Auctions

ShedStuff

I was wondering if any of you would share your experience with auctions at your facilities...do you hold them or do you do the storage auctions online?

karen700

We used to hold onsite auctions...lots of work and no matter the weather and no matter how long it took...you were stuck! We had our 1st online auction just this past January...no muss ...no fuss....they bid until auction time closed, they have to pay with cash and then have 72 hours to vacate items and sweep unit before getting their cleaning deposit back. Much calmer and no hassle of onsite bidders! 

Orkocean

Have used both methods between sites i've been at for years with each method. In my experience as long as you are using a *good* online auction site you get more for units than in person auctions on average. My highest $$ units have been in person though as i've had a unit go for $3,300 and another for $2,800 with in person auctions. The $3,300 was at a HUGE auction where we had 140 people show up and one of the best auctioneers in Houston who actually promoted it via his circle and people that came because of him bought the unit, had it been a normal crowd type it wouldn't of went for near that I would bet.

In person = hassle for site staff, cleaning up after crowds, interfering with normal site duties such as rentals and such especially if you're a single staff site.

On line = broader audience as i've had people from more than 10 hours away bid on units and drive to pick them up so more $$ generally gets bid as more people are bidding. The only drawback to online I ever ran into is when the auction site is having issues. Depending on which part of the country you're in different sites have bigger followings to get you more bidders possibly. 

skinman

We do in person and have a great auctioneer.... Storage wars is a crock though.

just sayin. 

Adrienne_Danyel

When we do have auctions (Our DM calls us the collections queens) we hold onsite auctions every 3 months only because we have the best auctioneer! Our crowd keeps the proptery pretty clean! We only allow them 24 hours to remove all items no matter how big or small. However we do offer them the unit for $19.95. Yup we make them rent! 

Adrienne_Danyel

skinman said:

We do in person and have a great auctioneer.... Storage wars is a crock though.

just sayin. 

Storage wars is a crock Skinman! And because of that very show we will never hear the end of it from our customers. Lol. 

i43storage

We advertise in the paper (by law); on our Facebook page; and have an email database we blast out to let people know about our auctions.  We do the auction ourselves and do not offer it online.  It really depends on what is inside the unit if it is worth it to spend more on the auction itself.