10 Best Reality Shows Like Storage Wars

For a brief period between the late aughts and 2010s, the reality television landscape was absolutely inundated with auction and appraisal series. It makes sense, since few reality shows encapsulate the American dream like those that promise if you dream big and bid generously, it just might pay off with a massive payday. That's exactly what happened when cast member Darrell Sheets' bid won him a Frank Gutierrez art collection worth $300,000 in the most valuable locker ever bought on "Storage Wars."

It's that kind of excitement — on top of the interpersonal drama and relationships — that made "Storage Wars" one of the most popular series of its kind during its 13-year run. And that's to say nothing of the spicy behind-the-scenes trouble that occurred between buyer couple Brandi Passante and Jarrod Schulz or the rumors that have circulated about "Storage Wars" over the years.

For those among us who dream of striking pay dirt at garage sales and auctions, the good news is that "Storage Wars" is just the tip of the reality TV iceberg. Whether you're in it for the appraisal training, history lessons, or just the pure guilty pleasure of people-watching, here are ten shows that deliver more than just good deals.

Las Vegas' Gold & Silver Pawn Shop is the focus of "Pawn Stars," a reality show that's been airing since 2009 and got an update in 2024. Part of History's reality TV Golden Age, the appraisal show was once one of the channel's highest-rated series. "Think Antiques Roadshow, but with neon and far more tattoos," People's review team wrote of the show early in its run — a description that remains accurate over 20 years later.

The series originally starred a crew of pawn shop employees, including owner Richard "Old Man" Harrison, along with two generations of his family and family friend Austin "Chumlee" Russell. Each episode features a series of appraisals for hopeful shop guests aiming to sell items believed to hold value — everything from rare tchotchkes to ancient treasures.

Guests typically share what they know about the item in question along with the value they have in mind. After considering the item's worth and occasionally calling in an expert, the shop employees come up with a counteroffer, and the haggling commences. The personalities of the "Pawn Stars" family are only part of what makes this series so much fun to watch. Their incredible knowledge of history and its relationship to the objects presented for appraisal make the series addictively educational, which is probably why the show led to a number of "Pawn Stars" spin-offs.

When the "Pawn Stars" crew appraises vintage items, they always consider how much that item might cost to restore, something highlighted in the Season 1 episode "Time Machines" when shop owner Rick Harrison purchased a rough-looking vintage Coke machine. Fortunately, Rick knew a guy for that — another Rick, as a matter of fact. The guy in question was Las Vegas antique restoration pro and metal artist Rick Dale, owner of Rick's Restorations, who would eventually land his own show.

The first of the many "Pawn Stars" spin-offs, "American Restoration" followed Rick, his "picker" brother Ron, and Rick's then-teenage son, Tyler, who grew up in the shop. "Remember back in the day when things were made by hand and people took pride in their work?" Rick would ask in the intro. "My name's Rick Dale, and I bring these things back to life." The show deals with all sorts of items, from mid-century iceboxes to vintage gas pumps.

To bring the shop's treasures back to life, Rick employed a team of professionals, including metal polisher Kowboy (Kevin Lowery), the detail-oriented Kyle Astorga, and lettering artist Ted Hague of Vegas-based design company Letter Perfect Incorporated. Like "Pawn Stars," the series covers the history of many of the items in question. While purchasing and appraisals are part of the story, the show primarily focuses on the unique challenges involved with preserving these items — everything from wiring to paint restoration. With Season 7, the series introduced several other restoration shop owners, including Steve Hale of Steve's Restorations.

A popular unscripted series that's been airing almost as long as "Pawn Stars," "American Pickers" followed professional pickers Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz until Fritz left the show while feuding with Wolfe in 2021 and died the following year; the series has continued after his exit, with Season 27 reportedly in the works. The show's antique experts travel all around the country, searching for treasures for their shops — Antique Archaeology and Frank Fritz Finds. The series intro says it all: "We're pickers [...] We make a living telling the history of America ... one piece at a time."

"American Pickers" takes its stars off the beaten path and through the backroads of rural America, where they meet with all sorts of collectors, packrats, and full-blown hoarders. Each episode finds its cast living out the ultimate garage sale lover's fantasy as they pick through sheds, garages, and even some homes, picking up gorgeous vintage items. It's a wild ride; one episode connects them to an Evel Knievel superfan with a large collection of items once owned by the renowned daredevil, while another brings the pair into the home wax museum of a circus collector.

The show highlights the history and culture of the communities the pair encounters as much as it does the craftsmanship of the items they're looking at. It's chock full of traveling, haggling, and cherry vintage rides — not to mention more quirky characters than most reality shows could ever dream of featuring.

Airing on TruTV, "Container Wars" is essentially the same concept as "Storage Hunters," but with shipping containers instead of storage units, which means auctions go for a higher price tag. While storage unit auctions tend to go for a few hundred to several thousand dollars, these shipping containers can easily go for upwards of $30,000. With that higher price tag, of course, there's also a chance of a much higher payoff. Otherwise, though, the concept is almost identical in terms of wild personalities clashing over auctions.

If you're looking for authenticity, this might not be the series for you. Internet reviews are full of accusations that the series is staged beyond reason. Noting the conspicuous lack of any seal on the shipping containers, one IMDb reviewer concluded, "As far as reality anyone one can deduce its phony," while another groaned, "Yes most are fake but this one is fake of the fakes."

That said, if you can get past the cheesiness, the show is a fun ride. Even if the show is somewhat staged, it gives viewers a chance to check out the wide range of things you might find in a shipping container auction, and the higher price tag makes for a higher-stakes game that can be intense to watch — even if it is a bit of a brain drain at times.

The O.G. of appraisal reality shows, "Antiques Roadshow" has been airing on PBS since 1997 and is still going strong. But the American version isn't even the original; it's actually an adaptation of a British series that's been airing since 1977.

The concept is fairly simple and straightforward: The show travels around the country, taping several episodes in every city where they set up shop in a local convention center or other large meeting place. Guests appear on camera with personal items — either antiques or collectibles — that they believe to have value. The items can be anything from cherished family treasures passed down through generations to interesting pieces picked up at yard sales.

Each guest spends a few brief moments explaining their connection to the piece they're presenting, along with any information they have about their item's provenance. At this point, a specialized appraiser gives the item's owner a short history lesson about the object they're holding, along with a very brief appraisal of it, with each segment lasting no more than about four minutes. Although all sorts of things show up on the series, art and musical instruments are among the most common items, which makes watching "Antiques Roadshow" a great way to expand your knowledge base about different art movements, artists, and luthiers.

If "Antiques Roadshow" is the classy big brother of "Storage Wars," "Storage Hunters" is Cousin Eddie. This appraisal is one that host and auctioneer Sean Kelly would likely agree with. When Kelly first dreamed up the show's concept, he'd been working at a comedy club by night and running auctions during the day. All the while, Kelly was nursing dreams of starting his own show but had yet to land on a concept until fate stepped in and a fight broke out mid-auction. "I thought: This is It! Antiques Roadshow meets WWF!" Kelly told Scotland's The Sunday Post. The series, which aired for three seasons in the United States, went on to have a successful five-season run in the United Kingdom.

Aside from Kelly's skillful auctioneering, part of what makes the storage auction series so wild is the types of bidders it attracts. As a possible revenue stream outside of the traditional workforce, these auctions are popular among ex-convicts and other folks who don't function well in traditional work environments and tend not to play well with others. Throw in the roasting skills Kelly picked up while working at the comedy club, and it's a recipe for pure chaos. "I'm like the crazy ringmaster at the circus," Kelly concluded in The Sunday Post.

Netflix's entry into the auction and appraisal reality show drama, "King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch" revolves around Ken Goldin's auction house, Goldin Auctions, which Goldin describes as "the world's largest collectible marketplace." Working with consignors, the auction house can easily pull in as much as $40 million in one month. The physical building his business is housed in is a wonderland for pop culture junkies, loaded with memorabilia and collectibles from vintage Nikes to pinball machines to classic Star Trek toys and more.

A collector from the time he was ten years old, Goldin runs a team that works together to appraise consignors' items and pull together auctions. The show is an entertaining watch for fans of pop culture collectibles who enjoy learning about their value and history, and for pickers who spend their summer months browsing garage sales hoping to happen across a hidden treasure. The show's incorporation of live auction streams adds to the excitement and energy. As one IMDb reviewer wrote, "This elite level of collectibles is crazy to see," adding, "Even if I wasnt a collector this show would be so fascinating, its better than going to a museum. From mike tyson memorabilia to steve jobs signed original apple macs every episode is jammed packed with gems."

For those who like to see unusual and interesting items appraised, "Auction Kings" tends to veer outside of the typical much more than most reality shows in its genre. The series presents second-generation auction house owner Paul Brown working in his auction house, Gallery 63, which sells both items the house picks and consignment pieces.

The series is jam-packed with interesting items; a meteorite, a vintage vampire-killing kit, an antique telescope, a pair of Soviet spacesuits, and a handful of rare dinosaur fossils are just a sampling of the types of pieces sold on this series. Fans have praised the chemistry of the Gallery 63 team, which includes picker Jon Hammond, fix-it pro Delfino Ramos, auctioneers Jason Brooks and Guerry Wise, and manager Cindy Shook.

Unlike many other shows in the genre that leverage scripted drama for entertainment, "Auction Kings" remains focused on the auctions throughout each episode. "They might do something goofy like hold a margarita face-off or play a prank, but it ALWAYS has something to do with the items in for auction," praised one fan on IMDb. While the show doesn't go as deeply into the history and research as some of its sister series, it provides a decent introduction to the various items' history through some of its experts.

A slightly more testosterone-fueled entry into the appraisal genre with a lot less cursing and gratuitous drama than some of its counterparts, "Auction Hunters" combines the "guys vibe" of "Pawn Stars" with the suspense of a storage auction series while mixing in more rock guitar riffs, tattoos, and guns. The show features pickers Clinton "Ton" Jones and Allen Haff as they travel around the country checking out storage auctions for serious bidders. While other shows can make bidding seem like a low-stakes game, "Auction Hunters" presents a much more honest assessment of the practice with the disclaimer that most of their units are losers and that most of their profit comes from a small percentage of their buys.

While other shows in this genre tend to deal with hypothetical values of storage units, this series actually shows the bidding pair selling their wares, often to collectors. It's more about getting deals than learning history and value, but the realistic prices are more in line with what many viewers might be able to afford than many other shows in the same genre, and Allen and Ton make a relatable pair.

It's wild to think one of the most over-the-top appraisal/auction TV reality shows was made for The Travel Channel. For anyone who has ever wanted to shop at an unclaimed baggage store or buy pallets of Amazon rejects, this series offers a taste of that world. Viewers who love the guilty pleasure of trash talk between bidders and hammed-up interactions won't be disappointed, either.

By taking the basic concept of the auction docu-series and turning it into a team competition, "Baggage Battles" brings the unhinged energy of a show like "Container Wars" into a series about bidding on lost baggage and other types of auctions. The show follows three teams: Billy Leroy of New York-based Billy's Antiques and Props, thrift store owner Mark Meyer, and Laurence and Sally Martin of California's Studio Antiques. "Storage Wars" fans might recognize Laurence and Sally from their appearances as appraisers on that series.

Because this was made for The Travel Channel, the teams travel all over the United States and even to Canada, England, Ireland, and Scotland. The appraisals don't always seem to be completely serious, but this show is more about the fun of the bidding than the history lessons you might find in other series in the genre, and that's totally fine. The show even spawned the short-lived spin-off, "Billy Buys Brooklyn."