How does the Store or Sell Calculator work?

The calculator models item depreciation over time (furniture loses ~15%/year, electronics ~30%/year) while tracking your cumulative storage costs. It finds the exact month where you'll have paid more in storage fees than your items are actually worth at that point in time — not their original price. It also shows the opportunity cost of what your storage fees could earn if invested instead.

Why don't storage companies offer a calculator like this?

Because the honest answer is sometimes 'stop paying for storage.' No storage company has a financial incentive to tell customers their items are depreciating faster than their storage fees accumulate. This calculator exists because an independent comparison site can afford to give you the answer that benefits you, not the provider.

What depreciation rates does the calculator use?

The calculator uses category-specific annual depreciation rates based on resale market data: Furniture 15%, Electronics 30%, Appliances 20%, Clothing 25%, Sporting goods 15%, and General items 10%. Sentimental items are treated as having no resale value. You can assign a category to each item for accurate modelling.

Free Calculator

Store or Sell Calculator

Your items lose value every month you store them. This calculator shows the exact point where selling beats storing — the maths storage companies don't want you to see.

Updated 2 April 2026

Your storage situation

Monthly storage cost

The monthly fee on your storage contract

Months already stored (optional) If you're already paying — we'll calculate how much value you've lost

Your stored items

Quick add common items

Enter your monthly storage cost and add at least one item to see your break-even analysis.

Break-even point

—

months

Item	New price	Value now	Break-even

Storage cost vs. depreciated value over time

How the calculator works

Enter your costs

Type in your monthly storage bill and how long you've been storing. If you haven't started yet, leave months at zero.

Add items with categories

Each item is assigned a depreciation category — electronics lose value fastest (30%/yr), furniture slowest (15%/yr). This models real resale value, not the price you paid.

Get the honest answer

See the exact month where storage fees exceed what your items are worth at that point in time. Plus: what your money could earn invested instead.

Why this calculator exists

Australia's self-storage industry is worth over $2.3 billion. The average customer stores for 2–3 years, paying thousands in fees to protect items that depreciate every month they sit in a unit.

30%

Annual depreciation on electronics

15%

Annual depreciation on furniture

What storage fees could earn invested

No storage provider has a financial incentive to tell you this. Their business model depends on customers storing longer, not shorter. That's why a tool like this doesn't exist on any provider website — and why we built it.

Sometimes storage is the right call. But you deserve the maths, not the marketing. Enter your numbers above and decide for yourself.

Considering alternatives? Read our guide to 9 alternatives to self storage — from peer-to-peer platforms to selling it all.

See Real Prices, Not Estimates

We collect advertised rates directly from provider websites — pick your city to start:

Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Perth Adelaide Gold Coast Browse all suburbs →

Related: Size Calculator True Cost Calculator Downsizing Guide Moving House Guide