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Miss Thrifty2 April 3, 2013
Do you have some spare space in your home? A boxroom? An empty corner of the attic, perhaps? Or is there empty space in the basement, or a nook in the garage? Here’s a great way to turn it into extra cash…
If you have space to spare, a new web service called storenextdoor.com will try and match you with a local person in need of cheap storage. You list your space on the site, along with the fee you would like to charge per month, and wait for an interested party to come along. An online calculator will compare average storage prices in your area and help you estimate what your space is worth.
It’s a clever idea, isn’t it? I like the thought that you can find cash in your attic – even if your attic is completely empty.
The site’s founders were inspired by the concept of “collaborative consumption” (the idea of doing business with your neighbours in a sharing economy). It sounds hippy woo, but it is all above board: the team at storenextdoor.com provides contracts and both parties to the contract automatically benefit from Aviva insurance cover. The cover includes £2,500 asset protection (for the items stored) and £2 million mutual product and public liability indemnification. The team also sends regular summaries, detailing payments made and the contract duration remaining.
It is free to create a listing on storenextdoor.com. If somebody takes you up on your offer of storage space, storenextdoor.com will charge you 23 per cent of the price listed on a monthly basis. This covers site admin as well as the Aviva insurance premium.
If you are sold on the idea, do check out the site’s thorough FAQ section, which also includes guides to storing and renting with storenextdoor.com.
The site soft-launched in Bath at the end of 2012, did well and was rolled out to the rest of the UK in January 2013. At the time of writing, the largest concentration of listings is in the South West, where the available storage ranges from a small cellar for bicycle storage (£6.00 per week) to 105 sq m of disused office space (£75 per week). However the listings elsewhere in the UK are multiplying too: here in North Yorkshire, there weren’t any listings at the beginning of the year, but my nearest available space is now less than 10 miles away. Spaces in lofts and garages seem to be popular:
As you may have guessed, if you need storage but are deterred by the high prices of the self-storage units that have popped up here, there and everywhere, storenextdoor.com is for you too. On average the prices on the site are at least 25 per cent less than the commercial equivalent. Use the site to find out if storage is available at a property in your area: if you luck out and find a suitable space, the cost savings will be significant.
2 Responses to “Extra Cash: Turn Your Loft Space Into Side Income”
Lee says:
Hi
I will be honest when I read the title of the post I was thinking along the lines of extra income for converting your loft space in to living accommodation. Which is what I am in the process of doing. Never thought or heard of storenextdoor.com before. Took a minute to get my head around it. Then when you think about it if you are advertising on their site you can go over what comes up from your advert and make sure it is appropriate and if the website is covering you with insurance I can see why this is taking off. I know it has got me thinking. I have got an empty shell of a space at the moment so could help me save some money to finish my conversion.
Great info thanks lee
April 21, 2013 at 7:13 pm