How to price tote rentals

Price packages, not puzzles

Customers book faster when the site shows a small menu of named stacks with weeks and delivery included or clearly add-on priced.

Avoid asking movers to multiply totes × weeks in their head. Sell apartment or house packages for two weeks (or your own minimum), then publish the extra week as an add-on.

Three or four packages is enough to launch. Add more when you see repeated custom requests — not before you have at least one paid job.

Package design

Name packages for how customers think: studio, apartment, small house, large house. Tie each name to a tote count and rental window.

Put delivery in the package when your ZIP list is tight. When far ZIPs are common, publish a trip fee on the site and charge the same number on route day.

Keep-a-tote and buy-out rules belong on the site before checkout. My Rental can extend time or sell a tote to keep inside the rules you set.

• Apartment · 2 weeks · delivery in zone
• House · 2 weeks · delivery in zone
• Extra week · published add-on

Worked examples using ToteHQ's live Tampa prices

These are customer prices from the live ToteHQ shop. Use them to understand package math, not as your city's menu.

• $2.50 per tote per week
• A 2-week package of 10 totes for $50
• A 2-week package of 20 totes for $100
• A 2-week package of 40 totes for $200

Example 1 — 10 totes for two weeks

ToteHQ charges $50 for a 2-week package of 10 totes. That implies $2.50 per tote per week on that menu line.

If you owned that job, delivery labor and fuel come out of the $50 before you count wash time and insurance. Your cost to buy those 10 totes is separate capital — spread across many rentals.

Publishing one line at $50 beats texting ten lines of math to the customer.

Example 2 — 20 totes for two weeks

The 20-tote package is $100 for two weeks at ToteHQ — double the stack, double the price on that simple menu.

Watch fleet overlap: two customers booking 20-tote packages the same week need 40 clean totes available plus buffer.

Example 3 — 40 totes for two weeks

The 40-tote package is $200 for two weeks at ToteHQ. That is the largest common stack on the public menu.

Before you publish your largest package, confirm you can deliver, wash, and still take the next job without stealing totes from the first.

Deposits and card-on-file

Many operators take full payment at booking through Stripe Checkout. For damage or missing totes, Core supports a saved card charged only after you confirm counts on the order.

Publish the missing or damaged tote fee before checkout. The customer should not meet that rule for the first time at pickup.

Add-ons that stay on the order

Extra weeks should extend the same rental order. Delivery reschedules should stay on the order with clear windows.

Promo codes and partner coupons still checkout on the same package menu — the price the customer sees should match what ops runs.

What ToteHQ Pro enforces

You enter package prices once in the dashboard. The customer site, invoices, and checkout use those numbers.

When the card is charged, totes commit to the order so you do not double-sell the same stack. That is pricing plus inventory together — not a spreadsheet tab.

Software share on Core is taken on paid bookings per the ToteHQ Pro pricing page — that is not a second customer-facing price.

Volume and distance fees

Some operators include a base number of miles in the package and charge per mile beyond that. Publish the rule.

Stairs, long carries, or parking limits can be human notes on the order — but the base price should still be on the site.

Comparing to purchase price

Customers sometimes ask whether renting is cheaper than buying boxes. Answer with your published weeks, stack sizes, and what pickup includes when the rental ends.

Keep-a-tote pricing can be higher than rental if you publish a buy-out line on the order.

Minimum rental weeks

Order rules set a minimum rental length. Checkout computes billed weeks from drop-off and pickup with that floor.

Publish the minimum on the site so extensions are clearly extra weeks — not a renegotiation.

ToteHQ defaults commonly use two-week packages; your market may differ. The software enforces the rule you set.

Align package names with that minimum so customers never book one week when ops needs two for wash and route planning.

When you offer a shorter minimum in Order rules, say so on the package menu and in the legal step at checkout so the billed weeks match what crews plan for.

When ToteHQ's live Tampa prices show 2-week packages at $50, $100, and $200, that shape matches a two-week floor — copy the structure before you copy the dollars.

Invoices and phone quotes

Core includes an Invoices tab for phone or email quotes. The customer still pays on the same checkout path with the prices you quoted.

Quoted weeks come from drop-off and pickup dates with your minimum rental rule — not from a negotiable text thread after the fact.

If the site menu is published, phone quotes should match package names on the site so customers are not confused when they click the pay link.

Partner and promo pricing

Partner coupons still checkout on your packages. Decide whether a partner discount changes the customer total or your take-home — publish that decision internally before you approve partners.

Promo codes are for campaigns you can explain. Avoid secret lower prices that ops cannot see on the order.

Document each promo in the dashboard so delivery drivers see the same totals the customer paid at checkout.

Taxes and line items

Stripe Checkout shows the lines the customer pays. Keep delivery, extra weeks, and damage fees as catalog lines you control.

Sales tax rules depend on your state and product — ask your accountant how rental and delivery are treated locally.

Keep damage and missing fees visible on the legal step at checkout so the customer accepts them before payment.

Review your menu quarterly even if you do not raise prices — packages should match what crews actually deliver.

Revisit your menu after real jobs

After ten paid bookings, compare which package names appear most on orders. Retire names that never sell and split packages that always need custom edits.

Raise prices when clean inventory sells out for two weeks straight — not when costs feel vague. Your dashboard shows which stacks committed before pickup.

Align phone quotes with the site menu so pay links match what you said on the call. The Invoices tab should reference the same package names customers see online.

When you change delivery fees, update the catalog before the next route day so drivers and checkout stay in sync.

Late fees and reschedule rules

Publish what happens when a customer is not home for delivery or pickup. A clear fee or free retry policy belongs on the site before the first dispute.

Reschedules should stay on the same order with new windows — not a silent calendar change in texts. Ops and the customer should see the same dates in email.

If you charge for extra weeks automatically after pickup day passes, say so at checkout. My Rental extensions should match the add-on price on your catalog.

ToteHQ's live Tampa prices illustrate package shape; your late and extension dollars should reflect your drive time and labor, not a copied number.

Review published fees after your first damage or missed pickup — real events show whether your rules match how routes actually run in your city.

Ready to apply?

Applying for ToteHQ Pro is free. After approval, turn on Core when you want your booking site, committed inventory, and delivery board together.