When a storage unit’s owner fails to reclaim their possessions in time or renew the unit’s lease, the locker and everything in it gets sold to the highest bidder during a cash-only auction. A&E’s hit reality series Storage Wars shows what happens in this unorthodox industry and focuses on the professional buyers who drop by. While some are looking to find more merchandise for their stores, others are treasure hunters looking for the mythical diamond in the rough made up of second-hand stuff and trash.
But over the course of 12 seasons and more than 270 episodes, the ongoing Storage Wars aired some duds that failed to capture the interest of even the most dedicated fans and viewers. Here are 10 such episodes from Storage Wars, ranked according to their low IMDb ratings.
Bunny Owns This Town (Season 5, Episode 23) – IMDb Score: 6.1
According to IMDb users, Storage Wars’ fifth season is one of the show’s weakest runs, if not its worst. Littered with many sixes in the score tallies, season five as a whole could be considered to be average at best and forgettable at worst.
One of the season’s weaker episodes follows Jarrod and Brandi doing their best to keep their focus in the game, Ivy stumbling upon an antique steering wheel, while Darrell’s vintage finds lands him in a strange bunny museum. As mundane as it may be, this episode fared better than those that followed it.
The Daneurysm (Season 5, Episode 26) – IMDb Score: 6.0
The weakest episode of Storage Wars’ fifth year is also the one where the auctioneer himself was hospitalized. Unknown to their favorite buyers, the Dostons were at the hospital because Laura had to bring her husband Dan to the hospital when he suffered an aneurysm.
On the sidelines, Brandi struggles to maintain Jarrod’s focus while Mary finds a vintage salon appliance from the ’30s that she mistook for an alien-themed device. The episode’s biggest prize, however, was Dan’s second chance at life after his successful surgery.
Pop, Lock, And Auction (Season 10, Episode 8) – IMDb Score: 5.9
As the seasons went on, Storage Wars’ ratings among IMDb users slowly but surely began to dip. More five ratings were given to the episodes, with many of them seen in the eighth and tenth seasons. The highest-rated of these lukewarm episodes comes from season 10, which also includes dancing.
Some of this episode’s highlights include Ivy blowing $250 on a storage unit full of boxes and Dave constantly getting on Rene’s nerves. This is also the episode where Laura and Dan cracked breakdancing jokes that could be seen as either lame or cringeworthy.
Young Gun, Old Tricks (Season 8, Episode 8) – IMDb Score: 5.8
Featuring a high-stakes vault auction instead of the usual storage units, the eighth episode of the eighth Storage Wars season is where things get heated between Jarrod and Ivy.
After many uninspired bids, Jarrod finally gets his groove on and pulls in a big haul of 10 vaults (including some top-line security devices) for $5,000 – much to Ivy’s annoyance. Meanwhile, Mary finds a garment steamer that isn’t as pricey as she thought it would be while Rene sells a pair of antique wooden snakes that yield an unexpected profit.
Lock, Stock, One Smoking Darrell (Season 8, Episode 13) – IMDb Score: 5.8
Jarrod and Brandi aim to continue their winning streak by using their recent earnings to buy as many storage units as they can… only for them to rack up a steep loss thanks to units full of junk that’s barely redeemed by some limited edition shoes.
Mary brings in her newly-hired driver Jose Mesa to help her haul her winnings that include some rare camel saddles while Darrell scores a surprise jackpot with a state-of-the-art courtroom stenotype. Overall, this episode ofStorage Wars is incredibly dry and forgettable – especially when the biggest find is a pair of shoes.
Auctions and Allies (Season 8, Episode 6) – IMDb Score: 5.7
As is tradition in competitive reality TV shows, some of the participants forge alliances and rivalries. In the case of this Storage Wars episode, Ivy and Mary join forces to buy units while Brandi and Jarrod get on each other’s nerves as they try to control the other’s spending habits.
But as those teams struggled to find something of worth in their buys, Rene made a killing with three units’ worth of profitable antique, furniture, and jewelry. Notably, Ivy and Mary’s team-up lasted for a while and was seen again in future episodes.
Happiness is a Warm Laser Gun (Season 10, Episode 9) – IMDb Score: 5.6
Most of Storage Wars’ episodes ride or die on the combination of the buyers’ dynamics and whatever they find in their units, and this episode proves that having only one of the two can’t carry the whole 20-minute runtime.
Outside of some cracks about the flu season, the only things worth noting are Mary’s antique appliance, Darrell’s trip down memory lane, and Ivy finding some childhood toys that include the titular laser tag equipment. At the very least, the buyers had fun and didn’t argue much since this is one of this list’s least confrontational episodes.
Out of the Frying Pan AM (Season 11, Episode 2) – IMDb Score: 5.4
Storage Wars’ newcomers the Vegas Ladies land a historical jackpot with a pair of vintage Pan AM posters while Kenny scores big time with antique cigar items. Conversely, Jarrod and Brandi lose big after they put their vacation money on the line and fail to recoup their losses.
If that sounds generic, that’s because it is. This episode of Storage Wars doesn’t do much with its usual set-up and delivers a rather mediocre viewing experience. Like always, it’s the buyers’ hijinks and their units’ historical trivia that barely keep this particular episode afloat.
Value of the Dolls (Season 10, Episode 14) – IMDb Score: 5.3
Once again, this episode of Storage Wars fails to live up to expectations not because of the buyers but because of what they find. Their hauls give some interesting historical factoids, but they pale in comparison to their previous purchases. Not only are they alright at best, but their finds feel like rehashes from older episodes.
The most noteworthy moments in the episode are Rene’s tanning experience, Kenny befriending Jarrod and Brandi, and the unexpected attention that Ivy’s fancy lucky shoes get. That, and the creepy dolls that Ivy sells for a cool $800.
The Wild Wild Vests (Season 11, Episode 1) – IMDb Score: 5.3
After 10 seasons, Storage Wars finally introduces some new blood through the Vegas Ladies, who drove in from Vegas just in time for the latest auction but much to the chagrin of the original buyers.
The Vegas Ladies and Brandi and Jarrod score big with some antique firefighting items and motorcycle parts, respectively. Ivy earns the most when he buys majority of the units, but the episode as a whole is a slow dud that only does the bare minimum when it comes to debuting its newest team while relying too heavily on the established formula.
