How an 18-year-old turned $10 abandoned storage units into a $135,000 business

At 18, Michael Haskell has been turning other people's abandoned belongings into a business that brought in about $135,000 in 2025. He buys storage units across the New York tri-state area without knowing exactly what is inside, then sorts through the contents looking for objects that can be resold. The idea grew from a habit he picked up as a child, when he sold books on eBay and held onto discontinued Lego sets in the hope that they would become more valuable.By high school, Haskell was also thinking about college and how he might distinguish himself from applicants with stronger academic records. Then he watched an episode of Storage Wars. According to CNBC, in early 2024, he spent just $10 on his first unit. A carbon dioxide canister from it sold for $40, giving him an early glimpse of what the business could become.A young reseller Haskell’s journey from eBay to abandoned storage unitsHaskell had been buying and selling things long before he started bidding on storage units. As a child, he sold books on eBay for small profits and occasionally bought Lego sets that he thought might become more valuable once they were discontinued. He did not have a fixed career plan in mind. Ru...