Why are rentals so expensive?

morleymcmorleymc
in General Poker Chat
Some of the sites I've seen advertise table rentals from $200 to as much as $4540/day. Chips as much as $50/box of 500 (dice). WTF? I'm certain I could offer a ten seat table and box of chips for $5-7/seat. Do you think there would be enough interest from charity fundraisers, office parties, home games etc to justify purchasing some tables and chips? If so how many? Would 20 tables (200 seats) and 25000 chips do it?

Comments

  • haddonhaddon
    Like any business venture its hard to say. I don't think there is enough of a market in one area. You'd have to advertise quite a bit, because when anyone thinks rentals they think rental companies. And with the boom, a lot of rental places are carrying a wide array of poker items. Being the cheapest is great, but when no one knows you exist, it does matter if its free. I'd personally try and get enough up front contracts for the summer/fall in which the fees you charge pay for your intial inventory. That way, there is no risk. Major corporations etc, plan most everything well in advance. No harm in making a few calls without the actual items right?
  • WaterLooserWaterLooser
    Some quick notes.

    If I were to run anything like this I would have "different" chips than the ones any joker could buy. I have been to an event where someone had a couple black "dice" chips in their poket and guess what, used them!

    ECON 101 - supply and demand. You can charge whatever the market will bare. Haddon is bang-on where you need to get the clients before you can anally-voilate them.

    Good luck!
  • morleymcmorleymc
    As i'm sure you figured out it was as much as $450/table (ridiculous when most rental tables don't even cost that much to purchase unless they are high end)

    I've done some pricing and I can get hot stamped (original) chips pretty reasonable and 10 seat tables for < 1/2 of what I see retailers charging for them. The kicker is that I need to buy both in bulk to get the prices. I'm certain I can sell what I don't require for the rental business for enough to almost cover the cost of what I keep.

    Thanks for the advice on contacting companies etc without actually owning the equipment, I'll do that. This will only be a part-time business for me so I won't have to have the stuff out 2-3 times a week to make a go of it.

    Any other advice is greatly appreciated.
  • BigChrisElBigChrisEl
    If you are in the GTA you may want to contact RiverRatJosh, he does Hold'em for Hire so he should be able to give you a quote and tell you if the prices are fair.
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