Wedding Kit Rental Service?

[Louis Maddalena]

I've been thinking one thing. I have so much equipment....that on the average weekend sits in my closet since I turn down a lot of jobs because I am too busy doing something else. But that equipment, could be making money out at some other wedding with somebody else shooting. I have a Canon 5D I have L series primes / zooms, wireless mic's, wireless mics, and audio recorders not to mention so much extra accessories and memory cards. I keep it all in a super protective pelican case that happens to be shippable.

So I guess my question is.. what kind of market do you think there is out there if I were to just expand the kit a bit and add a second canon dslr maybe a hv30, and a few other odds and ends to rent out the whole kit to videographers who are either just starting, want to shoot a wedding with a dslr, somebody who's equipment is in the repair shop, or somebody who wants to increase their kit for a big job. I figured I could rent it out as a kit, this way people would know they have everything they need to do a wedding and know the price is good.. maybe like $500-750 or a price in that range....

Where would you advertise a service like that? how would you set it up? do you know what kind of insurance would be good for the equipment incase the people who are using it break it?

Maybe expand so I have a few kits and just send them out every weekend and not have to shoot any more.. I'm definitely more of a business man than an artist so maybe that might be something I enjoy more.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Louis

The major issue would be that most would need your kit on a weekend!! When you are using it!! The guys here that hire out kit tend to hire on a 4 day basis ...pickup Friday and drop off Monday and they charge $100 a day (and that's just a camera)

As long as you have a "during the week" market and good insurance then it might be worth a try...I personally wouldn't hire out my setup...what happens if the guy damages a camera ..and you have a wedding on the weekend???? Insurance wouldn't replace it in a day or two..more likely weeks!!!! so it would have to be a spare kit so you aren't left stranded!!

Chris

[John Wiley]

I've thought about this at times too. But when I look at it seriously it just doesn't work out to be profitable... realistically $600-700 hundred is a bit too much to charge. For that price I could hire someone good to shoot the whole wedding for me and then just hand me the tapes for editing.

So if you are charging few hundred for the kit, and you consider the cost of insurance and maintenance/servicing, plus depreciation of your gear, you really need to do a couple of rentals a week to start making a profit on it. And by the time you do enough rentals for it to be profitable, you'll find you won't have any time with the kit yourself.

[Louis Maddalena]

I'm not worried about renting out a kit and something happening to it before a wedding. I figured if I were to have a wedding I would reserve the equipment for myself for 3 weeks prior so I will know that I have the equipment and its safe prior to the event. However, I do not shoot with this gear nearly as much as I would like to as I am quite busy working on other projects and don't often get to book weddings.. I figured during the time where I am not shooting I could at least make a few hundred dollars renting the equipment out to somebody else.

I'm thinking a complete kit ( 2 cameras, wireless mics, 4 lenses, audio recorders memory cards etc. ) could pull me in a few hundred extra dollars a weekend when its out that might help me pay for other stuff that I may need. I would need some kind of online agreement though that states that the person is responsible for returning the equipment undamaged and on time?

[Alec Moreno]

You have to expect some minor wear and tear, plus the possibility that some problems could go undetected until much later. I would stick with renting to people you trust enough not to worry about a contract. That's my rule anyway, but I'm also not looking for profit. Rather, I've built a small base of trusted people that I know I can go to for gear when in need, and vice versa. Money changes hands, but it's mostly a wash overall.

Alec Moreno
Wedding Art Films - Southern California - Los Angeles - Orange County - Video

[Steven Davis]

I'd sell my stuff before I rent it. I treat my gear like an extra girlfriend (the clean and proper type.) So I would feel as if my gear cheated on me by renting it out. They may not treat my gear like I want.

[Noel Lising]

Just to give you an idea an XHA1 rents out for $ 100- $ 150 ( pick-up Friday return Sunday). Unless you charge really "cheap" for your kit you have very limited market in the wedding industry. For $ 500 you can get a decent videog with camera to be a 2nd shooter/main shooter.

Theft is more of a concern for me than cosmetic damage, if the guy decided to run away with your gear there is pretty much nothing you can do about it.

my 2 cents

[Philip Howells]

Louis, I have never loaned or rented my gear to anyone. That way I know exactly what has happened to it, what it's been used for and how it's been treated. I would never feel happy trusting my reputation to gear I'd rented or loaned to others.

Having said that (and there's always a caveat) I have on occasion rented gear overseas when it's been prudent or viable. But then I always use reputable rental companies which local production companies have been willing to recommended. My rule is always to deal with people who have the same concern about a getting a bad reputation as I would myself. With the airlines becoming increasingly strict about the carriage of cameras it's a situation becoming more frequent these days.

[Susanto Widjaja]

Originally Posted by Philip Howells

Louis, I have never loaned or rented my gear to anyone. That way I know exactly what has happened to it, what it's been used for and how it's been treated. I would never feel happy trusting my reputation to gear I'd rented or loaned to others.

Having said that (and there's always a caveat) I have on occasion rented gear overseas when it's been prudent or viable. But then I always use reputable rental companies which local production companies have been willing to recommended. My rule is always to deal with people who have the same concern about a getting a bad reputation as I would myself. With the airlines becoming increasingly strict about the carriage of cameras it's a situation becoming more frequent these days.

strong point there... In my opinion, the risk is not worth the money. Except if you invest in the equipments solely for renting them out. And you have to rent them out regularly i.e. weekdays included.

Santo

[Louis Maddalena]

I have decided to start a rental company online.. came up with a cool name and purchased the domain name. I have even started putting together a site and is mostly functional right now but I know I don't have enough stuff to keep everybody happy all the time. I know I definitely need to buy the 50 1.2 85 1.2 and the 70-200 2.8 IS and a few other things before I can be fully functional as a rental company only. I will however still do weddings and such, but will slowly buy a new kit that I use only for weddings and do not rent. For now, as I'm sure the demand will be low for a while, I will not have to worry about too much use on the equipment, and I will handle damage done through contracts and security deposits.

Thanks for the advice guys, sorry i'm not following what most of you had said, but your concerns were looked into and addressed.