Using a self-storage unit can be an absolute godsend for clearing space in the home without parting with valuable belongings.
If you're moving house, storing excess stock, or simply putting away seasonal items like your winter coat collection, container storage could be the answer.
But what happens when years go by, and you forget what lurks in your self-storage?
Many of our customers have had their units for years. And whilst some come by regularly to move things around, we know many people leave their belongings in storage for decades!
Here's a hilarious, and at times creepy, list of some of the most shocking things found in a storage unit around the world.
Toys and baby's clothes are popular items for self-storage, especially if there may be plans for another little one in the future.
But what if those old toys in storage ended up being worth thousands of pounds?
One manager at found this out when selling off a storage unit and its contents after years of neglect.
Inside were four Beanie Babies, each in individual Ziplock bags. These just happened to be very rare editions of the original Queen Elizabeth Beanie Babies, with a value of $12,000 - $18,000 each on eBay.
Believe it or not, one storage-unit-buying business has often found living animals (or once-living) in self-storage.
They have found a fish tank with the petrified fish, the dried-out husks of two dead iguanas, dead snakes, a dead cat and countless empty aquariums.
Some animals, though, stayed alive: including a python and two tarantulas which survived by eating another!
Over in Michigan, USA, someone bought an unopened self-storage unit at auction only to discover the storage inside included something of great value.
Inside this long-forgotten unit was a collection of Aretha Franklin's clothing and hats! The storage unit had been sold off due to her not paying her self-storage hire fees.
Over 250 unreleased Michael Jackson tracks were found inside a storage unit previously belonging to Joe Jackson, his father.
The self-storage unit included exclusive duets recorded with superstar Tina Turner and songs owned by no–one due to a gap in recording contracts!
What a find!
Our self-storage units in Rochdale are pretty secure. We have great CCTV cameras and security to keep your belongings safe.
But apparently, for one criminal, self-storage security was his nemesis. The story goes that one burglar, Ronald Dennis, decided to break into a self-storage unit looking for some easy money.
The only problem is that though he managed to gain access, he got locked inside!
The next day, whilst doing his rounds, the Security Guard heard discovered him and kept hold of him while the police arrived.
This one creeped us out a little. True or false?
Apparently, one man acquired a new storage unit only to find out the previous hadn't cleared it out properly. While at first a bit annoyed, he was pretty chuffed to find a pretty new and swanky Barbeque Smoker at the back of the unit.
That was until he opened it up and found a human leg inside! After calling the police, they managed to find the original owner of the leg.
We always make sure our storage units are cleared out before passing on to the next customer!
On a similar eery thread as above. Body parts have been found in old self-storage units, but not for the reason you might think.
Often self-storage used to be used for archiving and storage for medical schools, or universities. For this reason, it’s not uncommon to find medical equipment, jars of eyeballs and even whole human skeletons.
Luckily rules for storing these things are a bit stricter these days, so we won’t get a shock at Simple Storage!
OK, so Rochdale isn’t exactly Hollywood, but we're always hoping someone will leave behind a star-spangled gem in one of our self-storage units.
Like one lucky storage company who discovered one of the 8 submarine cars used in the James Bond film ‘'he Spy Who Loved Me’' Until this time, only 7 of the 8 cars used in the film had been found. This model was later sold to Tesla founder, Elon Musk, for a crazy $997,000!
Remember the Beanie Babies we mentioned above? Here's another crazy story of toys in self-storage that brought in a fair penny.
One company that acquired an old storage unit for $50 was left rolling in after finding one of the largest My Little Pony collections ever seen.
A specialist (yep there is such a thing!) came to investigate and valued it at just over $1000! Who knew old toys could be worth so much!
It turns out celebrities have a habit of putting their valuable in self-storage. From Aretha’s clothes to Michael Jacksons unreleased music.
But what about all those seemingly useless memorabilia your crazy uncle Sid keeps in his loft or storage space?
We're pretty sure Simple Storage is home to more than one hoarder collection. But you never know how much a decade can add in value.
One person apparently raked in a healthy $90, 000 from a few Elvis collectibles and bunch of newspaper clippings from the day Elvis died. All those years of storage turned out to be one of the biggest collections ever found.
At Simple Storage, we do pride ourselves on having big storage units. You can fit everything from a few magazines to a whole house of furniture.
But one car thief made the most of his self-storage unit when he tucked away a prized yellow Lamborghini from celebrity Guy Fieri.
Ok, so we don't judge what you choose to hide away in our storage units. But live ammunition is strictly prohibited!
That didn't stop one self-storage space in the United States from finding guns and hand grenades inside a unit.
The bomb squad were called out to disarm it and no storage boxes or shelves were harmed!
Who knew even NASA need affordable storage?
One man bought a mystery storage unit at auction only to find inside a NASA rocket and countdown clock. The old equipment had been stored there after the space program
was discontinued, and – as with many things left in storage – had been forgotten!
No, don't worry, no one left their live Grandma inside their storage unit. Even weirder, someone used their self-storage for a blue coffin containing the skeleton of their grandma.
She had been resting in peace for 17 years saving funeral costs but racking up self-storage fees they could no longer afford!
So maybe the strangest contents of a self-storage go to a medical examiner who was illegally storing his ‘hobby’ in his storage unit after harvesting body parts in his funeral home autopsies.
His unit's safe storage included brains, lungs, hearts, and tissue samples. Gross!
Our container storage and self-storage units in Rochdale can be used for a wide variety of reasons, but there are a few things that we can't accept, including:
· toxic, pollutants or contaminated goods
· firearms, munitions or explosives
· radioactive materials
· hazardous goods
· living plants or animals
· food or perishable goods
· cash and securities
· illegal goods
· waste
· flammable liquids, including petrol
· full or empty gas cylinders
