I must admit, I have watched storage wars quite a few times and even started attending a few storage auctions out of curiosity.  My conclusion, its all a big set up made for television.  Don't get me wrong, storage auctions do exist of course, but who puts a tub of silver coins in a storage locker.  I mean come on, your house was so full, you couldn't fit that plastic tote full of money in it.  The storage auctions that I've been to have all been filled with crap.  Modern 1980's to current run of the mill stuff.  A good friend of mine owns a large auction company and buys storage units all the time.  He tells me 99.9% of the stuff that comes out is $2 and $3 trinkets that he sells by the box full at his auction for $5 to $10.  The few auctions that I attended were my last few.  The auction companies advertise 10 units and by the time you show up, the girl at the front desk is on the phone with the renters taking payment minutes before the sale.  So, there ends up being 2 units filled with couches and clothes baskets.  Every now and then, you do get lucky.  But, more often than not, its garbage.  

My theory is that the producers have  a show to put on, so if the gang all ends up with crap, nobody will be interested or watch and then there will be no advertisers and no show.  What would I do if it were me making the show.  I would rent some units, plant some good stuff in there and let the hand picked cast "find it".  Not rocket science is it?  It's all about the cash register ringing as usual.  So you plant $10,000 worth of stuff and that week the show earns $100,000 in advertising revenue.  Duhhhhhh.  $90,000 profit!!!!! and the show goes on another week. 

I had a funny idea.  Go rent a unit, write old Lionel trains on the outside of the box and old comic books on another box, grandmas antique jewelry on another box etc. etc. etc. and let someone buy it for thousands and find out the boxes are filled with nothing but air.  

One last thing, my friend that owns the auction house tells me he gets tips that there might be something good in a particular unit.  A tip on a locked unit?  Sounds to me like it's been unlocked and gone through.  Lets just say that it pays to tip the front desk clerk for a little help.  They call the renters looking for payment and many times the renters will say something like, "so what, sell it, it's just my x's golf clubs and clothes etc".  On the other hand, sometimes the desk clerk will know that it belonged to an old man who was put in a nursing home and died and can't make payment.  My point is, it pays to buy the desk clerk some donuts every now and then.  

This is the mantra of every half-assed producer on LA.  Storage Wars is based on reality, but INCREDIBLY edited.

About 200 hours of filming edits down to a 30 minute show.  Some things are staged, and they NEVER show the grit and hard work.  I'm wating to see ANYONE do a dump run.  So far, all the garbage just disappears, for free.

And those washers, and matresses....they just disappear, too.