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Storage Wars season 16 premiered on A&E on June 7, 2025, bringing back the core cast as they search for the most valuable and profitable storage units, while competing fiercely to win the units they bid on.
Competing with others to secure the unit they want can be a tough challenge, as most bidders come prepared and often have a good sense of whether the unit could be valuable or not. To stand out, the bidders have come up with a strategy of their own.
In an interview with KGET, published on June 9, 2025, cast member Brandi Passante opened up about her strategy to outsmart her competitors on Storage Wars.
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She compared the bidding process to a poker game, explaining that seasoned players can often read what their rivals are thinking in the moment.
Drawing on her years of experience, Brandi shared that she’s able to anticipate whether her competitors are likely to overpay or underpay, an insight that also helps her devise clever ways to distract them during auctions.
“When there are new people, they sometimes want to show you who’s boss or they don’t really know what they are doing. That happens at every auction because these are public auctions, so it is just a matter of live and learn scenario,” she added.
Storage Wars star Brandi Passante reflects on joining the show
Brandi Passante joined Storage Wars when it first premiered in 2010. She was introduced alongside her then-partner Jarrod Schulz, and together they looked to get the best deals possible.
Over the season, Brandi and Jarrod's partnership became a fan favorite for their energetic bidding and dynamic chemistry, earning them the title of "The Young Guns."
Even after her split with Jarrod, Brandi continued to prove herself and went from being the newbie to a seasoned storage auction expert.
In her interview with KGET, Brandi reflected on joining Storage Wars in 2009 and admitted that she wasn't sure if the show would go anywhere. However, it became an "overnight sensation," and she believes it was partly due to the unique and entertaining elements that resonated with viewers.
"It’s got some interesting elements that people enjoy. People want to root for somebody in the show. It is all the elements. It is the competition. It is finding some obscure item that the owner didn’t know was valuable," she said.
The Storage Wars star continued:
"There are elements of fun and elements of stress. It is not an easy job. “It is also just back-breaking work. It is moving day every day. Then you add fuel to the fire because you are dealing with some people you don’t like so much. It is not easy but can also be very fun and gratifying".
Further in the interview, Brandi recalled that when they first started the show, it was generally seen as a "secret society," noting that not many people knew that it existed. However, after a few episodes were aired, things completely changed for Storage Wars.
Brandi claimed that after the first couple of episodes, hundreds of people started showing up at their auctions.
"It was insanity. People just filed in like crazy. We still get quite a bit more than we would have back in the day, but it is not as much as in the beginning. It was very much over the top then,” she concluded.
Storage Wars season 16 premieres every Saturday on A&E. The new season marked the return of Brandi Passante, Dave Hester, Kenny Crossley, Ivy Calvin, among others.
