South Africa's Biggest Misconception About Self Storage

Our Operations Managers across South Africa receive thousands of enquiries for self storage and field some interesting questions on a daily basis. If you are not sure what self storage is, then perhaps visiting our Self Storage Frequently Asked Questions page will help you. As with any customer service industry we have our fair share of peculiar requests, such as, "Can I store my dog?", "Do you sell tyres?" or "Is it OK if I put my mother-in-law in there?" We are never quite sure if the last request contains some sarcasm and a quick check with our Operations team confirms this is requested more than you would think.

Let's knock off the obvious misconceptions and then hopefully we can help you save some cash with the biggest misconception about self storage in South Africa. Number one, Storage Wars is real and there are lots of hidden gems in self storage units across South Africa. In our experience anything of value is removed long before rental is due. Tenants moving overseas or who do not require the storage space usually remove what they believe is of value. Think about it, would you leave something of incredible value to be sold? Number two, self storage is basically a big warehouse space in an industrial area. Though this may have been the case not so long ago, modern self storage facilities are located in high traffic nodes in convenient, easy to access areas, are well lit, clean and secure. Take a look at the Stor-Age Visit Our Store video to see what the most modern self storage stores look like.


So what is the number one misconception about self storage in South Africa? Quite simply it is the understanding that there is only one unit size to rent and that it looks like your garage. For older facilities this may be the case, however the modern facility will have self storage units ranging from one square meter up to 30 square meters and will even offer self warehousing options for larger requirements. What does this mean for you? You should only rent the space you need. There is no need to pay for space you simply will not use. Choose a smaller unit size, your wallet will thank you later. Check out the space that will suit you using our handy self storage space estimator.