How to sell hourly and daily rentals on Shopify

A rental is a booking: the customer reserves a thing for a length of time. For rentals by the hour or by the day, a Shopify booking app works well. Each bike, boat, or room gets its own schedule, the calendar shows only the times it is free, and the customer pays at checkout. For rentals that last several days or overnight, you need a dedicated rental app instead.

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Three people paddling kayaks on a lake — What your customer sees

Your options

A Shopify booking app

Best for: Hourly and same-day rentals: bikes, kayaks, studios, simulator bays, meeting rooms.
Limits: Each booking is one start time on one day. Multi-day and overnight rentals are not possible.

A dedicated rental app

Best for: Multi-day hire, with pick-up and return dates, delivery, and stock tracking per item.
Limits: More setup, and usually a higher monthly fee.

A product with a date field

Best for: Very low volume, where you confirm each request by hand.
Limits: Nothing stops two customers renting the same item at the same time.

Set up hourly rentals with Easy Appointment Booking

1
Make one schedule per item, or per group of items
Under Availabilities, add a schedule for each thing you rent, such as Bike 1 and Bike 2. A schedule is what stops the same item being booked twice.
2
Create the rental
Click New Event or Service. For one item per customer, choose One-on-one. For a fleet of the same item, such as 8 kayaks, choose Group and type 8.
3
Set the rental length
Pick the length, such as 2 hours. For 1-hour and 4-hour rentals, give the product a variant for each length and link each to its own calendar.
4
Add a gap for cleaning or checks
Set buffer time, such as 15 minutes, so the next rental cannot start the moment the last one ends.
5
Ask for what you need
Add intake questions for height, experience, or a signed waiver. Customers answer before they pay.

Hourly rentals work on every plan. Variants for several lengths start on Standard ($15/month). Deposits need Pro Plus ($39/month).

Day rentals and other setups

Rent by the full day

Make the rental as long as your opening hours, so each day has one time. Customers then pick a day, not a time.

Take a deposit

Charge part of the price online and the rest at pick-up. The deposit and the rest are two Shopify orders.

Busy weekends

Advanced availability rules can add more kayaks on summer weekends without changing your normal setup.

Book walk-ins at the counter

Staff book walk-in renters from Shopify POS, so the online calendar never offers a bike that is already out.

Common questions

Can customers rent for several days?

Not with Easy Appointment Booking. Each booking is one start time on one day. For multi-day or overnight hire, use a dedicated rental app.

How do I stop two people renting the same item?

Give the item its own schedule. Every rental that uses that schedule shares its times, so a booked hour closes for everyone. Turn on Temporarily reserve selected timeslots to hold the time while the customer pays.

Can I take a security deposit?

You can take a deposit as part of the price, with the rest due later. The app does not hold a card or place a hold on it. Payments go through your Shopify checkout.

Can I rent several items in one booking?

Yes, if they are the same item. On a group rental, the customer picks how many, such as 3 kayaks. Different items are booked one after the other in the same cart.