Quite often, buying disused storage lockers can be a gamble of value, but for one lucky lad he had found millions of dollars inside after buying the unit from a Storage Wars star
Abandoned storage lockers can be a game of chance, with either trash or treasure to be found. For one man it was most definitely the latter, as he made an astonishing discovery inside.
The man had been taking part in a storage auction for the disused unit, being led by Storage Wars star Dan Dotson. Paying just $500 (£380) for the locker, he was shocked when he found a safe inside that contained millions.
Dan has since recalled the moment he heard about the man discovering £5.7m inside , and how the original owner tracked the buyer down to get the unit back. However, this was a win-win situation for the man, as he came away $1million (£767,000) richer.
Dan, 62, is a longtime flipper of old and disused storage lockers, having already learned the ropes when he was just 11. A skilled auctioneer, he was able to find his passion in life early and helped to set up his own business, American Auctioneers, together with his darling wife Laura.
Throughout his career, the auctioneer has sold many an odd item. But back in 2018, he revealed that his favourite sell was the one that gave him millions in return for his investments.
The Storage Wars star explained in a YouTube video released in November of 2018 that a woman had spoken with him at a charity event after he had sold one neglected storage unit. There, she revealed she knew the man who had bought the unit from the pair and was in fact a friend of a friend.
“It had a safe in it and the first person that they called to open the safe, I guess couldn’t, or didn’t,” Dan recalled. “They called a second person and they opened it up.
“Normally, they are empty. But this time, it wasn’t empty. It had $7.5 million (£5.7million) cash inside the safe.”
The woman then revealed that the man soon received a “mysterious” phone call from the lawyer of the previous owner of the unit. She explained that the barrister had offered him a huge $600,000 (£455,400) in order to buy the unit back, as well as the millions that were contained within the safe.
Despite the generous nature of the offer, the man initially declined the proposal. Not one to give up the fight however, the offer was then doubled to a whopping $1.2million (£910,700) for the unit; only then, did the man shake hands and give the storage locker back to its original owner.
Ultimately, he would come away from the deal $6million (£4.5m) worse off. But for him, the best part of the deal was to come away with a clean conscience, knowing he got the best deal possible.
“What would you do with all that money? The question is, would you give it back?” Dan asked the audience as he recounted the bizarre interaction. “Would you keep it and run for the hills? What would you do?”
His wife Laura admitted that she would feel uneasy about keeping the money for herself: “I don’t feel like it would be clean money. I’d accept that $1.2 million and just be happy.
“But this happens all of the time,” she added. “This is the modern day treasure hunt.”
Dan agreed but also questioned the story on how easily the lawyer was able to make contact with the buyer, and how the original owner could forget such a valuable inside. He added: “I don’t think that you would forget that you have $7.5 million inside a unit, but maybe you’re just in a position where somebody else is in charge of it.”
Storage Wars airs tonight at 10.40pm on Sky History
