Shelving as an additional revenue stream

[EagleEye]

I've seen "shelving" as a recurring charge in sitelink for a while now, but the owner just bought 20 units of 6' wide by 2' deep heavy duty shelving (commonly known as "gorilla rack" or "muscle rack" and thinking to lease them as a $20/mo up charge from standard rates. Thinking to make a new unit category to where it will pop up as "unheated 10x15 with shelving"

My plan right now is to set up a 10x15 with 2 sections of shelving in the unit (almost covering one wall) at each of our locations, put it on the website and feel it out. We'll assemble more as needed but I can update this thread with progress if anyone is interested

Is anyone else doing this or leasing any type of equipment out with success? let me know what your strategy is!
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[MamaDuke]

I offered them at one property for $5/month. Never had a single interested customer! But I hear other places have success with them, so I can't wait to hear how it goes for you.

[MyStorageOps]

Like MamaDuke we tried the same thing. Not a bit across at the time 7 stores in the Charlotte, NC market. I'm always willing to try something new.

[KrisinCali]

I tried the same thing at my first facility-not one person wanted it or asked for it. I ended up (after about a year) using the shelving in our document storage area and our mgt office took a set for theirs.

[Grizz]

This is interesting. I see many of our tenants with their own shelving, I dont know if they had it on hand or specifically bought it for the unit. We do have 6x3 units (smaller than a closet but in a heated area) with shelving and most people interested in them say the shelves are too close together or not enough shelving. That being said they rarely stay vacant for very long so there is a demand

[Storman]

I tried it 20+ years ago, just as a $5 upcharge. Didn't have any takers. I would have made more money renting out the unit I had to store all the shelving in waiting for people to want it.

Also, we purchased industrial shelving, much heavier, larger and sturdier than retail Gorilla type shelving. We assumed people would overload them, and didn't want the liability of them collapsing or tipping over and injuring someone. Keep that in mind, if you supply the shelving, you're taking responsibility for it, and the real possibility that people use them incorrectly or beyond their rated capacity. The smaller shelving units like you posted are very easily thrown on a truck on move-out too, so you should probably have some provision to charge a card if they're missing.

In my opinion, $20 a month upcharge is way too high.

Keep us posted, I think we'd all be interested in what your experience is.

[teesee150]

Tried it as well at $5/month. Maybe 5 people over the past 15 years.

[Willar]

We had a bunch of heavy duty shelving left from a previous business we operated. We added them to several units, bolted to the wall for safety, and price them a few dollars higher. So that unit is now permanently "8x16 with shelving". Some people don't want it but many people really like it for organizing. We make $40-60 per year more on each unit, depending on the amount of shelving in the unit.

[curlymom234]

I would start with a few in vacant units and see what happens.

[EagleEye]

1.5+ years later update

Starting off in my mind, it was a no-brainer as a storage nerd because our double set of shelving adds 72 usable sq/ft to the unit (12sq/ft per shelf X 6 sections) so instead of 150 sq ft in a 10x15, it is 222 sq/ft. The success in any "value-added" project is to convey that value to the customer. I started by up charging $20/mo extra and have now set it at $25/mo extra (needed to pay off the $200 purchase price in less than a year for it to make sense for our company).

If I still have them available, you will be able to see how it looks on my store page here. (i also added the attached photos as the first photo of my slide show with some text overlaid to give website visitors an idea of how big the shelving was) I've since removed it to keep photos that are applicable to all shoppers.

The most challenging part was sharing the vision with my co-workers because you have to believe in the product to sell it. If your tone is "we only have shelving units left which are an extra $__' you're putting a negative vibe on those options which do not set you up for success. Instead, try "we do have a unit with shelving preinstalled for just $___ (quote total unit price, don't mention the difference). Many customers have stated that it has saved them the time of going to Home Depot, buying, and installing the shelves. I've had others that preferred to purchase and set up their own shelves because it made more sense for their situation. It's not for everyone, but after 1 year of rental these have paid themselves off and are making pure profit now! Originally I thought this would attract just short term rentals (3-4 months) but as we all know, that quickly turns to 12+ months and we've had some long term rentals still using them!

Pro-tip- if you are starting off with this idea, it's handy to have them all in one area of your facility. if you've just opened a new building, consider making nearby units unrentable in case you want to throw shelving in them as you fill up.

Let me know your thoughts and experiences if you have tried this recently. I've purchased more and will put the same combo (building 3 shelving units with 2 boxes) in 10x20 units for the same $25 upcharge). Have considered 10x10's as well but haven't pulled the trigger on installing in smaller units yet.

[KrisinCali]

I think it depends on the market. I like Eagle's idea of putting it in one area only.

[T_Champeau]

It's all about how you sell it! We don't offer shelving, but I constantly tell prospective tenants to get shelving because it increases the use of the space, better airflow, less likely things will be crushed, etc. A lot of them are actually very keen on the idea and ask where to get it. We just don't want the liability. Having them preinstalled and up charging them is a brilliant compromise!