Dan Dotson, auction house owner and frequent star of Storage Wars on A&E, was recently told a yarn so compelling he simply had to take to the internet and pass it along to his fans.
What would you do if you came across $7.5 million in an abandoned storage unit, only to be approached by the money's real owner shortly thereafter?
Watch the story being told here.
Stacks of Cash 7.5 Million dollars found in a storage auctionyoutu.be
The story, told to Dotson by a woman at an event, involved a man who had bought an "abandoned" storage unit at auction for $500 (after a certain amount of time left unused or unpaid for, storage units are available to be sold by the establishment's proprietors).
Inside, the man found a safe.
Inside the safe: treasure.
Dotson told the tale in his video:
"The first person they called to open the safe, I guess, couldn't, or didn't, so they called a second person. When that person opened it up, inside the safe — normally they're empty, but this time it wasn't empty— [and] it had $7.5 million cash inside."
@auctionguydan @AETV @storageauctnet @paytheladylaura If there was 7.5 mil in cash why did they let payments lapse?????— Lisette Amoroso (@Lisette Amoroso) 1541456344.0
Naturally, the unit's buyer was overjoyed.
However, that $7.5 million didn't appear out of thin air—it belonged to someone who had stowed it in the storage unit.
Before long, the buyer was approached by an attorney with a proposition: return most of the money to its original owner and they could keep $600k off the top.
This unit sells for 500 bucks, buyer finds 7.5 million cash, attorney reaches out on behalf of the previous owner &… https://t.co/FcxUauvI7h— Dan Dotson on A&E (@Dan Dotson on A&E) 1541440931.0
The attorney would later raise the offer to $1.2 million, making the deal a little more palatable.
The buyer relented and decided to go through with the deal, losing some of his $7.5 million but ultimately walking away with nearly $1.5 million on a $500 gamble.
@auctionguydan @AETV @storageauctnet @paytheladylaura If you have 7.5mil sitting in a locker and don’t pay the lock… https://t.co/UVamVKLSu8— Chuck Heshler (@Chuck Heshler) 1541442334.0
Dotson and his wife Laura debated whether or not they would keep the money, with Laura saying:
"I don't feel like it'd be clean money."
The Storage Wars star ultimately agreed, commenting:
"I wouldn't ask a damn thing. $7.5 million is a lot of money… but that's a lot of running, too."
Twitter also shared what they would do in the unusual scenario.
@micha3laml @TVAddictsAnony @auctionguydan @AETV @storageauctnet @paytheladylaura They aren’t smart for speaking up...— Lee Ann (@Lee Ann) 1541476449.0
@auctionguydan @AETV @storageauctnet @paytheladylaura I'd keep it!! But I'd donate a lot of it to charities!! Then… https://t.co/t9Znjgj5Vv— Kay Seguin (@Kay Seguin) 1541539324.0
@auctionguydan @AETV @storageauctnet @paytheladylaura I'd take the 1.2. I'd make sure that 1.2 was take home. I'm t… https://t.co/bDxWkOUcyq— Mike Ruk (@Mike Ruk) 1543034262.0
@auctionguydan @AETV @storageauctnet @paytheladylaura 1.2 million and a clean concions...sounds great to me...!!!— Leroy (@Leroy) 1541464622.0
@auctionguydan @AETV @storageauctnet @paytheladylaura I would keep the money. A guy who forgets to pay a bill where… https://t.co/L7QWHAdYeK— Brian H (@Brian H) 1541652487.0
@auctionguydan @paytheladylaura @AETV @storageauctnet What I find in the locker I buy is mine. Pay the lady and move on to the next sale— margaret marcelak (@margaret marcelak) 1541443418.0
@auctionguydan @AETV @storageauctnet @paytheladylaura Why on earth would anyone say a word after finding this? This… https://t.co/OmmhoL0pJQ— DK Kauffee (@DK Kauffee) 1543083505.0
Other people were wondering why all that money was sitting in a storage unit.
@auctionguydan @AETV @storageauctnet @paytheladylaura I would question why there's 7.5 million in cash— Cathy Russon (@Cathy Russon) 1541444991.0
@auctionguydan @AETV @storageauctnet @paytheladylaura Also who legitimately has $7.5 million in cash? Either way, I… https://t.co/Bjq60qPel9— Dave Scott (@Dave Scott) 1541441281.0
At the end of the day, everyone walked away happy.
The money's original owner got most of it back and the buyer got quite the bonus on a relatively small investment.
Could you imagine a better scenario?
@auctionguydan @AETV @storageauctnet @paytheladylaura If I bought a unit and it had 7.5 mil in I would have done th… https://t.co/7YlI4Vlkcv— Tre Rudy (@Tre Rudy) 1543076594.0