economy
Teen buys abandoned storage units and sells 'treasures' he finds inside—his side hustle brings in $135,000 a year
Michael Haskell started buying abandoned storage units and selling their contents while still in high school through his business Mike's Unique Treasures.
TL;DR
- Michael Haskell, 18, operates a business called Mike's Unique Treasures, which involves buying and reselling contents from abandoned storage units.
- The business earned approximately $135,000 in 2025 and $85,000 from January to mid-July of the current year.
- Haskell's venture was partly motivated by a desire to differentiate himself from peers when applying to college.
- A particularly profitable find included art by Man Ray and Walt Kuhn, which sold for $36,000.
- Success in the business involves piecing together clues about the prior owner's life to identify potentially valuable items.
- Haskell stores inventory at his mother's home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and uses tools like Google Lens and ChatGPT for research.
- The experience has led Haskell to adopt more mindful spending habits and prioritize secondhand items.
- He is heading to Emory University in Atlanta and is considering future business ideas, potentially in storage facility operations or house flipping.