I guess, but eventually, they have a right to reclaim their space. And selling the contents at auction probably happen.
But an owner is not going to put something up for auction without checking the unit out himself. They’d actually leave coin collections? Motorcycles? guns? or antique anything?
And imagine if you were there bidding against these two bozos… if you saw the show, you are probably going to bid on what they are bidding on.
Well, generally, if every time anyone goes to buy a storage locker it’s picked over and there’s nothing of value, then no one will ever buy a storage locker. Sure, you might not get the total value of the locker (though in order to do that, you need to do the leg work to actually sell the stuff) but you can also sell crap units for far more than they’re worth. It’s probably more profitable in the long run for the owners to sell as-is and let people bid each other up. My guess is that the vast majority of these units has almost nothing of significant monetary value, results of the show notwithstanding.
There’s certainly a bit of theatre to the show, they don’t show units the cast doesn’t win, and the cutting room floor is probably full of days they went to auction, didn’t find anything interesting, but didn’t blow $2000 on a locker full of dirty underwear, either.
There’s a whole mess of law issues that prevent the owner from just cleaning out the space. The occupant of the unit has a right to reclaim his property by satisfying the lien before the sale. If he shows up and his stuff is gone, there’s going to be an issue. The occupant is also entitled to the proceeds of the sale in excess of the lien and costs of sale. The storage unit facility owner does not get to keep the money, so it is not worth their time to pick through the units to sell valuable items to satisfy the lien. The owner just wants the back rent paid and the unit emptied so it can be rented again.
The “cut-the-lock-and-everyone-is-surprised” thing is a bit of TV theatre, too. The owner has already denied access to the occupant and replaced the lock on the unit, so I presume the key is probably on the premises somewhere. Most state laws (including CA and TX, where the two SW series are filmed) require the notice of sale to include a listing of the items in the locker (it usually says something like “boxes, clothes, furniture, toys” or “machinery, tools, computers, appliances”) and certain items can’t just be sold away at auction, so clearly the owner has to take at least a cursory glance at the units before the sale. There was an episode where there was a car or something in one of the units, and the moment the unit was opened, the auctioneers said something like “remember, the car is not for sale as part of the auction”, and it did not seem like it was surprise to anyone.
aktep, and interface2x, you both make good points.
I don’t know the laws regarding the sale of these rooms, but I clearly have less faith in mankind in general when it comes to money. They might not empty the unit out, but I still think they would take out their “fair share” of anything of value.
If not, I’d have a partner in the audience buying the units that had something good in them.
If nothing else, I bet there are a lot of people going to the storage unit auctions that never went before. And with the cameras around with the stars of storage wars bidding, I’m guessing they’d have to pay a premium for any lot they bid on. Unless, of course , the whole thing is a sham, with everyone participating being a paid actor.
This would make the most sense, since the producers can control the entire scene, from who wins what, what is found in the unit, etc. It’s just entertainment, after all.
I can handle the staged nature of American Pickers (haven’t watched SW or similar) because, while it’s staged, it’s not too overplayed. Would he have sneaked off to Sturgis without them knowing? Of course not. Were they planning on going to Sturgis after the pick, anyway? Probably (where better to try to unload the cyclecar than in biker central?) They had to fill out time somehow, so they do the cutesy meet-up thing instead of just, “Okay, we’re on our way.”
It’s the shows where there is constant friction and manufactured drama that I can’t stand. AP at least doesn’t have that. There’s no yelling, no screaming, no throwing things. I like that.
This. Contrary to what the shows may portray, 90 percent of these lockers have little or nothing of value in them and are just filled with junk, so it’s not worth it for the owner of the storage facility to search them. They may take a cursory glance, but even if they happen to see something valuable, they’d still have to do the legwork to unload it and as aktep mentioned, they’re only entitled to the amount of the lien anyway. So in the long run, the auction route probably makes most sense. Little legwork for the owners while allowing them to get at least a few bucks for what could very likely turn out to be a bunch of crap.
Good point. I will not tolerate shows like the custom cycle one with the testosterone-dripping mustached father and his weaselly son (you don’t have to remind me of the name; I’ve deliberately forgotten it). I lived more than half my life with screaming insanity like that and now I should pay the cable company to bring it back into my living room? I am not lying when I think those shows helped in my diagnosis of PTSD.
A couple of guys driving around buying stuff, I can take it being staged if they’re pleasant, and Frank and Mike (I can’t stop thinking of them as Frank and Joe!) are pleasant enough.
I’ve actually been to a few auctions, because I work freelance and occasionally have days with nothing to do. My understanding of the law is that the unit renter owns the stuff in there until it is sold at public auction. The storage facility owner is prohibited by law from taking anything out. And generally the renter has until the day of the auction to get his stuff back. So if the storage unit owner were going to steal stuff he’d have to do it quick.
I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but most owners aren’t going to go though the effort.
The editing of the timeline on the Sturgis episode of American Pickers was a little weird. They start out in eastern Iowa, go west to Hurley, SD (which is fine) then go further west to the 1880 town (which is still fine) then back east to Murdo and then back west to Sturgis. Also, all the towns they visited, except for Hurley, are on I-90 and when they showed the overhead road shots, they didn’t look anything like I-90, at least not the portion in South Dakota. Not to mention, when they showed him calling the motorcycle expert, he was on some gravel back road. Why not pull in to a rest area or something.
Maybe they were avoiding I-90 and taking back roads to look for cold picks?
What I wonder about, on American Pickers/Storage Wars/Auction Hunters/Pawn Stars, is who’s paying for all those professional appraisals? Either the show stars go to the expert’s place (usually so on AP/SW/AH) or the expert comes in (usually so on PS), the item is looked over, assessed for authenticity, condition, etc., and a value in most cases is put on it. Occasionally the expert is invited to buy the item; often his/her role ends with the appraisal.
Now, people who perform that kind of appraisal generally don’t do it for free; it’s part of their livelihood to provide such services. I have to believe that a reasonable fee for their time would often consume more of the item’s value than the show star could afford as a cost of acquisition and still turn a profit. So who pays?
I’m cross-posting this in the Storage Wars vs. Auction Hunters thread, by the way.
I’ve always wondering the same thing about the appraisers. Yeah, it’s probably the TV show in these cases, but the shop was around and operating before they were picked up as a show.
I have a question about American Pickers though- have they ever hinted at how they share profit and spread loss? It always seems like Frank or Mike go bonkers individually over a great “pick”, or on the other hand, laugh at what they think is a dumb purchase. And sometimes, it’s not a matter of one guy wants it and the other doesn’t care- it’s a matter or who actually stumbles across the item. So do we have any idea of how they actual structure their partnership? Yeah, probably unlikely, but worth asking.
One possible payment to the appraisers could be the exposure alone. I’ll bet those dudes get a lot of calls from people who see them on TV and want their (paid) services.
The shows take considerable care identifying the appraisers. I don’t think they’d be hard to find if you needed one.
What I find odd is the degree of separation between Mike and Franks’ web pages. Nary a mention of the other. Not much for sale either, you’d think they would use the exposure to move product.
Interesting… unless they are just either a couple of actors, or two independent “pickers” brought together for the show.
They don’t seem particularly close. So the question of how they manage profits and losses is also a good one. I would think that if you were going into this kind of a business, with a partner, you’d want to be with someone you’d trust… and part of that trust would be their picking ability. To split the costs and profits would make the most sense.
Appraisers are another interesting topic. I remember a while ago the appraisers on antique roadshow were nailed for lowballing people on their item and then buying the stuff to sell at a huge profit in their shops. Bastards. You can’t trust anybody!
If you sell your item to the same person that appraised it, you deserve to get ripped off.
But isn’t that what the Pawn Stars’ customers are doing? Unless it’s an unusual item, the “appraisers” are also the buyers; they don’t call in outside help for everything. The only protection a seller has is the honesty of the proprietors and a little common sense.
Sure… and my point stands. And if you’re taking your stuff to a pawn shop in Vegas, you should probably expect to get hosed… but that next roll of the dice is going to make it all better. Momma needs a new pair of shoes!
I can’t remember where I saw it, but someone who owned storage lockers described how they are sold of. They must be sold in a public auction. It is the law. He can’t just decide to keep the stuff and not auction it off. Before it goes to auction, he goes in and inventories the locker. He doesn’t look in all the boxes or anything. He’ll just write down what he sees by walking around in the locker. He said he could steal stuff, but that would cause problems if the owner ever tried to claim his stuff back. And he wouldn’t have people attending his auctions because they would know that his site only had junk lockers.
As for Storage Wars, that is somewhat contrived. What I think happens is that producers go out and buy lockers at the real public auctions. Once they have a few good lockers, they bring the cast in with a bunch of extras at a later date. The auctions they show are not the true public auctions. They are filming the fake auction of the units they bought earlier. I sometimes wonder if the producers sprinkle a few collectibles in the units themselves. The extras are told to make a few bids until the price gets up to a certain value, after which only the cast will be making the bids. I don’t think the cast knows what’s in the lockers beforehand. They do seem genuinely surprised when the items are revealed. I’m not sure if the cast uses their own money or not. I recall someone saying they went to Jerrod’s store and saw some of the items from the show, but there were signs on them saying not-for-sale. When he asked about it, they said the producers owned those items. That may indicate that the cast is bidding with the show’s money.
(Clutching my chest and staggering backward.) You think they look middle aged? Now I’m looking behind me for the edge of my grave.
So far my favorite is hippie guy, with the bicycles hanging in the trees.