By Geoff Hayth, SBOA
Storage Industry’s Smart Fee Shift
You’ve checked in for a flight without standing in line. You’ve skipped the hotel front desk and gone straight to your room. You’ve returned a rental car without exchanging a word. You may have even bought a car fully without speaking to someone directly. These conveniences — now standard — are powered by small technology fees that quietly reshaped entire industries.
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Self-storage is at the same turning point. And RV and boat storage is too. Heck, just about every industry has AI technology pumping through its internal workings. The same model that made air travel, hotels, and car rentals faster and more convenient is now transforming how storage operators run their businesses and how tenants experience them.
The Self-Storage Shift
In our industry, these “Smart Tech Fees” — typically $3.99 to $7.99 per renter per month — cover the systems that replace outdated, manual processes with faster, more secure and more convenient automation.
At DaVinci Lock, that means a cloud-based automation platform paired with a highly 
reliable mechanical lock — a perfect solution for the unique business model of self-storage. Tenants get the convenience and empowerment of automation without the risks of downtime, and operators get reliability and efficiency they can count on.
For tenants, it’s instant, hassle-free access. A unique lock code arrives the moment they move in via text and email — whether it’s 2 p.m. or 2 a.m. They can manage their account, pay bills and initiate a move out from their phone. As much as possible, we are empowering customers to self-serve!
For operators, it’s a predictable, scalable revenue model. Using our “New Move-Ins Method,” facilities apply DaVinci Locks only to vacant units. As new tenants arrive, they automatically begin paying the Smart Tech Fee. Many recover the system cost in less than a month, with recurring revenue growing each month thereafter.
Learning from Other Industries
Travel and hospitality proved the formula:
- Frame the fee as value-added. In our case, tenants see it as paying for a secure lock, instant access and self-service tools.
- Fund continuous improvement. The fee ensures operators can maintain and upgrade their automation systems without dipping into other budgets. It also allows them to optimize how they run their stores. And no, that does not mean you have to replace every employee.
- Standardize the customer experience. Every tenant gets the same seamless, tech-enabled process — no exceptions.
When operators clearly communicate these benefits, adoption isn’t a hurdle. Just as travelers now expect mobile boarding passes or hotel keyless entry, self-storage tenants increasingly expect instant access and the convenience of managing everything online.
Real-World Results
10 Federal Storage rolled out a $3.99 Smart Tech Fee in 2024 and generated $60,000 in new monthly recurring revenue across 60 properties. By Q2 2025, they increased the fee to $5.99 for new tenants across more than 100 properties, pushing monthly recurring revenue past $80,000.
At a 5% cap rate, that’s north of $20 million in asset value created — all while maintaining high tenant satisfaction.
The Future Is Already Here
More than 650 self-storage facilities nationwide now use the DaVinci system to drive recurring revenue. And that number is increasingly growing every month. For operators, Smart Tech Fees aren’t just another upsell — they’re a reinvestment strategy that funds automation, increases security and builds valuation.
Travel, hospitality and rental car companies didn’t wait for customers to ask for automation — they set the standard and reaped the rewards. In self-storage, we have the benefit of knowing they work already.
The only question is: will you capture the upside first or let your competitors pass you by?
Geoff Hayth is President of DaVinci Solutions. Learn more about DaVinci Solutions by visiting www.thesboa.com/vendors/davinci-solutions.
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