Common questions: creating and editing a fleet item

These are quick answers about creating and editing a rental item (a fleet item) in Renta. Each answer points to the full article.

Starting a new item

How do I add a new rental item?

1. Click Fleet in the left sidebar, then + Add Item. 2. If you have saved item templates, pick one (or Start blank); with no templates the form opens straight away. 3. Work through the six steps, from Identity to Review & Publish. 4. Click Publish Item. You land back on the Fleet page.

See Naming and describing a rental item.

How do I open the editor, and what are its six steps?

Open a saved item from the Fleet page and click Edit beside its name (the Details and Edit switch); Back to Fleet returns to the list. The step bar lists Identity, Pricing, Availability, Requirements, Add-ons & Maintenance and Review & Publish, and you can click a step or use ← Back and Continue → under the form. On narrow screens the bar shows numbered circles and the step name appears when you hover over one. See Publishing an item to your storefront.

How do I start a new item from a saved template?

Click + Add Item on the Fleet page. If you have item templates, the screen Add a Fleet Item lists them beside Start blank; pick one, untick any groups you do not want (Pricing, Deposit, Availability, Maintenance Schedule, Depreciation, Inspection Requirements), then click Continue →. The name, description and category always come across, and a group the template never set shows Not set on this template. See Reusable item templates.

How do I apply a template to an item I already have?

Open the item, click Apply template, and choose from Built-in Templates (Dirt Bike Rental, Trailer Rental, Watercraft Rental, Camping Gear, E-Bike Rental, ATV / UTV) or My Templates. It copies the template's prices, discounts, deposit amount, rental-length rules and inspection setting into the form, but never the item's name, SKU, description or category. The values only land in the form, so click Save changes to keep them. See Reusable item templates.

What does Save as Template keep, and why is my template missing on another computer?

On Review & Publish, find Save as Template, click Create New Template, type a Template Name and click Save Template (it stays greyed out until the name has text). It keeps prices, discounts, deposit, availability rules, inspection and maintenance choices and which fields you had removed, but not photos, tags, waiver or home shop. The template is kept in the browser you used and also saved to your account, so it shows under Item Templates on the Fleet page, while the My Templates list inside Apply template stays empty on another computer; Overwrite Existing replaces a template you pick. The Pricing step has its own Save this pricing as a reusable template button that saves rental pricing, multi-day discounts and the security deposit together. See Reusable item templates and Reusable pricing templates.

Identity step

How do I rename an item, and do its web address and SKU change?

Type the new name in Item Name on the Identity step. On a new item the slug (the part of the web address that identifies the item) and the SKU (your internal stock code) follow the name as you type; on a saved item the slug stays as it is, and so does a SKU you already have, and the reset link beside Slug rebuilds the slug from the current name. An automatic SKU is the first three letters of each word in capitals (a word with a number, like CRF450R, is kept whole), joined with dashes and ending in a number such as -001, and typing your own SKU turns the automatic one off. See Naming and describing a rental item.

How do I add, reorder, crop or remove photos?

On Identity, click Add (or drop files on the photo strip) to upload, drag a photo to reorder it, hover over it and click Edit to open Crop Photo, or click the x to remove it; the first photo is marked Primary. On a saved item every photo change is stored the moment you make it and Photos saved. appears, while on a new item the photos are stored when you click Publish Item. JPEG, PNG, WebP and GIF files are accepted, and large photos are shrunk to 1600 pixels on the long side before upload. If a file is still too big you see a message ending in "the limit is 4MB. Try a smaller file." See Naming and describing a rental item.

How do I use stock photos?

Click Stock Images next to the photo strip, type a search such as dirt bike (it starts with your category name) and click Search, then click a result to add it. A new item with no photos may also show a Suggested stock image with a Use button. If the search cannot run you see Stock images aren't configured. Ask an admin to set UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY., Stock image search key is invalid or rate limited. or a message starting "Search failed", and a search with no matches says No results found. Photos come from Unsplash and each result credits the photographer. See Naming and describing a rental item.

What do Description, SEO & Discovery and the Generate with AI buttons do?

Description is the text customers read about the item. SEO & Discovery (SEO means search engine optimization, how you appear in Google) opens to Page title (up to 60 characters, filled from the item name until you edit it), Meta description (up to 155 characters, the line under the title in Google) and Main photo alt text, which stays greyed out until the item has a photo. Generate with AI (and the small AI buttons) draft text from the item's saved details and drop it into the box, and nothing is stored until you save; on a brand-new item they answer Save the item first, and after 60 drafts in an hour they say the limit resets shortly. See Naming and describing a rental item.

How do I add tags to an item?

In Tags on the Identity step, type part of a tag name and click it, or type a new name and press Enter to create it. An item can carry at most 20 tags, and the box then shows An item can carry at most 20 tags. Tags are stored when you save; on a saved item, if the fields save but the tags do not, you see Your changes saved, but the tags did not. Try saving again. See Tagging items for customers to search by.

How do I pick or add a category?

Open the Category dropdown on Identity (it starts at Select category...) and choose one, or click + New, type a New category name and click Save & select to create it on the spot. A category is not needed to save an item, but Use the category's waiver on the Requirements step stays greyed out until the item has one. See Organizing items into categories.

What does Quantity do, and how do I handle sizes or colors?

Quantity is how many identical units you have (at least 1), and it is the same number as Total Units on the Availability step. When Quantity is above 1, a variants area appears where you add types such as Size or Color and choose Assign per unit (pick a value on each unit, the default for new items) or Bulk (type a count for each value). In bulk mode, untick Customer can choose this on a type if your shop assigns it at pickup instead of the customer choosing online. See Item variants: color, size, and other options.

Why does saving say "Name each characteristic type before saving"?

A variant type (like Size) has values in it but no name, so the save stops and highlights the type's name box, because Renta would otherwise drop those values. Type a name in that box or remove the empty type. Two types with the same name are also refused, with a message starting Two characteristic types are both named. See Item variants: color, size, and other options.

Pricing step

What is the difference between Rates and Packages?

At the top of Rental Pricing, Rates prices the item with Full Day, Time Slot and Hourly amounts, while Packages sells fixed-price packages that you name, such as a 4-hour tour. In Packages mode the rate cards, the discount rows and the free-item switch are hidden, and switching back to Rates brings your earlier rate settings back. Each item uses one mode at a time. See Flat rates vs. Packages: choosing how an item is priced.

How do I set a day, time-slot or hourly price?

In Rates mode, tick Full Day, Time Slot or Hourly under Pricing and type the dollar amount. A Full Day or Time Slot also has Start and End times, day buttons and + Add slot for extra windows (a new Full Day window defaults to 08:00 to 18:00 and a new Time Slot to 08:00 to 12:00). Hourly opens Advanced configuration with Minimum hours, Maximum hours, Daily minimum charge and Daily maximum charge. See Flat rates vs. Packages: choosing how an item is priced.

Why does the editor say "Not bookable on Tue, Wed"?

Your Full Day and Time Slot windows leave those weekdays uncovered, so customers cannot book the item on them (Packages show the same note). The amber note appears only when the windows fix the booking times, meaning no Hourly rate and Flexible pickup & dropoff times off; it does not block saving, and ticking the missing days on a slot clears it (a slot with no days ticked runs every day). A customer who picks an uncovered day sees a message such as "Dirt Bike isn't offered on Mondays. Pick another day, or remove it from your selection." See Flat rates vs. Packages: choosing how an item is priced.

How do I make an item free, or let customers pick their own times?

Tick This is a free item in Rates mode: the rate cards give way to Pricing is disabled, the storefront shows Free instead of a price, and a free item counts as priced so it can go Live. Tick Flexible pickup & dropoff times to let customers choose their own pickup and return times instead of your slot windows; it is greyed out while the item is free and is not offered in Packages mode. See Flat rates vs. Packages: choosing how an item is priced.

How do I set up Packages?

1. In Rental Pricing click Packages, then + Add package. 2. Type a package name and price, and set the length in Hours or Days. 3. Optionally tick the days it runs, add start times (One at a time or Hourly range) and a description. 4. Repeat for more packages (up to 20), reorder with the arrow buttons or remove with the x. 5. Click Save changes or Publish Item.

Each package needs a name no other package uses (Package name is required. or Another package already has this name.), a length of at most 720 hours or 30 days, and at least one package must exist. With no start times set, customers can start any time during store hours. See Flat rates vs. Packages: choosing how an item is priced.

How do I add multi-day or multi-hour discounts?

In Rates mode, click + Add discount rule under Multi-Day Discounts, set the minimum days, switch between % and $, and type the amount. Multi-Hour Discounts (with + Add hourly discount rule) appears only once Hourly is ticked, applies to bookings priced by the hour and takes the place of the multi-day discount on those bookings. New items start with no discount rows, and a percentage above 100 or a dollar amount above $5,000 is refused at save (Percentage discount cannot exceed 100% or Dollar adjustment cannot exceed $5,000). The discount rows are hidden in Packages mode. See Multi-day and multi-hour discounts on one item.

What does the Hold Amount under Security Deposit do?

Hold Amount is the security deposit for this one item: a hold on the customer's card (an authorization, money reserved but not taken). It starts at $0.00. When the hold is placed and released is set once for your whole business, not per item, as the note under the box says, and removing the Security Deposit section sets this item's amount back to $0. See How and when you collect a security deposit.

What is Payment Due at Checkout, and why did a customer pay only part?

This card decides how much customers pay online when they book this item: Full payment, Percentage down or Fixed down payment (a dollar amount per unit, never more than the rental price). Whatever is not paid at booking stays on the booking as a balance due. Add-ons, delivery, fees and tax are always collected at checkout. See How a price is calculated.

How do I set a late fee for one item?

On the Pricing step, find Late return fee, choose Use the business default, Custom for this vehicle or No late fee for this vehicle, and for a custom fee set the basis (Flat, once per rental or Per hour late), the amount, a grace period in minutes and whether it is Taxable. Click Save late fee: this card saves on its own, not with Save changes, and on a new item it says Save the item first, then set its late fee. See Charging a late return fee.

How do I add weekend or holiday pricing to one item?

Use Time-Based Pricing on the Pricing step: click + Add rule, name it, tick the days of the week and optional start and end dates, choose Surcharge or Discount, enter an amount in % or $, then click Save rule. A rule without a name stops with Name is required., and rules save immediately rather than with Save changes. In the same column, Night-before pickup isn't charged is a separate switch for customers who collect the evening before. See Charging different prices by day of the week.

Availability step

What do Minimum Rental and Maximum Rental do, and why is Minimum Rental greyed out?

Minimum Rental and Maximum Rental set the shortest and longest booking, each in hours or days; a new item starts at a 1 day minimum and Maximum Rental reads No limit. Minimum Rental is greyed out with the note Minimum rental length is set by the time slots above when your Full Day or Time Slot windows already fix the rental length, and flexible pickup and dropoff times or Hourly pricing unlock it again. A maximum shorter than the minimum is refused with a message starting Maximum duration. See What is a buffer window? (Buffer Between Rentals).

What are Notice Hours, Buffer Hours and Same-Day Booking?

Notice Hours is how many hours ahead a customer must book (24 on a new item), Buffer Hours is the gap held after a return before the item can go out again (2 on a new item), and Allow same-day booking lets customers book for today (off on a new item). If Notice Hours is 24 or more, same-day booking can never work, and the editor warns These cancel out; lower Notice Hours below 24 to fix it. See What is a buffer window? (Buffer Between Rentals).

What is Home shop, and why does mine say Pickup Location?

With two or more pickup locations the field is called Home shop; with one it is Pickup Location. Choose a shop to keep the item there, so customers can only book it at that shop, or leave All shops (bookable anywhere) (All locations with one shop). With no locations the field says Add pickup locations in Settings before assigning this item., and a unit set to its own shop on its unit page stays there when you change the home shop. See What is a buffer window? (Buffer Between Rentals).

What do Overnight rentals and Presets do on the Availability step?

Overnight rentals can be Use shop default, Allow overnight or Return nightly; return nightly books each chosen day as its own block instead of one block through the night. Presets at the top of the step lets you click Save as Preset to keep your availability rules under a name and load them on another item, and presets are kept in the browser you saved them in. See Overnight rentals.

How do I remove a field I never use, or bring it back?

Hover over a field and click the x to remove it; it moves to Hidden fields at the bottom of the step, and Show all fields at the top brings everything back. Removing Minimum Rental, Maximum Rental, Notice Hours or Buffer Hours also clears its value so the rule stops applying, and removing the Security Deposit section sets the deposit to $0. The three-dot Section options menu offers Rename section, Remove section and Reset to default; removed sections wait under Removed sections, Item Identity cannot be removed, and these layout choices are kept in this browser. Edit template at the top shows extra x buttons on cards, and Done editing turns them off. See Reusable item templates.

Requirements step

How do I choose a waiver for an item?

On the Requirements step, pick one option under Waiver: Use the category's waiver, A specific waiver (then choose it from Select a waiver…) or No waiver required. Nothing is pre-selected on a new item and saving is blocked until you choose, while a saved item keeps what it had. A note at the top says Admin manual bookings bypass all online requirements automatically. See Waivers, age minimums, and requirements on one item.

Why won't it save and ask me to choose a waiver?

Saving checks the waiver choice first. Choose a waiver for this item before saving. means none of the three options is picked yet, and Pick which waiver this item requires means you chose A specific waiver but left the list on Select a waiver…. This item has no category, so it can't use a category waiver. means Use the category's waiver needs a category; that option stays greyed out (Give this item a category first) until you pick one on Identity, and clearing the category drops the choice back to unchosen. Cloning runs the same check. See Waivers, age minimums, and requirements on one item.

What do Minimum Age and Minimum Skill Level do?

They sit under Additional Restrictions on the Requirements step. Minimum Age starts at 18 and Minimum Skill Level offers No minimum, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced, and the Review step lists them under Restrictions. The save request the editor sends does not include either value, so neither is saved and neither stops a booking. The age rule that applies to people signing a waiver is the business-wide Minimum renter age under Waiver Policies in Settings. See Waivers, age minimums, and requirements on one item.

Add-ons and maintenance step

How do I make an add-on required, optional or hidden on an item?

Step 5, Add-ons & Maintenance, lists each add-on from your account with Required, Optional and Hidden buttons, an x to take it off the item, and + Create & attach new add-on; with none it says No add-ons available. None of this is stored at the moment: the save request the editor sends has no add-on data in it, so your choices are lost when you leave, and + Create & attach new add-on only adds a row on the screen without creating an add-on in your catalog. Add-ons that do save are attached through a connected AI assistant that has the Add-ons permission set to Write. See Add-ons on one item and Connecting an AI assistant.

How do I turn on maintenance tracking, inspections and asset tracking?

On Add-ons & Maintenance, switch on Enable maintenance tracking for individual machines (leave it off for bulk gear like helmets or paddles); the tasks are set up on the Maintenance page, Manage maintenance tasks → saves your changes and opens it, and a new item says Save this item first, then set up its maintenance tasks in the Maintenance tab. Switch on Inspection required before each rental to require a pre-rental check, with the checklist items edited on the Maintenance page under Inspection checklist (Before each rental and After each rental (post-ride)). Depreciation & Asset Tracking (how much value the item loses over time) stores a purchase price, current value and Sell Threshold ($), and a badge appears when the value drops below the threshold. See Maintenance schedules on one item and Requiring an inspection before a rental goes out.

How do I take an item out of service for repairs?

That is done on the Maintenance page (left sidebar Maintenance), not in the item editor: open the machine's card and click Put into maintenance, then Take out of maintenance when it is back. To gray an item out or take its listing off your website, use the status badge on the item's Details page and choose Gray out (stays on your site) or Take listing off website. See Temporarily hiding an item for service and Item availability controls (Unavailable, off the website, Retired).

Saving, publishing, cloning and deleting

What is the difference between Live and Draft, and why can't customers see my item?

The card at the top of every step switches the item between Live (Visible on storefront) and Draft (Hidden from customers). A new item starts as Live and a saved item keeps its own setting, so check that the card says Live if customers cannot see the item; on a Draft, Publish now turns Live on and saves the whole form at once. A Draft can be saved without a price, while a Live item needs one. See Publishing an item to your storefront.

Why is Save changes or Publish Item greyed out, or refused for price?

The button is greyed out while a save is running, when a saved item has no unsaved edits, and when the item is Live but has no price (hover text Configure at least one price to publish); on Review & Publish it also waits for an item name (Enter an item name to publish). A price means an amount above $0 in Rates mode, at least one package in Packages mode, or This is a free item. If a save still reaches Renta without a price on a Live item, the red banner reads Item cannot be published without at least one price configured. (it may start with a field name such as priceHourly), so add a price or switch to Draft. See Publishing an item to your storefront.

What other red messages can appear when I save?

The red banner shows what Renta refused, such as Another fleet item already uses this SKU or Another fleet item already uses this URL on a new item, Packages mode needs at least one package, or Two packages are both named followed by the name. Hourly rates must keep Maximum hours at or above Minimum hours, and the daily maximum charge at or above the daily minimum charge. A trial account that has reached its item cap sees the raw text demo_limit_reached (the default cap is 10 items). See Publishing an item to your storefront.

What do "Saved with warnings" and "You have unsaved changes" mean?

Saved with warnings means the rest of your changes saved but a few fields could not be written because a database update for them is still pending; the banner lists the fields. You have unsaved changes from a time means Renta kept a copy of an unfinished edit in your browser; click Restore to bring it back or Discard to drop it. The copy is offered for up to 60 minutes on a new item and 5 minutes on a saved item, and only when it differs from what is saved. A green Saved. confirms a normal save. See Publishing an item to your storefront.

How do I clone an item?

Open the item, go to Review & Publish and click Clone (it is not shown on a new item). Renta creates a Draft copy named like Name (Copy) with the same settings and photos, a new web address ending in -copy and a fresh SKU if the original had one, then returns you to the Fleet page. Tags and add-ons are not copied, so add them to the copy. If the name is taken it tries Copy 2, Copy 3 and so on, up to five tries, and cloning runs the same waiver check as saving. See Publishing an item to your storefront.

How do I delete or archive an item, and why can't I?

Click Delete at the top of a saved item and confirm. If the item has past bookings it is archived (hidden from your fleet list and storefront but kept for your history); if it has none it is permanently deleted and that cannot be undone. Deleting is refused while the item has pending, confirmed or active bookings (the box lists them under must be cancelled first), while it belongs to a bundle, and for the Staff role, because only owners and managers can delete (the message starts "Your role"). Archived items come back from the Archived view on the Fleet page with Restore. See Publishing an item to your storefront.