Means two things · S
Storage, which means two things
Search the word and you will be shown two products that have almost nothing in common beyond holding your belongings. They cost differently, they are documented differently and they suit different people, and nobody explains which is which.
One you can walk into on a Saturday. One has an inventory. Very few people need both, and most people are offered only one.
The two products, side by side
Which one you actually want
If you need to reach your things regularly — a business holding stock, someone living out of boxes between homes, a hobby that will not fit in a flat — self storage is plainly right. Being able to turn up is the entire product.
If your things are going in at the end of one move and coming out at the start of another, container storage is almost always better. It is cheaper per cubic metre, it comes with a written inventory, and the handling is done by the crew rather than by you on a Sunday with a borrowed van.
The inventory is the real difference
A self-storage unit has no list. Nobody but you knows what went into it, which is fine until a claim arises or until somebody else has to empty it on your behalf.
Container storage with a remover should come with an inventory written where the goods are, describing contents rather than counting cartons. On a hold that turns out longer than anybody expected, that document is the whole value of the arrangement.
Words to watch in a storage quotation
Free collection usually means collection included in a minimum period — a package rather than a gift. Lien is the provider's right to hold and ultimately sell goods against unpaid charges, and it is in essentially every storage agreement in the country including ours.
And access by arrangement means genuinely by arrangement. If you expect to need something back, say so before collection so the load is built with it reachable.
What cannot be held, either way
Nothing hazardous, nothing perishable, nothing alive. Money, documents, passports, medication and jewellery should stay with you — those are precisely the things people need unexpectedly, and a store is not somewhere you can call in on at short notice.
"Storage"
Questions about "storage"
- Which is cheaper?
- Container storage, generally, per unit of volume. What you pay for that is access — reaching your goods needs notice rather than a car journey.
- Can I have an inventory on self storage?
- Only if you write one. Nobody at the facility knows or records what you put in, which is worth understanding before you choose it for a long hold.
- Can we get at container-stored goods?
- With reasonable notice, and it works far better if you say beforehand roughly what you might want. The load is then built so that whatever you named stays reachable.
- What does "free collection" mean?
- Usually collection included in a minimum storage period. Read it as a package rather than as a free service, and check what the minimum is.
- How long can goods stay?
- A single night between a load and a delivery, or months while a purchase or a building project settles. The storage agreement sets out the terms and the periods charging runs in.
- What is a lien?
- The right to hold and ultimately sell stored goods against unpaid charges. It appears in essentially every storage contract in the country and it is worth knowing the word before you sign one.
Not sure which word describes your move?
Both addresses, roughly what is going, and how firm the dates are. If you are unsure which service you actually need, say so — it is the commonest note we get and the easiest to answer.