Scanning vs. Off-Site Storage Cost

Storage looks like the cheaper option because the monthly line item is small. Retrievals, deliveries, and withdrawal fees are where it catches up. Below is the document scanning vs storage cost comparison for ten banker's boxes over ten years, using real numbers published by a leading records storage company.

Off-Site Storage

$1,916.40

Ten boxes stored for ten years, with three file retrievals per box and shredding at the end.

Outsourced Scanning

$1,560.00

The same ten boxes prepped, scanned, indexed, and shredded — one time, no monthly bill after.

The Assumptions Behind the Math

Every figure in this comparison is spelled out so you can run it against your own volume rather than taking our word for it:

One small banker's box equals 1.2 cubic feet and holds roughly 2,600 pages, so ten boxes is about 26,000 pages.
Files come back out of storage three times per box across the ten years — two regular retrievals and one rush.
Scanning is priced at 6¢ per page, covering prep, scanning, indexing, and shredding the paper afterward. Most jobs come in under that.
Storage rates are the published numbers from a leading national records storage provider, not estimates.

Where Off-Site Storage Costs Add Up

The monthly storage charge is the small part. Pickups, deliveries, per-file retrievals, and the fee to get your own records back at the end are what push the cost of off-site records storage past the cost of imaging.

Ten Banker's Boxes Stored Off-Site for Ten Years	Cost
Initial pickup of 10 boxes ($20 plus $2.40 per box handling)	$44.00
Receiving and data entry ($2 per cubic foot)	$24.00
Storage for 10 years ($0.31 per cubic foot per month × 120 months)	$446.40
2 regular retrievals per box — file pulled from carton ($3 per file)	$60.00
2 regular deliveries ($20 plus $2.40 per box handling)	$448.00
1 rush retrieval per box — file pulled from carton ($6 per box)	$60.00
1 rush delivery ($50 plus $2.40 per box handling)	$524.00
Return trips to put those files back — billed on 1 of every 3 pickups	$224.00
Permanent withdrawal fee at the end of the ten years	$36.00
Shredding the boxes once retention ends (about $5 per box)	$50.00
Total to store 10 boxes for 10 years with 3 retrievals each	$1,916.40

Every extra retrieval pushes this number higher. We kept the return-trip charge conservative — billing all thirty individual pickups at $22.40 each would add $672 instead of the $224 shown.

Scanning the Same Ten Boxes

Pages per box	2,600
Boxes	10
Prep, scanning, indexing & shredding	6¢ per page
Total cost of imaging 10 boxes	$1,560.00

That is $356.40 less than storage — and it is a one-time cost. This estimate assumes every box is packed full; most run lighter, which lowers the per-box price further.

Pay Once, Then Stop Paying

The dollars are close, but what you get is not. Storage leaves you waiting on a delivery truck every time someone needs a file. Document scanning puts those same records on your network, searchable in seconds, with no retrieval fee and nothing left in a warehouse to keep paying for.

Records Reduction charges no license or viewer software fees — your files are delivered in open formats you will still be able to open in twenty years. We also do off-site storage, so we will tell you honestly when boxing dormant files is the better call. Call (704) 351-0949 to price your own volume.

Watch Your Documents Destroyed, Then Take the Certificate

Our mobile trucks shred at your curb, and you are welcome to watch the whole load go through the viewing station. Every job at Records Reduction is handled under strict chain of custody by background-checked staff, and it ends with a Certificate of Destruction listing the date, the location, and what was destroyed. The shredded paper is then baled and recycled, all of it. Nothing gets stored, sorted, or hauled away intact.

Client Reviews

Businesses across the Carolinas trust Records Reduction for secure, on-time document shredding and scanning.

Get a Free Quote on Shredding or Scanning Today

Locally owned since 1998, with mobile trucks running Charlotte, Huntersville, and the Grand Strand every week.

Serving all of North & South Carolina

Our Locations

Three staffed offices across the Carolinas, plus two partner drop-off points for smaller jobs. Mobile shredding trucks reach every county we serve.

NAID AAA Certified destruction
Certificate of Destruction on every job
Locally owned since 1998 — not a franchise

“They pulled the truck right up to our building and we watched every box go in. Scheduling was easy, the price was exactly what we were quoted, and the certificate was in my inbox the same afternoon. This is how it should work.”

— Verified Google Review

(704) 351-0949

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