History Series / StorageWars

** In one episode, Barry had bought a unit that contained nothing but a safe for $650. Much fuss was made over what was inside and he got help to crack it open, only to find [[spoiler: [[EpicFail the safe was empty]]]], and that he couldn't sell it afterward because he'd wrecked the front trying to open it himself.

** Dave Jr. once even threw ''his entire life savings'' at a locker he had a good feeling on, dumping $5,550 on it, getting understandably worried when it looked like he might not make anywhere ''close'' to his money back. [[spoiler: Fortunately, a couple of antique slot machines in the unit brought him roughly a $1600 profit.]]

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** Can happen if a locker's price is bid very high by one buyer, BUT inside said locker is a trove of valuable stuff that made it still a very profitable decision for the winner. Jarrod got this done to him when he bid Dave to $4,000 on a "jeweler's unit" after he'd dumped a $9,000 locker on him the episode before [[spoiler: Dave found watercolors and cash inside it as well and he ''netted a profit'' between both shows, with the jeweler's unit's proceeds canceling out the previous loss.]] and Dave had it done to him recently in "The Drone Wars" when he got Darrell to pay over $7,000 for a tool/craftsman's unit [[spoiler: besides tools, there was also high-value building materials in quantities large enough to net a $18,000 profit]].

* IndyPloy: When Stewart Copeland of Music/ThePolice doesn't give that favorable an appraisal of Barry's drum set, Barry realizes that a ''drum set autographed by Stewart Copeland'' might just be worth several times that. [[spoiler: It just about triples the value, giving Barry enough profit to win the episode.]]

* NeverTrustATrailer: One commercial made it look like Jarrod and Brandi found a dead body in a unit. [[spoiler: It was a fake head. Though it did fool Brandi at first.]]

* PirateBooty: "Make it Rain, Girl" had Jarrod win a locker that had not one, but ''TWO'' safes in an auction. They were filled very well with coins, including some half-reals from the Spanish Fleet. [[spoiler: The coins are appraised between $3500 and $4000.]]

* TitleDrop: "Hook, Line and Sucker" refers to how Dave got Barry to bid $320 on a locker full of mattresses. [[spoiler: Barry gets the last laugh, though--he finds inside the locker artwork of Hollywood Park racetrack from June 1938. Black and white pictures, including rendering of frescoes then that were lost in the 1949 Hollywood Park fire. The value of the pictures is ''$5,000.'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:Part treasure hunter, part gambler]]

* ViewersAreGoldfish: "Earlier I found a ____ in a locker that I bought for $____, and now I want to see what it's worth." We know, we just saw you dig it out of the locker not more than 3 minutes ago!!

''Storage Wars'' follows several professional buyers in southern California as they scour repossessed storage units in search of hidden treasure. Most of them have found everything from coffins to vintage cars to valuable comic book collections, paying as little as a dollar for items that prove to be valued in the tens of thousands. Of course, other times, they end up with a locker full of [[SchmuckBait worthless garbage]]. The current buyers consist of Darrell Sheets (accompanied by son Brandon until he left for college); Mary Padian, formerly of the spinoff ''Storage Wars Texas''; Ivy Calvin (who owns a thrift store in Palmdale); Rene Nezhoda (occasionally seen with his wife Casey and daughter Tatiana and who owns Bargain Hunters Thrift Store); husband-wife team of Jarrod Schulz and Brandi Passante (who have since lost their original shop); and Dave Hester, one of the bigger spenders (although he's also an auctioneer, to boot!).

* BuxomIsBetter: Rene's wife, Casey, is ''very'' well-endowed.

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: Barry comes across as this at times, since he's doing all this for fun and not to make a living. Occasionally played up when he elects to keep a rare item from a locker, a luxury most other buyers can't afford.
** At least one episode has Jarrod stewing as Barry throws away and destroys "non-collectibles" that could easily be sold to Jarrod and Brandi for their second-hand store.
---> '''Jarrod''': He's throwing out $20 bills.
** In "San Burrito", Barry wins two lockers thanks to his friend also bidding. He offers one locker for $300 to Jarrod, who accepts. (Jarrod and Brandi find two "bird boxes" in the locker that are whistling and working--''and are worth about $7,000.'') And his other locker Barry trades the contents to a Hispanic woman ''for a complete Mexican dinner with burritos''--"one of the best burritos I've ever had," he claimed. Since these lockers were both ''untouched AND unopened since the auction'' as an extra scene on the website showed, Barry had to offer based on what everyone saw, and he didn't have time to process the two lockers he won.
** He didn't do the same for a set of fur coats though and gave them to Dave instead. And Dave didn't even go to that auction in the first place.
** In "Unclaimed Baggage," Dave Jr. offers Barry the chance to consign the items from his locker at Dave's shop with Barry and the store splitting the proceeds.
** In one episode, Barry wins a storage locker that contains a gun safe via [[LoopholeAbuse a proxy bidder]] (cause he had violated a rule during the auction process where he entered the locker, which is a big no-no). When he goes back dressed up as a stereotypical burglar, he remarks that he'll need to make sure the safe remains undamaged just in case the safe is empty. [[WhatAnIdiot Cue him using a variety of tools that actually damages the safe, including using a blowtorch to destroy the keypad to the safe.]] In the end, a professional safe cracker drills into the safe, [[AllForNothing to reveal nothing was inside.]]

* CriticalResearchFailure: In-universe:
** Even had it been functional, Mark's NES console wouldn't have been worth anywhere near $13,000. As [[http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2011/08/storage_wars_auctioneer_assume.php more knowledgeable folks pointed out]], he was probably confused by an eBay auction where an NES console sold for that price because it was part of a lot including an incredibly rare game cart that was still in its original packaging.
** Dave bought what he thought was an old, 15th century Couch in a locker and thought it was worth thousands, while Barry noted that there was no way the couch was that old and said that it was much more recent. The two made a bet of $5000 and Dave brought it to an appraiser. Unfortunately for Dave, Barry was correct as the appraiser identified it as being from around 19th-20th century, as the carving on the wood show influences from all over the place.

* RareGuns:
** One episode had Barry turn up a set of rare flare guns in a unit he bought.
** Averted in one episode where Nabila thought she had found an antique flintlock pistol in an otherwise worthless locker, but it turned out to be a 1960's reproduction and not worth anything.

[[quoteright:192:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Storage_Wars_4027.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:192:Part treasure hunter, part gambler]]

* NiceHat: Darrell's son Brandon wears one with one word in the name of Dave's business altered to read "Con" instead of "Consignment". [[ClusterFBomb Dave is]] [[BerserkButton not pleased]].

** Season 3 also has Barry bring in Kenny Crossley, a storage employee who was briefly seen in Season 2, for a few episodes. Crossley has since gone onto having his own praline business, appeared with Barry on ''Barry'd Treasure and would return as a regular bidder himself in later seasons.