Rent out your products by the day, by the night or for fixed periods, with a refundable deposit, in Shopify’s own checkout.

What Rentby does

Rentby adds a rental calendar to the product pages of the items you rent out. A shopper picks a start date and a return date, sees the price and any deposit before adding to cart, and pays in Shopify’s normal checkout. Rentby only offers dates when a unit is free, counting the units you own, the rentals already booked, your buffer days, open days and blackout dates. Every rental is checked again at checkout, so a unit can’t be double booked.

Getting started

1. Install Rentby and open it from Apps in your Shopify admin.
2. Add a rental item. Under Rental items, click Add rental item, pick the product variant, and set how many you own, the price and any deposit.
3. Check your settings. Under Settings, choose days or nights, your open days, notice and buffer days, and make sure Show rental dates on my storefront is on.
4. Add closed days (optional) under Blackout dates.
5. Add the block to your product page. Click Open my theme editor, open your product template, then Add block → Apps → Rentby rental dates.
6. Move it under Add to cart and click Save. Shopify drops new blocks at the bottom of the section, where most shoppers never scroll.
7. Place a test rental. Book some dates on your storefront and check out. It shows up under Today and Calendar.

Rental items

Each rental item is one product variant. Open Rental items and click Add rental item, or click an item to change it. The What shoppers pay table shows the price and deposit for a few lengths as you type.

• Units you own: how many of this variant you can rent out at the same time. Each rental holds one unit for every one in the quantity.
• Per day: one price for each day (or night). Add Longer rental discounts to charge less per day for longer rentals, for example $40 a day, or $30 a day from 3 days. The lowest rate a rental qualifies for applies to every day of it.
• Fixed periods: set lengths with a price each, such as 4 nights for $60 and 8 nights for $90. A rental uses the shortest period that covers it, so a 5 night rental is priced as the 8.
• Flat fee per rental (optional): added once to each rental, on top of the day or period price. Shoppers see it as “Booking fee”.
• Refundable deposit (optional): added at checkout as its own line. See Deposits.
• Shortest and longest rental: leave blank to use your defaults from Settings.
• Buffer days before and after: days a unit is held before each rental, for prep or shipping, and after each return, for cleaning or checks. Leave blank to use your defaults.

Rentby counts your units itself, so it sets each rental variant to keep selling when Shopify’s stock count reaches zero. Removing a rental item stops new bookings; existing bookings stay on their orders.

Days or nights

Under Settings → Count rentals in, choose Days or Nights. With days, Oct 1 to Oct 3 is 3 days. With nights, Oct 1 to Oct 3 is 2 nights, like a hotel. Prices, shortest and longest rentals and fixed periods all follow the choice. Either way, the unit is held on every date from the start date to the return date, plus any buffer days.

Settings

• Show rental dates on my storefront: the main switch. Off hides the rental calendar everywhere.
• Open days: rentals can only start and end on these days, for example no pickups or returns on Sunday.
• Notice needed (days) and Same-day cutoff time: how soon a rental can start. After the cutoff, today counts as a day of notice used.
• Book up to this many days from today: how far ahead shoppers can book.
• Defaults for rental items: shortest and longest rental and buffer days. Each rental item can override these.
• Same dates for every rental in the cart: shoppers pick dates once, and every other rental product they open starts with the same dates.
• Time zone: all dates, notice and cutoffs use your store’s time zone.
• Storefront text: change any wording on the rental calendar, translate it, and pick your own colors if you don’t want the theme’s. A color set on the Rentby block in the theme editor still wins.

Blackout dates

Add the days you’re closed under Blackout dates: holidays, vacations, event days. Rentals can’t start or end on them, so shoppers can’t pick them. Closed for more than one day? Set a last day closed and the whole stretch is one entry. Tick Every year for holidays like Christmas so you never enter them again. Click Edit on an entry to change it.

What shoppers see

• A month calendar on the product page. They click a start date, then a return date, and the range lights up as they move across it.
• Dates with no free unit, closed days and days outside your notice or booking window are greyed out, or greyed and crossed out if you choose.
• The shortest and longest rental, the total for their dates, any booking fee, the refundable deposit and the Total today. When a longer rental is cheaper per day, they see a hint such as “Rent 7+ days for $30/day”.
• Add to cart waits until they have chosen dates. A product that isn’t a rental item sells as normal.
• In the cart and at checkout the item shows its dates, and the deposit shows as its own “Refundable rental deposit” line. The order line carries Rental dates, for example “Oct 1 to Oct 3”.

On the Free plan a small “Powered by Rentby” link sits under the calendar.

Checkout protection

Rentby checks every rental again when the shopper checks out. If the dates were taken by someone else in the meantime, or the cart is old (for example from an abandoned cart email), checkout stops with a plain message naming the product, and the shopper picks new dates. The same check covers shortest and longest rentals, notice, open days and blackout dates. The price comes from your rental item, never from the cart, so it can’t be changed by the shopper. When the order arrives, Rentby checks once more. If two orders ever claim the last unit, the second shows as Over capacity on Today so you can sort it out.

Today

Open Today for the day at a glance. The tiles show Going out today, Coming back today, Overdue, Out right now, Deposits held, how much of your units’ time is Booked next 7 days, Rentals this month and Upcoming 30 days, with a chart of units going out each day for the next two weeks.

Below them are the lists: Overdue, Over capacity, Going out today, Coming back today, Not picked up (the start date has passed and it never went out) and Returned, deposit still held. On each rental:

• Check out when it leaves.
• Check in when it comes back, with an optional condition note. The unit stays held for its buffer days, then frees up.
• Refund deposit: the full deposit is filled in. Type a smaller amount to keep part of it.

A rental that is late keeps its unit held until you check it in. Click an order number to open the order in Shopify.

Calendar

Calendar shows how many of each item are booked on each day, buffer days included, with one row per rental item. Use 7 days to move back or forward. Click a day to see the rentals holding it, and click an order number to open it in Shopify.

See your rentals in your calendar

Click Create calendar link for a private link that shows every rental in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook, one all-day entry from its start date to its return date. In Google Calendar choose Other calendars → From URL and paste the link. Calendar apps refresh it on their own schedule, usually every few hours, so use the Calendar page for up-to-the-minute numbers. No customer details are in the feed. Anyone with the link can see your rentals, so if it was shared by mistake, click Reset link and add the new one. Turn off removes it. Both wait for Save.

Deposits

Set a deposit on any rental item. Shoppers see it on the product page before they add to cart. At checkout it is added as its own line, “Refundable rental deposit”, with the item it is for. It is not taxed and needs no shipping. Rentby creates that hidden deposit product for you, so please don’t delete it while Rentby is installed.

Rentby never refunds a deposit by itself. When the item is back, click Refund deposit on Today. The refund goes through Shopify to the original payment, and Shopify emails the customer as usual. To keep part of it, for damage or a late return, refund a smaller amount. The Deposits held tile shows what you still hold.

Plans and limits

• Free ($0): up to 10 rentals a month, with a small “Powered by Rentby” link under the calendar.
• Starter ($19/mo): up to 75 rentals a month, no badge. Includes a 7-day free trial.
• Pro ($49/mo): up to 300 rentals a month. Includes a 7-day free trial.
• Scale ($99/mo): unlimited rentals. Includes a 7-day free trial.

Every feature is on every plan: deposits, buffer days, fixed periods, Today, the calendar and the receipt printer. Plans count one thing only: rentals per calendar month, one for each rental line on a new order, reset on the 1st in your store’s time zone. The home screen shows where you stand. Once you reach your plan’s figure, rental dates stop showing on your storefront and online rentals pause until the 1st, or until you upgrade. Rentals already booked carry on as normal. Billing runs through Shopify and you can cancel anytime.

Email updates (optional)

At the bottom of Rentby’s home screen there is an Email updates box. Add an email to get a note when your store has used 80% of its monthly rentals, another if it reaches the limit, and, at most once a month, a short note about any major update. Leave it empty and Rentby never emails you. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and Unsubscribe under the box removes your address straight away.

Receipt printer

Rentby can print a slip for every new rental order on a Star receipt printer at your counter, by itself, with no computer or app open. Each slip shows the order number, the rental dates, the items with quantities and any deposit paid, with lines to fill in who checked it out and its condition. No customer details are printed.

Which printers work

Any Star Micronics printer that supports CloudPRNT and is on your network by cable or Wi-Fi, such as the Star TSP143IV and Star mC-Print3 from Shopify's list of POS receipt printers. Older TSP143III models, Star mPOP, Bluetooth-only printers and Epson printers can’t fetch slips over the internet on their own.

Setting it up

• Create your printer link under Receipt printer. Keep it to yourself: anyone with it can print your slips.
• Open the printer’s settings. Print its settings sheet to find its IP address, type that into a browser on the same network and log in.
• Paste the link in. In the CloudPRNT settings, turn CloudPRNT on and paste the link into Server URL.
• Save and restart the printer. On many Star printers that is Save → Restart device; Submit alone does not apply it.
• Check and test. Give it up to 5 minutes to show Connected, print a test slip, then tick Print a slip for each new rental order.

If the printer is off or out of paper, slips wait and print when it is back. Slips history at the bottom of the page lists slips waiting, failed and printed in the last 7 days, so you can print one again or delete it. The page has more fixes for printers that won’t connect.

Done-for-you setup

Rather not set it up yourself? Open Done-for-you setup in the app menu. For $149 one time, charged on your Shopify bill, we add your rental items with how many you own, their prices, discounts and deposits, set your open days, notice, buffer days and blackout dates, place the Rentby rental dates block on your product page, and email you a summary of what we set. You approve a collaborator request from Dropfeed under Settings, Users, and you can remove our access any time. We never place orders on your store or touch your customers, and if we can’t get it working, we refund you.

Frequently asked questions

Need more help?

Email support@dropfeed.io. We typically reply within 1 to 2 business days. See what’s new in Rentby.

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