Cable television channel Arts and Entertainment (A&E) is giving the world a closer look at what really happens during self-storage lien auctions.

Storage Wars, which premiered Wednesday, follows auctioneer Dan Dotson and four professional buyers and their teams as they travel from facility to facility to bid on goods from tenants in default on their storage lease.  The show follows the auction process and the reveal as auction winners are given access to their buys and even get estimates on their value.  

In a self-storage auction, buyers are not allowed a close inspection of the units contents before the bid. Although they do get peek from the doorway, bidders generally have no way of knowing what may be found inside the storage unit. Units can be purchased for as low as $5 or even several hundred.

Storage Wars appears on Wednesdays at A&E. Learn more about the show here. To see what self-storage professionals are saying about the series, visit this Self-Storage Talk thread.

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