New reality show on "Auction Hunters" set to premiere next week on Spike TV (VIDEO)
Spike TV explores the cutthroat world of storage-unit auctions in the new unscripted original series Auction Hunters set to premiere on November 9 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT).
Remember Jennifer Love Hewitts' Melinda Gordon from Ghost Whisperer? She sells antiques. Where does she get the items she sells in her antique store? Well, she sometimes retrieve them from auction houses, and from states sales. The new Spike TV original series Auction Hunters follow Melinda Gordon's counterparts in the real world, as they hunt, not for ghosts, but for abandoned storage units.
Over ten thousand abandoned storage units are put up for public auction everyday in the US. Each unit has the potential to be a goldmine or a bust for those who make their living hunting unclaimed property. The business of auction hunting has emerged as a thriving trade for many Americans.
This eight half-hour episode series follows two of the best prospectors in the business, Ton Jones and Allen Haff, in their quest to win auctions, acquire abandoned treasure and sell it for a profit.
Auction Hunters also follows the prospectors during "the sell" as they consult experts, establish value and ultimately scour the antique and collectible markets in search of buyers. The show will focus mainly on items with great historical and cultural significance such as America's first black powder revolver and a depression era slot machine.
Allowed only a brief glimpse inside the units before each fast-paced auction begins, skill and strategy are paramount as auction hunters have only seconds to estimate the value of the unit and determine how high they're willing to bid to beat out the competition.
Once an auction is won, the story and true monetary worth of the unit emerges as Haff, a second generation antiques dealer and Jones, a gun, knife, sword and military paraphernalia expert, begin "the dig," a process by which they literally dig into the contents of the unit and assess every single item within.
Sometimes, they find nothing but at other times, they score big, bringing home a trove of items for which prospective buyers around the country will pay top dollar.
Watch the sneak peek clip of Auction Hunters from Spike TV: