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Rent your storage space discussion
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Thanks will delete my original post and ask forum regulators for an official right to reply.
Just wanted to clear up this issue about favourable posts which we would never do.0 -
Afternoon everyone!
Thanks to forum regulars for wanting to protect the Forum from spam!
In case you're not aware of how we sometimes do things for our main site guides and weekly emails here's a quick summary:- A member of MSE Staff starts a discussion thread specifically for people to give feed back on a company.
- The link to that thread is put in the relevant guide eg here Boost your income.
- That guide is included in the weekly email that goes out mid-week.
- People who receive the email click on the link in it to read the guide.
- People wanting to read or give feedback on the company click the discussion link which takes them through to the Forum eg here.
- Some of those people decide they'd like to give feedback but realise they need to register on the Forum to do that.
- They register on the Forum then they post their feedback.
If you could help make these newbies to the Forum welcome, give them the benefit of the doubt and, if you still suspect them, just report them using the report button without posting your suspicions on the thread, that will leave them still feeling welcome but let us know quietly so we can take a look.
Thank you!
AndreaCould you do with a Money Makeover?
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Flag a news story: news@moneysavingexpert.com0 - A member of MSE Staff starts a discussion thread specifically for people to give feed back on a company.
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Oh Noooooooooo "Storage Wars" comes to MSE ......... Yuuuuuuuuuuup ! Don't forget to pay the lady !
Cofion
David0 -
Sorry being a newbie- haven't figured out how to thank a post.
Andrea- thanks for your post and the point about giving newbies the benefit of doubt and welcoming them- appreciated.0 -
Maya - just click on the "Thanks" button below the post you wish to thank the poster for.If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales0
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Hello all,
I am going to sign up for this and will report how it goes - of course I could just put a card in the shop window but the fact I have not done this in the last 10 years suggest that I probably would never get round to it!
We have a large roof space mostly full of our own ****. If this scheme generates interest it might help me get rid of some of this as well as earn extra income.
It looks from the site like I could earn £15 pw from a storer - perhaps I could get a couple of storers as there is the space. This would potentially generate £120 per month which is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
Will report back.
ps as you can see I am a regular MSEer and have not been prompted by anyone other than by my own dash for cash!!0 -
I hoped I was going to get a garage to share in London SW14 and so advertised for sharers. It took a lot of thought to think how to manage security between them, and I decided eventually that the garage had to be very very close to home so that I could open the door for anyone who wanted to move stuff in or out.
http://sharemystorage.com/what-does-it-cost is an easy site to use and charges one week's rent if you succeed.
http://storemates.com is an easy to use site and charges 2 weeks' rent if you succeed, minimum £10. They also go over-the-top board on penalty clauses which I quote in green below.
Both charges are easy to miss if you are used to Gumtree or Topcashback which are entirely advertising supported. They are hidden in the "click to agree to linked terms and conditions" bit. In contrast these two sites make a virtue of having no adverts and charging you money instead. If you had money to burn, would you be looking at classifieds sites?
I got a caller from Gumtree but my shared storage deal fell-through, so I cancelled the adverts. My guess is that the specialised sites will eventually catch-on if their owners don't try to earn a living at it, and cover their server costs with some online advertising, but they'll need help from users putting cards through their neighbours' letterboxes saying something like "there is some sharemystorage space near you" or "storemates near you are looking for space in your attic", which might be less frightening to respond-to and investigate than a card from a neighbour in the next street. I don't think they're going to get that kind of help from users if they charge. On the other hand, ebay charges loads and does well so maybe I'm wrong.
If Storemates read this: please put your prices in an easily find-able place with a link at the top of each page and a name in the html that can be linked-to if the price isn't at the top of the page. Sharemystorage , which hasn't been mentioned in this thread before, are much better.
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red quotes are from http://sharemystorage.com/what-does-it-cost
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HomeHow the site works
Our Fees
What does it cost?
What does it cost?
For storage users...
Joining the site: FREE Contacting other members: FREE Renting out storage space: PRICE SET BY OWNERS (You are not charged any fees on top of this by SmS) For storage providers...
Joining the site: FREE Listing your space on SmS: FREE (Meaning you’re never out of pocket from using the site) Exchanging messages via the site: FREE Arranging a booking: One weeks storage rent What does our commission pay for?
First of all it pays for the site to exist at all. SmS is not a big business and this commission is what allows us to run, monitor and develop the community. This fee is also used to attract people to the site, both to offer and to book storage space. We do not display banner advertising on SmS and we do not charge people to list storage or communicate with other members. We hope you think this charge is fair for the service we offer.
Paying SmS
Shortly after a booking has been arranged we will email the storage provider a request for payment through Paypal. This payment will amount to the first two weeks storage and can be made via a credit/debit card or through the storage providers existing Paypal account.
Questions about payment…
What if I don't have a PayPal account?
Not a problem. Neither the storage provider or user require a Paypal account to use the SmS service. We do however issue requests for payment through a Paypal API but this can be settled via a regular debit or credit card.
What about PayPal charges?
PayPal charges are separate to the commission charged to storage providers by sharemystorage.com. Please take a look at your PayPal account to find out about the transaction fees they charge.
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Green quotes are from http://www.storemates.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/
half way down page, no name link, clicked as a linked page you agree to
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3. Fees
3.1 - Registering on Storemates, listing a storage space and making an offer for a space is free.
3.2 - Users providing storage space to other Users shall be liable to pay a one-off fee equivalent to two weeks’charge for that space at the rate advertised on the Website, or £10, whichever is the greater. Any reduction in the advertised rate offered by the storage-owning User will not affect the fee payable.
3.3 - The one off fee is payable within fourteen days of a Storemates being arranged. Payment will deactivate the storage listing.
3.4 - For Storemates where a service is provided by the Storage Consumer in lieu of a fee, the £10 minimum fee will apply and will be payable as normal by the Storage Provider. For Storemates where a service is provided by the Storage Consumer in part payment, the fee will be calculated as in clause 3.2 on the charge made. By way of example, a Storemates where the space is advertised at a rate of £15 per week but a service is accepted as part payment of 50% of the storage fee, the fee payable to the Company by the Storage Provider would be £15, or 2 x £7.50 weekly fee.
3.5 – Failure to accurately declare a Storemates to the Company, or any other attempt whether successful or not to avoid paying fees due under these Terms and Conditions, may lead to both Users’ accounts being suspended or terminated and legal action being taken against either or both Users involved.
3.6 – An administration charge of £25 will be imposed for failed payments, and in addition the Company reserves the right to charge daily interest at the rate of 8% above the Bank of England base rate on any payments not received by the due date. Failure to pay any amount due under these Terms and Conditions may result in a debt collection agency being employed to recover the debt and/or legal proceedings being issued.0 -
I recall hearing about storemates (or something similar) on the radio early in the year. With loads of empty loft space in my house, I decided I would try out the site. An ad can be placed for free and a fee is only payable once you find someone who agrees to rent the space.
My main concern was that being a relatively new website (less than a year old), very few people would have discovered it and started using it. The last thing I will do is pay out money for an unknown quantity. Fortunately, the site does allow one to peruse all the ads and even sign up and place an ad before any money is required.
I placed my ad about a month ago and so far have received no messages. I thought it could be the area not being so densely populated but my house is within a major city. I typed various postcode prefixes (such as SO for Southampton) and was dismayed to see only eight results come up for the whole of Southampton and the surrounding area. This was the same for every search I used.
On the whole, it was worth a try as I am not obliged to part with any money. Optimistically, it is still early days for storemates and things might pick up. I too was dubious about the early posts on this site claiming how wonderful storemates is. If it generated the desired results, I too would be pleased.
I noticed I now have note on my ad saying ‘upgrade to premium’ which is internet talk for paying out money. As it only means moving my ad to the top of the list of, er, two ads, I think I will decline.
I think the idea of paying for/renting out private storage space is not ulilised that much and it’s a concept that is yet to catch on. Many people have asked me to store loads of their junk and have often taken advantage by leaving it with me much longer than agreed or using my house as the local junk yard. At least charging people a nominal fee would help eliminate such behaviour. Of course it is not for everyone and there are pitfalls and things to watch out for but if it works, why not?
Out of interest, I have not been prompted by storemates to post a review and yes, I am new to the forum but have been using this website for over two years.0 -
Aussieguyyy wrote: »I placed my ad about a month ago and so far have received no messages. [...]
On the whole, it was worth a try as I am not obliged to part with any money. Optimistically, it is still early days for storemates and things might pick up.
I tried free ads in Gumtree, Vivastreet, & Sharemystorage.com
Someone rang from Gumtree.
Sharemystorage do not issue any cards to put through peoples' letterboxes or in newsagent windows, but I think that is the only way to make that system work and I'll print some cards next time. Then again, if I am doing all the work and giving Sharemystorage or Storemates a free advert to get customers interested & help them find me next time, maybe I should be putting Gumtree.com/parking-garage/east-sheen on there as well. So I will. I Or maybe this will just confuse people?
Or help them check for alternatives and make a decision?
There are similar problems with other P2P systems.- If I want to rent-out a car on Whipcar (which I don't) it looks as though I basically have to advertise Whipcar.
- If I want to people to show Addiply ads on one of my web sites (which I do - employees.org.uk), I have to sell the idea of Addiply.
- Zilok have been advertising my electric garden hoe for rent these last two or three years. Not a single reply. So I suppose I have to put cards through peoples' doors advertising Zilok as well.
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Back again... That is true what the previous poster said - best to advertise on a few sites. It did place an ad with Gumtree and sharemystorage as well as storemates but that was well over a month ago and to no avail. I'm not that fussed because I gave it a go and kept an open mind as to whether or not it would return any results. The sharemystorage site seemed to feature even less ads than I was expecting. It was a better site in regards to the fact that it's completely free to use (An earlier poster suggested storemates should use site advertising to raise money rather than charging a user fee and sharemystorage appears to do this) however there were very few spaces being advertised. I had to broaden my search to a 200-mile radius and then only saw one ad.
Being ever so optimistic, this idea might eventually catch on but for now, I think the ony way to make any money from this is by word of mouth.0
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