Equipment rental on Wix: delivery zones, pickup times and opening hours

By Kayabyte

Disclosure: I make Equipment & Party Rentals, a Wix app that I describe near the end. The planning steps work with any tool. Wix details were read on 14 November 2026.

When you hire out equipment, the booking is not only a date. Customers need to know when they can collect and return an item, whether you deliver, what delivery costs, and when the delivery arrives. If these are vague, you get late-night pickups, missed deliveries and refund requests. This guide goes through how to set them up so your website answers the questions before customers ask.

1. Set opening hours for pickup and return

• Write the hours at which a customer may collect and return an item, per weekday, and the days you are closed.
• Add closed dates for holidays.
• Decide the step: whole hours, or every half hour. A 30-minute step gives customers more choice but means more planning for you.
• Remember that a return at 5 pm may mean cleaning at 6 pm and a collection by the next customer at 8 am. That is what buffers are for; see below.

Wix’s own Rentals app, according to Wix’s help (read 14 November 2026), lets you choose whether clients rent by the hour or by the day. If exact pickup and return times matter to you, check how your tool handles them.

2. Add setup and cleaning time

A buffer is time before and after a rental when the item is not available to anyone. Use a setup buffer for things you put up (a tent, a stage) and a cleaning or check buffer for things that come back dirty or need testing (a bounce house, a camera). Keep buffers short enough that you do not lose bookings, and long enough that you are not racing.

3. Decide pickup, delivery or both

• Pickup only is simplest: one address, your hours, instructions on where to go.
• Delivery only is common for large items such as tents and bounce houses.
• Both: set per item, so a camera is collect-only and a tent is delivery-only.

Put your pickup address and instructions (parking, entrance, what to bring) in the confirmation email, because customers search their inbox on the day.

4. Price delivery

You have three common ways:

• A flat fee for any address you serve. Easy to explain.
• A fee by zone, usually by postcode or area: near the shop is cheaper than across the county.
• Free over an amount, for example free delivery over a certain order value.

Distance-based pricing needs a map service and, in practice, a route plan. Most small firms use zones instead, because a list of postcodes is quick to write and quick to check. An address outside every zone should not be bookable for delivery.

5. Offer delivery windows, not exact times

Customers cannot know whether a driver arrives at 10:07 or 10:40, and you do not want to promise it. Offer windows such as 8 to 10 and 10 to 12. For a delivered rental, the booking should start at the delivery time and end at the collection time, with setup and teardown time as the buffer. Say in your terms what happens if nobody is home in the window.

6. Tell customers the same thing everywhere

Write delivery area, fee, windows, pickup hours and return rules in one place on your site, in the booking form and in the confirmation and reminder emails. A reminder the day before pickup with the address and what to bring cuts missed pickups.

7. Check it as a customer

Book a delivery to an address inside a zone, then one outside all zones, then a pickup after closing time. The first should work, the others should be refused with a clear message.

Our app: Equipment & Party Rentals

We make Equipment & Party Rentals, a Wix app that covers the steps above. Get it on the Wix App Market.

• Opening hours and closed dates limit the pickup and return times customers can choose.
• Setup and cleaning buffers on every plan.
• Pickup or delivery per item, with a pickup location and instructions in the emails.
• A flat delivery fee on Free. Pro adds delivery zones by postcode and delivery windows. Business supports up to 5 pickup locations.
• Pro sends reminders before pickup and return.

It does not draw maps, price delivery by distance or plan routes. Free covers up to 3 items and 5 online bookings a month; Pro is $9.99 a month, or $7.49 a month billed yearly; Business is $19.99 a month, or $14.99 a month billed yearly; paid plans have a 14-day free trial. Made by Kayabyte.

FAQ

Can customers choose any time of day? No. Pickup and return times can only be chosen inside your opening hours, and not on closed dates.

What if a customer enters an address outside my delivery zones? With delivery zones (Pro), an address outside all zones cannot be booked for delivery, and the customer can choose pickup instead if you offer it.

Can I charge by distance? Not in Equipment & Party Rentals. Use zones that follow your own driving areas.

Can I have several pickup locations? Business supports up to 5 pickup locations, and you choose which location each item uses.

Do customers get a reminder? Pro sends reminders before pickup and return. Every plan sends a confirmation with pickup or delivery details.