Storage Auction Schedules

I find the whole scheduling thing a challenge, but my first two resources are the local newspapers and the Internet.  In most cases, those two can both be found in the same place. So I go online to find the legal notices in the local papers. Free computers are available for scheduled use in most libraries, which have the advantages of being both quiet and air-conditioned.  But I like to spend hot afternoons in front of my computer, and I usually do my research from my Lay-Z-Boy in the den. 

The big newspapers will usually let you read the postings on-line, and I like to copy and paste them into one document.  I usually start with the LVRJ (gosh, what a great affiliate link they would be!) because they've got such a user friendly web-site.  Then I check the legal news publications.  These publications experience a different financial environment and often make you buy a copy or a subscription.  (I really hate the ones that
provide only a pdf or other image of their printed copy instead of an interactive format with some search engine abilities!) We are avoiding the vehicle auctions right now for a number of reasons, so I skip all of those.  Maybe I’ll remember to come back to that topic another time.

In the last days before a posted sale, I call numerous storage locations for whatever information can be squeezed out of them.  I have discovered that the people who answer the phones usually have no idea what's going on, but I'm not so easily discouraged. At least not when I'm sitting under an air-conditioner making routine phone calls.  I'm sure there must be an easier way, I just haven't found it yet.  Honestly, I've spent hours going through the legal postings in search of sale dates, only to learn later that the listings are woefully incomplete. I don't understand why half of the locations on a certain auctioneer's schedule will be posted in a certain newspaper, but I never do find the other half.  Many of the auctioneer's post their schedules in their web-sites, but you have to already know who they are to find them.  (There seems to be a step that I'm missing. I'll be sure to let you know when I find out what the trick is.)  After cutting and pasting all the listings I can find into a new file, I check the legal news and cruise around in cyberspace looking for other listings. 

[If you happen to know any better way to  do this, be sure to leave a comment and share it with the rest of us.]

My favorite site for finding lists of local auctions is my affiliate, StorageTreasures.com.  They have a really good list of everything local, and a google map to make getting there a little easier. Though I’ve never found anyone whose list is 100% complete, theirs is as close as it gets. Their site is easy to use, easy to look at, and printer friendly. Some of the local auctioneers post their entire schedules on this site, so I don’t have to go to each of their sites to get them. I make a mental note to put together a list of where I have to go to make my lists. (Oops, here we go....)

The first step was to go through my current list and the lists I had pulled off the Internet during weeks gone by, and start comparing them. With the help of StorageTreasures.com I was able to connect almost all of my current postings to an auctioneer, and find that auctioneer’s web-site as well. That sure shortened the task. Then I called each of the remaining postings and asked them who held their auctions, what other facilities were they associated with, those kinds of things.

Then I pulled out all of the paperwork we'd gotten from the auctions we’d already been to. (Remember, I warned you not to throw that stuff away!)  Seems I didn’t do such a great job in that department my own self, so this was going to be a smaller job than I thought. Or bigger, whichever.  From the very few printed schedules and business cards in my meager file I found a couple of web-sites with the monthly schedules posted. One or two have schedules for different states. I find this very interesting, on a few levels.

First and foremost, I love to drive through the desert, or the country, or anywhere else with little or no traffic, ice, snow, traffic signals, highway patrol, etc.  And I like to stop as often as possible along the way.  I think I want to try Utah first.  Larry points out that Arizona is closer.  We figure this is a topic we should consider with great care.  Several hundred miles can make or break you when it comes to emptying/loading/moving/ storing the stuff you buy.  I decided to ignore the out of state listings for now.  Time to get back to my list.

I just love Word Perfect.  I find much easier to use than Word, and lots of really big little differences.  Like, for instance, when printing labels with Word you can choose between printing one label or printing a whole sheet of them. Word Perfect allows you to print all the different labels you want at the same time on the same sheet.  But I digress....

The most useful thing I’ve done with my Word Perfect lately was going back through my current auction list and my older auction schedules (yes, I save everything) and using my yellow highlighter function I marked all the storage locations that do their auctions in-house. Since I’d already starting making notes on which ones were using certain auctioneers, making this list was really easy. (I said easy, not quick.  Honestly, I don’t believe people who claim they are making large amounts of money and hardly ever working.  I haven’t even typed the list up proper and this little project has taken me more than 2 hours, a dozen phone calls, and used up the last little bit of my printer ink.)

So now I have a list of all of the local storage facilities who hold their own auctions, with their addresses and stuff, so I can check for their ads specifically or call them for information if their ads don’t show up. I have to admit that most of the people who answer these calls are friendly and helpful, but they usually know even less about their auctions than I do, so it’s not my preferred way to get the job done. If anyone wants to get a look at that list, shoot me a note or a comment. For everyone else, I’ll get it posted somewhere as soon as I can.