Man Finds Wad of Cash in Old Suitcase - KDKA-TV

well Ken this really is kind of like gambling because you don't know exactly what you're getting when you bid on a unit people find disgusting things even scary things but they also find valuable items and while we were there one man literally hit the jackpot it's like a gamble it's like you cannot wait to get in those boxes and see what you're gonna find 300 325 325 350 375 a lot of people come out here thinking that it's 100% glory you know but it's a lot of work 450 you bought it $425 you're watching a real-life treasure hunt it's auction day at Guardians Self Storage when people quit paying for their unit the contents are eventually auctioned off to the highest bidder and all these people have shown up for now the deal is everyone gets a chance to peek inside they can't walk inside they can't touch anything and they can't use a flashlight to look around meet some of the regulars nikki has been bidding on units for 12 years and recently scored big time together for 650 and within a week I did $7000 was in there there was a fitness center there was tanning beds then there's Josh and Shelley who make a living by bidding on units and selling the contents and they've encountered some strange stuff we found a dead shark in a jar fingernail clippings in a medicine bottle a living it's me yes it was a box full of costume jewelry I went to reach in my husband said show a snake and I almost grabbed it finally Alex he once bid on a storage unit that smelled so bad he got it for just a hundred fifty bucks look at what he says he found inside this van cleef and arpel pen that he now has twenty one thousand for online there were only 50 made you know and how many of them out there survives look I found one in in a garbage bag big payoffs can come with big headaches one time a previous owners somehow tracked him down I had the gentleman showing up at my doorstep you know threatening myself my family on this day the regulars are joined by many others including some first-timers this unit may just look like cardboard boxes and mattresses but it generates interest auctioneer jean Gornick resides is the bidding heats up in double D 1150 you bought it $1,100 in the end it goes to Josh and Shelley they wanted it because of something they spotted in the back and now that they can go inside they know they were right that's an expensive brand remember they paid $1,100 for the unit they wound up selling that Herman Miller chair and footstool for nearly 2,300 dollars online and there was more there's a plus another piece of furniture and the grand total was more than $2,700 we all know that people love a treasure hunt they like to find that deal find that value where others didn't see it the guardian storage solutions President Stephen Cohen tells me they try to avoid auctioning off units making every effort to work with people who are behind on their payments auctions are really a remedy of last resort in fact he tells me they generally only make 20% of what they're owed when a unit goes to auction people laughed at this unit and no wonder it was nearly vacant except for a vacuum suitcase an empty plastic bin 2930 third here now 31 and people teased one of the regulars a man named Bill when he paid 35 bucks for it but just wait he found purses and shoes in the suitcase but then he looked in the front compartments inside the envelope $100 bills $35 and how much money did you just find I think we just kind of 15 $100 bills feeling pretty good right now that's why we do this absolutely amazing but that is definitely the exception one of the regulars told me it's generally about 70% junk 30% good and when you buy one of the unit's you have to clear all of it out the good and the bad and you have to do it quickly so yeah all right so if you're not lucky enough just to get the 100 other bills which is awesome you know if I've got a Herman Miller chair what do I do it how do these people get make a profit on us well some of the folks sell things on eBay some of them take it to auctions and some of them actually own stores some of the regulars own stores and they get rid of it that way how do you find out when the auctions are happening you know there's a website it's called auction zip and it really lists everything in your area and we have a link to it at our website ktk calm

Channel: Ian Smith

Views: 3,876,771

Rating: 4.4605494 out of 5

Keywords: KDKA, Pittsburgh, David Highfield, Ian Smith, Storage Wars, Auction Hunters, Auctions

Id: OGjUC9Bygz0

Length: 5min 27sec (327 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 30 2011