What is Airbnb for Storage? (Features+ Monetization Plan)

The sharing economy has taken over a major portion of the market and has been used in almost all sectors. The latest trends show its acceptance in the storage and garage organization market. Homeowners are now welcoming others to share with them their space for providing storage units. We wrote this blog post to clear all your doubts in case you want to get into this business of Airbnb for storage startups and increase your profitability. Doing side hustle to make a few more dollars? The self-storage industry is just for you then.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

When it comes to storage, it holds true for both parties- the one who owns it and the one who needs to rent it.

An empty garage gathering dust is worthless but if you rent out your extra space to someone for storing their stuff or parking space for a car, you get money on the side.

Many people own spaces that are no use to them, at least temporarily. On the other hand, a lot of people own stuff for which they cant find a vacant space.

How about a platform that connects them? An app like Airbnb to rent space for storage could be a great idea for such people. As a leading mobile app development company, we have developed a custom Airbnb for self-storage app, and based on our experience we have written this article. Let’s get started.

What is Airbnb For Storage?

Airbnb for storage is an app that connects hosts having spaces to let out online with people who need a storage unit for their things.

Hosts can promote their home space by adding its details and pictures, setting their prices, and putting it open for renting. The people with a need for vacant space can contact them and make a deal according to their requirements.

Basically, it’s an on-demand storage app that makes a pair of people with extra storage spaces to let out and people who need it in the neighbourhood. They might be students, migrated citizens, or anyone else who has just moved into the city for any reason and stored their things.

The need for such a storage unit app is now more than ever. We are saying it because this market segment is showing some really promising trends. You can find all your answers to the question, why create Airbnb for self-storage startups by reading this article.

Why is There a Huge Space to Grow in The Storage Marketplace?

• According to CBC, the self-storage market in Canada is booming as people are grapple with ‘too much stuff’.
• The total revenue in the Canadian storage industry in 2019 was CAD 4 billion
• According to research by The Freedonia Group, the U.S. closets and home storage organization market was projected to grow 3.5% annually to $10.5 billion in 2019.
• From 2019 to 2024, the Global United States Storage and Garage Organization revenue would keep increasing with an annual growth rate with 5~7%.
• The global Storage & Garage Organization Consumption Market is estimated to reach USD 11.1 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Research Reports Inc.

Now, you can see that creating an app like Uber to rent out extra space of home or warehouse can be a great opportunity in these times.

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How Airbnb For Storage Works?

To understand how an app like Airbnb of storage works, let’s take an example of the self-storage app leader company, Neighbor.com. This startup, originated from Utah, serves the neighborhoods in the USA and its funding has already reached $2.5 million in March 2018. The Utah Governor’s Office gave the app grant under Technology Commercialization and Innovation of startups in February 2018. Also, the University of Utah and Brigham Young University entitled multiple accolades to this startup storage business. Come on, let’s look at its miraculous working below:

• Based on the peer-to-peer model, Neighbor storage company connects people who want to let out their unutilized spaces with people looking for extra spaces to keep their stuff.
• In the latter paras, you’ll also find the reasons to make a peer-to-peer model-based app for self-storage. So, sit uptightly and just keep reading.
• The landowners often let out their extra spaces in the home, closet, garage, attic, home depots, and cellar/basement to the person looking for rented space to keep things.
• Here, the hosts share details like pictures, location, size, and storage rates on the website for renters to choose-out from it.
• Self-storage apps like Neighbor have no limit on the minimum or maximum amount spent and the tenure for letting out the land.
• Suchlike apps sync mutual friends from Facebook’s friend list to owners’ and renters’ accounts. Who knows there is an empty space with your neighbors only!
• This way, both of them can be benefited out of mutual connections. This feature ensures the security of both parties.
• The messaging platform on Neighbor helps the hosts and guests to connect efficiently. They can communicate with a 24*7 access, prior appointment basis, or business hours contact as per the owner’s preferences put in the app.

Want to know its complete development process? We’ve curated an in-detailed guide for you on how to build an app like Airbnb? (Process + Cost Estimation + Technology Stack + Alternatives)

Why Make a Peer-to-peer Storage Rental App Like Airbnb?

1. Space Utilization + Safety

   The concept of self-storage comes from Airbnb, where people share their houses if they have an extra property or rent out a room for storage. The extra spaces in someone’s ownership find a purpose, while someone else finds the needed spaces for their stuff. Leaving a space empty is to waste it while renting it would mean its proper utilization.

   Such apps can become more popular, as they allow you to rent out storage space in your house. Also, it is far less invasive to let someone keep their stuff in your house than let someone stay in it. It also ensures the safety of both parties. The guest and the host need to agree on a contract. While creating your app/website, it should be a part of the screening process.

2. Monetary Benefits

   It all comes down to money in the end. The best benefit of creating such an app is the monetary benefit involved for everyone. A mediator can earn from the advertisements and commissions. The hosts can earn by renting the space itself and the renter will find self-storage facilities at a cheaper rate online.

   Extra cash doesn’t hurt if it comes from genuine sources. This is why renting out a little out of your extra space is a great idea. It’s also worth mentioning that the host can rent of storage space that includes from small closets to garages and earn accordingly. There is no upper or lower limit here.

3. Extra Services

   Whether you are a startup or an established moving and storage company, an app for move and store will benefit you. You can provide multiple storage-related services that people might need. For instance, when a person is moving to a new city for work but only for a few weeks or months, he might need movers, packers, and someplace to store his stuff.

   In this case, if your app provides all these services, he would choose your app over any other.
   Therefore, it’s recommended to a company provide all services through a single app. We learned about its benefits. But when you plan to create an app like Airbnb of storage and garages, there are a few features you must consider. Let us take a tour through these features mentioned below.

Features to Include When You Create Airbnb for Self-Storage Facility

1. Profile: Creating a profile is the basic feature every on-demand service app should have. A user should be able to create an account as a ‘Host’ or ‘Guest’. It would be awesome if your clutter storage app allows creating multiple accounts.
2. Listing Space: This feature is for the host. Using it, the host can list all his spaces available to rent out by adding required information like address, images, space area, space size, and price.
3. Search: This feature is for the renters. Renters should be able to search for their desired space from the direct search option and find the appropriate homeowners.
4. In-app Chat: This feature lets the host and guest interact through the app. The guest can ask for any queries to the host about space, negotiate the bids, and can counter offers on it, too. The host can make clarifications about any terms to let out space through these chats. We can help you to build the conversational AI chatbot using Rasa or the Google Dialogflow platform.
5. Pick-up and Drop-off: This feature is a value addition for the renters. Some apps have an option to pick up and drop off the things of a renter. This is helpful to a renter when s/he is new in the city.
6. In-app Payment: If you provide a service online, you should be paid online. Your on-demand app should include payment options. It becomes easy for you (host) to close the deal and receive the payment immediately.

We understand you may wonder even if you create an app like Airbnb for storage in Canada, how would it be beneficial for you. To answer this question, read on!

How to Make Money From Airbnb for Storage App?

Now, you have created an app for renting out storage space and you know how it works, too. It’s time to understand how you can generate money through it.

The app will work on the Airbnb model. It means that companies are supposed to charge a fee from both parties. The person letting their space will pay you fees for using your services. However, the person who is renting space will pay you a certain percentage of the amount of the space they’ve hired. This is one way how companies generate funds through Airbnb storage apps.

Another way of making pennies is to run advertisements on your online platform. If your app is advanced-featured and popular, companies will pay you for running their ads on your platform. Advertisers are in dire need to promote their business content online today, and you can leverage their needs with your app.

Airbnb is a win-win for each party in today’s time. The host earns an extra penny by letting his unused space to someone needy. The guest doesn’t earn a monetary reward. Despite paying the host and the app owner, he earns a space at an affordable price and lets his/her stuff keep safe by using such storage facilities app.

Conclusion

We hope that now you have a better idea about apps like Airbnb to rent out space of home or warehouse. We understand that you might have some further questions and doubts regarding app development. We are here to help you with all your concerns. Being a mobile app development company based in Canada, we well-know how to build user-friendly and fully equipped applications for our clients. You can contact us directly and ask for the project quote or any technical advice from our experts free of cost.