I recently had
the opportunity to tag along with Schneider’s Auction Services to a real life
“Storage Wars” auction. Mr. David
Schneider and Mr. Bob Schneider were contracted to serve as the auctioneers to sell the abandoned
storage units to the highest bidder.
I spoke to David
and his son, Bob Schneider, to find out how they get the word out that there
are units in the area that are up for auction.
They explained, “We use a great website, auctionzip.com that lets us reach a large number of
people that have a genuine interest in auctions and specifically in bidding on
storage units.” Bob added, “We got
around 3,000 hits to our advertisement regarding this auction. Obviously not
all of those people will come today, but it goes to show the popularity of modern day treasure hunting.”
Bob Schneider (left) and David Schneider of Schneider Auction Services
At this specific
auction we had around 25 “treasure hunters” show up. There were only six storage units on the
block and the Schneiders told me, “For this number of units the turnout was
about what we expected.” The
participants registered and were assigned a number. David read them the rules to the auction and
we were off.
The first step
of gaining access to the storage units; you guessed it, breaking out the
grinder and cutting the lock off of the door.
The sparks flew as the kids covered their ears.
The bidders are
not aloud to actually enter the unit; they are able to stand in the door for a
moment and examine the contents in plain sight.
The seasoned veterans brought a flashlight in hopes to spot something sparkly.
Once everyone has had a chance to look at the unit the bidding begins.
I asked David
and Bob what were some of the more notable items that have been claimed in
previous storage unit auctions? Their
eyes lit up and I knew an impressive list was about to follow. “We have had people find diamond rings in
their locker.” They said. “A person has
also found safes in their unit that contained $10,000 and $2,000!”
When I heard
that these units have been known to contain thousands of dollars in cash it
struck me this really is a modern day treasure hunt. Some units will be a locker full of useless
garbage, and others will be a lucrative investment.
There are
multiple reasons to have a “storage war”.
All of the units are delinquent in their rent, so the manager of the
facility is losing money on each one.
The auction gets each unit cleaned out as the winning bidder takes on
responsibility for the contents and has 24 hours to clear out the unit. It also allows the manager of the property to
rent the unit to a new tenant. Everyone
wins: the property manager, the winning bidder, and the auction service.
All the storage
units were auctioned off that afternoon.
I did not stick around to see what each had inside, but I am sure the
treasures were boundless.
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business that would like to advertise on Fort Thomas Matters and be featured in
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Thank you to
Schneider Auction Services for letting me take part in this exciting event, and
for being a loyal part of the FTM family!
