Goods storage: what it is, the difference between storage and a warehouse, and the four options for a small business side by side, from a rented warehouse to storage with pickup at your premises.
Goods storage means keeping products, stock and materials in a dedicated space for the period they aren't needed. A small business has four routes: a rented warehouse, a third-party logistics provider, a unit in a self storage facility, or storage with pickup at your premises. What decides it most is how often the goods come in and go out.
I run the fourth route, so I start from there with a bias. All four are below, though, including the cases where ours is the wrong one.
In everyday speech they're used as synonyms. In practice they mean three different things, and the difference changes the service you buy.
Storage is the activity: keeping goods still in one place. A warehouse is the place where goods come in, go out, get counted and prepared, and whoever uses it usually runs it daily. A deposit is a relationship: under the Italian Civil Code, art. 1766, someone receives an item with the duty to look after it and return it.
In short: in a warehouse you do the work, in a deposit someone else looks after things for you. For a small business the useful question is whether the goods need to move often or stay put.
The table compares models, not companies. Figures vary between providers; what stays the same is who does the work and how long you commit.
| Option | When it fits | The limit |
|---|---|---|
Rented warehouse | Goods coming in and out every day, moved by you | A long lease and square meters paid for even when empty |
Third-party logistics | High volumes; the provider picks and ships orders | Built for continuous flows, often with volume minimums |
Self storage unit | Little stock, frequent access, a vehicle to drive there yourself | Transport and the time of whoever goes, on every visit |
Storage with pickup at your premises | Goods sitting still for weeks or months; we do pickup and redelivery | You can't walk in whenever you like: redelivery is booked |
The first is turnover: how many times a month you need to take something out. If the answer is "every day", you need your own space or a provider that fulfils orders. If it's "a few times a season", you're paying for constant access to goods you don't touch.
The second is volume. Samples, trade fair material, stock for a peak, returns waiting to be processed, off-season collections: they often fit in a few square meters, and the property market sells space in sizes meant for people who move goods every day.
The most common case I see is the back of the store or the spare room in the office, turned into a warehouse without anyone deciding it. That's square meters paid at commercial rent to hold closed boxes.
Does your stock sit still for months?
We collect it from your business, keep it in the warehouse with a code on every item and bring it back when needed. Monthly rate per size, invoiced.
Would you rather talk to a person?+39 02 999 444 21WhatsApp
Goods storageWhatever you choose, these are the questions to ask the provider.
Minimum term and notice to cancel.
Whether there's a deposit, and when it comes back.
Who transports the goods, and whether transport is charged separately.
How far the goods are covered in storage, and who is liable during transport.
How access works: hours, notice, whether you can take just part.
How each item is tracked, and whether you get an invoice.
If you prepare orders every day, you need a warehouse or a logistics provider: we don't pick, we don't fulfill orders and we don't ship to your end customers. For the e-commerce case there's the page on e-commerce storage in Milan, which says what we do and what we don't.
The same goes if the goods travel on pallets and need a forklift: the service is built for items one person can lift, up to 20 kg per box, and bulky items loaded as they are. And if you need a box at seven in the evening, a unit with the key in your pocket works better.
We come to businesses in Milan as well as around Lodi or Crema. The figures are on the pricing page and in the online quote; here is the process.
Pick the size in square meters, from 1 to 30 m², and the pickup date. The quote shows the monthly rate and the pickup before you pay. The size is chosen at the start and doesn't change during storage: the size guide helps you get it right.
We come to load at your store, office, warehouse or garage. Every item is checked, labeled with a unique code and logged.
The goods stay in an indoor, dry warehouse with controlled access, video surveillance and an alarm.
When you need them, you request redelivery with at least 48 hours' notice, even for just part. If they need to go to another address in Italy or abroad, we ship them on a quote.
The online quote doesn't ask for a card: pick size and date and you see the monthly rate and the pickup, invoiced. If you'd first like to know whether your case fits, write to us from contacts. All services for companies are on the business page.
It's keeping products, stock and materials in a dedicated space for the period they aren't needed. It can happen in a warehouse run by the business, with a logistics provider, in a self storage unit or in storage with pickup at your premises.
A warehouse is the place where goods come in, go out and get prepared, usually run by whoever uses it. A deposit is the relationship by which someone receives an item with the duty to look after it and return it (Italian Civil Code, art. 1766).
You pay a monthly rate for the square meters you take up: it starts at 1 m², and the rate is fixed per size. The rate covers storage in the warehouse. On top, once at the start, you pay the pickup and the transport to the warehouse. The pickup price covers the stop at your place, not all the loading work: any time beyond that is shown as an estimate before you book and settled on the actual time, at €29 an hour per person VAT included. If you commit to more months, the discount goes on the pickup, not on the rate. Redelivery is not included: you book it from your account when you need it and pay for it then. Redelivery is worked out with the same engine as the pickup, at full price (the duration discount applies to the pickup only), and it depends on the day you pick, which you see before confirming. The base insurance limit is included in the rate. Paid separately, only if you ask for them: a higher limit (a monthly amount), packing materials and, on a quote, packing done by us and furniture disassembly. The online quote shows you the rate and the pickup before you book.
The service is built for items one person can lift, up to 20 kg per box, and bulky items loaded as they are. We have no forklifts or loading docks: if your goods are already palletized, write to us before booking.
You can have just some of your belongings brought back and leave the rest in storage. You ask for it like a full redelivery — from your account or by writing to info@smoves.it, with at least 48 hours' notice — with one difference: there is no dedicated button for a partial redelivery, so you tell us what you want back and we arrange it together. Whatever you don't ask for stays in the warehouse, under the same contract.
Does your stock sit still for months?
We collect it from your business, keep it in the warehouse with a code on every item and bring it back when needed. Monthly rate per size, invoiced.
Would you rather talk to a person?+39 02 999 444 21WhatsApp
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