more to be seen in the third picture that is provided, but this unit is so packed full that it’s hard to tell if there is more in the back or not. Let’s give you a heads up that there will be a surprise after you look at all of these pictures!

So, you can see in the three pictures there are a LOT of tools and some tool chests. Yes, the tool chests are full of tools, which we were able to see by zooming in on some of the pictures. You could see just enough between the cracks in the pictures to know the drawers had tools in them. Some storage units end up with empty tool chests and people will pay thousands thinking they are full.

So, after seeing all of those pictures, could you tell what was in the middle of the unit? We couldn’t, that’s for sure!

Back to the bidding process, though… as we mentioned, the online process is a little bit easier and harder depending on who else is bidding. We were probably bid up quite a bit, but not as high as if the location had been closer to town. This storage unit was out in the middle of nowhere, so the price stayed under $2,000. Remember, this is JUST the price of the storage unit auction and does not include the moving costs associated with getting everything out of the unit.

The actual bidding process will vary depending on the site being used, but this one worked with you putting the highest bid that you wanted to pay in there and other people can place bids to try to outbid you. It is very much like bidding on Ebay! There are people on here, though, that will bid in the last 3 minutes just to extend the time out, and they bid in the lowest increments possible to try to outbid you without having to pay too much. Crisi is horrible about bidding and jumps in increments anywhere from $150 to $500 or more. It depends on how much she is trying to intimidate the other bidders (and honestly, she doesn’t really have a strategy and hopes everyone else stops bidding).

The Last Day of Bidding

On the last day of bidding, Kim and Crisi ended up right outside of the school again, with super bad cell phone reception. Crisi had never participated in the process before, so she was super nervous. She had jumped the bid up just in case she couldn’t get reception to bid, but still accessed the website and refreshed as often as possible to keep an eye on it. When the time counted down, it froze because of the bad connection and Crisi held her breath as she waited. Luckily, it was only around 30 seconds before she found out that she was the high winner and squealed with glee! Kim laughed at her and they excitedly planned out the next steps.

They called the storage unit location and found out that the owners could still come in and pay for the unit and the auction would be cancelled all the way up until the auction winner paid for the auction. So, Kim and Crisi went to the bank and got cash (cash is often times required at many locations), then drove an hour to the location to pay for the unit. Most “professionals” would be prepared and take their truck and trailer and load everything up at this point, too. However, Kim and Crisi are not professional buyers and are limited on time. So, they drove out to the location to pay and planned out how to load it all up the next day.

The Surprise

Most of the details on how the storage unit auction process works can be discussed at a later time, but just know that sometimes going out and looking at what you have can help you decide how best to move it. For Kim and Crisi, there was a huge surprise that ended up needing some major help to get moving. Remember, it’s hard to see everything in those pictures. The section that was in the middle that couldn’t be seen… it has this in it…

Yes, that is an engine! The wheels on the engine stand are rusted and it is HEAVY! This took some muscles to get moving, but the three adults were able to get it loaded up. You’re probably wondering what happened to the engine, right? Well, Crisi has a friend that owns a shop in Sparks, Nevada, so she called him up and asked what to do with it. Luckily, he was willing to buy it along with some other car items. It’s usually good to have people on hand that might buy things immediately so that you can get rid of some of the items quickly. If you’re lucky, you might actually make some money off a storage unit auction.

What Else Was in There?

Well, this unit was full of tools, camping equipment, two wash machines, a dryer, a china hutch, an electric stove, DvDs galore, and then some other random items. Almost everything ended up being sold in a garage sale because listing on Facebook/Meta is a nightmare. Nick kept all of the tools so far, but it has only been a year and we have not worked out a good system for our storage unit auctions, yet. We’re still building the YouTube channel for showcasing the items and trying to figure out the best way to store everything to let people come buy. A physical storefront for this type of venture is just not something we can afford, yet. So, we’re still selling the items slowly online through the platforms we can find that work for us.

More Storage Units?

Yes, we have already bought a couple more storage units. We will tell you those stories soon, but you can be sure there will be more in the future! (The next units are more interesting in the stories of how they came about… not just a whim like this one was!)

If you have any questions or want to know more about this storage unit or others, please feel free to reach out to us with specific information. Let us know if there are any items that you want to get on the list for… because we are a bit addicted to storage unit auctions and would love to find great homes for all of the treasures we find!

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Eason Twins

We are the Eason Twins! We live in Sparks, NV and have been here most of our lives. Both of us have businesses of our own, but we also help other businesses get started or overcome obstacles. We have a variety of projects that we work on throughout the year and rotate based on what is possible at the time. (We don't work on outdoor activities much if there is 4 feet of snow in the way!). Look around the site and see if you find something that will help you out, or feel free to contact us if you are in need of some help for your business. We also have a local boutique in the Painted Tree in Sparks if you want to try to catch up with us!