[josefresco]

"We now insist on up-front payment as the items people store are worthless to sell."

Was this ever different? Boxes of CD's, videos and tube TV's don't sound that valuable. But reading into your comment, it seems it wasn't always like this...

[bkmartin]

It might now seem that way, but when you can put those things into a second hand shop for $1-$5 a piece someone's DVD, or CD collection can become quite valuable when its abandoned. Some people did/do store hundreds of cd's, dvds, and the like. A unit could have a thousand dollars(in real secondhand market value) of merch very easily.

[josefresco]

Do CD's/DVD's not have this value anymore? I could CD's being phased out, but DVD's are still entrenched. Maybe with online streaming (Netflix) DVD's too are going away? I would think this would be a lagging indicator though as I can see many storing their DVD's now that streaming is an option.

[yardie]

CD's don't and never really did. If you bring in an early CD (like from the 80s) you can get a nominal amount because CDs were rare then. If you bring in a CD from the last 10-15 years they are nearly worthless. Most shops ended up shredding the extra.

DVDs have a bit of crazy market. Some distributors (Disney and Criterion especially) do a short limited run. The 2nd hand stores rely on these gems in a big box of junk to make profit.

[WalterBright]

I've attempted to sell DVD's and CD's. Once you factor in postage, time, etc., it's cheaper to just throw them away. Or give them to the thrift store.

[vxNsr]

Yup, there's a reality TV show [0] based on the premise that these units can hold real value.

[0]storage wars

[Spooky23]

Buddy of mine does lots of odd lot things. He buys storage units once in awhile and gets big hits sometimes. He's gotten gun collections and snowmobiles, among other things.