Lend Engine is a flexible, configurable system to help you manage your lending or rental organisation.
We have users across all the following industries, and more. Lend items to regular members, or rent items to one-off customers.
Both are equally easy.
Audio visual rental companies
Computer game rentals
Sports equipment rentals
Automotive tool rentals
Accessibility equipment lending
Assistive technology organisations
Educational equipment services
Libraries Of Things
Tool libraries
Toy libraries
Sling libraries
Cloth nappy libraries
Lend or rent items
Lending or renting can be done self-serve by members or customers using a clear, easy-to-use website, or your staff can do it
on behalf of a member. Just like shopping online, a user browses items and adds them to a cart.
Payment for loans or rentals can be taken at point of rental, or can be put against a member's credit balance.
Loans don't have to cost anything at all. Some organisations charge a monthly or annual membership fee which
covers the cost of items.
Loan/rental periods are determined by opening hours of your site(s); when someone creates a loan or rental it's
easy to see which sites are open, and the available times.
Reservations
Reservations can be used when a user or member wants an item at some time in the future. Using the simple
calendar, it's easy to pick an available slot and create a reservation for one or more items. Reservation fees
can be added at the point of creation, or charged when a user collects their items. Automated reservation
reminders are sent the day before collection is due.
Excellent customer / member communication
When a loan, rental or reservation is created, your customer or member is sent a confirmation email containing detailed information
about the items they have borrowed or rented. If your items have public attachments, these will be sent too.
Emails can be configured to contain exactly the text you need for your organisation.
Workflow customisation with prompts
Create prompts that users must complete when performing check-in and check-out.
Prompts can apply to all items, or you can have prompts specific to certain items.
Great for reminding volunteers or staff that an item must come with an extra disclaimer, or to check that fluid levels are full before renting out.
Easy transfer for repair or maintenance
When items are returned, check in one item on a loan at a time (completing any workflow prompts required).
If items are damaged, or need cleaning, then it's quick and easy to assign them to a technician or 'repair' location.
Repair or cleaning staff will get automatic email notifications.
Flexible charging structure
Charge for a time period, charge a fixed amount per loan / rental, or charge nothing at all.
When it comes to fees and additional non-item charges (perhaps an urgent service fee), you can add one-off charges to a loan at any time.
For overdue items being checked in, Lend Engine will suggest an overdue fee (fine) which you
can choose to take payment for at the time, or put on the member’s account.
Refundable deposits
Items can be set up to require a refundable deposit. This needs to be taken when a loan is checked out, regardless
of a member or customer's account balance. When the item is checked back in again, the deposit can be easily refunded to the customer.
If the deposit was taken by credit card using our Stripe integration, the refund is put back on the card.
Every step is recorded in the payments audit trail, with rich information to make payment reconciliation easy.
Loan extensions
Outstanding items on a loan or rental can be extended as long as there isn't an upcoming reservation.
When you change the return date, you can add fees and take payment using a credit card. Customers/members
receive an automated email to let them know of the new return date.
