How are rental prices determined?

Obviously a merchant renting out wedding jewelry needs to make her money back as quickly as possible. She is, after all, running a business and hopefully a profitable one. But the price of the rental pieces is going to depend on several factors such as how much the vendor paid for the piece, whether the agreement includes insurance and shipping, and how big the vendor is. Many ladies are starting to rent out their own wedding day jewelry in order to recoup their costs. In this instance, the price might be considerably lower than with a big jewelry rental company.

One of the first factors that impacts the price of rental jewelry is the original cost of the item. The more expensive and the more elaborate the jewelry, the more costly it will be to rent. And remember that the price of the jewelry is not solely the cost to the vendor of purchasing the piece, but also the costs of warehousing the jewelry, insuring the jewelry, and keeping the jewelry in good repair. So a piece that may retail for $25,000 may actually cost the vendor $30,000. From there, she is going to determine how much she needs to charge to recoup her costs and make a profit.

Additionally, there are actually two types of insurance that the vendor will need. First, the typical insurance for owning the piece, but also, she will need to have coverage while the piece of jewelry is out at an event. Many things can happen when something is shipped, and even though there are deposit fees and contracts to hold renters responsible, the vendor still must protect her property.

Once all the overhead costs are determined, the actual price to rent the wedding day jewelry is going to differ between vendors, and quite a lot, according to The Wizard of Jewelry. We have seen prices in the neighborhood of three percent of the suggested or appraised value and we have also seen prices as high as ten percent.

Further, if the piece becomes quite popular because a star has worn something similar, or the type of jewelry is hard to source, it may be more expensive to rent. This weeds out some of the demand so the vendor is not swamped with requests. Also, a jeweler who rents out her pieces may offer a standing agreement with regular customers. Although a woman will not get married every month, she may need formal jewelry for different events. The jeweler may work out a monthly fee for so many pieces rented.

As you can see there are many variables for determining the price of rental jewelry. But one thing that brides should remember when ordering, is to obtain all the facts in writing so that she is not disappointed on her special day.