Your kit sits idle most of the month. Here’s how to price it so renting it out is worth the risk — without scaring off the people asking.

If you own good gear, someone has already asked to borrow it — and you’ve probably said yes for a case of beer and a vague promise. There’s real money in that kit sitting on the shelf between your own jobs. The only hard part is knowing what to charge.

Price too high and the local shooters who’d rent from you go to the rental house instead. Too low and you’re taking on wear, risk, and hassle for pocket change. This is the framework rental houses use, scaled down to an owner-operator.

Illustrative ranges, not quotes — your market, your gear, and your risk tolerance set the real number.

START WITH THE DAY RATE: THE 5% RULE OF THUMB

The oldest starting point in the business: a day rate is roughly 3–5% of the item’s replacement value.

A $3,000 lens rents around $90–150/day. A $6,000 camera body, $180–300/day. It’s a starting point, not a law — high-demand items command more, commodity gear less — but it anchors you in the right ballpark instead of guessing.

Two forces pull on that number:

Demand and scarcity push it up. If you own the only one in town, or it’s a piece everyone wants and few own, you’re closer to 5% (or above).

Local competition pulls it down. Check what the nearest rental house charges for the same item and price under it — your pitch is convenience and a personal relationship, not beating them on catalog breadth. Undercut modestly; you don’t have their overhead.

THE 3-DAY WEEK (THE ONE EVERYONE FORGETS)

Here’s the convention that catches new renters off guard: in production rental, a “week” is billed as three days, not seven.

Rent something Monday and return it Friday, and the standard charge is 3× the day rate, not 5×. It sounds like you’re losing money — you’re not. It’s how the whole industry prices, renters expect it, and it’s what makes multi-day rentals attractive enough to book at all. Fight it and you’ll price yourself out of every job longer than two days.

A common structure:

• 1 day — day rate
• 2 days — 2× day rate
• 3–4 days — 3× day rate (the “week”)
• Full week — 3–4× day rate
• Monthly — roughly 3× the weekly, or negotiate

The through-line: the longer the rental, the lower the effective daily cost. That’s the incentive that fills the idle days.

THE RATE ISN’T THE WHOLE DEAL

The number you charge is only half of protecting yourself. The other half is the terms:

Deposit. For anyone you don’t know well, a deposit — or a card on file — is standard and reasonable. It’s the difference between an inconvenience and a catastrophe if gear doesn’t come back.

Replacement value in writing. Agree, up front and in writing, what each item is worth if it’s lost or destroyed. This is where a current, itemized inventory with values quietly saves you — you’re not arguing value after the fact.

Insurance. For higher-value rentals, ask the renter to carry production insurance and name you as additional insured — routine for pro shoots. Confirm what your own policy covers when gear is rented out; many personal policies don’t.

Condition on the way out and back. Photograph the gear before it leaves and when it returns. A dated before-and-after ends the “it was already scratched” argument before it starts.

A clear return time. “Friday” or “Friday by 10am”? Late returns cost you the next booking. Put the time in writing and charge for overruns.

SHOULD YOU RENT IT OUT AT ALL?

Not every item is worth renting, and it’s worth being honest about which:

Good candidates: high-value gear you own but don’t use daily — a second body, specialty lenses, lighting, a gimbal, a drone. Expensive, durable, and idle most of the month.

Think twice: your primary workhorse (if it’s out and gets damaged, your next job is in trouble), anything fragile or fiddly to reset, and gear so cheap the rental barely covers the risk.

The math that matters isn’t just the day rate — it’s the day rate against the odds and cost of something going wrong. A lens that rents for $120/day but costs $3,000 and a week of downtime to replace is a different decision than one that rents for $80 and has three backups on the shelf.

KEEPING THE RENTALS STRAIGHT

Once you’re renting to more than one or two people, the admin is the part that bites — who has what, when it’s due, what it’s worth, whether it came back the way it left.

If your gear is in Javi, renting it out runs on the same tracking you already use: check the gear out to the renter, hold the condition photos and values against each item, see what’s due back, and keep a receipt of the whole thing. On Studio and Enterprise plans, Javi can invoice and formally rent gear out to others, so the money side lives with the gear side instead of in a separate spreadsheet. See plans →

The tool won’t set your rates — that’s this guide’s job — but it’ll make sure a side income doesn’t turn into a second job’s worth of paperwork.

THE QUICK VERSION

Day rate: start at 3–5% of replacement value, then adjust for local competition and demand. A “week” is 3 days. Multi-day rentals bill at a discount — that’s the industry norm, not you getting shortchanged. Protect the deal, not just the price: deposit, agreed replacement value, condition photos in and out, a firm return time, and insurance on the big stuff. Rent the idle gear, not your workhorse. Weigh the rate against the cost of it not coming back.