What happened to auction hunters

In our increasingly digital world, fewer people are carrying cash, opting instead for the ease of a debit card, but the cash-only rule for storage unit auctions is part of what makes Storage Wars so fun to watch.

Bidders enter the auction with a set amount of cash, and cannot go to an ATM for more money in between bids, write checks, or use cards to pay for units.

Auction hunters fake

This means that bidders have two main goals: First, to get each unit they want for as little as possible, so they have money left over for other units. Second, drive up the prices for units they don't want, so that they have less competition for the ones they do.

Of course, rivalries and pettiness play into this second goal too, as in the episode "Snake, Rattle, and Roll," when "The Rangers" Ricky and Bubba Smith dramatically hike up the cost of a storage unit that city-slicker Victor Rjesnjansky wants to buy, even though they have no interest in the unit, in order to win one for the country boys.

Another key component of the drama in Storage Wars is the unknow