How can I manage rental payments in my online store?

[kaloyanxo]

Hello everybody!
I am building an online rental business and I am kinda trying to figure out how to set a rental payment like someone rents an item from my store and if the returned item is damaged - charge a retail price and if the item is not returned - charge again some price. How would be the best approach for creating this payment?

Thank you all and have a nice day!

[Elias · Accepted solution]

Hello, @kaloyanxo.

Elias here with Shopify Support. Thanks for reaching out!

For online bookings or rentals we recommend using a third-party app as they will allow your customers to pay the cost based on the duration they are renting for. This allows your customers to choose when they are booking the rentals without conflict. I’ve handpicked a couple for you to try out.

• BookThatApp 
• Rentals and Reservations 

If you require support with these apps, you can always reach out to the developers directly through the contact information found in the Support section of their app pages.

More commonly, we see stores collect a deposit (outside of Shopify) when customers pick up their rental. This is to ensure that the item gets returned or taken care of. If by chance someone accidentally damages the item, you can keep the deposit or manually send an invoice to them. That said, if you are leaning towards invoicing them, you can create draft orders to collect the payments. 

Alternatively, you can create the deposits as a product by tweaking the steps from our ‘Allow pre-order for products guide’. The customers will add this along with the item they are renting to their cart. This way you are collecting the deposit within Shopify and indicating this on their invoices. Keep in mind that this is an advanced coding guide that is not supported by our Themes Support Team. If you have limited knowledge of HTML, CSS, Javascript, and Liquid, feel free to hire a designer or developer from Shopify Experts.

If you run into any issues or have any more questions regarding this topic, feel free to reply to this thread and I’d be happy to help. - Elias

[sasquatchstudio]

@kaloyanxo 

If you are still having troubles collecting the deposit payment portion we have lots of clients using our app to do this.  It adds as a separate product and then when the customer brings it back they refund that one item off their invoice.

Check it out:

https://apps.shopify.com/canteen

It isn't a hold on the account, but does allow you to collect the deposit upfront. 

If you do end up trying it out feel free to reach out to me support@sasquatchstudio.co. 

Thanks!

[LINAM5]

Hello

would this charge show for every client or do clients have the option to not pay for it, for examples, client for whom

we deliver. I just want to charge security deposit to those who

pick up the equipment? 

[Marianna_YTTG]

Hi LINAM5,

have you found a better way to charge security deposits?

[FridgyRentals]

Hi Elias

Why cant Shopify just let those of us with rental companies take a credit card 'hold'.  Ive started to use BookThatApp and it's an absolute pain.  Customers can remove the bond at checkout then at the end of the rental period we have to manually refund the bond.  It creates extra accounting work and the refund takes a long time to reach to the customer.

I can go to another payment gateway that will allow me to create a credit card 'hold' but then Shopify wants to still take 2%....for doing nothing.

We need a proper workaround please......soon, please.

[diana_birsan]

Hey @FridgyRentals , if you're still looking, I'd love to hear more. We have a new app that handles partial payments and you can authorize for the second payment and then capture all or some of the remaining amount. We're working with made to order and presale businesses but I think it would work super well for rentals and we just need a few real world use cases to see what we're missing. Dm me anytime! 

Diana | Cofounder

Hypehound.io

[Marianna_YTTG]

Hi FridgyRentals,

have you found a better solution for security deposits?

[Marianna_YTTG]

Hi Elias,

I am also looking for the security deposit solution. It seems that Rentals and Reservations app is not available any longer.

BookThatApp is not the best use case for us, as we don't want the calendar.

Are you aware of any other apps what solve the security deposit well?

Thanks,

Marianna

[LarsHHuis]

Hi there! I can relate to what you're building—managing rental payments can definitely be tricky. When I was planning a large event, I found it really helpful to work with a rental service that had clear policies about damages and non-returns. For example, I recently used a company that provides inflatables and party rentals, and they had a really transparent system in place. They charged a damage fee upfront and had a clear return policy, which made everything much smoother. If you're looking for rental companies that offer outdoor party rentals near me, it’s worth checking out how others structure their agreements to ensure there’s no confusion later. Best of luck with your store!