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The self-storage industry is positively booming on a global basis as
more and more people recognize that this type of customizable solution
suits their needs. As a result, consumers are gaining added cost advantages
- the self-storage industry is forced to compete for your business so
you should find that basic rental rates are highly competitive and that
you may even be able to gain a range of discounts or special offers. It
really does pay to spend some time shopping around.
In many cases, self-storage users, faced with similar rental rates from
various facilities, make their final choice based on the special offers
they can gain from particular self-storage providers. Remember, if the
self-storage facility you've set your heart on doesn't offer any special
discounts or incentives, it won't do any harm to ask for them. If their
competition down the road has special offers on, they might be prepared
to match them just to get your business!
Special offers will vary from self-storage facility to facility and won't
always be available all of the time. Common self-storage special offers
include:
- Discounts for long-term rentals - for example, special rates that
decrease the longer your rental period or a percentage off all rental
charges for the duration of your stay.
- Discounts for pre-payment - offer to pay in advance and you may be
able to negotiate a special discount on the total rate.
- Discounts if you place your order online. Some providers with established
websites may also offer special discount coupons that can be printed
off from their website.
- Free rental offers - in this case the facility will offer you a free
rental period to get your business. These special offers are generally
based on the '2 for 1' principle such as 8 weeks for the price of 4
etc.
- Deposit offers - you won't see this offer too often as your deposit
is the facility's only real bond, but some suppliers will offer rental
with no deposit as special offers just to get your business.
- Insurance offers - some facilities will offer you access to discounted
premiums through their partner insurance providers. Keep an eye out
for special offers too - one of the most common on offer is a period
of free insurance, usually for 4 weeks. Do your homework first before
accepting this one - if the premiums you'll have to commit to after
your special free period are higher than you can source yourself then
this might not be a real saving for you.
- Free equipment use - many reputable facilities will allow you to
use trailers and removal vehicles free of charge to transport your stuff
to storage. This obviously will save you money on vehicle hire, but
check out the contract first before using this option. Most facilities
will let you have the equipment free for a specified period - go over
the limit and you'll be liable for time and mileage costs.
- Referral offers - in today's competitive self-storage market, many
facilities are taking advantage of word of mouth recommendations and
are offering straight cash payments or free rental periods if you refer
friends to use their services.
- Concessionary discounts - many facilities are tapping into the student
and senior citizen markets by offering special offers to qualifying
consumers.
- Manpower - this offer is generally restricted to business users but
has occasionally been seen on offer to personal self-storage users.
In this case, the facility will allocate employees to act as professional
loaders to help you move your stuff into your unit.
- Removal discounts - some facilities run their own removal services
and can offer discounted rates for packing, transport and unpacking
at the other end if you just can't face doing it yourself. The majority
of self-storage facilities will be able to refer you to specialist removers
if they don't do it on site - in many cases, their referral will earn
you a discount.
- Packaging offers - some self-storage providers will offer a complete
packing solution - i.e. some boxes, marker pens, packing tape etc.,
at discounted package prices.
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