Understanding The Storage Auction Process

How A Storage Auction Works

If you haven't been to a live auction before, the prospect of going to your first storage auction might seem a little intimidating. Not to worry! Storage auctions are very straightforward, and you'll quickly get the hang of it. Just be prepared to use a little observation to get a feel for the process and how to identify profitable units to buy.

The Auction Process

Be sure to arrive 10 or 15 minutes early so you have time to sign-in as a bidder with the auctioneer. Bring a photo ID, as many auctioneers will require this of all bidders. The auctioneer will gather the bidders and explain the auction procedure and ground rules to everyone. Then the first unit is opened and the bidders will have a few minutes to peer into it--without going inside--before the bidding begins. Most storage auctions are conducted as “live” or “verbal” auctions, although a very few are “silent”, sealed-bid auctions.


In a verbal auction, the auctioneer will usually start speaking quickly in “auctioneer speak” and looking and listening to the crowd to find out who wants to bid. The auctioneer will call out a price and ask if there are any takers. You can gesture affirmatively to the auctioneer if you want to make a bid at that price. If there's a lot of action, you can call out a higher bid. Once the bidding settles down, the auctioneer will say “going once… going twice…,” and if there are no further bids, “SOLD!”


Once the bidding is complete, if you've won the unit, you must secure it with your own padlock. The auction then moves on to the next unit at the facility. Once all the auctions are complete, you'll meet with the auctioneer to pay for your units and complete the auction paperwork. The storage facility will typically collect a cleaning deposit from you, which they will return when you have emptied the storage locker and left it broom-swept so that it is ready to be rented to a new tenant. You will not be permitted to use the facility's dumpsters, so be prepared to haul away and dispose of anything that you don't want!


Often, an auctioneer will sell units at several different facilities in the same area on one day. After each facility's auction is completed, usually the bidders will follow the auctioneer to the next facility. A “roving auction” like this may start in the morning and continue until mid-afternoon, with dozens of units being sold.

Finding The Auctions

Surprisingly, it's not always easy to find out when these auctions are happening. Only a few storage companies and auctioneers post their auction schedules on the Web, and many of these web sites can only be found if you know exactly what you're looking for! The storage company is usually required to place out a public notice of the auction in a local paper, so you could read through those every day in every paper and write them all down on your calendar. Or you could get out your phone book and call all the storage businesses in town every month to ask them when they're holding the next auction.

An Easier Way

As you can see, if you live somewhere where there are a lot of storage facilities, it's a lot of work to keep up to date with all the auctions. That's where we come in. At StorageAuction.net, we have the most comprehensive listings of storage auctions anywhere on the Internet. And all you need to do to access them is sign up for a free account! We keep records on thousands of storage facilities and are constantly updating our database of upcoming storage auctions. With StorageAuction.net, you'll always know when the next auction is!