How to price dress rentals

Higher-retail pieces from sought-after brands can carry a higher share, and everyday pieces a lower one. A $400 dress at 15 percent is a $60 rental. These numbers are for illustration only.

Take what the rental costs you each time: dry cleaning or steaming, packaging, postage if you cover it, and your time. Say cleaning is $25. That leaves $35 of the $60. Divide what you paid for the dress by $35 and you have how many rentals it needs to pay for itself, before wear.

Delicate fabrics, beading and white pieces wear faster. Price them with a shorter life in mind. If a dress will realistically do 15 rentals before it looks tired, spread its cost over 15, not 50.

On Ourfit every piece has a 4 day and an 8 day price, and you set both. The 8 day rental blocks the dress for twice as long, so it should cost noticeably more, but not double: you save on cleaning and postage. Check how often your pieces are rented for 4 days against 8 before you settle on a gap.

If a dress is booked out most weekends, the price can go up. If it sits idle, test a lower one before you assume the piece is wrong. Wedding season and Spring Racing in October and November shift demand.