Startup turns self storage into a shareable goods library

Boxbee is hoping to make self storage more fluid, enabling users to easily give friends and family access to borrow their stored goods.

Typically, homeowners sending their stuff into self storage pack it up and forget about it until they need it again. Meanwhile, items that may be of use to friends and family gather dust rather than being used. Boxbee is hoping to make self storage more fluid, enabling users to easily give contacts access to borrow their stored goods.

Based in San Francisco, Boxbee’s storage system simply sends users a durable, water-resistant box, which they fill with items and send back to be securely stowed. The boxes are managed online and users keep an inventory of everything that is in each box, aiding quick retrieval later on. If they need anything, they can order a box to be delivered back to their home, but Boxbee also gives users the option of sending a box to their friend’s house to enable them to take advantage of the unused goods. They can then also track who has what through the online dashboard. In order to get customers in the sharing spirit, Boxbee has its own sharing library that users can take advantage of at any point.

Boxbee subscriptions range from USD 6 to USD 9 a month and sharing deliveries cost USD 15 to send. Are there other ways to enable property owners to securely place their goods into the sharing economy?

Spotted by Murray Orange, written by Springwise