In our little town in Washington, the law says that we are not allowed to step into or touch ANYTHING inside the unit.There are strict laws governing our rights and responsibilities as an accredited storage facility. We ARE able to stand at the door and maneuver the camera as much as possible in order to get the best possible views for the buyers, and its highly unlikely that a facility that is reputable, will break these laws. If there were an employee or staff member caught doing such things at OUR facility- obviously they would be fired immediately! Also, we see so much of peopleās belongings throughout the year from them moving in or out, leaving stuff, selling stuff or just requesting help with something that needs moved etc -Its not commonplace to desire anything belonging to a customer usually. Thatās not to say I havenāt admired certain items of someoneās but never enough to STEAL them AND at the risk of losing my job too?? Yeahā¦NO. Lol, thatās just common sense to me and my staff anyway.( Geez, I have enough of my own crap, let alone somebody elseās anyways.) Itās unfortunate that these types of things happen at all, but Im not sure its very common.
Also, I personally dislike storage auctions at all. I think its awful to sell someones things. It is a part of my job that I dislike very much. I understand the company needing to recover their losses but I wish there was another way around it. I do EVERYTHING possible, to try and help someone to come up with a plan so that they can pay before they go to auction. Its the last thing we WANT to do for sure.And then theres those who get behindā¦and never call me again, too. Then Iām STILL trying to contact them afterward to hopefully return the personals that the buyer returned.9 I have little or no success most of the time, unfortunately.) I also tell my potential customerās that if anything should happen and they are unable to avoid foreclosure, to be sure and come back and request the personals from after their unit gets sold. I donāt think people are familiar with that part of the law either. They usually didnāt know anything whatsoever about getting their personals back, free of charge, no questions asked. Nor do they realize that there is a certain amount of time that we are required, by law, to keep the returned items after a foreclosure sale- so being vigilant about requesting any personals is always vitally important. Sorry for your experience!!
I like the online a lot better cause people can get crazy when itās in person and two it goes so quick and online I donāt feel like I got take ppl out and able to bid as I go . Iām for the online.
Is anyone here from Yakima ā¦ hopefully Iām not a lone
Prefer live as mentioned above feel like prices are generally cheaperā¦ but ive been to live ones where get a few lively bidders raising everything up. Iāve gotten good units online in fact my best has been online however ive gotten 2-3 bad ones that wrecked sooo badā¦ covered in animal piss and pooā¦ drugsā¦ etc. had one I didnāt even unload just took straight to dump wasnāt worth my health or reputation as a seller. and it was in one of costly nice well kept storage places. Live you can smell and see and get better feel for. Online isā¦ hit or miss. some places use such crappy camera work its 5 pics of them at the door before its open and one of a wall 
4 minutes of video with 20 seconds of swinging through unit so fast its all blurry and out of focus. Also get zoom feature would be helpful in the photos 
Only thing I donāt like about the on line auction is it takes for ever and the very last minute they can cancel it like at a live auction if you get their and the lock gets cut itās getting sold. Nothing can change it ( at every one Iāve been to anyway)
Yes I bought some furniture and thought it was good but when I got there it had holes that I could clearly see just they didnāt take good pictures of it
these on line auctions would be way better if the photos taken were not taken withe saran wrap over the 2mp cameras they seem to use . its 2020 and the pictures are atrocious .not only is it completely unprofessional, its turned numerous people off .
Im from Yakima! Small world!
Online would be great except you allow the sellers to back out after the hammer falls, something that does not happen liveā¦
Live auctions are better for the simple reason when the locker is bought you pay immediately, your lock goes on the locker thus the locker can not be bought back by the owner. In addition, it avoids possible tampering from the storage facility.
Though time consuming, the chance of fraud or scams is much lower.
Online auctions are so much easier for me anyway. Iām a stage four lung cancer patient and I can always send my back up person to pick up for me if Iām not well
I think I would rather start bidding on a live show with a timer rather than a video posted by the storage facility.
I mean whatās stopping them from taking things out of the unit 
Or at least let people watch the units get opened for the first time, I would go down and watch the units locks get cut, take a look live, then be OK with a few days on-line auction.
Some places show videos of cutting a lock. Really that can be staged easily also . Just cut the original lock open, go in unit take items then put new lock on and bring people for āliveā lock cutting and unit reveal.
At a certain point you have to have some trust .
I wasnāt thinking about the cutting of the locks as a trust issue, more of allowing those who would like to see it live could witness it. Have a time set (Wednesday at 2pm kind of thing) they will cut the lock, open the door and video record for the on-line auction, and those who want can go and see the unit in person at this time only.
I prefer the online auctions . Most people want to go in person to the units mainly because they feel itās less likely to be tampered with, just like the comment above yours . Why else would you want to see unit in person instead of photos and videos?
i have a business then that can lose eve ty thing because this is my situation plus some. can anyone contact me for help with my situation i havent spoken much about online
I would love and prefer in person, I havenāt attended or found in person in my area yet, but with online, oftentimes the pictures or video does not do the stuff justice, it is hard to see actual condition of the items in the unit. There is always that ooooohhhhhh moment when you open the door to the unit for the first time, there have been many units where I would not have bid in person. While online bids are skyrocketing these days and in person would likely end up with lower bids, I do like the strategy of online bidding.
There are definitely pros and cons of both online and in person auctions!
I enjoy both!
Pros of online auctionsā¦sitting anywhere to check them outā¦very convenient. No crowds, dealing with the sometimes extreme weather. Not missing any because you have to work, didnāt hear about it in time or just canāt go.
Some facilities allow you to pay via phone so you know the unit is 
yours(I do wish all would do thisā:thinking:)
Cons of online auctionsā¦ cancellation of a unit once bidding has started, waiting to get into a unit after youāve won(yes,I have had a couple facilities say it will be 1-3 days after auction ends to get in). Auction is listed with a 48 or a 72 hr clean out and you go to the facility and the manager says differentā¦24 or 48hr clean out or say the auction ends at 10amā¦you try to callā¦no answerā¦you try again and leave a message and continue to callā¦ finally hear back at 4pm(they close at 5pm)ā¦you try to pay for the unit and then they sayā¦oh,the person just came in a half hr ago to payā¦itās cancelled ā¦wtf?? Or you get a hold of them and you set up a time to come pay and get the unit and then nobodyās there,so you start the calling process from their parking lotā¦very frustrating!(yes,Iāve had each of these happen). I know Iām not the only one but,as a buyerā¦you plan accordingly to when the auction ends, expect to get into the unit the same day(usually within an hr or so) to get there and pick up your treasuresā¦the excitement and adventure are hot but, having to waitā¦past frustrating! Weāve been buying auction units for over 20 years, majority were in personā¦thatās the only way it was and the last 8 yrs have been both.
In person auctions are funā¦ watching people, reading people and interacting is the Best! Sometimes the weather is extremely hot but,most of the time itās niceā¦we donāt have in person storage auctions in cold months here in MN 
I like to be able to see in person the itemsā¦my husband is taller so he does the scan from top and Iām shorterā¦so I scan the lowerā¦Iāll even squat down to look,when neededā¦we make a good teamš.
Love the NO TOUCHING, No MOVING ANYTHING OR ENTERING INSIDE UNIT Rulesā¦if you are caught doing anyā¦you are banned from biddingā¦ usually the owner tells them to take a hikeā¦very entertaining
You win a unitā¦u pay on the spot and have full access immediatelyā¦Love thatā¦no waitingā¦the hunt is onā¤ļø
But,as I said up topā¦
I enjoy Bothā¦ online and in person storage auctions,Both have pros and consš
I totally agree with you regarding this comment.
I believe there should be a process in place to cut the lock (as they do in person) and /or attach a new lock during the filming process.
I THINK THATS A GREAT IDEA!! But they key word is āoptionā.
Because sometimes I WANT to describe the SMELL of a unit but I cannot encourage or discourage the units description- I can only list what I see. But youre right it could easily be done as you desribe- but trust is a real thing and companies are hopefully legit. The assumption is that they have rules within their company too and they succeed because they are trustworthy and so on. And Im sure BID13 has their own ways to determine if shady stuff is happening as well. This suggestion would provide assurance AND protection to BOTH parties. I wonder if folks would actually show up? But so what if they did or didnt? they COULD. Great idea!