Finding storage
How to look for a storage space, how the rental period is measured, and what a renewing rental means.
In this topic
Storage is let by the month
Storage is let by the month, and only by the month. There is no hourly, daily or weekly tariff for storage, and no two and a half months either.
You choose a number of months, and the end date is counted from the moment you pay, when the rental starts. One month from 31 January ends on 28 February in an ordinary year, and two months from the same date end on 31 March. The count is always made from the day the rental started, not from the previous month.
The price shown is the monthly price multiplied by the number of months you chose.
Minimum and maximum months
The host sets a minimum number of months, and sometimes a maximum too. A booking shorter than the minimum is refused.
The minimum is at least one month. A host who wants a long rental shows a higher minimum, and it appears before you book.
On a renewing rental the maximum does not apply, because there is no agreed period to limit. The minimum does apply, to the opening term.
A renewing rental
Some storage spaces are offered as a renewing rental: a rental with no end date fixed in advance, which renews every month until one side stops it.
It exists for storage only, and only if the host allowed it on that listing. There is no such thing for parking.
The opening term still has to meet the host's minimum number of months. The amount shown is for the opening term, and the renewal continues at the same rate.
This is a monthly subscription: the price is per month, and each month is charged separately until you cancel the subscription from "My rentals". The option is not offered yet; this is how it will work when it is available.
You can stop the renewal at any time from "My rentals". Stopping the renewal is not cancelling: the rental runs to the end of the paid month and then ends, with no refund for the current month. If a renewal charge fails, the storage space is held for you for 3 days, and after that the rental ends.
What fits in the space
A storage listing states a size in square metres, and sometimes dimensions as well. It also states the type of space — private storage, shared storage, a basement, a container, a locker and others.
The list of what fits is the list of things the host agrees to store: furniture, boxes, suitcases, sports gear, a motorcycle and others. When you filter by it, the results include only spaces that support every item you ticked.
The listing also states whether there is climate control, whether the space is on the ground floor, and whether there is round-the-clock access. Climate control matters for things that suffer from damp or heat.
Booking a storage unit
Open the listing and choose a number of months. The rental starts the moment the payment goes through, and the screen shows the end date and the amount before you pay.
You have to be signed in to book. You cannot book your own listing.
The moment the payment goes through, the booking exists and the storage space is yours for that period. There is no answer from the host to wait for.
After the payment goes through, the exact address, the location inside the property and the host's phone number open, inside the conversation about the listing.
The same months cannot be booked twice. The same unit for another period can be booked, if it is free.
Why a particular storage space is not free
A storage unit holds one tenant at any moment. If it is rented on the dates you asked for, it will not appear in the results for them.
A unit on a renewing rental that has not been stopped also occupies the months after its current term. Otherwise the renewal would collide with a new booking, and the sitting tenant would find themselves out.
The search also respects the host's rules: minimum and maximum months, how far in advance you have to book and how far ahead you may book. A unit that does not fit what you asked for simply does not appear, rather than appearing and being refused at the end.
Where the storage space actually is
Before you book, the listing shows the city and the area only. The map pin is snapped to a grid of about 300 metres, so it marks a surrounding area and not a building.
After the payment goes through, the street, the house number, the exact location inside the property — a floor or a unit number, for example — and the host's phone number open. All of these appear in the conversation about the listing.
It is worth agreeing in the conversation how and when you get in, particularly if access is not around the clock.