A public storage unit auction happens when renters of specific units fail to update their accounts with a storage unit company. When renters ignore repeated requests to update their accounts, the company who owns the units will foreclose said storage units.
After foreclosure, an announcement is made so that the units can be auctioned off to interested buyers. This practice has been around for quite some time now; however, it is only recently that people have been paying more and more attention to the urban treasures that storage units have to offer.
The why and how of the auctions
Foreclosures are taking place at a historic rate in the United States - this is the number one reason why storage auctions have increased in volume this past year. When people are forced to leave their homes, most of their stuff that can't fit in a smaller apartment is left in self-storage.
Since families who have already experienced a foreclosure are financially unstable (at least at the moment), some of them fail to pay their self-storage fees on time. This results in another type of foreclosure (as we've already touched upon in the previous paragraph).
Some people find the auctions a little greedy because of the fact that people are actually lining up to take what belongs to another person or family. If you feel a little guilty too, don't be. People who rent self-storage units are aware that their stuff can be auctioned off and hauled away by buyers if they fail to make payments.
The foreclosure process itself is long, so if a family or individual still fails to pay, that means they have resigned themselves to giving up their stuff. Storage unit auctions are perfectly legal, and really, the companies who own the storage facilities need to hold auctions to recoup the money that they have lost because of errant renters.
You can check your local newspapers to see if there are any upcoming auctions in your area. Storage unit companies often run ads to announce upcoming auctions. There are two reasons for running such ads.
One, they still want to contact the original renters so they have a chance to pay up, and two, they want to attract serious bidders/auction hunters to their auctions. Auctions are meant to benefit the company and the auction hunter (though sometimes, the auction hunter ends up with a not-so-valuable unit).
If you think you have what it takes to become a genuine auction hunter, you need to set aside $500 to $1,000 in auction capital, so you can bring home at least one unit. And you need to be well-informed about the current prices of common goods, so you can price the stuff you've won adequately. If you underprice or overprice the stuff that you've won in an auction, you might not make any real profit. The best auction hunters are also adept in selling large volumes of goods quickly through brick and mortar stores, and through online marketplaces such as eBay.