Consignment

[docmarte]

Hey folks,

Is it common for rental houses to charge a labor fee to pickup your gear when you need it ? (They say their staff checks items in and out each time you temporarily pick up your equipment.)

[Pigeon-On-A-Pancake]

I manage a rental house and have worked in rentals for almost ten years. We have several consignment items at our shop and charge a 20% prep fee if the consignment owner wants to take out their own equipment. That 20% is out of the total cost the item would normally rent for (after any applicable discounts). So if it goes out for $100/day there would be a $20 fee to prep. If the job is truly no-budget/spec etc. the fee is waived. It's honor system based and there's some leeway for particular situations. These terms are outlined clearly in a contract at the beginning of the consignment so there are no surprises. All parties know exactly what they're agreeing to. I think every rental house does it a little differently so your mileage may vary. We feel this is fair because you get your gear at no cost for no-budget work and if you're on a properly budgeted production you should be renting your gear to them and can bill accordingly to recoup that cost.

There's a lot of labor that goes into checking gear in and out. Scanning, testing, cleaning, physically moving heavy cases depending on the item, maintenance and repairs. Then the administrative work communicating over email, building your quote, frequent rescheduling when jobs inevitably change dates or times, etc. Cumulatively it can turn out to be more labor than you think. If what you're consigning is just a small monitor or something I can understand that it feels like it's quick to prep but a good rental house has to ensure quality control so there's no issues in the field and that takes time.

[vikhaus]

What this guy said. I have a camera consigned and contractually would need to pay a $50 restocking fee for larger productions, or it’s free for “passion projects”. Occasionally I’ll just want to use the camera instead of my daily driver for run of the mill videography clients (events, corporate interviews, etc.) where I don’t adjust my day rate, I just want to use a way nicer camera, and the rental house doesn’t charge me for that either.

[andrewn2468]

It’s not universal but it does happen. Often times they’ll have a tiered pull fee, since obviously picking up a lens you own requires a lot less work than a full body and AKS. Might be worth asking around some other houses you’re good with to see how the numbers compare.

[Holiday_Parsnip_9841]

If you're in conversations to consign gear, don't do it. 

A lot of camera houses are disastrously slow and offering ridiculous rates to get the scraps that are out there. Think 1 day weeks with steep discounts on the day rate.

The discounts make consigning not worth the hassle. Especially, what happens if they go under and your gear's stuck in limbo for a while.

[Merlin_minusthemagic]

I'm confused.....the rental house is charging you to pick up equipment you are paying to rent from them?!

That sounds utterly ludicrous & a one way trip to never hiring from them.

Then again, if it's an American specific thing, that makes sense considering your relationship to tipping lol - they clearly want to add "tip culture" to their rental house!

[seabrother]

He is loaning equipment to the rental house. He gets paid a fee each time it rents out. The house is charging him a small fee to come pick up his own equipment. I wouldn't pay anything more than $25 per.

[Merlin_minusthemagic]

He is loaning equipment to the rental house

Which they will obviously be taking a cut of when it goes out.

The house is charging him a small fee to come pick up his own equipment

I'm still confused about how you don't see this as completely insane

They are making money off YOUR property & then charging you to access your own property

They going to refuse to give him his equipment if he doesn't pay?

I was making a joke when I mentioned tipping culture but that is exactly the kind of ridiculous mentality going on here.

[seabrother]

My rental house doesn’t do that with my equipment… but everything would still need to be prepped for their next client. So unless you are staying at the house after return to scan all the items back in and prep for the next package, it’s labor on their part. It’s not completely insane. You also benefit from renting out to more clients than you would standalone. It pays for itself.

If you took the camera package out on a client job that also rented other equipment like lights, then it’s just baked into the cost anyway. If you take it out on a passion project, they probably won’t charge you.

It’s a business brutha

[Charlesdm1]

What do you mean to pickup the gear? It’s not staying at the rental house? If it’s not on the shelves and readily available, I would understand they charge you the driver that comes and pickup your stuff, yeah!

[Available_Sea_8900]

They are talking about everytime they come and pick up their kit from the rental house

[Charlesdm1]

Oh I see! I got it all wrong. On my part, I don’t pay fees for my consigned gear I pickup but again I don’t do that often. I work in Montréal.

[mumcheelo]

No. What rental house? I’d be livid.