Buyer guide · Single-facility owners
Buying locks for a single self storage site
One facility, one budget, no procurement department. The risk is rarely the unit price — it is buying the wrong quantity, or the wrong cylinder, and finding out on installation day.
Who this guide is for
What changes when this is the way you buy.
Settle three numbers before you ask for a price
Most quotation delays on single-site orders come from three unknowns. Resolve them first and the quotation usually takes one exchange:
- How many units need a lock — the count that needs hardware now, not the total unit count.
- The cylinder size or the door type. Measure across the cylinder face, or send a photograph with a ruler in frame.
- Keyed or combination. This is an operating decision: it decides who holds keys, who replaces them, and how much staff time a move-out costs.
The facility is the whole system, not one door
A single site still has indoor units, drive-up units and a corridor or two. Hardware that suits an exposed drive-up door is not automatically right for an indoor unit, and the difference is usually material rather than shape.
What buyers like you ask us most
The questions that decide whether an order goes smoothly.
What is the minimum order?
Standard minimum is 500 pieces for most models, but the number changes with the configuration: a plain keyed lock and a custom-branded one are different orders. Tell us the configuration you actually want and we will confirm the minimum for that, rather than quoting a headline figure that later moves.
How many spare locks should we hold on site?
Enough to cover the events that actually happen: a unit is rekeyed after a dispute, a lock is cut off, a door is replaced, a tenant loses the only key. A modest allowance held on site usually costs less than one emergency re-order with its freight. The right figure depends on how often you rekey and how many units stand vacant.
How do I find out which cylinder size my doors take?
Measure across the face of the cylinder — the round or oval plate the key enters — not the length of the body inside the door. 17 mm and 19 mm are the two common storage sizes and they look similar in a photograph, which is why a photo with a ruler beats an estimate.
Should we use keyed locks or combinations?
It depends on who manages access. If the facility issues locks, keyed hardware is simpler. If tenants manage their own access and you want no key handling at all, combinations remove that workload — but check the reset procedure against what a tenant can actually follow without calling you.
We only need about forty locks. Is that worth your time?
Yes — small first orders are normal, and a sample or trial order is the cheapest way to check fit and finish before committing to more. What we would rather avoid is quoting a quantity that turns out to be below the minimum for the configuration you chose, so tell us the configuration at the same time as the quantity.
Where it usually goes wrong
The four mistakes we see most often in this kind of order — and the way around each.
Matching an old cylinder by eye
17 mm and 19 mm look alike on a phone screen and are not interchangeable in a door. Measure, or send a photograph with a ruler in frame.
Ordering exactly the unit count
The facility that orders one lock per unit has no answer for the first rekey, the first damaged lock or the first unit that needs to be secured out of hours.
Mixing materials across the site
Indoor units and exposed drive-up units do not need the same grade of stainless. Using one grade everywhere usually means either paying for protection you do not need, or replacing corroded hardware earlier than expected.
Leaving the key plan until after delivery
Keyed-alike, keyed-different and manager-key structures are set at manufacture. Decide what you want before ordering, not when the locks are already on the doors.
How we work with you
What the first conversation looks like, and what we need from you.
Send three things and we will size the order
A photograph of the door, the number of units you need to cover, and whether you want keys or combinations. That is enough to confirm the family and quote the configuration.
We confirm the fit with a sample
Where the door measurement is uncertain, we send a sample rather than asking for more measurements. It is the fastest way to remove the risk of a wrong-size order.
We quote the configuration, not a headline number
Material, quantity, customization and delivery terms are broken out separately, so you can see what you are paying for and what you can drop.
Send us the two things we always ask for
A photograph of the door, and the number of units you need to cover. That is enough for us to confirm the family, the cylinder size and what a first order would look like — before you commit to anything.
Related reading
Guides that go deeper on the points above, and the other buyer guides.
Working with Single-Facility Owners: The First Order
Read the guide →
How to Measure a Storage Cylinder Lock (17 mm vs 19 mm)
Read the guide →
Combination or Keyed Padlock for Storage Units?
Read the guide →
How Many Locks Does a Self Storage Facility Need?
Read the guide →
Multi-Site Operators
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Distributors and Wholesalers
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