Truly Ridiculous but Correct Financial Facts about Storage 

Monthly Fees Add Up Bloody Fast

While you might think renting a storage unit is a steal at $50-$200 a month, that seemingly small fee can add up to thousands over the years. If you keep a storage unit for just five years at $100/month, you’re looking at a cool $6,000! That’s enough for a nice vacation—or a really nice couch you forgot you even had in storage. Check out our storage calculator at SHIFT YOUR STORAGE | Storage Unit Emptying to see the slow leak of cash building up to a small fortune... In storage fees? Really?

The Worldwide Great Storage Hoax

Around 1 in 10 Americans rents a storage unit. That’s over 35 million people with a storage unit! It’s like a nationwide game of “Who Can Hold Onto the Most Stuff?” Instead of decluttering, people are spending money to hold onto things they don’t even use. It’s like paying for a gym membership but never working out—except the only thing getting fit is your storage bill & CC every month. 

Aussies are no better when it comes to the storage unit game... Before we start mocking our American storage unit lovers. The Australian self-storage market analysis put us to shame, it showed nearly 9.4 million Australian households made an online purchase in 2023 for storage units. This represented around 82% of the total number of domestic households. An average of 5.6 million households purchased items online, with rural (6.4%) and remote regions (5.7%) recording a significant year-on-year growth. We are a nation of only 28 million. I will let you sit on those fun facts for a moment... 

Insurance? You Bet! Hang On? What? 

Many storage facilities require you to have insurance on your items. This means you’re not just paying for the storage unit; you’re also shelling out extra for insurance in case the unlikely scenario that something happens to the storage facility. Recently in Australia more and more insurance companies are choosing not to insure storage companies at all. Too many liabilities for starters; How does the insurance company know that your China set was worth $28,000? Oh, that’s right - they don’t.  This results in even more cash out of your pocket & now you’re paying to protect things that may not even be worth the cost of the insurance!

The Price of Emotional Attachment

Studies show that people often pay more to store items that hold sentimental value. It’s not uncommon for someone to spend hundreds of dollars a month to keep their old college or uni textbooks, their grandmother's clothes, broken & worn furniture from a special moment in time, or that pile of shoes they swore they’d use again. 

Emotional baggage, meet financial burden! This is what storage facilities dreams are made of...

Unclaimed or Forgotten Storage Units: A Million-Dollar Mystery

Every year, millions of dollars’ worth of peoples’ and businesses' goods end up in auctions because owners forget about their units or cannot keep up with the monthly payments. In 2019, a single auction in Texas sold unclaimed units for a staggering $1.5 million. So, while you’re continuing payments on a storage unit you know has no value due to emotional attachment. Someone else just scored a vintage record collection for pennies on the dollar AND the storage company continues to cash in.. 

Average Value of Contents

On average, the contents of a storage unit can be worth between $2,000 to $10,000. Yet many people forget what’s inside their storage unit, leading to the surreal situation where you’re literally paying hundreds of dollars for items you can’t even remember you have. Average storer says 6 months but the reality is 7 and half years. Most of the time once the unit is open - the contents have lost their value unfortunately and may have also reduced in quality depending on the storage facility you choose. 

A Place for Encouraged Procrastination

Storage units can encourage procrastination - in fact storage companies thrive off your procrastination. Instead of dealing with clutter and making tough decisions about what to keep or toss, people simply shove everything into a unit. Out of sight, out of mind. This can result in a never-ending cycle of paying to store things you might not even need, while also avoiding the emotional task of letting go. Talk about a never ending financial black hole! SYS aims to help with this in all formats. 

Conclusion

Storage units can be a ridiculous financial choice for many people. From the long-term costs to the wild auction stories, to the storage shame associated with the never-ending bill you keep paying. It's clear that while they offer a temporary solution for clutter, emergencies, crisis & many other necessary life events, they can also lead to unexpected and often absurd financial realities that can be a lifelong financial regret. Next time you think about renting a unit, consider whether that old treadmill really needs a new home or if maybe it can be donated or recycled? The possibilities are endless in comparison to the reality of sitting in a storage unit for years...