Spaceout has always been outstanding value (we think that it still is),  and  we have always wanted our service to be used by (and useful to) as many people as possible throughout Australia, so introducing a small fee is not a decision we have taken lightly.    But  after much debate and consideration we are confident that introducing a fee is the best way to ensure that SpaceOut and the unique service that we provide, continues to grow and improve in the future.

Why A Listing Fee?

Here are some of the reasons why we have decided to introduce a fee for creating a new Space for Rent listing :

• Is it Really Free ? - this was by far the question that we got asked most often.  People were surprised that we were offering Spaceout as a free service in the first place, and even after we explained that it really was free, many were still suspicious and wondered what the catch was (there wasn’t one!!).  By introducing a fee, we recognise that some people may no longer list with us, but our market research suggest that even as a paid service SpaceOut offers great value (the possibility of earning $200 or more a month, easily outweighs the listing costs), and that in fact, many people are likely to be more comfortable paying a fee.
• Improving the Listing Standard – we’ve noticed that the listings some members create are very basic – often containing very little (or no) additional information about the space itself. This makes it harder for people to decide whether or not the space may be suit their needs.  Because the listing was free, some members seemed to feel that they shouldn’t bother about putting much effort into their listing (probably not realising that more detailed listings tend to get rented out faster). We believe that the small fee will encourage people to spend a little more time preparing their listings – making them more detailed and informative – which is better for everyone.
• Keeping it Fresh – Free listings provide no  real incentive for the owner to flag their space as leased once they have rented it out.  Some people members just let their listing expire at the end of three months – even though they have leased out the space.  This meant that they would get extra “contact requests” – which were sometimes ignored, and sometimes when people enquired about a space they were told that it was no longer available.  The monthly subscription provides an incentive for space owners to be a bit more proactive about managing their listing – which leads to a better experience for people looking for space, as they are less likely to find a space which is no longer actually available.
• Ongoing development – creating and running an online service like SpaceOut is not a cheap exercise.  We get suggestions and requests from members for improvements to the service (thanks very much for those), and have lots of plans or how we can improve and expand the functionality of the site.  Generating some sort of income from the site means that we will have more funds that we can put towards improvements – and will be able to offer additional functionality and features faster (and better) than we would have been able to otherwise.

How is the fee applied?

Once we had agreed that a  fee was necessary, we needed to look at the best way to apply this.  We considered quite a few different approaches, including

• a one off  fee, to allow listing  until the space had been rented (e.g. $50 for the life of the listing),
• a commission (a percentage of the space rental rate) once the space had been successfully leased (e.g. 20% of the monthly rental rate),
• a set price for a set listing period (e.g. $30 for 3 months),
• a sliding fee based on the advertised monthly space rental,

… but decided that a simple fixed price monthly subscription was the most reasonable and best value approach.

Monthly Subscription via Paypal

A monthly subscription allows us to charge a relatively small fee, and means that owners only need to pay for their listing until they rent out their space – they don’t have to pay for a big chunk of time that they may not even need.

We have decided to use Paypal (probably the world’s most popular payment system),  to manage the subscription process as this allows our members to have complete control of their own subscription and lets them review and update (or cancel) their subscription whenever they wish.  This means that members will need to register with Paypal (if they don’t already have an account), but provides them with greater flexibility in payment methods, and guarantees safe and secure payments.

When a new listing is created, as the final part of the listing process, owners will be directed to Paypal to confirm the subscription.  An initial payment will be made, and the listing will be activated, then, each month (on the anniversary of the original listing start date) another payment will automatically be applied, and the listing will automatically be extended for another month.

The subscription can be cancelled at any time (via the members Paypal account) – for example once the space has been leased out, or if it is decided that the listing is no longer required.  Once a subscription has been cancelled, the listing will remain active until the end of the current month’s listing period ( the status can still be set to Leased or Do Not Display to stop it showing up on SpaceOut).

Members will receive email notification when the subscription (and listing) is created, and monthly notification each time a payment is made.

You can find out more about the current space listing fees, or read more details about how the  payment process works.  We would also love to get your feedback on SpaceOut subscription, so if you’ve got anything you’d like us to know, please feel free to contact us.

At the moment, each Space for Rent listing must be assigned to a particular Space Type (although this may change in the future). If for example you have an empty shed which may be suitable for storage, parking a car, or even for use as a office, studio or workshop, it can be tough deciding which type of space you should associate with your listing.

Our recommendation is that rather than creating a single listing, you should create multiple listings – i.e. a separate listing for each relevant space type. One of the main reasons for this is because the amount you may earn in rental is likely to vary depending on the use of the space.  Someone is likely to be willing to pay more for an office or commercial space for example than they would for a parking space or for storage space.

People may also be looking for a particular type of space, and may miss your space listing if it is associated with a different category.  Also, you are more likely to successfully rent out your space if you are able to target your description to a particular type of use – rather than providing a general description.

So, when creating a space for rent listing, if there is not a clear space type to associate it with:

• Consider creating Separate Space listings under each relevant category
• Set a price for each listing that is realistic for the expected use
• Customise the description of you space to target the space type you have associated with it

Spending a little time planning your listing and writing a description which is likely to appeal to the different types of people (and uses) that it is suitable for can have a huge difference on how quickly you rent out your space.

However, this was highlighted to me recently when I prepared an article for the SpaceOut December eNewsletter about how to improve your enquiry rate on your listings.  This article included links to some listings that I felt had pretty good descriptions.  However, between the time I found the listings, and published the newsletter (just a few days) 2 out of the three listings I had identified with “good” descriptions, had already been leased – so I had to quickly go and find a few more.  Now perhaps this was just a coincidence,  but I would like to think that the users good descriptions had a lot to do with them leasing out their space.

The moral of this story?

The moral of this story is clear – if you want to rent out your space quickly, spend a little bit longer thinking about how best to describe your space.  This is not only likely to increase your enquiry rate, but is also likely to prevent people (for whom the space may not really be suitable) contacting you and asking for more information (and wasting your time).

Good Description Tips

I’ve outlined below a few prompts for things that you should consider including info about in your space description :

• Make an accurate and clear description of the space  (how would you describe the space to someone over the phone ?)
• What type of use would this space be ideal for ?
• Who do you see as the “perfect” Renter?
• Describe any access issues or advantages for this space  (e.g. 24 hr drive in access)
• How secure is the space ?  (locks, security systems, dogs, bars on windows, etc…)
• What “added vale” might you be able to offer ?  (e.g. can lend a trailer, or can help with moving in)

We get asked a lot about how to insure privately stored goods, so we’ve provided her some information about covering your stuff, and the crux of the Insurance question is at the end of the post.  You can also find more information on our Self Storage Insurance page.

Owner Arranged Insurance

One method of having your goods insured is by having the Space Owner arrange storage through their home insurance policy…some home policies may cover other people storing their things. If it doesn’t though, you could ask the home owner to see if they can extend their policy to cover stuff stored at their house by someone else.

Whether you as a SpaceRenter pays extra extra for this insurance cover or the SpaceOwner does is between you and the Owner. Talk to the SpaceOwner about this, as it is in their interest for your goods to be properly covered too.

Seeker Arranged Insurance

You may also be able to arrange a policy yourself though a reputable insurer. That means you can arrange cover for your items (which the insurer will ask the value of) and pay an agreed rate. In a full security facility, this rate is around $1 per month per $1,500 of value, but expect more if you organise it yourself. Call around to find the best deal.

Insured Value ?

Perhaps The BIGGEST question though that you need to ask yourself here is “What value do my goods really have?” I mean valuables items are obviously valuable, and I would certainly want to leave my irreplaceable things like family heirlooms and photos, gold, antiques etc in full security situation, but the option that private storage provides is to leave the OTHER stuff, beds, sofas, bookshelves, old clothes that you’d prefer not to throw away, etc etc into storage that is significantly cheaper than the storage facility rate.

This stuff is bulky and cumbersome, and wouldn’t be worth selling but you prefer to keep it rather than going to the trouble of buying it again at some stage. Storing this bulky stuff that takes up most of your space at ‘maximum security’ rates will chew through your cash and is just plain unnecessary. Draw a clear line between your valuable stuff and your ‘bulky’ stuff before you store.

What to Store Where ?

I guess the main point of this post is that the stuff you put into private storage is stuff that is both big, and that IS replaceable if worse comes to worst. You just want to park it some place that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Most SpaceRenters take this view of stuff they put in Private storage. Consider using a traditional storage facility for things that are worthy of the higher storage rates.

Separating ‘bulk’ from value items can save you big time. A bit of forethought can stretch your dollar a long way.