February 6, 2014, by Ben Read

Going once, going twice…

The American craze of storage auctions has recently found its way onto British television in the form of various programs with very similar names, such as Storage Wars, Storage Auctions and Storage Hunters. There is even a game available on the app store that recently topped the ‘paid for’ chart.

I'm pretty good at the game!

I’m pretty good at the game!

Personally, I am a big fan of the shows. It is incredible what can be found in these abandoned storage lockers. So incredible in fact that it raises two questions. Firstly, is it real or are these rare and valuable items placed in the storage units for the purpose of interesting television? Secondly, does this kind of auction exist in England? I don’t have the answer to the first question, but I think might have discovered Britain’s answer to Storage Wars and its located right here in Nottingham!

John Pye Auctions is based in Radford and runs online and traditional auctions that feature an enormous range of different lots. Quite frankly it’s amazing, you can literally buy anything and everything and normally very cheaply.

Some of my favourite things I have seen posted on their website include the University of Nottingham’s Hopper Bus (I kid you not, I considered bidding but it was slightly out of my price range), a plane, Ashes memorabilia and luxury watches (currently a £10000 Breitling going for £3500 if anyone’s interested). These rarer items appear alongside more regularly available things such as electronics from top brands such as Apple, Samsung etc., household appliances, cars, caravans and office equipment.

So many laptops!

So many laptops!

You could quite literally kit out your whole student house with rather nice appliances and furniture for a ridiculously low amount of money. Perhaps I should forward the link onto my landlord…

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My personal purchases have included 4 of these incredibly useful bar stools for the grand total of £4

Useful for sitting on, or eating your dinner off...

Useful for sitting on, or eating your dinner off…

Two very comfy office chairs for the measly sum of £7

Saskia working hard

Saskia ‘working’ hard

And most recently a Nikon 20 megapixel digital camera for £30

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John Pye is certainly an entertaining browse. I guarantee you’ll be amazed at what’s for sale and for how little, you may even pick up a bargain!

Posted in Ben