A New Jersey high schooler banked $135,000 in a single year flipping abandoned storage lockers

His model is simple: Haskell finds and bids on abandoned storage units — usually for $500 or less — through auction websites, then sorts, researches and resells the contents on eBay. He stores inventory in his mother’s home, where shelving units in the garage are stocked with everything from Cold War-era artifacts to Nike sneakers to crates of books and vinyl records.

The find that changed everything

Haskell’s turning point came early. After spotting that a unit had belonged to Andrew Crispo — a scandal-riddled former Manhattan art dealer — he paid $450 for it. Inside, he found a painting by Man Ray and sketches by modernist painter Walt Kuhn that together sold for $36,000.

“Every single time I’m driving to a locker, I’m thinking, is this going to be the next Crispo?” he told CNBC.

That windfall convinced his parents he was onto something real. It also crystallized his approach: success in storage unit flipping isn’t about luck, but about reading the clues.

“The way you make money is not by looking at stuff that’s directly in front of you,” but about piecing together clues, Haskell said. “It’s connecting the dots with various small items that may not be obvious.” A college pennant might not be worth much on its own, but it signals an educated owner — and possibly more valuable items elsewhere in the unit.

Haskell uses Google Lens, ChatGPT and cross-referenced eBay listings to estimate values. He and some friends also built an AI tool that scans for notable names attached to units up for auction.

The Gen Z entrepreneurship wave

Haskell’s trajectory reflects a broader shift in who’s starting businesses and why.