Auction...

Had our auction on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.Just a little before 10 a.m. that morning we got a call from the North Brunswick site that they needed help with their auction because their assistant manager didn't come in. I asked them how far away from us they were (cause we had no idea) and she said about 28 minutes. I asked her what time her auction was and she said 10:30....holy cow !Told them I'd jump in the car and be right there. I got there with 5 minutes to spare but the VP was still going through the files to see who should be sold and whose unit would be held out of the auction. North Brunswick's units are primarily drive up units which means they are outside. Well, Thursday morning it was cold, windy and rainy...not a great day to hold an outside auction. They had 30 some units and it took us about an hour to get through them. Once I finished up there, I headed back to our unit since our auction would be starting in about an hour. Grabbed a quick bite to eat and finished eating in time for the first bidders to start arriving and checking in. They have to give us a $100 deposit to participate, then they get a bidder's book. If they don't buy anything then they get their $100 back. If they do buy any units, we keep the deposit until they have cleaned out all of the units. That way we ensure that they don't leave any junk behind. The one exception is if the bidders have a resale permit, making them tax exempt, then they don't have to give us a deposit.

We wound up having 16 units go up for auction. Our company is really great at giving people ample time and opportunities to pay their bills before resorting to auctioning off their units. We started with 56 units on our list....some paid...and some were held to give them more time. Units went for anywhere from $1 to $400. I was talking to one of the bidders yesterday, while he was loading up items he had purchased. I asked him what he does with the items he buys. He said he sells at flea markets, e-bay, craig's list and auction houses. He said that you used to be able to make good money doing this but it has gotten harder. The stuff you think you'll get good money for doesn't and the items you think are junk sometimes bring in good money. Hard to predict, he said....I think so many more people are doing this nowadays too that maybe the market has been diluted by so much competition. He said he once paid $12,000 for a 10 x 10 unit...wow ! He took an incoming phone call before I could ask him what he bid on (or what he thought might have been in the unit) and whether it paid off for him or not. Didn't get the chance to ask him but it sure had my curiosity piqued.Most of the units have now been cleared out by the bidders. One guy has a washing machine to get yet and he'll do that Sunday. Tomorrow I will try to "trash out" several of the units that didn't receive any bids. There is a 10 x 10 unit that is packed with stuff, and (2) 5 x 10's that I will try to fill our dumpster with. There are 2 huge drive up units that are 10 x 20 or 25's that we'll need to wait for the 20 yard roll off. One unit has office furniture in it and the other has alot of twigs and bags of god knows what. I hope we are gone before that one needs to be trashed out. Might need a Hazmat suit for that one....

Tomorrow our new assistant starts his training. Hope that goes well and that he sticks with it. He will train for 5 days with us before going on his own. Tomorrow the couple that I have as my #1 pick to be the management team here goes for their second interview at another Mini U. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this other manager concurs with my selection so we can get started with their background checks and move them closer to getting hired.

In weather news, the remnants of storm Ida...now a nor'easter is moving up the coast and we are having very windy, rainy weather tonight. Supposed to have more of the same tomorrow. I feel bad for the Pop Warner football players out on the field behind our rig...they are getting blasted with wind and rain for their practice tonight. Not a night fit for man nor beast out there....