When people stop paying their bills for their storage units, the storage company can auction those items to try to make up for the delinquent rent. One person’s loss soon becomes another person’s gain.
Enterprising individuals and business owners around the country are taking advantage of storage auctions to turn a few hundred dollars into thousands of dollars … potentially. Bidders can’t see what they’re buying until they’ve won an auction. Before that, they are only allowed to peek inside the open door of a storage locker – they can’t go inside or open up any of the boxes.
Not every locker is a winner, and not all gambles pay off. But when locks contain valuable items, they can bring in high dollar.
If this sounds interesting to you, you can watch full episodes of Storage Wars on AE at aetv.com.
If you think this treasure-hunting business model would appeal to you, here’s what you need to know about making money with storage auctions:
Get Your Feet Wet
Don’t just dive in to the storage auction business and hope for the best. Learning how to evaluate and bid on lockers is a skill that requires both experience and intuition.
Learn what you can by attending a few storage auctions before you start bidding. Just go to listen and learn.
Watch what experienced bidders do to check out the content of the locker, then pay attention to how much they bid and when they decide to call it quits. Listen to their remarks to see if you can pick up any insights.
The more auctions you attend, the more you will learn about how to spot a locker with good potential and the appropriate amount to bid.
To silence her stubborn hiccups during the summer of 2010, Mallory Kievman tried swallowing saltwater, making herself gag, eating a spoonful of sugar, sipping pickle juice and drinking a glass of water upside-down. Nearly two years and 100 attempted folk remedies later, the 13-year-old is preparing to lead a team of M.B.A. students from the University of Connecticut in building a company that can bring her invention – Hiccupops, or hiccup-stopping lollipops – to market this summer.
“It’s very rare, when you’re evaluating businesses, that you can envision a company or product being around 100 years from now,” said Danny Briere, a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Startup Connecticut, which nurtures new companies, including Hiccupops, and is a regional affiliate of the Startup America Partnership. “Hiccupops is one of those things. It solves a very simple, basic need.”
Ad agency DDB teamed up with Mexican Internet Portal Terra in an attempt to clean up the parks of Mexico City from dog droppings and other foul odored objects and materials by rewarding those who make an effort to clean up after their pets.
Pet owners pick up the mess their dogs left and then go to a special weighing spot where they drop the bag in a box that calculates the amount of free wi-fi that should be given according to the weight.
When you think of something warm, what do you think of? Wool? How about Alpaca? Some people might be surprised to find how warm, long-lasting, and wrinke resistant Alpaca clothing can be.
Born and raised in Peru, Elizabeth Gels spent her life around the animals. It was after she’d moved to the US, met her husband, and traveled back home with him that the idea for their business really began to bloom. In December of 2006 Alpaca Boutique was born. Since then, Elizabeth has dedicated her time to growing her business and providing Alpaca-based products of the highest quality possible.
What was the inspiration behind the Alpaca Boutique?
Alpaca is in my roots. I was born and raised in Peru where Alpacas are known to have originated. As a child I learned to appreciate and respect the Alpaca as a symbol of the Andes.
I moved to the United States in the late 90′s to attend Boston University where I received my MBA. While in Boston, I met my husband Dean who is originally from Ohio. When we travelled to Peru, Dean saw Alpacas for the first time and was fascinated by these animals and their unique fiber. I explained that Alpaca wool was a natural product that was eco-friendly, beautiful to look at, extremely soft, as well as warm and lightweight. My husband and I began developing the idea of building a business that brings extraordinary value to people. The Alpaca’s extraordinary characteristics convinced us that this was a unique fine fiber that would become consumers first choice in luxurious and comfortable wear. All they needed to do was try it and they would love it.
