Do the producers of storage wars plant stuff in the storage units?

Storage auction participants nationwide complain that A&E’s reality series Storage Wars falsifies the true auction experience by staging auctions for television. Others claim that the publicity from the show attracts novices who become overzealous about bidding and drive up prices of storage lockers.

However, an A&E publicist has said, “There is no staging involved. The items uncovered in the storage units are the actual items featured on the show.” Producer Thom Beers says that 400 hours of film is shot for each 1 hour that makes it to television and that only about 1 out of 10 storage lockers searched produces anything of real value.