What is Smoves
Smoves is box storage for students in Milan, built for those living away from home. You book a space in square meters online, we pick up your things from your room, residence hall or apartment, and we keep them in our warehouse for a month, a summer or a year. When you need them, you book the redelivery.
It's for people who have no family garage in the city, no aunt with a half-empty basement, and who go home for the summer a few hundred kilometers away. I was one of them, as an away-from-home student at Bocconi.
What Smoves actually does
Pickup happens at your address, on the date and in the time slot you choose when booking. At pickup it's you or someone you've delegated: your flatmate, the doorman, a friend.
Then your things go into an indoor, dry warehouse. Every item is labeled and logged at pickup, so your account always shows how many pieces you have.
You book the redelivery from your account when you need it, and the address can be changed up to 2 days before. We bring them back in the city, in Brianza, in Pavia or on Lake Como.
Who does what, step by step:
| Moment | What you do | What we do |
|---|---|---|
Pickup | You pack the boxes and choose a date and time slot. At pickup it's you or someone you've delegated, such as a flatmate, the doorman or a friend | We come to your address, check every item, label it and log it |
Storage | Nothing. Your account shows how many items you have and, when you need them, you book the redelivery | We keep them in an indoor, dry, access-controlled warehouse with CCTV and an alarm |
Redelivery | You book and pay for it separately from your account, giving the address, which you can change up to 2 days before | We bring it back to the address you gave us; for the rest of Italy and abroad we ship on a quote |
Who Smoves is built for
For students living away from home in Milan, whether in a single or double room, a residence hall, a coliving space or a shared apartment. The most common case is summer storage, June to September, but people also use it for an Erasmus, a thesis abroad, an internship in another city or an apartment change during exams.
It works for students at Politecnico, Bocconi, Statale, Cattolica, IULM, Humanitas, NABA and the other Milan universities, Italian or international. Compared with traditional self-storage for students in Milan, two things change: we come to pick up, and you pay for the square meters you take up instead of the smallest unit on the list.
Where Smoves operates
In the provinces of Milan, Monza and Brianza, Lodi, Pavia, Piacenza, Cremona, Como, Lecco, Bergamo, Brescia, Novara, and Varese. Requests cluster near the campuses: Città Studi, Bovisa, Porta Romana, Bligny, Navigli, Brera, Lambrate, Lorenteggio.
Redelivery can also become a shipment within Italy or abroad, on a quote, if in September you're living somewhere else.
Need to store your boxes in Milan?
We pick up at your door, in Milan and the provinces around it, and keep your things in storage for as long as you need. No van to rent.
Would you rather talk to a person?+39 02 999 444 21WhatsApp
Discover storage in MilanHow booking works
You book online from the quote on the home page. You enter the pickup address, date and time slot, and choose a size in square meters; if you're not sure how much space you need, the space calculator helps you estimate it. When your things reach the warehouse we measure the space they actually take up: if it's less than the size you chose, the rate goes down. Redelivery is booked later, when you need it.
You pay online by card through Stripe: pickup and the first month when you book, then the monthly rate. The rate is fixed per size, starting at 1 m². Pickup and transport are paid once, at the start, and redelivery when you book it. The figures are on the pricing page.
What Smoves is not
Searching Google for "smoves" also brings up other products with the same name, among them mobility apps, fitness apps and the odd game. They have nothing to do with us. This Smoves is box storage for students, it is based in Milan, and the site is smoves.it.
Who's behind Smoves
The idea is mine, Francesco Nigro: I had it as an away-from-home student at Bocconi, after a few Junes spent looking for somewhere to put my things. Smoves started in Milan in 2026, and Giulia Massari joined as a partner when the idea had to become a company. I told the full story in the post on how Smoves started. The operating base is at Viale Bligny 19A, right behind Bocconi and a few minutes from Statale.
Pickup and transport are done by our own crew. And when we get something wrong, we fix it in person. Once a customer's order ended up at a different residence: he called, angry, and he was right. I went to collect it from the wrong address and took it to the right one the same day, and we gave him a discount.
Our score on Trustpilot is 4.3 out of 5. One situation comes up again and again in the reviews: the end-of-year storage problem that returns every June, which a friend's basement, a courier or a unit outside the city hadn't solved.
Support answers by chat and by email at info@smoves.it, Monday to Friday, 9 to 19, usually within a few hours. More about us on about us; for anything not covered here, contacts.
Frequently asked questions
Does Smoves pick up from university residences?
Yes. We pick up from halls of residence just as from any other address. The only thing to check is the building's access rules: if the front desk accepts a pickup in a given time slot, choose that slot when you book.
Do I have to be there at pickup?
You or someone you've delegated needs to be there, such as a flatmate, the doorman or a friend. Someone has to let us into the room or the building during the time slot you chose and hand over the boxes.
What is the minimum storage period?
The rate is monthly and renews month by month until you ask for redelivery: there is no annual commitment. If you commit to more months, the discount applies to the pickup and the monthly rate stays the same.
How much does the service cost?
You pay a fixed monthly rate for the square-meter size you take up, starting at 1 m², plus a one-off pickup and transport charge at the start. Redelivery is booked and paid when you need it. The online quote shows the rate and the pickup before you confirm.
What can I not put into storage?
Not accepted: money and valuables, jewelry, original documents, medicines, food and liquids, fine art, hazardous or flammable materials, weapons, and damaged or tampered batteries. Allowed instead, under conditions: smartphones, laptops, tablets, wireless earbuds, power banks, drones and cameras (if in good condition, battery intact), fragile items (if well packed), and appliances such as a hair straightener or a lamp.
Can you bring back only part of my things?
Yes. Partial redelivery is requested by writing to us with what you need, and the rest stays in storage. There's no dedicated button in your account: it's a request we handle case by case.
Can you ship my things outside Milan?
Yes, on a quote, inside Italy and abroad: redelivery is priced when you ask for it, so it can also be a shipment to another address. If instead we redeliver where we collected, the figure is the pickup one without the duration discount (which applies to the initial pickup only), and it depends on the day you pick.
Can I cancel my booking?
No: once booked, the pickup can't be canceled or refunded. The date can be moved, though. The first move carries no penalty if you tell us at least 48 hours ahead; from the second one on, or with shorter notice, there is a charge. If the new day costs more, you pay the difference. For anything else, write to info@smoves.it.
Is the service available in English?
Yes. Site, booking, emails and support all exist in Italian and English, because a large share of away-from-home students in Milan are international.
Need to store your boxes in Milan?
We pick up at your door, in Milan and the provinces around it, and keep your things in storage for as long as you need. No van to rent.
Would you rather talk to a person?+39 02 999 444 21WhatsApp
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