Storage Items for Auction

This last Saturday my husband, myself, and my mother-in-law went to a personal storage facility for an auction they were holding. The auction was being held because the renters of a particular unit stopped paying their rent for a specified amount of time and now the items were being sold.

We were excited because we will be needing some items for our future house ,so we went to see what was offered. In the past they have held a huge yard sale with items laying out in the front of the business. This year they did something different. We didn’t expect what was coming. Instead of auctioning off pieces, they actioned off the unit. So, you and the rest of the people there go in the unit and look around-but the catch is you can’t open boxes to see what is inside. Most of them looked like people had moved into a place and this was leftover stuff they didn’t know what to do with and so they rented a storage unit only to stop paying so that someone else could have their trash. Seriously, there were abused recliners and lawnmowers and desks with broken pieces, etc. Some of those items are fine for some people who are good at and know how to fix things up, but the thing is, if you want that one recliner you have to buy the whole unit and clear it out with in 24-28 hours. In clearing it out you could come across something valuable or not so valuable things in a box, but that is along with the items to trash. It would not be a fun process.

I say all that to say that there can be good deals sometimes. Not all storage unit auctions are like this. Call around and find out what they do if people haven’t paid their rent and when they sell it or auction it off. That way you can go and see if there is anything of value. Not many people think about this but it could be a good find. It is also for those people who are good at getting great deals at garage sales. While we were there on Saturday, we were told about a previous unit full of boxes that was auctioned off and turned out to be full of vintage Barbies. The person turned around and made a good profit off of them. However, you take a risk if you purchase a unit full of boxes that could just be trash or clothes. People do like the mystery of boxes and are willing to pay more for it. A small 5x5 (closet sized) unit, full of boxes, was sold for $250!

So, the search continues…

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What personal storage company to use?

My husband and I need to store a majority of our items in a new facility. The place we have our items in now will deliver them for free. So we thought we would get a self-storage unit but for the size we want, the cheapest I have found by calling around to local names and big names is $62.50/month. That is not a bad price to store all our items, however, when we want them in our future home we will have to pick them up and do all that work ourselves. That is not fun since you also have to put the stuff in the new house and arrange it. So my husband and I called a few places such as PODS, GoMinis, Public Storage, and Door to Door. Many of you have heard of P.O.D.S. (Portable On Demand Storage) which is where they bring a large container to your house, you fill it up, you keep it at your house or at there warehouse, and then they deliver it when you are ready. Here is the quote I was given for P.O.D.S. for a 8’H x 8’W x 12’L container.

Initial delivery of POD, the pickup, and 1st month rent (with tax): $ 257.10
Each additional month (with tax): $146.14
Return POD to original zip code (with tax): $110.96

Pretty pricey I would say, especially since it could be in storage for about 8 months or more. This is the total cost for storage of 8 months: $1537.19! Ewww-I could use that money to buy a house not rent a storage space people!!

Then we looked at DoortoDoor. Right now the delivery and pick up of the container to your home is free (usually about $69 unless you are out of their area then it is double that-$138) with Door to Door. Plus, currently there is a coupon you get from their site for 25% off the first month. A 8ft x 5ft x 7ft container (the only size they offer) will cost us $52.70/month (including tax). Now the only issue is the container is a little smaller than what we would like, but we can store the little things that won’t fit in the container at the place where we are now. They do charge a re-delivery fee ($69 plus tax) to your place (our new home) when you are finished with the storage, which is not bad considering if we had friends and family helping us take our vehicles back and forth from a personal storage unit it would cost that much or more in gas depending how far we lived from the storage facility. So $52.70/month for 8 months plus the $69 re-delivery fee the total would be ~$491. Here is a visual breakdown:

Initial delivery of container and the pickup (with tax): FREE
Each month (with tax): $52.70
Return container to area within their zone (with tax): ~$69

Now that my friends is a much better deal. It is still not that great of a feeling to pay $491 just to store our items but you have to do what you have to do! So an estimated saving of $1046.19 for using Door to Door vs. P.O.D.S. Hooray for DoortoDoor!!

*Note: The construction is a fair amount different though-P.O.D.S. is steel framed and Door to Door is all wood framed with both having a tarp around it and stored inside a warehouse. Also, I have read some negative comments on the customer service for Door to Door and great reviews for P.O.D.S., however, I can deal with some customer service issues if it saves me over $1000!!

Don't forget to sign up for free at http://www.agloco.com/r/BBBS4943 (refer to post A New-Internet Craze?...or Just Hype in January)