Renting out your gear?

Hanley

Hanley

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Does anyone rent out gear they don't use a lot, on platforms such as Hygglo (formerly Fat Llama)? Or know of any other good platforms.

I'm so busy in my day job at the moment that I'm not really finding time to use any of my camera equipment, and when I'm sitting in my home office every day, and look behind me at all the high-end equipment in my photography cabinet, it occurred to me that maybe I should give it some consideration.

So I'd be interested to see if anyone has looked into it or even gone so far as to rent equipment out, and how you found the experience.

Kit I'd be looking to make available would be:

  • Canon R1 camera body
  • Canon R3 camera body
  • Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS III USM
  • Canon RF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM Z
  • Canon RF 24-105mm f2.8L IS USM Z
  • Canon 10-20mm f4L IS STM
  • Hasselblad X2D II 100C camera body
  • Hasselblad XCD 35-100E f/2.8-4
  • Hasselblad XCD 90mm f/2.5V
  • Hasselblad XCD 55mm f/2.5V
  • Hasselblad XCD 28mm f/4P
  • Fujifilm GFX100RF camera body
  • OM System OM-1 Mark II camera body (x2)
  • OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-400mm f/4.5 TC 1.25X IS Pro
  • OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm f/2.8 IS Pro
  • OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro
  • OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro II
  • Panasonic HC-X2E 4K Professional Camcorder with Panasonic AG-MC200G Mic and Atomos Ninja V+

Also certain lighting items such as 2 x Godox AD400 Pro, 1 x Godox AD600 Pro, Godox X3 pro trigger for Canon, Hasselblad and Fujifilm, c-stands and other accessories.

It's all top of the line kit, so I would imagine there must be some demand from people who just need certain items for a few days / weeks.

I'm not desperate for the cash so I'm happy to keep hold of them, but if they could earn some passive income while I'm losing the will to live in my day job that would be a good thing :ROFLMAO:

I haven't listed anything as it's purely just a thought in my head at the moment.
 
It will not be passive...
First there is the handing out or shipping and getting it returned.
Secondly there will be the discussions about damages either with the lender or with an insurance company.

I do not have that much of expensive gear, but for sure I would never rent it out. I would perhaps rent regularly if I could have pick-up location closer to my home with flexible opening hours...
 
MarkCé said:
It will not be passive...
First there is the handing out or shipping and getting it returned.
Secondly there will be the discussions about damages either with the lender or with an insurance company.

I do not have that much of expensive gear, but for sure I would never rent it out. I would perhaps rent regularly if I could have pick-up location closer to my home with flexible opening hours...
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I believe with Hygglo they take 20% commission which includes your equipment covered under their insurance.

Yes, I agree you'd need to take time out to meet with the people who are renting your kit to hand over / collect.
 
It was a few years ago now back when it was Fat Llama but I remember seeing someone having a rant about it on social media.

They had rented out some equipment and it had gotten damaged. It took several months to resolve between the insurance company and the repairer although I think they did get there in the end.

Maybe not a big problem if you can do without the gear for an extended period of time if the worst happens.
 
f/1.2 said:
It was a few years ago now back when it was Fat Llama but I remember seeing someone having a rant about it on social media.

They had rented out some equipment and it had gotten damaged. It took several months to resolve between the insurance company and the repairer although I think they did get there in the end.

Maybe not a big problem if you can do without the gear for an extended period of time if the worst happens.
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Yeah that would be a pain, I don't think I'll do it having thought it through, I'll juts sit and admire them instead while sitting in boring Teams meetings :ROFLMAO:
 
I wouldn't let anyone else use my equipment, at least the ones that matter. It has to be separate kit if you want to do it as a business. That's a good selection of high end gear so it is your call where you want to go with it
 
My son recently used the ex Fat Llama to hire a Nikon Zf and 40mm for the day, I think it was about £50 for the day including insurance, he collected from the owners residence and returned it in person the next day.

I would be more worried that persons hiring my equipment would then know where to return to help themselves later, perhaps not a concern with a mirror less body and standard lens but for more exotic lenses, maybe.

He was put on to the idea by one of the staff at WEX in White Chapel, it seems popular with the millenniums at the moment.
 
The people I would ask would be the people who insure your house and contents. They might require you to take out extra cover.
 
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As already said I couldn’t imagine doing that, too much of a risk especially as I try to look after my gear even though it gets well used
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
The people I would ask would be the people who insure your house and contents. They might require you to take out extra cover.
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I hope this doesn't sound argumentative, but why? House insurance wouldn't have anything to do with renting out gear?

All my photography insurance is covered by separate business insurance, PLI, indemnity and large equipment coverage, however, my business insurance would not cover me for renting out to other people, that's why the platform provides insurance (as part of their 20% cut).
 
Hanley said:
House insurance wouldn't have anything to do with renting out gear?
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Of course it would, for many people, who don't have business insurance.

Even people with business insurance, should check carefully that cover goes with the equipment, if used by a third party. The policy may have been written for a sole trader and provide no cover for a third party using it outside of named premises.

It's the same as any other insurance - cover is exactly as stated in the policy documents and it's up to the policyholder to check that everything they have asked to be covered is. Depending on the policy there may be all sorts of detailed conditions.

It's a very long time since I worked at the sharp end of the insurance business but there is one thing you never forget: if it isn't on the policy, they don't get paid!
 
Hanley said:
I hope this doesn't sound argumentative, but why? House insurance wouldn't have anything to do with renting out gear?

All my photography insurance is covered by separate business insurance, PLI, indemnity and large equipment coverage, however, my business insurance would not cover me for renting out to other people, that's why the platform provides insurance (as part of their 20% cut).
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Realise you are not going ahead with this but if people came to your house to pick up kit you would need to inform your house insurer. Our daughter runs a business from home and the insurers wanted to know how many doors a visitor went through to access the business at the house, insurance cover for theft was not great either/or was expensive
 
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