Show HN: StowShare – The Airbnb of Storage • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: StowShare – The Airbnb of Storage

#11

Post by willyg123 » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 6:54 AM UTC

Out of college I worked on the finance side of a self storage investment company (thank god I left after 4 years), so I know the ins and outs of the business.

The number one deciding factor for customers is location. Coming in a close second is security. In a far distant third is price.

Self storage employees can only access your unit in the event of an emergency, eviction, or a warrant from law enforcement.

For self storage facility owners, one of the top up-sells is insurance. Almost everyone buys it, again, for security (and peace of mind).

Unfortunately, this idea decreases security rather than solving one of the biggest customer pain points of renting a storage unit.

Re: Show HN: StowShare – The Airbnb of Storage

#12

Post by info1923 » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 7:34 AM UTC

This exact thing was on dragons den in the UK https://www.storemates.co.uk Didn't really do very well but is still going. There's also companies like stasher.com which started like this and pivoted.

Re: Show HN: StowShare – The Airbnb of Storage

#13

Post by Fatboyrunning » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 7:37 AM UTC

I would use this, today, if it were in Auckland.

Chicken and egg problem - what I'm saying is hold on :)

Re: Show HN: StowShare – The Airbnb of Storage

#14

Post by curryst » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 7:37 AM UTC

tjchear wrote: post #9

Would I be liable for illegal things I store for others that I know nothing about?

That's a fantastic question, I would love to know that as well. My worrying suspicion is that yes, you are. I've never heard of prosecutors needing to prove knowledge for drug posession charges.

Even if storers aren't liable, there's a very high chance you would be arrested and potentially charged, and the charges would later be dropped. Assuming we're talking about a big illegal thing here like child pornography or large amounts of drugs, that is. I don't see any way the police seize something like that and don't arrest anyone at the scene.

Re: Show HN: StowShare – The Airbnb of Storage

#15

Post by lordgrenville » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 8:26 AM UTC

When I read the headline I thought this would be a sort of P2P Dropbox. Now maybe that's an idea...

Regardless, best of luck!

Re: Show HN: StowShare – The Airbnb of Storage

#16

Post by robk » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 8:29 AM UTC

lordgrenville wrote: post #15

When I read the headline I thought this would be a sort of P2P Dropbox. Now maybe that's an idea... Regardless, best of luck!

Filecoin?

Re: Show HN: StowShare – The Airbnb of Storage

#17

Post by wnd_pn » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 8:36 AM UTC

lordgrenville wrote: post #15

When I read the headline I thought this would be a sort of P2P Dropbox. Now maybe that's an idea... Regardless, best of luck!

We are doing exactly that ;) Have a look, it might be interesting --> https://business.cubbit.io

Re: Show HN: StowShare – The Airbnb of Storage

#18

Post by mosselman » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 8:41 AM UTC

"Hey bro, we aren't storing my drug-lab at my place" "Don't worry man, I know a place."

Good luck though. I'd much rather store some furniture for people than have them sleep in my house.

Re: Show HN: StowShare – The Airbnb of Storage

#19

Post by throwaway4good » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 9:13 AM UTC

willyg123 wrote: post #11

Out of college I worked on the finance side of a self storage investment company (thank god I left after 4 years), so I know the ins and outs of the business. The number one deciding factor for customers is location. Coming in a close second is security . In a far distant third is price. Self storage employees can only access your unit in the event of an emergency, eviction, or a warrant from law enforcement. For sel…

Why wouldn't you be able to add insurance to an idea like this? Sounds like an obvious thing to me ...

Re: Show HN: StowShare – The Airbnb of Storage

#20

Post by octoberfranklin » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 9:18 AM UTC

joekinley wrote: post #6

I would have a hard time trusting other people to store any more than useless garbage I don't need anymore anyway. What are the plans of the company to deal with possible huge amounts of theft complaints?

> What are the plans of the company to deal with possible huge amounts of theft complaints?

Probably "theft as a service", like KitSplit: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20276631

Voluntary Parting, baby.