Storage wars draws a crowd

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This article was published 14/05/2012 (4870 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“Yuuup!”

With one simple word the self-proclaimed Dave Hester of Manitoba, Wally Noseworthy, snatched another locker at West Side Storage in Brandon on Saturday.

Hundreds of bugged up bidders showed up at the storage facility for its first ever storage locker auction.

“It’s storage wars,” Noseworthy said referencing the hit reality television series that follows a group of professional auction hunters as they tour across the United States looking for hidden treasures in storage lockers that have been abandoned.

Eight individual units were up for sale at West Side Storage, attracting attention from the mob of bidders. The auction followed the same format as the TV show as each bidder was allowed to view the contents of the locker and determine its worth. Then, the bidding came fast and furious as hunters bought lockers with the goal of turning a profit on the loot inside.

“I haven’t found any gold yet, but I haven’t checked my other lockers yet,” Noseworthy said standing in a locker surrounded by boxes.

Those boxes would reveal everything from kitchen knives to stuffed animals; wallets to brand new cordless answering machines.

“I got a good deal on this locker, it’s going to bring me money,” Noseworthy said after paying $900 for the unit plus an additional 15 per cent buyer’s fee.

Noseworthy loves the action of the auction, the thrill of the hunt and mystery of boxes, constantly looking for the “Wow” factor.

But he also says it takes a great deal of skill, knowing what to look for and how to win the psychological battle against rival bidders.

One thing Noseworthy didn’t like was how it was being revealed what were in some of the boxes prior to the auction, eliminating some of the skill and experience the professional buyers use to their advantage to get units at the cheapest possible price.

“I don’t agree with that, they shouldn’t tell no one what is in them,” Noseworthy said. “That’s part of the gamble. You don’t look in (the boxes) and you don’t get to touch.”

Scott Campbell, owner of Fraser Auction Service, handled the auctioneer duties for the day.

“It’s been crazy, better than we even expected,” Campbell said.

Campbell’s sons, Jesse and Cade, managed to buy some video games from one of the first two lockers, where the contents were auctioned off individually.

And Cade proved he might be a future auction hunter, reciting the opening of the TV Show.

“When storage units are abandoned, the treasures within are put up for auction,” he said with a smile.

The auction was a huge success. Vehicles filled Fowler Hyundai’s parking lot and were lined on both sides of Victoria Avenue all the way back to Sobeys.

But the auction is also something West Side Storage owner Paul Johnstone hopes doesn’t happen with any degree of regularity.

“Everything that was sold here today was truly at the state of being abandoned,” Johnstone said. “We’re in the business of renting storage space, not of disposing of people’s belongings. It’s not what we want to do, we’d rather our clients moved in and moved out and took everything with them.”

“Will we do it again? I hope not, but we’ll see,” he added.

» ctweed@brandonsun.com