Hiring Out Your Own Kit: Rates, Paperwork and What Goes Wrong

In this guide:Dry and wet · Rates · Paperwork · In practice · Picks · FAQ

Most people arrive at hire sideways. You own a PA for your own band, somebody asks to borrow it, you charge them, and a year later a third of your income is hire. That accidental route is where the problems come from, because none of the structure got built.

This covers the structure, briefly.

Dry hire and wet hire

**Dry hire** is equipment only. The client collects it or you deliver it, and they operate it. It is simple and it carries the most risk, because your equipment is being used by someone whose competence you cannot see.

**Wet hire**, sometimes called supply with operator, includes you or your crew. It is worth substantially more per day, the equipment is looked after, and it is the direction most small operations should push.

The pricing difference is not just labour. Dry hire has to price in the risk.

How rates are usually structured

Hire rates in this trade are conventionally quoted per day, with a weekly rate at a multiple of the daily rather than seven times it, because the handling cost is at each end rather than in the middle.

• A common structure is a one-day rate, with the week priced at roughly three to four times that figure.
• Weekend hire is often priced as one day, because it goes out Friday and returns Monday with nobody working in between.
• Delivery, collection, setup and operation are priced separately from the equipment.
• Consumables such as haze fluid, gaffer tape, batteries and in-ear tips are charged, not absorbed.

The number itself depends on the market you are in and what the equipment cost, and the useful check is payback: how many hire days does it take to pay for the item, and is that number achievable in its useful life.

The documents worth having

• **Hire terms**, accepted before the equipment leaves. Who is liable for damage, loss and late return, and what happens if it comes back broken.
• **An equipment list** on the paperwork, itemised, so what went out is not a matter of memory.
• **Condition record**, ideally photographs at handover.
• **Proof of identity and address** for new accounts, and a deposit or card guarantee.
• **Insurance position stated explicitly.** Who covers the equipment while it is out is the most common gap, see insurance for hire and live work.

Terms worth relying on are worth having drafted properly once, rather than assembled from other companies’ websites.

Habits that keep it profitable

• Prep and test everything before it goes out, not when it comes back.
• Count it out and count it in, against the list, at the point of handover.
• Charge for consumables and for damage, consistently. Absorbing them quietly is how hire becomes unprofitable without anyone noticing.
• Keep maintenance records, which matter for venues and insurers both, see PAT testing.
• Cases and labelling pay for themselves. Kit that lives in a case comes back; kit in a bin bag does not.
• Sub-hire rather than turning work away, and make sure your cover extends to hired-in equipment.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between dry hire and wet hire?

Dry hire is equipment only, operated by the client. Wet hire includes you or your crew. Wet hire earns more, protects the equipment and is usually the better direction for a small operation.

How do I price a hire rate?

Start from what the item cost and how many hire days it needs to pay for itself within its useful life, then check that against what your market actually pays. Price delivery, setup and operation separately.

Do I need written hire terms?

Yes, and accepted before the equipment leaves. Without them, liability for damage, loss and late return is a conversation rather than an agreement.

What is the most common mistake?

Not charging for consumables and small damage. Individually trivial, collectively the difference between a hire operation that makes money and one that does not.