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Understanding rental setup

Rental setup is where everything comes together. Connect your schedules, pricing, confirmation methods, and notifications to specific dock and boat model combinations.

Open rental setup

How rental setup works​

Rental setup connects your components into working rental operations:

Required components​

  • Docks - Pickup and return locations
  • Boat models - Types of boats customers can rent

Connect to each dock-boat combination​

Optional extras​

  • Waivers - Documents customers must sign (WaiverForever integration)
  • Time periods - Different settings for different seasons

Each dock-boat combination gets its own rental method containing these settings. Create multiple rental methods for seasonal pricing, different schedules, or dock-specific rules.

Setting up rental methods​

1. Find your dock-boat combination​

In rental setup, locate the combination you want to configure. Each row represents a dock-boat pairing.

2. Configure the rental method​

Click on a combination to set up:

  • Time period: When these rules apply (start and end dates)
  • Schedule: Which schedule controls availability
  • Pricing: Which pricing structure to use
  • Confirmation method: How bookings get confirmed
  • Notifications: Which message flow customers receive

3. Save and test​

Save your configuration and test the booking form to ensure everything works correctly.

Advanced features​

Transition periods​

Handle schedule changes smoothly by allowing trips from the previous period to continue:

  1. Click on a dock-boat combination
  2. In Transition period, check "Allow trips from the previous period to continue"
  3. Set overflow time (e.g., 7 days)

Example: Multi-day bookings picked up in June can return until August 7th, even though the new schedule starts August 1st.

Seasonal configurations​

Create different rental methods for different seasons:

  • Summer schedule + peak pricing (June-August)
  • Winter schedule + off-season pricing (December-February)
  • Maintenance periods with blocked availability

Document requirements​

If you use WaiverForever integration, specify which waivers customers must sign for each dock-boat combination.

Common patterns​

  • Simple setup: One schedule, one pricing structure for all combinations
  • Seasonal operation: Different schedules and pricing for peak vs off-peak
  • Dock-specific rules: Marina boats have different pricing than harbor boats
  • Boat-specific schedules: Speedboats available daily, sailboats weekends only

Troubleshooting​

  • No availability showing? Check that your rental method has an active time period covering today's date
  • Wrong prices? Verify the correct pricing structure is connected to your combination
  • Missing boats? Ensure boat models are assigned to the right docks via boat management

Rental setup gives you complete control over how each dock-boat combination operates throughout the year. Start simple with one configuration, then add complexity as your business grows.