Setting Up Buffer Time Between Bookings

What This Is

Buffer time adds a required gap between hourly bookings for the same rental item. It gives you time to handle pickup, cleaning, transport, or setup before the item becomes available again.

Without buffer time, customers could book the same item back-to-back with no time in between, which can create delivery conflicts and operational problems.

This setting is only available for hourly rentals. (see: Setting Your Drop-Off and Pickup Windows and How to Limit Deliveries Per Time Slot)


Steps

  1. Go to Rentals → Rental Items
  2. Open the item you want to edit
  3. Go to the Hourly pricing/settings section
  4. Find the Buffer Time

  5. Enter the amount of time needed between bookings

    Examples:

    30 minutes

    1 hour

    2 hours

  6. Save the item

How It Works

Example:

  • Customer A books an inflatable from 10:00 AM–2:00 PM
  • You set a 1-hour buffer
  • The next available booking can only start at 3:00 PM

This prevents overlapping schedules and gives your team enough time to complete the previous job before the next one begins.


Buffer time mainly matters for hourly rentals because the same item can be booked multiple times in a single day.

For day-based rentals, items are reserved for the entire day, so turnaround gaps are usually unnecessary.