On-demand storage service will pick up anything

Omni is an app-based service that will pick up items for storage, create a virtual wardrobe, and help users lend out possessions to friends.

As the sharing economy expands, we’re seeing many startups facilitating neighborly borrowing. One localized app lets people borrow items from individuals close by, rather than splash out on new products, and another app broadcasts to 1000 closest users to ask for help. Now, Omni is a new storage service that picks up users’ items, photographs them, creates a virtual wardrobe, and enables customers to lend out their possessions to friends.

For many living in small apartments, Omni provides an alternative to cumbersome storage units. Through the app, users can schedule a pick up, and an Omni concierge will collect their possessions at USD 50 cents per item. Larger objects, such as a snowboard, cost USD 3, and boxes cost USD 7.50. Omni then photographs the items and creates a virtual wardrobe for users, which they can browse and schedule a delivery for anything they need returned. Customers can also ship goods bought online directly to Omni and get it delivered when it suits them.

What’s more, the startup’s new feature enables users to lend items in their virtual wardrobe to friends through the app, for free. For example, if a friend is needing an air mattress, users organize the lend through their app and the friend will receive a message with a URL, which let them schedule a delivery of the item. After it’s been used, friends return it through Omni’s website or the app.

The convenience of scheduled pick ups will no doubt prove popular with busy city-dwellers who are increasingly running out of space. Could a similar model let users earn cash by lending their items?