Bottom line is everyone has ideas of how someone else might have done better but everyone has their own reasons for doing what they do how they do it.
It ia a shame that David couldn't make it work but I give him credit for trying but I also can't blame him for tossing the towel in. I have only met David a couple times and was only to his first location in Washington (which looked great when I was there). It is sad he couldn't have had more success but it seems like his biggest issue was not knowing how to rent a building long term.
Anyway - hopefully auction will do well for him and also get machines back to people who will enjoy them. Best of luck to David with his sales & best of luck to everyone hoping to buy machines at the auction.