Looking for advice on renting out equipment

[Aneurysm]

Hey all,

I have been considering renting out my light kit lately, and need a little advice on getting all my ducks in a row. I think I can take care of the rental agreement aspect, and I'd probably take care of the lost/stolen equipment issue by taking down the pertinent credit card info and running it through PayPal if the items weren't returned. However, this still wouldn't let me know whether or not a card was legit/could be charged for the amount that would replace my equipment. Glazer's does this through credit Card pre-authorization, but I don't think PayPal has that. Any ideas or related advice?

Thanks,

--J

 

[msorrels]

Pretty sure you can't legally run someone else's card through PayPal, that would be the same thing people stealing cards do. You could send the guy a PayPal invoice but if he didn't return your lights I doubt he's going to authorize a PayPal payment. To do a pre-authorization you have to have a real merchant account. Depending on what processing software you use, you can put a hold on the card. But getting a real merchant account is a bit of pain and dealing with chargebacks even more. A guy stealing your lights is going to call his credit card company and fight your charge. Even if you manage to prove he did rent the lights and didn't return them the process is very one-sided against the merchant. It starts with them taking the money away from you, until you can prove your case. You can't really count on credit card processing to substitute for real insurance, even if Glazer's does. I'd bet they take a hit more often than you think. They are a lot bigger than you are and have much a better relationship with their merchant bank.