When most people think of auctions, Ebay would probably be the first thing to register in their minds. However, as online auctions grow in numbers everyday, some people are venturing into different venues for auctions.

Storage unit auctions have been occurring since the days of the first storage yards existed. Typically storage auctions take place at an actual storage facility in any city during different times of the week. Customers that do not pay their monthly storage fee, forfeit their units and the facility has the rights to sell the goods of the unit in order to make back the lost revenue from the non-paying customer.

Auctions sell units as low as $5.00 and some as high as a few thousand dollars. It all depends on the contents of each unit. When auctioneers roll open the doors on a unit, bidders are given a few minutes to look at the contents of the unit. Bidders are not allowed to step beyond the threshold and are not allowed to touch anything. Once the inspection is completed, the doors are closed and the bidding begins.

According to a recent report on NPR, in certain unit auctions, some bidders have paid as little as a few dollars for a unit and turned around and sold the contents for hundreds to thousands of dollars. Some of these auctions produce expensive antiques, China, cash, and motorcycles.

Some storage unit auctions occur on a weekly basis, and other facilities have them every 3 years. The ideal thing to do once you find out which auction you want to attend, call the facility and ask for a schedule when they will be conducting the auctions.

If storage unit auctions interest you, just remember, buyer beware. A lot of these auctions can be a hit or miss. NPR report it stated that some auction winners have won units that yielded high returns and others have lost money due to the fact the items they won are nothing but junk, so be careful. Storage unit auctions should only be one of many sources that you use to buy and sell profitably.