Rentals

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whoknows46

Member
To begin with, this actually has more to do with the HMC150 than it does hvx/hpx. Forgive me --- it's just that the HMC forum doesn't have a "general" section.

I need a bit of help in the logistics of renting my camera out. My setup will be as follows:

-HMC150 w/ 16gb SD card
-Tripod (Manfrotto 351MVB Legs with 501hdv fluid head)
-Letus Extreme adapter

I would love to hear what you guys would charge per day for those individual items (oh, and I live in NYC).

Also, could somebody explain to me their process for protecting their property? I will definitely have my stuff insured, but what about contracts/stipulations/anything of the like? Is it better to ask for a cash payment? Do you take a security deposit? I'd appreciate any and all help!!!!
 
man i gotta tell you. if you are renting your kit out to offset the price of purchase i think youre in for more headache than anything else. thats a VERY niche kit. and add to that that the camera and tripod are lower end prosumer gear - youre not going to be attracting a lot of seasoned pros. and thus i think youre more than likely to wind up with something broken or stolen. which is going to leave you in the cold and its VERY hard for an individual to actually collect legal judgements from another individual in ANY kind of timely fashion.
 
Dunno how the others here do, but here's the way I run my little renting business in a nutshell. I only do that when someone I don't know and trusts asks to rent something ; those who gained my trust go much more easily than that of course! I just use this to scare away scammers and bad customers. It might sound extreme, but I prefer to be sure about who I rent to instead of taking useless risks for a couple of dollars.


1. Talk a bit about the customer's project to get to know where he's gonna shoot : it's pretty useful to know if you wanna check if his story's true. Scammers will try to bull$*&? you so a simple phone call where the shoot's going to happen can be a great help. I don't insist when someone doesn't want to talk about it at all or remains vague ; some are just afraid I might steal their idea of a film or contact their own customer and steal him away :)

2. Ask for any proof of identity with photo, like a driver's license or anything else that can help you verify easily who exactly you're dealing with and where he lives. I use it for the invoice and I also asks for a phone number (which I verify on a website, 411.ca, to see if the address matches the one on the driver's license).

3. Demand insurance proofs and call the insurance company. This is to protect your stuff as much as to protect the customer itself which might not even have thought about getting renting insurance.

4. Ask for a security deposit that's about 10% of the total value of what you're gonna rent. This step usually scares away most scammers away since they're gonna lose money up front (and some new customers that don't understand the need to do so to protect yourself, but I personally don't want that kind of customer). It also helps pay up repairs if an accident happens and the customer's insurance company refuses to pay for any obsure reason.

5. Last but not least, sign a valid and verified contract which stipulates clearly the responsibilities of the customer (insurance, lateness, theft, etc.) and indicates what he's renting and for how much time. With this last step, you're about as shielded from scamming and bad customers as can be for a small renting business.

One thing must be clear in your mind, though : if you want to rent your stuff, you gotta be ready to accept the fact that it might eventually get broken or stolen ; prepare for a plan B, just in case. These steps just diminish the chances of being ripped off.

I know this method probably sounds kinda paranoid to many people, but I never had a single problem with new customers working like this and my stuff is always in pristine condition when it comes back from renting! It might have scared away some customers (very few in truth), but helped me acquire quite a few satisfied and recurring customers that know my equipment's always in top shape and ready to roll because the business I run works that way!

I hope it helps!:thumbup:
 
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