I get it. In today’s competitive world of self-storage, reducing rates to match or beat your competition can feel like the smart move.
There’s a lot of supply, and pricing algorithms are adjusting rates to keep up with what’s happening in a trade area. And consumers often think of self-storage as a commodity, so they’ll just go with the cheapest rate… right?
Maybe.
But just know this can quickly turn into a race to the bottom, especially if you have REITs, funds, or other sophisticated operators in your market. The absolute last thing you ever want to do is try to out-price a REIT. They can run you into the ground. They’re prepared to sustain losses a lot longer than you are.
Are the Rates at Your Facility Fair?
If you know your rates are in line with the market and you’re not in the early stages of lease-up, I think it’s important to trust your rates to some degree.
This doesn’t mean ignoring your competition. You absolutely need to know what they’re charging and what incentives they’re offering. But you don’t necessarily have to match them or beat them.
If you’re renting units, or specific unit sizes, at your current rates, you don’t need to lower prices just because a competitor did. If people are moving in at today’s rates, the market is telling you those rates are fair for the benefits you provide.
The data coming from your own facility is far more important than what Radius+ or an algorithm says about your trade area.
If You Think You Need to Lower Rates Because Move-Ins Are Dropping
My coaching going into 2026 is this: only match or go below your competition if you are very clear that others are getting move-ins and you are not.
Instead of slashing everything, test.
For example, if overall move-ins are slowing, take the unit sizes where you have the most vacancies or the ones you most want to impact and, for two or three weeks, adjust those prices or offer a targeted incentive like half off the first two or three months.
Leave the rest of your units alone and see what happens.
If you start getting traction, then expand the strategy to other unit sizes. Don’t just reduce everything at once.
Value-Based Pricing Strategies
I like this approach much better than pure dynamic pricing whenever possible.
The principle is simple: not all 10x10s (or any unit size) are created equal.
People will pay more for convenience just like upgrading to first class at the gate when the upgrade price feels reasonable.
For example, in a two-story or multi-story climate-controlled facility:
- Units in the middle of the second floor might be your “street rate.”
- Units near elevators on upper floors can be priced higher, with smaller move-in discounts.
- First-floor interior units should be higher still.
- And units near doors with easy access on floor one should be the most expensive.
This alone can add more income to your bottom line than you might imagine. It certainly has for us. The lowest price isn’t always the most appealing.
Test Different Move-In Specials
I almost never want to beat my competition on base rates unless I absolutely have to.
Ideally, I want to be the most expensive in my trade area, at least on street rates.
Instead, we test different offers. For example:
- One unit size gets the first month free.
- Another unit size gets the first two months half off.
Then we watch which one creates more traction. (If you’re in early lease-up, you can extend incentives, but don’t give away the farm.)
We’ve also tested non-rent incentives like:
- Free tenant insurance for six months
- Free disc locks
- Free moving truck or U-Haul
Sometimes these offers can create just as much traction as lowered rent, and they usually cost us less.
Sell. Sell. Sell.
When my wife gets frustrated with me for trying to convince her I’m right about something (a very fruitless endeavor on my part, usually), she’ll sometimes call me a “salesman” or say I’m in “sales mode.” In her world, that’s not a compliment.
But your self-storage business today needs salespeople.
It takes zero skill to be the cheapest facility in the market. That might help occupancy in the short run, but it’s a weak long-term strategy.
In my experience, people will pay a fair price for quality benefits they receive at a storage facility. Remember, the unit price is just a feature, not a benefit. People never buy features; they buy benefits.
Sell the benefits.
If you’re open 24 hours and your competition isn’t, that’s a feature. The benefit is access anytime you need it.
If you’re not open 24 hours and your competition is, that’s also a feature. The benefit is increased security through limited access, and if someone truly needs special hours, you can often grant customized access.
This requires knowing your facility versus your competition. Identify your three to five strongest features and benefits, then sell them.
Sell them in ads, on your website, on inquiry calls. Sell them everywhere.
I once had a tenant tell me they chose our facility because we had 35-foot-wide drive lanes. That was the feature. The benefit was they never had to wait to access their unit, unlike a prior facility where access to their unit was constantly blocked. They never would have known the width of our drive lanes if we (1) had not come up with that as a feature/benefit, and (2) we hadn’t told them.
2026 Revenue Strategies Will Be Critical
Even though new construction has slowed dramatically, there’s still a lot of inventory out there and much of it is still in lease-up.
At the same time, operating expenses are rising fast. Insurance, online marketing, and property taxes are all moving higher.
A well-thought-out pricing and revenue strategy will be critical in 2026.
I’d love to hear what’s working and what’s not in your market.
Next week will be Part 2 of this three-part series.
Hint: it won’t be about price
