How Much Does Student Storage Cost in Athens? (2026)
Short answer: anywhere from about $180 to $450+for the summer, depending on which route you take — and the cheapest sticker price isn't always the cheapest once you add everything up. Here's exactly what each option costs in Athens, with the hidden fees most students forget.
The quick answer
Self-storage unit
$60–$150 / month≈ $180–$450 for the summer
Plus truck rental, gas, boxes, a lock, and insurance — and you do all the hauling.
Door-to-door pickup & delivery
$199–$299 flat$199–$299 total, all-in
Boxes, tape, QR tracking, pickup, climate-controlled storage, and August delivery included.
Ship & Store (from home)
from $299 + shipping$299–$500+ depending on boxes
Best for out-of-state students — you ship boxes to us and we deliver to the dorm in August.
Furniture / oversized set
custom quotepriced per set
Mattresses, futons, desks, dressers — quoted as a set instead of by the box.
What actually drives the price
Whatever option you pick, the cost comes down to five things:
- How much you store — number of boxes, or unit size in square feet.
- Whether it's climate-controlled — a must in Athens (more on that below).
- How long you store it — most students need late April through mid-August.
- Who does the moving — you, or a service with a truck and crew.
- Distance — door-to-door and ship & store fold pickup and delivery into the price.
That fourth one — labor — is where the “cheap” self-storage unit gets expensive fast.
The hidden costs of a “cheap” storage unit
A $70/month unit sounds cheaper than a $199 flat-rate service — until you add what the unit doesn't include:
- Truck or van rental — $30–$80/day, plus mileage, twice (in and out)
- Gas for the round trips
- Boxes and packing tape — $30–$60 if you buy your own
- A lock — $10–$20
- Insurance — often $10–$15/month on top of rent
- A 2–3 month minimum, even if you only need it for the summer
- Your time — two full days of hauling in the Georgia heat
And if you don't have a car? A self-storage unit barely works at all.
A real example: a typical dorm room
Say you're storing the contents of a standard dorm — clothes, bedding, books, a few bins, no car. Here's the honest math.
Self-storage route
- Small climate unit, 3 months — ~$210
- Van rental, 2 trips — ~$60
- Gas — ~$20
- Boxes + tape — ~$40
- Lock + insurance — ~$45
≈ $375 + two days of hauling
Door-to-door (Sic'em)
- 3 boxes, pickup + storage + delivery
- Boxes, tape & QR tracking included
- Climate-controlled all summer
- Delivered to your room in August
- No car, no hauling, no lock to buy
$199 flat — and you do nothing
Same stuff, less money, none of the work. That's why door-to-door tends to win for students in Athens — see the full breakdown in our comparison of every Athens storage option.
Don't skip climate control to save a few dollars
Athens summers sit in the low-to-mid 90s with humidity that rarely drops below 60%. A non-climate-controlled unit can hit 120°F+ inside, where mold grows on fabric and leather, wood warps, and electronics fail. The $20 you save going non-climate isn't worth a ruined mattress or laptop — every Sic'em plan is climate-controlled by default.
4 ways to keep your storage cost down
- Book early. Early-bird pricing is the lowest you'll see — rates rise as move-out gets closer.
- Only store what you'll actually use again. Donate or toss the rest before you pay to keep it.
- Split with a roommate. Going in together on boxes spreads the cost.
- Measure before you book so you buy the right number of boxes instead of guessing high.
The bottom line
Budget around $200for a hassle-free, all-included summer if you're storing a dorm's worth of boxes, and more only if you have furniture or are shipping from out of state. A self-storage unit can look cheaper on paper, but once you add the truck, supplies, insurance, and your own labor, door-to-door is usually the same price or less — without the headache.
Out of state? See how Ship & Store works. Got a futon or full furniture set? Get a custom quote. And before you pack, run through our Athens move-out checklist.
One flat price. Zero hauling.
Boxes delivered to your dorm, pickup from your room, climate-controlled storage all summer, and delivery back in August. From $199.
See Pricing & Reserve