Brian's Magical Mystery $10 Unit

One day, for whatever reason, Brian went to auction without me (SHAME ON HIM) --  although, truth be told, I think I might have elected to sleep late that particular day.  Anyways, he went to a facility near New Orleans East that we NEVER go to, but he bought this unit for $10.

I was a little scared to see it, but I trust him, and ultimately, for $10-- can you really go wrong?

This is what the unit looked like:

It seemed as if the previous owners had pillaged through and left only what they couldn't fit in their car--- there were only a few items, and a table and chairs, as well as one or two rubbermaid containers- but even the totes along were worth $10

Here's another angle.  It was a very awkward corner unit, which is probably why no one wanted to deal with it (We had to do some crazy things to that table to get it to fit through that door),  so here's another angle.  Notice the dollhouse hiding in the corner. 

Yet another view of the inside of the unit:

Three of the chairs were in amazing shape.  The wood was great, and the cushions were slightly stained but easily recovered.   The fourth chair was in pieces, but at least we had all the pieces and it would glue back together easily.  We kept everything.

If you look closely towards the right of the picture, you can see the broken chair:

Here's another one of the broken chair:

The dollhouse, upon further examination was in slightly rough shape, but was a Fisher Price Lovin' Family Playhouse that had ALL of the pieces with it, including all of the added on accessories.  Total original retail on it was around $150.   I believe we let it go at a garage-sale for in the $30 range.  So that ONE item doubled or tripled our profit on the locker.

The other side / inside of the doll house:   Is it dollhouse or doll house?  At this point with the way the wind is howling, we're LUCKY to be INSIDE a house at all.

The totes were mainly ladies and children's clothing, but probably another $10-$20 in merchandise.

Some purses and easter baskets.  Another couple of dollars.

Hello Kitty, brand new with tags, is always a good seller.  I think we sold this one for $10.

So, we quadrupled our money and then some on just the little items, and then we ended up selling the table and chairs to a very nice lady on craigslist (although, admittedly, I wish I wouldn't have because I lost my own kitchen table just a week or two later) -- LONG STORY.     But, I believe we sold it for about $125--  great deal for her on a solid wood table, and  great deal for us.

Cost of the unit: $10

Total profit:  $175

Not bad at all!  

As a follow-up, the girl we sold the table to was kind enough to send me a message with the picture of how the table looked, restored, in her house.    Neither Brian or I are really big "green" people (nor are we BIG, GREEN, people!)   but we have come to realize lately, especially with dealing with the Los Angeles folks, that storage units are really a great way to recycle--  otherwise stuff would end up in the garbage, and you're finding new uses for things and also letting families and younger people or people down on their luck make a good economical choice by purchasing something used for cheaper as opposed to having to break the bank to pay full retail.  Win win win.

And sorry, having MAJOR technical difficulties right now and NO cell phone service, so I was forced to take a picture of my cell phone to show you this picture of the table the girl sent me.  The caption says "Thanks Rebecca, I cleaned it all up!"

And that's why they call us Storage Heroes!

Great job, Brian!  Now I have to find a $10 unit that's JUST as good so we can compare!

Until next time,

We bring the fun to auction,

Storage Heroes