Storage Scholars Shark Tank Update: Is Storage Scholars Worth It?

Moving into a college dorm is an exciting time, but the actual moving process is deeply stressful. Hauling heavy boxes up crowded stairs, renting moving trucks during busy weekends, and figuring out where to store a mini-fridge over the summer break can cause major headaches for students and parents.

Storage Scholars was created to solve this exact problem. Founded by college students who understood the struggle, the moving and storage company gained national fame after securing a deal on the hit TV show Shark Tank in late 2022.

Since shaking hands with billionaire Mark Cuban, the company has exploded in popularity. As of today, the company operates on over 200 campuses across the United States and Canada, manages millions of dollars in student moves, and partners directly with major universities.

This complete guide explains what the company does, how much it really costs, how it compares to doing it yourself, and what has happened to the founders since their TV appearance.

What Is Storage Scholars?

Storage Scholars is a full-service moving, packing, and storage company built specifically for college students. The main goal of the business is to make moving in and out of dorm rooms completely hassle-free.

Instead of asking parents to fly across the country or rent expensive moving trucks, students can use the company’s website to schedule a move. What makes the company unique is its workforce.

The company hires and trains actual students who live on the local campus. These student workers know exactly how the dorms are laid out, where to park, and how the campus security rules work. Currently, the company had paid out over $4.9 million in wages to these student workers.

The company currently serves over 200 major schools, including Wake Forest University, the University of Texas at Austin, UC Davis, and Harvard University. They operate in 10 major American cities, such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston.

How Does Storage Scholars Work?

The company has expanded its services significantly over the years. As of today, it offers two main programs to help students at different stages of their college journey.

1. Summer Storage and Moving

This service is designed for current college students who need to move out of their dorms for the summer break. The process is broken down into simple steps :

• Free Supplies: Once a student signs up online, the company provides a free packing kit. This kit includes heavy-duty cardboard boxes, strong packing tape, and special labels to track the items.
• Dorm Room Pick-Up: Students pick a date during their finals week. On that day, the student movers come directly to the dorm room or apartment. They pick up the packed boxes, as well as large items like TVs, mattresses, and plastic bins.
• Safe Storage: The items are driven to a secure, climate-controlled warehouse. This keeps belongings safe from extreme summer heat, humidity, and pests.
• Delivery Before You Return: When fall classes begin, the company brings everything back. At many partnered schools, they use a “Key Access” system. This means the movers work with the school to unlock the new dorm room and place the boxes inside before the student even arrives on campus.

2. The “Ship to School” Program

Moving away from home for the very first time is hard, especially for incoming freshmen traveling out of state. The “Ship to School” program was created to fix this.

Instead of packing a car to the roof or paying for extra luggage on an airplane, families can ship their items ahead of time. Here is how it works :

• The Home Kit: The company mails an empty shipping kit to the student’s home address over the summer. It includes 5 extra-large boxes, tape, and 5 pre-paid FedEx shipping labels.
• Pack and Ship: The student packs their clothes and dorm supplies at home, sticks the FedEx labels on the boxes, and drops them off (or schedules a free FedEx home pick-up).
• Online Shopping Option: If a student buys a new microwave from Target or bedding from Amazon, they can type in the Storage Scholars warehouse as the shipping address. The company receives the online orders directly.
• Move-In Day Delivery: The company stores all the shipped boxes and online orders safely. On the school’s official move-in day, the movers deliver everything right to the student’s new bed.

How Much Does Storage Scholars Cost?

Many parents and students worry about hidden fees when hiring movers. In the past, moving companies would quote a low monthly price but add massive fees for heavy items or stairs.

Storage Scholars uses simple, transparent pricing. Students only pay for what they actually store.

• Per-Item Pricing: Storage costs range from $14 to $40 per item, per month. A small box costs less, while a large couch or bed costs more.
• Minimum Time: There is a standard 4-month minimum storage term, which perfectly matches the length of an average college summer break.
• Total Summer Cost: For a normal dorm room—which usually includes a mini-fridge, a desk chair, bedding, and a few boxes of clothes—the total cost for the entire summer ranges between $300 and $500.

This $300 to $500 total includes everything. It covers the free boxes, the tape, the physical labor of the movers picking it up, the 4 months of climate-controlled storage, and the final delivery in the fall.

Storage Scholars vs. Do It Yourself (DIY) Moving

A $400 storage bill might sound expensive at first glance. Many families think they can save money by renting a storage unit and moving the items themselves. However, when you add up all the hidden costs of a DIY move, the full-service option is often much cheaper.

This is especially true for out-of-state students. If a parent has to fly to the college to help their child move, the costs skyrocket.

Below is a 2026 comparison of what a typical summer move actually costs when doing it yourself versus hiring the company :

Moving Expense	Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Cost	Storage Scholars Cost
Packing Supplies	$68 (from hardware store)	Included for free
Self-Storage Unit (4 months)	$180 to $600	Included in total price
Moving Truck Rental (Pick-Up)	$128	Included in total price
Moving Truck Rental (Delivery)	$128	Included in total price
Parent Flights, Hotel & Food	$500 to $2,000+ (if out of state)	$0 (parents stay home)
Physical Effort	6 to 10 hours of heavy lifting	15 minutes to book online
Total Estimated Cost	$750 to $1,300+	$300 to $500

By using the service, out-of-state families can save hundreds of dollars on travel costs, while saving students from the intense physical stress of moving during their final exams.

Storage Scholars vs. CollegeBoxes and Competitors

As the college moving industry grows, other companies have entered the market. The biggest competitor is CollegeBoxes, which is owned by the U-Haul truck company.

While a giant brand like U-Haul offers lower base prices for basic storage, their service model is very different. CollegeBoxes uses generic adult movers, while Storage Scholars uses embedded student teams.

Here is how the two services compare :

Feature	Storage Scholars	CollegeBoxes (U-Haul)
The Movers	Local students who go to your school	Generic professional movers
Hidden Surcharges	None. Flat rates per item	$25-$50 extra for heavy items
Boxing Fees	None	$20 fee per box for handling
Supply Costs	Boxes and tape are free	Must be bought separately
Contactless Delivery	Yes (Key Access to empty rooms)	No (You must be present)
Tracking System	Digital portal with photo updates	Basic tracking without photos

While CollegeBoxes might seem slightly cheaper at first, the $50 heavy item fees and $20 boxing fees quickly add up. Many students choose Storage Scholars because the pricing is simple, and the student movers are far more careful with dorm rules.

The Shark Tank Pitch: Did Storage Scholars Get a Deal?

Storage Scholars became a household name after appearing on Season 14, Episode 4 of ABC’s Shark Tank in October 2022. The pitch was delivered by the founders, Sam Chason and Matt Gronberg.

When they walked onto the TV set, their business was already five years old. They were operating on 23 campuses and were making $1.8 million in sales that year. They asked the Sharks for a $250,000 investment in exchange for 5% ownership of their company.

The Sharks loved the idea and the hustle of the young founders. Four different investors wanted to give them money.

Shark Investor	The Offer Made	The Final Result
Kevin O’Leary	$250,000 for 20% equity	Declined
Daymond John	$250,000 for 20% equity	Declined
Robert Herjavec	$500,000 for 20% equity	Declined
Mark Cuban	$250,000 for 12% equity	Accepted Deal: $250k for 10%

After some quick negotiating, Sam and Matt chose to partner with Mark Cuban, accepting $250,000 for a 10% stake in the company. They chose Cuban because he is famously passionate about reducing college student debt.

Cuban also had strong business ties to colleges and promised he would “make the phone ring” to help them grow.

What Happened After Shark Tank? Massive Growth

Mark Cuban kept his promise. Since the episode aired, the company has grown at lightning speed.

In their very first year of business back in 2017, they made just $18,000. By the time they filmed the show in 2022, they were making $1.82 million. By July 2024, the company hit $7 million in revenue for the year, putting them on track to easily make over $10 million annually.

They have also grown their footprint. They doubled their size quickly, and by 2026, they officially operate on more than 200 campuses across North America.

To handle this massive amount of customers, the company invested heavily in technology. They now use a software program called Zendesk, which allows their customer service team to text students directly.

If a student has a question about their box, they can just send a text message and get a fast reply, sometimes aided by smart AI agents to keep things moving quickly.

New Big Partnerships: StarRez and SIRVA

To support their huge growth, the company made two massive partnerships that changed how they do business.

The SIRVA Warehouse Partnership

In February 2023, the company partnered with SIRVA Worldwide Commercial Moving. SIRVA is one of the largest moving companies on the planet.

This deal gave the student company access to 190 new locations and over 2 million square feet of climate-controlled warehouse space.

Because of this extra space, they can now help universities with huge projects. If a college needs to empty out a building to renovate it, Storage Scholars can easily store thousands of dorm desks at once.

The StarRez Software Integration

In November 2025, the company announced an amazing partnership with StarRez. StarRez is the computer software that most global colleges use to assign dorm rooms and meal plans.

Storage Scholars was built directly into this software. Now, when a freshman logs into their college website to pick their dorm room and sign their housing forms, a button appears allowing them to book their moving service right there on the screen. This makes the service feel like a natural, official part of the college experience.

Colleges are also choosing them as their official partners. For example, in May 2025, UC Davis announced that Storage Scholars was their preferred moving company, placing large advertising posters right next to the campus help desks.

Who Are the Founders of Storage Scholars?

The story behind the company is inspiring. The CEO, Sam Chason, started the business in October 2016 when he was just a freshman at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

Sam’s college tuition was around $70,000 a year, and he was terrified of graduating with massive student loan debt. He noticed that rich out-of-state students had no idea what to do with their dorm room items over the summer. Sam saw a way to make money.

During finals week, while everyone else was studying in the library, Sam printed flyers and walked door to door. He rented a moving truck—but because he was too young to rent it legally, he had to beg his older Resident Advisor to sign the paperwork for him. He moved boxes for 64 customers that year right out of his dorm room.

During his sophomore year, he met Matt Gronberg. Matt was studying to be a medical doctor and started working for Sam as a delivery driver. Matt worked so hard and was so smart about fixing problems that Sam eventually made him a co-founder and the Chief Operating Officer of the whole company.

Their hard work was supported by Wake Forest University. The school helped them get a spot in a local business program called Winston Starts, which gave them the advice they needed to grow.

Is Storage Scholars Still in Business?

Yes, Storage Scholars is very much still in business. In fact, it is one of the most successful companies to ever come out of Shark Tank.

They have expanded beyond just summer storage. They now help graduating seniors move their belongings to their first adult apartments, and they even help college sports coaches move to new universities.

The founders achieved their main goal: they built a highly profitable company that solves a real problem, all while providing excellent, high-paying summer jobs to thousands of college students across America.

Final Thoughts on College Moving

College is hard enough without having to worry about how to fit a giant plastic bin into the back of a small sedan. By using clever technology, a network of hard-working student movers, and the business advice of Mark Cuban, Storage Scholars has completely changed the move-in experience.

For parents looking to save themselves the cost of an airline ticket, and for students looking to avoid heavy lifting during finals week, this service offers the perfect solution. With simple pricing, free boxes, and seamless delivery, the dreaded college move is finally easy.