Storage Wars Auctioneer Sells Unit Worth $7.5 Million For Just $500

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A storage unit worth $7.5 million was sold for just $500 on Storage Wars, with no one noticing the error until afterwards.

Now, I love nothing more than a bargain; I’m the first in the shops on Black Friday and the last one out. So my ears have immediately pricked up with this deal.

The unit was unknowingly sold on the show for a much lesser value than it was worth, with the hosts only finding out about it earlier this month.

Dan Dotson hosts Storage Wars with his wife Laura Dotson; a show where people auction off the contents of storage lockers if the rent has not been paid for three months.

As reported by The Blast, Dan was attending the Cars, Stars and Rock N’ Roll charity auction event in Indio, California, earlier in the month when a stranger approached him.

But nothing could have prepared him for the news she was about to give him – that the host had unknowingly sold the most valuable unit he’s ever sold, for just $500.

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The auctioneer posted a tweet to his account on November 6 explaining his discovery, telling his followers how he came to hear about the unit.

Speaking to the camera, he says:

A lady came to me and she said, I wanna tell you this story. My husband works for a guy and he bought a unit from you, and it had a safe in it and the first person they called to open the safe just couldn’t, or didn’t, and they called a second person.

When that person opened it up, inside the safe – normally they’re empty – but this time it wasn’t empty. It had $7.5 million cash inside the safe.

Now, there’s nothing worse than dropping a tenner on the street and not noticing until later that day, when it’s already likely in someone else’s pocket.

So I cannot imagine that feeling but intensified by about a million, which is exactly what happened to this unidentified person who somehow misplaced $7.5 million in the safe.

It is not known how the money came to be in the safe, or why the rent had not been paid on the storage unit, but the Storage Wars hosts had some suggestions.

Dan Dotson/Twitter

Dan continued to speculate on the matter, saying:

Y’know, so they have $7.5 million inside of a unit, I don’t think you’d forget it, but maybe you were just in a position, somebody else was in charge of it, I don’t know, I don’t know.

At this point his wife steps in and says:

They moved away, perhaps the person went to jail, who knows what it was? But do you know it happens all the time and this is the modern day treasure hunt and y’know Storage Wars is right there at the tip of it.

Whatever the reason, I can’t imagine the owner of the storage unit was very impressed. According to The Blast, the woman that Dan spoke to claimed an attorney contacted them and alleged to represent the people who owned the unit.

Reportedly, the attorney offered a $600,000 reward for the return of the cash, which the new owners declined. However, they then apparently accepted a second offer to keep $1.2 million and return the remaining $6.3 million.

Not a bad deal IMHO! Why do things like this never happen to me?

New episodes of Storage Wars are now available to watch on A&E.

Lucy Connolly

A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).