Man bought storage container for £1,400 and made enormous profit after discovering what was inside
Anyone who's familiar with TV shows such as Storage Wars or Cash in the Attic will be aware of the fact that there's a lot of money to be made rooting through other people's discarded items.
Abandoned units are often sold through online auctions by storage companies, with prices varying anywhere from a couple of pounds to thousands – which means it can be a risky investment for the amateur storage flipper.
However for those who get lucky, there is a lot of money to be made.
One person who's managed to build both a business and an online following through buying people's abandoned items is US man Wade Venture, with the content creator regularly sharing his impressive hauls online.
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The ambitious venture has well and truly paid off for the 39-year-old, with a recent purchase holding collectors items worth tens of thousands.
Revealing the impressive haul online, Venture explained that he'd purchased the 10ft by 20ft storage unit for $2,000 (£1,400) at an online auction, with no idea of what lay behind the medal shutters.
When he and his team opened the container up they discovered hundreds of Pokémon cards hidden away alongside old PlayStations, Xboxes, and Nintendo 64s and numerous vintage games.
Which for anyone who's unfamiliar with the secondhand games market, these items can sell for a lot.
"That was such an incredibly lucky find," Venture said of the unit, which was located just five minutes away from his house. "I had no idea what was inside."
Since purchasing the unit, Venture has been able to sell around five percent of its contents through an online auction platform for $6,000 (£4,393), which means he's already recouped the initial investment.
"They had the first edition Pokémon cards - there were probably over 1,000 of them," he explained.
"We found boxes filled with game consoles - I reckon there were 60 of them in total."
Originally used for a trading game amongst young fans of the Japanese franchise, Pokémon cards can now reach thousands of pounds amongst collectors, depending on the condition and rarity of the card.
Which suggests Venture has a lot more money to make on the unit.
"I think we are going to make around $80,000 [£60,000] on this container when it is all sold," Venture estimated.
"Off a $2000 investment, that is incredible."
So how does a person fall into the world of flipping storage containers for a living? By watching Storage Wars, of course.
"After being inspired by Storage Wars, I was intrigued and really wanted to give it a go," Venture revealed, adding that he has since purchased around 2,000 units.
Not all of them have made Venture and his wife money, with the first container he ever purchased being full of scrap metal, but when it's a good haul, the profits are massive.
"You don't get home runs all the time, but containers like the Pokémon one are where we earn the most money," he added.
Brenna Cooper