Storage Unit Auctions: Silent/Sealed Bid Vs. Live Auctions

Storage Unit Auctions: Silent/Sealed Bid Vs. Live Auctions

There’s been a lot of talk of storage unit auctions lately. Have you been to a storage unit auction? Or any auction for that matter? Was it a silent/sealed bid auction or a live auction? Do know what the difference is?


Storage Unit auctions as well as other auctions for that matter are generally run in one of these two formats. Some storage unit facilities will actually hire an auctioneer or bid caller while others conduct the auction themselves.


Before we get into comparing and contrasting these two very different styles of auctions let’s first touch on auctioneers vs. bid callers.


The difference really doesn’t matter as they are often one in the same but it’s been explained to me that auctioneers generally run their own auctions, do the advertising for the auction, often own the auction house where the auction is taking place,  hire the staff, solicit sellers to get goods to auction and for all this they generally take a commission on everything sold at the auction.


Bid Callers on the other hand basically perform the same function as an auctioneer in the sense that they are the one conducting the auction but they are generally hired and brought in just to facilitate the actual number calling in the auction, they generally don’t organize and facilitate the whole event.


Moving on to the actual auction formats. Some larger Storage Facility Chains like Public Storage for example will often hire an auctioneer or bid caller to facilitate the auction. They usually conducts the auction as well as doing a little bit of advertising for the auction as well.


These auctions are run in the live bid auction format most of us probably think of when we think about auctions. You know a guy who talks like the dude from the old Micro Machine commercials rattling off what they call their chant…


“Who’ll give me a hundred dollars?
One hundred dollar bid, now two,
Now two, will ya give me two?

Two hundred dollar bid, now there?”


You get the point.


The other form of auction is the silent bid or sealed bid auction. When I first started attending storage auction it seemed every auction I attended was a silent bid auction, however lately everything I’ve attended has been a live auction.


The auction is generally run as a silent bid auction when it’s a smaller non-chain storage facility. They generally don’t hire an auctioneer and generally don’t do any advertising aside from an ad in the legal section of the newspaper stating so and so’s good are being auctioned at such and such facility on such and such a date. This is generally a legal requirement in most states.


Though it is an auction these sales are often referred to as Public Sales or Public Bid Sales. Basically the same as a foreclosed home being auctioned off.


So which auction format is better for you? This is a tough question to answer as both formats have their pro’s and con’s.


Silent Bid or Sealed Bid auctions are good in the sense that unlike a traditional auction or live auction you don’t have the competitiveness and back and forth that you have with a live auction. In live auctions I personally notice that often times people probably pay more for a storage locker than is wise to or more than they would have liked to simply because they got caught up in the moment or caught up in the auction and couldn’t let the other guy win.


The upside to this live auction style is that you can gauge the interest of other bidders, and in a way, know what you have to bid to win. Unlike a silent/sealed bid auction where potentially you could win the auction but you paid $300 more than the second highest bidder. In this situation it’s possible had the auction been a live style auction you may have been able to get that same unit for less money.


Both these auction styles have their pro’s and con’s. I don’t think you can necessarily say one style would generally equal a higher price tag for the same unit than the other. I think it’s very dependent on who shows up at the auction, the number of units selling at the auction, and just the flow that the auction takes.


Have you attended a storage or other auction recently? What style of auction did they run? Which style of auction do you prefer personally? We’d love to hear from you, leave a comment below.