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Pretty clever, but sucks if you actually are a bidder. I'm not condoning it. Sounds like a money laundering scam. Taken from Reddit:
"I'm sure you have seen the storage auction shows, and how these people appear to be making money by buying up peoples lockers when they quit paying their rent. I was intrigued, and went to a few of these auctions to witness how they really worked. Pretty close to what you see on the shows, but I really could not believe what some of these people were bidding. I have worked in retail furniture stores, and have a pretty good understanding of what things are worth, and just couldn't see how these people were able to make any money.
Anyways, to say the least, I was discouraged from participating, and was talking to one of the managers of the storage facility. Just chatting about this new craze because of the TV shows. I assumed it was good business for them, but he said that they don't profit from it at all. I didn't understand, so he explained that a percentage (usually 10%) of the sale goes to the auctioneers, who market the entire thing, and the rest goes to pay the balance from the unpaid rent. And if there's any money left over, it goes to the renter who quit paying. The only way they got to keep that money, is if the person never cashed the check. So, like if someone was in jail, or died and their relatives didn't follow up with it. Needless to say, it was rare for them. I got a copy of the agreement from him, and went home to look it over. And sure enough, that's how it worked.
So I set out to scam these foolish people. I rented a locker for $1 for the first month, with no intention of continuing payments, and over the course of the next month, I stocked it with junk. I got a bunch of cardboard boxes, and plastic bins, and garbage furniture. I wrapped everything up to make it look like I was trying to take care of it, and to hide the fact it was garbage. I used what everyone has learned to look for against them. I wrote things like Comic Books, Tools, China, Fragile, etc. etc. on some of the boxes and bins. I even put some TVs in there that were broken, but physically in good shape. And then I waited. Ignored the calls, emails, and letters. And after about 6 months I received a check. Then I did it again, and again. I've done it about 15 times, and almost all were successful. I've made around $25k so far, and it has cost me less than $2k for purchasing boxes, bins, broken shit, plastic, bubble wrap, etc..
So, AMA."
"I'm sure you have seen the storage auction shows, and how these people appear to be making money by buying up peoples lockers when they quit paying their rent. I was intrigued, and went to a few of these auctions to witness how they really worked. Pretty close to what you see on the shows, but I really could not believe what some of these people were bidding. I have worked in retail furniture stores, and have a pretty good understanding of what things are worth, and just couldn't see how these people were able to make any money.
Anyways, to say the least, I was discouraged from participating, and was talking to one of the managers of the storage facility. Just chatting about this new craze because of the TV shows. I assumed it was good business for them, but he said that they don't profit from it at all. I didn't understand, so he explained that a percentage (usually 10%) of the sale goes to the auctioneers, who market the entire thing, and the rest goes to pay the balance from the unpaid rent. And if there's any money left over, it goes to the renter who quit paying. The only way they got to keep that money, is if the person never cashed the check. So, like if someone was in jail, or died and their relatives didn't follow up with it. Needless to say, it was rare for them. I got a copy of the agreement from him, and went home to look it over. And sure enough, that's how it worked.
So I set out to scam these foolish people. I rented a locker for $1 for the first month, with no intention of continuing payments, and over the course of the next month, I stocked it with junk. I got a bunch of cardboard boxes, and plastic bins, and garbage furniture. I wrapped everything up to make it look like I was trying to take care of it, and to hide the fact it was garbage. I used what everyone has learned to look for against them. I wrote things like Comic Books, Tools, China, Fragile, etc. etc. on some of the boxes and bins. I even put some TVs in there that were broken, but physically in good shape. And then I waited. Ignored the calls, emails, and letters. And after about 6 months I received a check. Then I did it again, and again. I've done it about 15 times, and almost all were successful. I've made around $25k so far, and it has cost me less than $2k for purchasing boxes, bins, broken shit, plastic, bubble wrap, etc..
So, AMA."
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