Question about rental business

[flibbage0]

Was thinking about how rental businesses work and something that kept cropping up was how do you guarantee the customer returning the product, let's say they're renting a mixer or a cleaning machine , how can you protect yourself from someone just paying £20 and then not returning it?

[jbswagger]

The customer will have to leave a deposit.

[interstellar]

...and all their details so if they don't return it they will be reported to the police for theft.

[Countdown]

jbswagger said:

The customer will have to leave a deposit.

.....on a credit card which should let the Hire Company charge the full cost.

[VEX]

Interested in this to. Understand the deposit side or we handle the kit and install it on site.

But is there a general rule of thumb for what is a good rental value over hardware costs? Or is it just a suck and see / finger in the air / seat of the pants thing Driven by those in the know?

V.