There is a new opportunity coming for almost anyone to make money in the self storage industry, all without buying or building a new facility. An emerging company out of Chicago wants to help homeowners and businesses bring in cash with the space they already have. Through Spacii, anyone with an empty room or garage in their house, or even a business with an empty area in its building, can rent out their unused space.
The idea came from Danny Weiss, founder and CEO Spacii. He first got interested in the self storage industry after helping his grandparents create a website for their self storage facilities in the Metro Detroit area. “I became very fascinated with the emerging sharing economy in which technology was helping individuals utilize underused but valuable assets,” says Weiss. “The combination of these two occurrences caused me to connect the dots and create a platform for peer-to-peer self storage.”
Since it was founded this past spring, Spacii has been trying to make its new concept simple. A renter comes to the site and requests space based on his or her storage needs. Spacii then connects that person to a “trustworthy storage host nearby,” according to the site. Then, the renter and host set terms and schedule a drop-off. The result? The renter has a place to keep their belongings, and the host makes some easy money from the rental.
If a host’s home or business isn’t zoned for storage, Weiss doesn’t believe that will be a problem. “We haven’t run into any issues with zoning, and I don’t believe we will as sharing-based companies have become more widely accepted,” he says.
How does Spacii know if a host is “trustworthy”? To sign up as a host on Spacii, a person fills out an application that includes their name, phone number, email, location, and description of space. Spacii won’t let just anyone be a host, though. “Once applied, a Spacii team member will contact the host to brief them on the process of using Spacii and see if they’re a good fit for the platform. If a team member deems the applicant as not a good fit, the host will not be added to our database,” Weiss says.
Beyond that, Spacii’s terms and conditions warn clients that use of the platform is at their own risk. Rental agreements are set up between tenants and hosts. However, it’s not unusual to find a renter who breaks that agreement (e.g., not paying the rent). In that case, Weiss says Spacii is currently only a matchmaking service. “If any renter violates the terms set up by the renter and host, the host is free to do what he or she wants with the abandoned belongings,” he says. However, Weiss adds, “Like many other sharing platforms, we experience an exceptionally low incident rate.”
If someone wants to find space to rent, they also go to the site and list their name, phone number, email, zip code, and storage needs. When Spacii receives that information, it tries to keep the process moving quickly. Weiss explains, “Spacii replies to most storage inquires within a few hours, in which we pass along storage options that may fit their needs.”
So why would a renter choose to store their belongings at a neighbor’s house over a standard storage facility? Spacii advertises a much cheaper option. “Typically, Spacii renters experience a 30%-40% discount compared to conventional storage options. This is because the opportunity cost for hosts is little-to-none as their listed space was previously vacant. Therefore, many hosts are willing to list their space at a low-rate since it was previously not making any money at all,” says Weiss.
Spacii currently only services the Chicago area, but the company plans to expand to other markets very soon. At this time, Spacii’s matchmaking service is free, but the company will eventually charge a commission fee to owners and service fee to renters as it continues to prove its value.
http://services.storage.com/industry-news/self-storage-meets-the-sharing-economy-with-spacii/
