Welcome to your guide to all things inventory management. 

Ever wondered the best way to organize your warehouse, if you should repurpose damaged furniture, or how to best showcase your inventory on your website?

We’re here to break it all down, so you can spend more time focusing on high-level business decisions.

How to Purchase Event Rental Inventory

Purchasing inventory can be a daunting task for event rental professionals. You end up asking yourself questions like:

• “Should I choose to invest in trends over classics?”
• “How many chairs should I order?”
• “What should I know before buying used inventory?” 

Let’s dive into our step-by-step guide for purchasing inventory, to make it easier for you to answer all of those questions and more.

1. Know Your Budget Before You Buy

Before you click “Purchase” on anything, you need to review your budget. Make sure you set aside enough money to have a safety net if something goes wrong (for instance, if you end up needing to order more, or if the product wasn’t quite what you expected). 

If you’re just getting started, maybe you’re operating with a couple hundred bucks. Or if you’re adding to your existing inventory, you’re probably working with more. Once you have your budget, you can get into what types of inventory you want to buy.

2. Decide What Event Inventory to Buy

Your inventory collection should be a good blend of trendy items and classic pieces. This will ensure that your inventory is never outdated and that you’ll always have reliable pieces that clients love. You can get a good grasp on trends by talking to other vendors, browsing Instagram or Pinterest, and reading industry newsletters.

Remember, you can (and should) sell off items once they fall out of style and are just sitting in your garage or warehouse. 

Pro Tip: With Goodshuffle Pro, you can instantly gain an overview of item usage by selecting an item in your inventory, then moving into the Usage Tab. It’ll allow you to make more informed decisions about which inventory items to keep and which to sell.

3. Decide How Much Event Inventory to Buy

When purchasing event inventory, you also have to think about how much to buy. Your calculations should include considerations like:

• What’s your average event size?
• What’s the usage of current pieces?
• Which items are typically rented in bulk as opposed to rented individually?
• Which ancillary items pair well with other inventory pieces?

On top of this, you’ll want to think about what you might be able to sub-rent from other event companies. Or, you may want to purchase extra inventory in case other event businesses want to sub-rent from you.

4. Find Your Unique Offerings

You’ll also want to consider what your competition offers. What pieces do really well for them, and can you offer a similar experience? Think on the flipside too: how can you differentiate yourself from the other event companies in your area? Identifying your event industry niche is one of the most important steps for deciding what inventory to purchase.

Check out our webinar on identifying your unique value proposition for more on that:

5. Where Should I Buy My Event Inventory?

Now that you’ve decided what inventory to buy, it’s time to get to purchasing. You can purchase event rental items for wholesale from companies such as EventStable and Celina Tent. These businesses offer lots of great inventory options for those just starting out, as well as for event industry veterans. You can also browse online forums, such as Facebook groups and digital marketplaces, to see what other event professionals are selling.

6. Should I Purchase Used Inventory?

The answer to this question depends on a few different things, such as the condition of the item and the demand for it. There are several traps that are easy to fall into, like buying a one-of-a-kind item when you actually need multiple — learn how to avoid these so your inventory purchasing is always profitable.

5 Tips For Organizing Your Event Rental Inventory

Here are our best tips on how to organize your event rental inventory, whether you’re operating out of your garage or a huge warehouse.

1. Determine What Storage Equipment You Need

When it comes to storing inventory items, you’ll want to look into bins, wrapping material, crates, and shelving. It could even be worth it to invest in pallet racks and heavy-duty shelving. For moving purposes, you may also need dollies, carts, and ramps, among other pieces of equipment. 

2. Take an Inventory Audit During the Slow Season

There are lots of things you can do in the slow season to give your business a leg up. One of them is to review all your event rental inventory and determine what has been doing well, what hasn’t, and what changes need to be made. If you decide to purchase more of a certain item, allocate space for it in your storage space. If space is freeing up as you get rid of other pieces, see if there’s a new use for it that makes sense for your business.

3. Organize Your Storage Space or Warehouse

Have you thought about how to optimize your storage space? A few changes could make a world of difference. Here are a few of our favorite tips:

• Large, heavy items should be kept closer to the load-in area for a more efficient operation.
• Consider having more popular items near the front of your storage location, too, so they’re easier to grab. 
• Group smaller items by category, and break down any items that can be assembled at the event site. 
• Be sure to safely ratchet strap and secure any potentially hazardous items.

4. Streamline Communication Between Warehouse Staff and Salespeople

Work with both your warehouse team and your sales and marketing staff so you’re all on the same page when it comes to what inventory is available. You want to uncover forgotten items and ensure they’re cataloged digitally so that salespeople are aware of the options available. Consult with your team, too — maybe there’s a better way to group items, or a new piece of equipment that could work wonders for your warehouse crew.

Pro Tip: Holding a team meeting on a regular basis — weekly, monthly, or quarterly — can help root out these operational inefficiencies. Consider a structure for these meetings that allows time for each team member to recap their work, list challenges, and offer suggestions for improvement.

5. Keep Your Storage Space Clean

A cluttered workspace can be dangerous for all parties involved. But it can also cause organizational chaos. Be sure all shelved inventory is strapped, the floor is clear, and all lightbulbs and other fixtures are working correctly. Do a regular sweep of the area to make certain everything is in good condition.

How to Deal With Event Inventory Damages

Damaged inventory items are inevitable in the world of events. Whether it’s wooden tables exposed to rain at an outdoor event or rowdy wedding-goers breaking glassware, some damage is beyond repair. But many pieces can be refurbished or repurposed. Learn what to do with damaged inventory below.

Prepare a Solid Contract With a Damage Policy

First and foremost, make sure you’re protected legally for when clients damage your inventory. The most important part of your contract language is that it’s indisputable, meaning there’s no room for interpretation. To help you with that, we put together a guide on the top dos and don’ts of event contract negotiations. But before drafting your policies, consider speaking with a lawyer so you know you’re 100% protected. 

Assess the Damage Immediately

As soon as the item is unloaded back at your storage space, take a look at the damage immediately and ask yourself the following questions to determine what to do with the item:

• Is the damaged item highly popular? 
• Will it cost more to repair than it’s actually worth? 
• How long will it take to get repaired? 

Pro Tip: If you’re using Goodshuffle Pro, mark the damaged item as Set Aside, so you and your team know it’s currently unavailable. Then, move on to either refurbishing, repurposing, or tossing. Learn more ->

Refurbish Inventory When Possible

When deciding whether or not to refurbish the item, consider the state of the item and the equipment you’ll need. Depending on what the item is and your skill level with refurbishing, you may want to outsource this to a professional. Learn more about refurbishing event rentals (without ruining them) in this article.

Repurpose Pieces When Possible

While some items may never be able to be “as good as new,” that doesn’t mean they aren’t still useful. Consider repurposing these items for use around your office, storage space, and event site. For tips on repurposing linens, check out this article.

3 Reasons You Should Package Inventory Into Event Packages

Now that you’ve organized your storage space, it’s time to organize your client-facing inventory. As a professional in the events industry, you have an eye for which pieces of inventory go together. A client, on the other hand, may be clueless. But that’s just the surface of why you should create custom inventory packages. They also allow you to:

1. Lend Your Creative Expertise

Some customers have a hard time knowing what exactly they want for their special occasion and find it difficult to visualize the event when browsing through items piece by piece. Giving your clients the ability to envision their dream event with a package of items that are often rented together is the way to go.

2. Upsell Your Clients

Packages are also a great way to up-sell clients, while giving them a way to see the whole vision behind an event. They’re also a great moneymaker for event companies. 

All the client knows is that you’ve saved them time deciding which pieces go well together. The client doesn’t have to know you added a bit for that service — they’ll just be happy with how easy it was to find the pieces for their dream event.

While there are some packages that every event business should offer, you can also get creative and come up with your own custom packages. 

And, when you’ve displayed your inventory to them in the form of a package, you’ve made it that much easier for them to (quickly) become a paying customer.

3. Appear in More Google Searches

When you offer packages online, you hit the search engine optimization (SEO) jackpot. Essentially, you’re showing that you offer what potential customers are looking for. For instance, you may decide to offer a Deluxe Vintage Wedding Package. When someone planning a vintage wedding types “vintage wedding” into their search bar, your website is more likely to appear.

Pro Tip: Creating packages is easy to do in Goodshuffle Pro and is a fun way to spruce up your inventory collection and website. Learn how to create a custom package here ->

Showcase Your Inventory on Your Website

Your website is your digital showroom, which makes it a crucial part of marketing your event rental company. It should accurately reflect what you have in stock and encourage online shoppers to rent from you. Just like you organize your storage space, you should also organize your website.

Is it easy for the customer to find what they’re looking for? How easy is it for them to request a quote or contact you? Use logical names, add a search bar, and provide photos so your web visitors have the best experience possible.

If you’re not satisfied with your current website, check out our guide on how to choose a rental website builder, or have a chat with one of our preferred partners.

Pro Tip: With Goodshuffle Pro’s Website Integration, you’ll not only wow clients with a sleek online shopping experience, but you’ll also cut down on the time you spent on web maintenance — by as much as 95% — because all of your inventory items and packages are automatically synced with your website. Learn more about how Cam Petty, Owner & CEO of Render Events, did just that here.

Bring Your Business Online

Elevate your brand, save time on updates, and drive fast ROI.

Learn More

How to Pull Inventory Usage Numbers

When it comes down to it, your business has to be profitable to continue serving your customers. This is why careful monitoring of your business’s health is so important. When thinking about your inventory, you want to know information such as:

• What type of event rental inventory brings in the most revenue?
• How often is a certain item or type of item being rented?
• Is certain inventory more popular at different times of the year?
• Which events use which inventory items?

Reporting on these points gives you a bird’s eye view of your business and empowers you to make the best strategic decisions — no more guesswork. 

Pro Tip: Goodshuffle Pro’s Financial Hub allows you to easily pull reports that answer these questions. With everything from a high-level dashboard to accounting reports that dig deep (not to mention the inventory usage charts and the custom reports you can also create), you’ll always be on top of what’s going on with your inventory and your business as a whole.

Use Event Inventory Management Software

If you want to start or grow your event rental business on a solid foundation, finding the right inventory management software is essential. Whether you own a wedding rental business, a furniture rental company, a party rental business, or you’re in another niche, you need solid rental inventory tracking software to keep you organized and efficient.

With inventory management features like detailed conflict detection, automated pull sheets, item utilization reports, and other smart inventory tools, Goodshuffle Pro has everything you need to manage inventory like a pro.

Event rental software can also save you hours of time each week and get you paid faster. With all the time you save, you can focus on more high-level business endeavors. Plus, having the peace of mind knowing your inventory is organized and under control is priceless.

Goodshuffle Pro even offers a free trial, plus unlimited training and support, to make sure you’re making the most of your investment. It’s a great way to explore the software and see how it works for your unique business.

Explore Goodshuffle Pro

Book a demo to see our event business software in action.

Book Demo