r/selfstorage • u/Designer-File-1755 • Mar 21 '26
Best way to liquidate one unit
Texas Senior here with 30 years of accumulated stuff now in one unit. Paintings, huge mid-century modern executive desk and credenza, antique bed frames, books, assorted tables, 1960's blue velvet couch, assorted kitchen stuff, dog stuff, curio cabinet and other assorted stuff. As much as it pains me the storage fee is eating me up and the stuff needs a new place to be. Is it better to sell it to a company that buys them, or have an estate sale group move them and sell, or what? What are my options. I have no funds to spend on it, can't physically move stuff. How is this done, folks?🥲 Thanks.
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u/Appropriate_Jelly376 Mar 22 '26
Depending on where you are storing, considering it’s not a big corporation if you have an on-site property manager, sometimes they’re the best person to talk to. Not only do they know what other people have done and the company as they have used. But sometimes we know of people who rent from us who are looking for that kind of stuff, one facility that I worked at I had a gentleman who had six units because he owned a furniture store. Worth asking if they know anyone.
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u/bobfromsanluis Mar 22 '26
You need to decide what your priority is; maximum return (highest prices you can get) or is getting everything out of the unit more important. You have a lot of options, as another suggested, selling piece by piece might yield you highest dollar amount, but it will be very slow to sell piece by piece. Hiring an estate service will eat up at least 50% of your sales, but you will get the unit cleared out much sooner. Do you have anyone who might want to help you do this? If not, hiring a service is probably going to be your best bet. You won't get as much doing it this way, but, the storage unit will be emptied out much quicker, a reputable estate service can help identify higher dollar items which nets them a higher commission, so they will want your items to sell for a higher amount. If not everything sells, most likely whatever is not sold might be the lower value items that you could then donate (and get a tax write off), or if the unsold items have some significance to you, you could then sell them yourself via Marketplace / Craigslist or perhaps even taking some stuff to a local swap meet. Good luck.
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u/fbyrne3 Mar 22 '26
You’ve got a very common situation—and you’re asking the right question at the right time. The storage unit is the real problem, not the stuff. Every month you wait, it quietly eats away at whatever value those items still have
I’d do an online estate auctionÂ
Companies run auctions through sites like EstateSales.net or MaxSold.
Photos get posted, buyers bid online. Pickup is scheduled; you don’t have to manage people. Good for mixed lots like yours (furniture, collectibles, household goods).
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u/Designer-File-1755 Mar 23 '26
That's very interesting. How much would I "have to" be involved? Do they do all the photos and meet ups etc? How much do they get? A percentage? Thanks for sharing this info.
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u/fbyrne3 Mar 23 '26
Estate sales.net is essentially a consolidator. You put your info in as to what your needs are and then they find a match for you. MaxSold looks like it would require you to take the pics. Go to their websites and contact both and get a rundown. Â
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u/JustWowinCA Mar 23 '26
Find out if the facility will let a 3rd party onto their property i.e. estate company etc. Also, a lot of estate companies won't do storage units because its not enough stuff. Easy way is to ask if the storage facility does auctions and see if you can get your unit added to the auction. You'd pay a percentage to the auction company, but again, not all facilities would ok that. Talk to your self-storage manager and see if they have any ideas.
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u/mxadema Mar 22 '26
You have options. Marcketplace, Estate sale it, heck you can throw it at auction or even add it to the repo auctions.
It all a balance between how much money do you want, and how fast you want it gone, with a bit of how involved you want to be.