Heavyweights in the traditional storage industry, such as Big Yellow and Access, aren't convinced. A representative from Access told Shaw he was sceptical about storing with “amateurs”. He cited 24/7 access to the items and better security as the main advantages of his service. Cost-wise it would set you back an extra 160 RMB to store with them.

Stashbee agree that tackling security concerns is important, but say business success depends more on people overcoming a distrust of strangers we've been taught since childhood.They aren't alone. Companies such as Costockage, Roost and Spacer all run similar storage businesses, and are all banking on a shift in consumer attitudes.

And the concept of social storage doesn't stop there. CityStasher believe there's a gap in the market for those who want to store things for extremely short periods of time. For example, if you have three hours to kill in a city before your train leaves, what do you do with your suitcase? CityStasher hope you will choose to leave it at a local newsagent, found through their website of course, rather than in the station's pricier left luggage office.

Would you try it out? It's a question of trust.

词汇表 safekeeping （贵重物品的）妥善保管

startup 刚起步的小公司

player 主要参与企业

short-term 短期地

holidaymaking 在外度假的

-friendly 对……友善的（词缀）

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