Lifestyle

Man found $7,500,000 in a Storage Wars unit he bought for $500 but then its original owners got in touch

Published on Nov 18, 2025 at 4:04 AM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall

Last updated on Nov 18, 2025 at 12:22 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones

An unexpected turn of events befell a man who bought a Storage Wars unit for $500, only to find $7.5 million lurking inside.

Recalled by Don Dotson of Storage Wars on A&E, Dotson himself had auctioned off the unit, and then the new owner went inside to see what was there.

That led to a surprise, with a ton of money left by the previous owners, yet the story perhaps didn’t end how the buyer of the unit had hoped.

The original owners quickly contacted the new owner of the unit and then offered $1.2 million to get all of the money back.

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How the Storage Wars unit owner ended up with $7.5 million

The story of how the new owner of the storage unit ended up with so much money is actually unremarkable.

Dotson had sold the unit normally, with no real expectations of what might be inside.

Then, a woman who was a friend of the person who had bought the unit, got in touch with Dotson.

A mysterious safe had been found inside the unit.

But they couldn’t open it before a professional managed to get inside.

Storage Wars Unit hid $7.5 million from previous owner
Dan & Laura Dotson

That then led to the discovery of $7,500,000 just casually sitting inside the safe.

While the owner thought they had struck gold, an attorney from the previous owner then got in touch.

What happened to the stashed millions in the unit?

The previous owner learned that the Storage Wars unit had been bought for just $500.

So, they got in touch and asked for all the money back, in exchange for $600,000.

When that was declined by the new owner, the amount was doubled to $1.2 million.

Eventually, the two parties did come to an agreement.

The new owner of the unit gave the money back, but they were able to net $1.5 million in total.

It did make for a very tidy return for just $500.

Dotson himself said he’d have taken the $1.2 million offer, as the money in the storage unit wasn’t ‘clean.’

Who knows how far the original owners would have gone to get it back?

Despite losing some of the cash, many of us would probably still be over the moon to secure $1.5 million.

Henry joined the Supercar Blondie team in February 2025, and since then has covered a wide array of topics ranging from EVs, American barn finds, and the odd Cold War jet. He’s combined his passion for cars with his keen interest in motorsport and his side hustle as a volunteer steam locomotive fireman at a leading heritage steam railway in England.