Firstly, I do not believe that Allen and Ton’s prior “acting” experience makes the show fake. Their experience is very limited, and there are literally thousands of people in Southern California and other acting hotspots like New York and Vancouver who have would have similar profiles to Allen, who would not consider acting their day job, who have just done some extra work for a little pocket change.
Storage locker auctions are not the most steady of incomes so it would make sense that they would have sidelines like being an extra in TV or as a reptile handler, in Ton’s case. Spike make no secret of their previous experience on their bio’s.
I believe that their prior tv experience was their “in” with the producers, rather than that they were cast as actors to “play” storage locker buyers.
As for the idea that lockers are seeded… I’m not sure.
A lot of the big ticket items are exactly where you would expect to find them–which is to say, well hidden–and it would be a lot of work to remove all the junk, hide an item and then repack the locker especially if this is being done after the lockers are bought (AH auctions are real auctions, open to the public after all). Unlike some other shows, they do not appear to have a “win-at-any-cost” mentality’ often naming their limit in advance. No production company would seed a locker with a 10g + item just to give away to someone else, and they still have only a day to clear the unit.
However, does that mean it’s also 100% real… I highly doubt that either.
First of all, I’m pretty certain that the boys aren’t bidding with their own money, or at least the production company is comping them for their losses on junk units. The only way you can produce a 20+ episode season of winners woul be by buying at over 100 auctions per tv season, (based on their own 80/20 split numbers). I believe hat the production company give them a budget to buy lockers with over and above what they are being paid to appear In the show, and they are buying many more lockers than normal hunters would.
I also believe they are not doing all of their own work. I think they probably do a 20 minute sweep of the unit (filmed) hand it over to some production interns and employees to do an I depth search through the locker, and then return and film more only if they find anything worthwhile… If not, they likely move on to the next auction, and leave others to do the grunt work. I am certain all of the interviews, introductions and even some of the banter with others is only filmed after they have determined that the lockers there have something worthwhile.
I am pretty sure there are experts on site to offer information and valuation of items, and feed Allen and Ton with information on the most rare and obscure items they find. There is no way two guys can know as much about as wide a range of items as they do.
I also believe they heavily edit and refillm some of the bidding after the fact to increase tension and make it look like they only just got it at the last moment–you often see some very odd angles of just Allen bidding.
Finally, I am sure that the “negotiations” of sales are at least partially scripted.
Unlike most shows of this ilk, auction hunters almost always end up selling to the people who do the appraising. I believe that, in most cases, these experts are not seeing these products for the first time, and have agreed, at least in principal, to buy them at the conclusion of the “negotiation”. I believe they have already given a ballpark figure as to what they will pay for it, and that most items are not being truly tested for the first time on the show–especially for firearms and vehicles. I believe firearms in particular will all have been remotely fired and are known to be working well before Ton or Allen ever load and “test” them.
Just my two cents, but quite reasonable assumptions, I think, based on my own experience of TV production.
