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Co-op Live won’t let you in with anything bigger than an A4 bag, and one per person at that. Old Trafford turns away anything larger than a small handbag on match days, and the Etihad bans backpacks of any size. So if you’re rolling into the city for a gig or a game with a weekend bag on your shoulder, you’ll need a plan for it before you reach the door. That’s where luggage storage in Manchester comes in.
The usual scenarios still apply too. An early checkout before an afternoon train. A 7am arrival into Manchester Piccadilly when your Airbnb won’t let you in until three. A few hours in the Northern Quarter and the Arndale without a wheelie case clattering over the tram tracks. Manchester’s compact and walkable, which is great until you’re dragging a heavy case down a cobbled side street.
You’ve got options. Alongside the official station counter, app-based platforms let you drop a bag at a vetted hotel, shop or café minutes away. This guide covers eight, with current prices, hours, how close each sits to Piccadilly, Victoria, the Arndale and the big venues, and what each does best.
One thing trips people up, so know it before you book. There are roughly three models. Flat daily platforms charge a single per-bag price for a 24-hour block, so you see the total before you pay. Hourly platforms charge by the hour: cheap for a quick drop, pricier once a full day stacks up. Then there’s the official station counter, reliable and right there on the platform, priced as the premium convenience it is. We’ve flagged which is which.
Options at a glance
| Provider | Starting price | Hours / location note | Best for |
| Stasher | From £1.49 per bag per 24 hours, one fixed price | 24/7 and late-night at many locations; 60+ StashPoints near Piccadilly, the city centre and the Arndale | A settled total, late or 24-hour access, and oversized items |
| Bounce | From £1.95 per bag per 24 hours; a service fee per bag lands at checkout | Varies by location; many host shops roughly 8am–8pm, some later; locations near Piccadilly and the city centre | Density of drop-off points on a flat daily model |
| Radical Storage | From around £3.90 per bag per day at most city-centre hosts | Varies by host; many points open daytime into the evening | A wide global network of small local business hosts |
| LuggageHero | From £1.49 per hour, topping out around £4.90 for the day, with a one-off charge of about £1.99 per bag | Varies by host shop; points near Piccadilly, Salford Central and Victoria | Short, sub-three-hour drops where hourly billing works in your favour |
| Excess Baggage Company | Around £6 for up to 3 hours; around £9 for 3–24 hours | Approx Mon–Sat 07:00–23:00, Sun 08:00–23:00; inside Piccadilly (counter on Platform 10) | A desk literally on the platform with no walking |
| Nannybag | £2.50 a bag per day at its lowest-priced partners | Varies by partner business; near Piccadilly and across the city centre | A budget flat-daily drop near the station |
| Vertoe | Around £5.95 per bag per day | Varies by host location; near Piccadilly and the city centre | A straightforward flat daily rate with day-level booking |
| Qeepl | Around £3.69 per bag per day | Varies by partner; points near Piccadilly and the city centre | Broad coverage at a mid-range flat daily price |
1. Stasher
- Price: from £1.49 per bag per 24 hours, one fixed price
- Hours: 24/7 and late-night availability at many locations
- Proximity: 60+ StashPoints across Manchester, including spots within a few minutes’ walk of Manchester Piccadilly, the city centre and the Arndale
- Best for: travellers who want a settled total, late or 24-hour access, and oversized items
Stasher books your bag into a vetted local partner, and in Manchester that includes hosts with late and 24-hour opening, which is the detail that matters when an AO Arena gig finishes at 11pm and your case is still across town.
The price covers a 24-hour window and is settled when you book, so it doesn’t matter whether you’re back in three hours or twenty. Every bag carries a £10,000 guarantee at no extra charge, there’s no surcharge by size or weight (festival kit, prams and instrument cases all go at the per-bag rate), and bookings cancel free before drop-off if the plan changes.
Handover is logged against photo ID with a numbered tag, and support is human and always on. On headline price, Stasher sits in the same band as the other app platforms below; the difference is the fixed total and the hours.
2. Bounce
- Price: from £1.95 per bag per 24 hours; a service fee per bag lands at checkout
- Hours: varies by location; many host shops open roughly 8am–8pm, some later
- Proximity: locations across Manchester, including several near Manchester Piccadilly and the city centre
- Best for: density of drop-off points on a flat daily model
Bounce runs a large network of partner shops on a per-24-hour model similar to Stasher’s, with free cancellation. The service fee added per bag at checkout is what switches on the booking’s protection (advertised up to £10,000), and it nudges the real total above the headline rate, so read the final figure before paying. Its strength in Manchester is coverage; there’s usually a Bounce point nearby. The catch: most points sit inside host businesses, so your access window is tied to that shop’s opening hours. Check the closing time before you book if you’re collecting after the show.
3. Radical Storage
- Price: from around £3.90 per bag per day at most city-centre hosts
- Hours: varies by host; many city-centre points open daytime into the evening
- Proximity: multiple “Angels” (partner hosts) across Manchester city centre and near Piccadilly
- Best for: A wide global network of small local business hosts
Radical Storage relies on a network of independent neighborhood merchants, acting as a straightforward backup option for standard daytime storage. Two checkout details are worth knowing. Cover of up to about €3,000 is available as a small paid extra rather than built into the rate. And Radical counts the charge by date at many hosts rather than rolling it 24 hours from drop-off, so storing across midnight can mean two days on the bill; check before an overnight stash. Like Bounce, access depends on each host’s opening hours, so confirm the timetable if your train or flight is early or late.
4. LuggageHero
- Price: from £1.49 per hour, topping out around £4.90 for the day, with a one-off charge of about £1.99 per bag
- Hours: varies by host shop
- Proximity: partner shops near Manchester Piccadilly, Salford Central and Manchester Victoria, plus attractions like the Science and Industry Museum and Manchester Art Gallery
- Best for: short, sub-three-hour drops where hourly billing works in your favour
LuggageHero offers hourly or daily pricing. Each booking includes a guarantee of up to around £500, with optional paid insurance taking cover to roughly £2,200, and the one-off fee applies per bag. It’s cheap for the two hours between checkout and a tram to the Etihad; less cheap when the gig overruns and the hours pile toward the cap. For a long day out, a flat-daily provider is usually the more predictable call.
5. Excess Baggage Company (official station left luggage, Manchester Piccadilly)
- Price: from around £6 for up to 3 hours; around £9 for 3–24 hours
- Hours: approximately Mon–Sat 07:00–23:00, Sun 08:00–23:00
- Proximity: inside Manchester Piccadilly Station (staffed counter on Platform 10)
- Best for: travellers who want a desk literally on the platform and don’t want to walk anywhere
This is the official, station-operated left-luggage service at Manchester Piccadilly, run by the Excess Baggage Company. The big plus is location. It’s right inside the station, so there’s zero detour between the counter and your train, handy if you’re tight on time or wary of walking to an off-site point. The trade-offs are price (noticeably more than the app platforms for a full day) and the fixed hours, which rule it out for a late-night drop. There’s no equivalent staffed counter inside Manchester Victoria, so app-based points are the practical choice there.
6. Nannybag
- Price: £2.50 a bag per day at its lowest-priced partners
- Hours: varies by partner business
- Proximity: partner shops and hotels near Manchester Piccadilly and across the city centre
- Best for: a budget flat-daily drop near the station
Nannybag is another flat-daily platform with partners near Manchester Piccadilly and across the city centre, and it includes cover with each booking. It’s a solid, low-cost fallback if your preferred point on another platform is full. As with the other shop-based networks, access is limited to each host’s opening hours, so it suits daytime storage rather than overnight or early-morning collection.
7. Vertoe
- Price: from around £5.95 per bag per day
- Hours: varies by host location
- Proximity: partner locations near Manchester Piccadilly and the city centre
- Best for: a straightforward flat daily rate with day-level booking
Vertoe runs a simple per-bag-per-day model and is available across UK cities, Manchester included, with cover advertised on each booking. It tends to sit at the higher end of the app-platform range on price, but it’s well established. Worth a look if you want a flat day rate and your first-choice provider has no free slot near you.
8. Qeepl
- Price: from around £3.69 per bag per day
- Hours: varies by partner
- Proximity: a spread of points across Manchester, including near Piccadilly and the city centre
- Best for: broad coverage at a mid-range flat daily price
Qeepl rounds out the list with multiple Manchester points and a flat daily rate. Like the other host-based networks, it’s daytime-friendly and access depends on each partner’s hours. A reasonable backup when better-known platforms fill up on event days.
Tips for event days and city breaks
Know your venue geography. Co-op Live sits on the Etihad Campus in east Manchester, next door to Manchester City’s stadium: about 25 minutes on foot from Piccadilly via the City Link walking route, or a tram on the Ashton line to Etihad Campus, running every few minutes on event days. AO Arena is a different building in a different place, in the city centre, directly above Manchester Victoria. People mix the two up, and on a gig night that’s an expensive mistake.
Venue bag drops exist, but plan around them. Co-op Live runs a paid bag drop (roughly £5–£15 by item size) in the Blue Car Park on the Etihad Campus, the Etihad’s match-day drop runs about £5–£10, and Old Trafford operates one too. They work, but they’re priced per item, the post-event queues are real, and they close with the venue. A drop near Piccadilly or the Arndale usually costs less, holds a full-size case without size anxiety, and keeps your bag on your route home rather than at the stadium.
Inside the station means the Excess Baggage counter on Platform 10 at Manchester Piccadilly. You pay more, but you don’t walk anywhere and there’s a staffed desk if anything goes wrong. There’s no comparable official counter at Manchester Victoria, so arriving or leaving there, you’ll use an app platform; if you’re bound for AO Arena, that’s the side of town to store on anyway.
Near the station means the app-based points (Stasher, Bounce, Radical, LuggageHero and the rest), usually a 3 to 10 minute walk away inside a hotel, shop or café. They’re typically cheaper for a full day and many open later than the official counter. Because they sit inside someone else’s business, always check that host’s closing time before you book if you plan to collect after a gig. For genuine 24-hour or late-night access, filter for locations that advertise it.
A few Manchester-specific pointers:
- Gig and match days squeeze supply. When 20,000 people arrive at once for Co-op Live, the Etihad or Old Trafford, the nearest drop-off points book out fast. Reserve ahead.
- Piccadilly vs Victoria exits matter. From Piccadilly, the Fairfield Street and Station Approach exits put you closest to most city-centre StashPoints and the Arndale. From Victoria, head out toward Corporation Street and the Arndale’s north end, where the app points cluster.
- Collecting before a late train? Confirm your point’s closing time, or pick a 24/7 location, so you’re not stranded once the host shop shuts.
- Oversized or unusual items (sports kit, instruments, prams): use a platform that doesn’t price by size and confirm at booking, rather than risking a refusal at the desk.
Frequently asked questions
Which Manchester venues won’t let me bring a bag inside?
All the big ones restrict bags. Co-op Live allows one bag per person, A4 or smaller, with backpacks and travel cases banned outright. AO Arena admits handheld bags up to roughly A3 but bans backpack-style bags beyond small ones. Old Trafford’s limit is a small handbag (about 20cm × 15cm × 5cm), and the Etihad takes handheld bags up to A4, with backpacks of any size refused. Each runs a paid event-day bag drop, but for a full-size case it’s usually cheaper and faster to stash near Piccadilly or the Arndale before you head over.
How does app-based luggage storage actually work?
You book online or in an app, pick a nearby location (a vetted hotel, shop or café), and turn up within your window. Staff log your bag, hand you a tag or reference, and you collect later. Most platforms take payment upfront, so the price is fixed beforehand.
What does it cost to store luggage in Manchester?
App-based platforms generally run from around £1.49 to £6 per bag per day. The official Excess Baggage counter at Manchester Piccadilly costs more, roughly £6 for up to 3 hours and around £9 for 3 to 24 hours. Hourly services can work out lower for very short drops but climb over a full day.
Can I store skis, a bike or a buggy?
Yes, but check the provider first. Stasher applies no size or weight surcharge for bulky or unusual items. The station counter and some shop-based points may have limits.
Flat-daily or hourly: what’s the difference?
Flat-daily platforms charge one fixed per-bag price for a 24-hour block, so you know the total upfront. Hourly platforms charge by the hour, which can win for a quick two-hour drop but climb toward the daily cap over a full day. Match the model to how long you’ll really store.
Is the luggage safe while it’s stored?
Reputable platforms vet their partner locations, tag bags on handover and attach a per-bag guarantee to each booking, and the official station counter is staffed and CCTV-monitored. Keep valuables, medication, passports and electronics on you, and note your booking reference and tag number.
Do I have to store inside Manchester Piccadilly itself?
No. The on-platform Excess Baggage counter is handy if you don’t want to walk, but the app-based points nearby are usually cheaper and often open later. For Manchester Victoria, app-based points are the main option since there’s no staffed station counter, and they put you closest to AO Arena.
Prices and hours change and vary by individual location. Confirm current details on each provider’s site when you book.