The operator of a website that allows self-storage facilities to sell the contents of units with unpaid rent says many find treasure in the trash.

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Daniel Chisca, operator of storageauctions.org, said one Atlanta man paid $400 for a unit that contained a Hewlett-Packard Pentium 4 computer with flat-screen monitor, a desk, two big color televisions, and $2,000 worth of scuba equipment, the Christian Science Monitor reported Wednesday.

Chisca said as many as 120,000 abandoned units are auctioned monthly nationwide to free space that's been in high demand. Experts say the demand can be attributed to late-life marriages, a growing number of retirees, and other factors.

There were only about 8,000 self-storage facilities in the mid-1980s, but now experts say there are between 40,000 and 50,000 facilities, most consisting of hundreds of units averaging 100 square feet each.