Type of Auction

rmason

Do you hold live actions for your units? We use Storage Treasures at my current facility and are happy with them.  Did live auctions at my last facility (6 years ago), but they were not well attended.

themage

We have traditionally held live auctions. We choose a day when there aren't any other auctions in the area. The turnout is usually ok, depending on what they bidders think may be in the units. For example, a Doctor's or Dentist's unit will draw a larger crown because there might be valuable equipment. We have a pretty regular core crowd.

With the virus, we tried online auctions and had really good results. Right now, because of various local events in combination with the virus, we are not holding any auctions. When we resume, I am not sure if we will go back to live or online.

MamaDuke7

I switched to online auctions when Storage Treasures came into being.  I will never go back to live.  We make at least 10x what we did on live auctions because hundreds of people are online looking at them as opposed to the 10s that might come to a live one.  And it keeps me from dealing with crowds on the property!

teamcapitola

MamaDuke7 said:

I switched to online auctions when Storage Treasures came into being.  I will never go back to live.  We make at least 10x what we did on live auctions because hundreds of people are online looking at them as opposed to the 10s that might come to a live one.  And it keeps me from dealing with crowds on the property!

@MamaDuke7 have you had any issues collecting payments or winning bidders not cleaning out the units etc ?

We've been thinking about the online auction route, but have concerns about possible issues...

MamaDuke7

teamcapitola said:

@MamaDuke7 have you had any issues collecting payments or winning bidders not cleaning out the units etc ?

We've been thinking about the online auction route, but have concerns about possible issues...

Occasionally a winning bidder won't show up.  But all you have to do is contact Storage Treasures and they will contact the backup bidders and I've always had one of them take it. They also get banned from Storage Treasures. But that is the exception and not the rule.  Generally, they show up and are excited to see what they won!  

Also, you take a hefty cleaning deposit in cash ($100 - $200) which is a great incentive to clean it all out!  Only once have I had one walk away and leave us with the contents, but the cleaning deposit covered our expense to clear it out.  If they leave much, you can just pop it back up and auction it all over again!  But again, that has only happened to me once in 4 or 5 properties and 10 years or so.

GSI03

We use Storage Treasures also, for all the above reasons.   

rmason

MamaDuke7 said: Also, you take a hefty cleaning deposit in cash ($100 - $200) which is a great incentive to clean it all out
Assume the range of cleaning deposit depends on size of unit?  I like it!!

MisterE

We have a fantastic auctioneer who has a loyal following. We are usually able to get 20-30 people here at each of our quarterly auctions and are always able to sell every space. 

I've tried the online auctions and some spaces made good money, but we also had a few spaces that people picked through and left everything else. When I contacted that online auction company, my understanding was that they would no longer be able to buy, but was actually told they just would be blocked from bidding at our site. 

There aren't many facilities around me that do online auctions yet, so I don't know if that makes a difference, but if we need to get rid of a space and can't get our auctioneer out, we will list it.