I was glad to see Ron Matejko’s article online about the Slate article on self-storage pricing tactics. I read the same article. Ron is an associate editor for Inside Self Storage.

I have been on and off my soapbox over the years about self-storage pricing strategies. Now, other, more public voices outside our industry are shedding light on it.

Here was the title of the article:

The Sneaky Rate-Increase Policies Sweeping the Self-Storage Industry

Unsavory practices propped up by a small number of operators leave some customers feeling stuck.

The article focused on a woman who rented a 10 x 10 for $45, and in less than a year, it went to $220 per month. That is a 389% price increase.

I think unsavory is a mild way to explain this type of behavior. It is abusive and immoral in my book. Would you want your Mother renting there?

And we are seeing this especially from the REITs, but it is not exclusive to them. The worst in my experience has been Extra Space. I tell everyone I see to never rent from them. I rent their facilities just to see how their pricing practice works, and I have seen exactly the same. My increase is not in the 350% plus range, but it is north of 150% in a year.

Black Eye for the Industry

In surveys of the public, self-storage for the most part is below the radar in terms of approval or bad approval ratings.

It won’t be for long.

Articles like this are just going to continue.

Legislation like the California Bill 709 was originally designed to limit self-storage price increases, but got watered down and now just mandates clear, first-page disclosures in rental agreements, including maximum potential fees, termination steps, and owner contact information. But this push for regulation will only continue state by state as complaints keep coming in from consumers.

In the Slate article, the reporter went to a self-storage national convention and sat in sessions where pricing practices were discussed. He noted there was very little, if any, pushback from anyone on the panel about the “aggressiveness” of these practices.

Comments such as “and most customers are none the wiser” when the move in on an incentive offering rate were reported from the panel members.

We are just inviting interference from regulatory bodies not to mention it is just not a good way to treat people and customers.

Upcoming Self Storage Bootcamp

In the upcoming bootcamp, we will cover how many of us who are smaller owners and operators are addressing this issue in our revenue models, underwriting, and acquisition criteria.

What we see is that consumers want transparency. It’s not that we don’t or never have price increases; we are transparent in our incentive offerings.

Shameless Plug Here

If you are interested in getting in or growing your self-storage business, but it seems overwhelming, then this Bootcamp may be for you.Not only do we break down what is involved in getting into this business, but we also have a three-month follow-up with each other and people who have also been through the training and may be a few steps ahead, so you can see and hear what worked and didn’t work for them.

You will learn as much, if not more, from the follow-ups because you will be actually doing some of the things you learned about over the weekend. Others will share what’s working and not working for them. We all grow and speed up our learning curve together.

The event is virtual, but make no mistake, you will be engaged. The live, virtural Self-Storage Bootcamp is January 16 & 17, 2026, a Friday and Saturday, from 10 AM eastern to 5 or so each day. A link is provided below for more information and registration.

There is also a link on the page to schedule a call with me if you want to talk or get more information.

But back to our topic at hand. I strongly suggest we as an industry get this practice under control before will be controlled for us.

Thanks for allowing me to get on my periodic rants on this subject, but I am very concerned about it and felt it was time to speak out on it (again).

Bootcamp:

https://creatingwealththroughselfstorage.lpages.co/2026-q1-live-virtual-bootcamp/