(MYFOX NATIONAL) - It's a sign of the times: As people tighten their belts and hunt for bargains, auctions are becoming a way for many to shop. More people are naming their price by bidding on goods, services and even jobs.

Bid on Storage Space, Get Lucky

Storage facility owners are putting the entire contents of storage spaces up for auction after the spaces' renters stop paying, and crowds are gathering to bid on them. Some estimates say that storage auctions are on the rise by as much as 20 percent over the last few years .

Delinquent storage space renters have a couple of months to pay up or risk having their spaces padlocked and put up for auction. Facility owners are required to alert renters of the auction by certified mail and advertise it in a newspaper. The original renter is barred from bidding on his or her own space, and the contents are sold as a single lot rather than as individual items.

An Associated Press report in the Bellingham Herald found that the contents of the storage space lots can range from trash to treasure. Often it's understandable why the original renters wouldn't bother trying to save their stored items, but other times bidders get lucky. In Chicago, one bidder paid "$400 or $500" for a space that turned out to contain a $10,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

"What we are selling now is indicative of higher-income people than what we were selling in the past," said Rich Schur, who owns an auction service in Colorado Springs. "Clearly these are people who fell on hard times."

Food For Less

Other auction bidders aren't looking for lucky scores, but for necessities. Time reported on the rise in grocery auctions nationwide. The falling economy has led to a decrease in demand for discretionary items, and auctioneers have adapted by offering grocers' overstock and slightly worn products that can't be sold in stores, in bulk or for cheaper than retail cost.

• Photo gallery: A grocery auction in Dallas, Penn.

Want a Job? Name Your Price

The Web site Jobaphiles takes the auction craze to their logical conclusion by letting job-seekers "bid" for positions by submitting their qualifications and how much they're willing to work for to prospective employers. Jobaphiles' initial target audience was recent college graduates , but the site's founders say that people of all ages are submitting bids for jobs. In an interview with the Examiner , one of Jobaphiles' creators said the site has been called "the eBay of jobs." But they prefer to think of it as closer to dating sites like eHarmony, aiming to match compatible employers and applicants. Of course, for everything else, eBay remains the top dog of auction sites.

Where to Find Auctions Near You

AuctionZip is one way to find auctions for groceries, cars and almost anything else. The site allows you to search by keyword and ZIP code to find the auctions closest to you. FindLocalAuctions also allows you to find events in your area.