A man ended up quite lucky when he paid just $500 for a storage unit containing around $7.5 million. According to Indy 100, the unit was featured in Storage Wars. It is a popular U.S. show that features various storage units that have remained unpaid for at least three months. Buyers can bid on the units without knowing what’s inside.
Over the years, many buyers have ended up walking away with some hidden valuables and even classic cars. However, one lucky man received something he never would have expected otherwise. He paid $500 for a storage unit from auctioneer Dan Dotson.
Man finds $7.5 million hidden in a storage unit he bought for $500 in 2018 and contacted the original owner, reaching a $1.2 million settlement to return the unit with all the money 😳💰 pic.twitter.com/k1xmu89ZtV
— My Mixtapez (@mymixtapez) November 14, 2025
Dotson later explained on his YouTube channel how he learned the full story. “An older Asian woman at the table next to me kept looking at me like she wanted to tell me something.” He continued, “Eventually, she walked up and told me her husband works with a guy who bought a unit from me for $500 and found a safe inside.”
Dotson added that the man who bought the storage unit failed to get the safe open initially. They called a second person, and when that person opened it up, inside the safe, which is normally empty, this time it contained money. “$7.5 million (£5.8m) in cash inside,” said Dotson.
The discovery shocked the auctioneer, who tried to imagine why someone would have left the staggering amount of money unattended. “$7.5 million inside a unit, I don’t think you’d forget it, but maybe you were just in a position where somebody else was in charge of it, I don’t know,” he said.
“Credit card went bad, it was finished, they moved away, perhaps the person went to jail… who knows what it was,” he added. While it remains unclear who and why someone would leave such a huge amount of money unattended inside a safe without paying for the storage unit, the buyer was indeed lucky.
Storage Wars is wild! Someone bought a unit for $500, found a safe with $7.5 million, and then gave most of it back for $1.2M?! Could you give it back? #iftheglassainthalffullitsempty #theemptypodcast #mentalking #fyp #podcast pic.twitter.com/i9AHY0RPXH
— The eMpTy Podcast (@emptypodcastuk) December 1, 2025
Viewers who learned about the large sum after watching Dotson’s video were also shocked. “Who leaves millions of dollars and does not pay the storage fees?” wrote one viewer. Another noted, “I’d never open my mouth if I saw $7.5 million.”
A third joked, “I would’ve paid you off and told you to erase my name like you never saw me. Taken off and bye-bye.”
“That’s a large amount of money, and in all honesty, the person who purchased the locker didn’t have to return any of it because they purchased it legally, but at least they got something from it,” noted another viewer.
