I'm A Teen That Buys Abandoned Storage Units — My Side Hustle Brings In $135,000/Year
Michael Haskell, an 18-year-old entrepreneur, discusses his successful side hustle of buying and selling items from abandoned storage units, generating approximately $135,000 in revenue in 2025. He shares insights into his auction strategies, financial management, and future business aspirations.
Summary
Michael Haskell, an 18-year-old, has found success in buying abandoned storage units and selling the contents for profit, with his business, Mike's Unique Treasures, earning around $135,000 in 2025. His journey began when he was inspired by the TV show Storage Wars and has since evolved into a significant side hustle. He primarily acquires storage units through online auction sites like storagetreasures.com and employs careful research techniques to identify valuable items.
Haskell's approach involves spending about 20 to 25 hours per week on his business, with gross earnings for the first half of 2026 already reaching $85,000. His biggest expenses include shipping fees and sales commissions, but with an EBIT of approximately $82,000 in 2025, he effectively manages his finances. He reinvests most of his earnings into a brokerage account and also assists his mother with investments.
The nature of the storage units he buys often reflects circumstances such as unpaid bills or deceased estate auctions, with Haskell looking for signs to determine the potential value of the contents. He acknowledges the unpredictability of auction outcomes but maintains an optimistic outlook. A pivotal moment in his career was acquiring the storage unit of Andrew Crispo, a notable art dealer, which housed high-value items including a Man Ray painting.
Haskell is contemplating how his business will fit with his college plans and is considering future ventures like building storage facilities or house flipping. He reflects on consumerism and suggests that much of what people buy new could potentially be found in storage units, stating that his own belongings have significantly shifted from new purchases to second-hand items from his business.
Key Insights
- Haskell's first investment was a storage unit purchased for around $10, yielding a $40 CO2 canister sold on Facebook Marketplace.
- He loses the need to buy new items for himself, as most of his possessions come from storage units he has purchased.
- Haskell employs an AI program to identify potentially valuable storage unit auctions based on owner names and other data.
- His most significant find was a storage unit belonging to Andrew Crispo, which included a Man Ray painting and other valuable art pieces.
- He intends to use his earnings for college and is exploring diversifying his ventures into building storage facilities or house flipping.
Topics
Transcript
[0:01] The best part of the storage unit really isn't when you're at the unit, but it's when you're driving there before you're kind of, you know, in the nitty gritty, pulling heavy boxes out of a storage unit. Woo. This is kind of the period where you start thinking magical thoughts about, you know, this guy was some millionaire who's never been known. Of course, you never know until you get there and you start pulling boxes out. My name is Michael Haskell. I'm 18 years old and I sell items I find in abandoned storage units. My side hustle, Mike's Unique [0:31] Treasures, brought in about $135,000 in 2025. I think what inspired me to buy storage units…
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