We seldom purchase at storage auctions just for our own use, although that certainly does happen. But unless you are Barry Weiss on Storage Wars, most often we are looking to resell what we purchase for a hefty profit.
We are going to discuss a number of options to resell your acquisitions but each will have advantages and disadvantages. Among the considerations for what method to use will be the expense, your level of experience, size and weight of the items in question, and its value.
The easiest way is to hold your own yard sale or garage sale. If you are successful at purchasing a solid unit with good, saleable stuff in it, holding your own yard sale will be the least expensive option. It will also be the most efficient. This might be your best option especially if it is your first purchase. You will want to liquidate quickly and use your profit to purchase another unit. Repeat this process until you gain both the expertise and confidence to continue to build your business.
Another easy and inexpensive option is a classified ad in your local newspaper or even a classified ad website such as Kijiji. As of this writing, most Kijiji ads are free and have a much broader reach so that would most likely be the better of the two options. This will also be effective if the goods that you are trying to move are especially large, heavy or valuable.
Once you start to develop the resources and experience, you can move into eBay auctions or even flea markets or swap meets. This are some of the more advanced methods of flipping your acquisitions.
The advantage to using a site like eBay is the guaranteed traffic. eBay has such a huge membership base that you are likely going to get views no matter what you are selling. Among the downsides to using eBay are the shipping costs, and fees.
If you intend to use eBay, first, limit it to the smaller and easier to ship items. Shipping can be very expensive as the post offices look to recover lost revenue from dwindling letter mail. Second, become familiar with basic HTML or invest in software that designs professional online auction templates.
If you are selling larger items, stick with trying to find local buyers through local classified or Kijiji.
There are many more options than we have described above. If you are new to the storage auction game, these should give you a good start.
We have many more resources and help available at the website. Mini Storage Profit [http://www.ministorageprofit.com]. Including the Do’s and Don’ts of the storage auction business [http://www.ministorageprofit.com].