To start a dress hire business online, you need a collection of garments, a Shopify store that can take date-based bookings, clear hire terms, and a plan for shipping or pickup, returns, deposits, cleaning and pricing. Dress hire is also called dress rental, especially in the United States and Canada. Dress Hire Websites is an Australian-based Shopify Partner. We build these stores for businesses in Australia and worldwide, and the Complete Website Package with The Dress Rental App set up is $550 AUD as a one-off build fee.
What you need in place
A dress hire store is not the same as a standard retail shop. Customers book a specific date, the garment has to be free for that date, and it has to come back in time for the next booking. Before you launch, settle these points:
- What you will hire, such as formal dresses, occasion wear or a mixed collection
- Whether you will offer studio pickup, shipping, or both
- How long a standard hire lasts, and when the garment must be returned
- How you will handle deposits or bonds, cleaning, late returns and damage
- Your pricing, including shipping if you send garments out
- Photos and details for each piece
You should also check local requirements for registering a business, collecting tax and following consumer rules in the country you trade from.
How to start, step by step
- Decide what you will hire and where you will serve. A tight collection in one region is easier to photograph, ship and restock than a broad catalogue with no clear return path.
- Write your hire rules. Include the hire period, return-by date, cleaning, late fees, damage and cancellation terms, and say them clearly on the website.
- Get a Shopify store and a booking system. Shopify hosts the website and checkout. Date-based availability, bonds and try-ons need a rental app. The Dress Rental App is built for dress hire and is set up as part of our package.
- Photograph and list your collection. You need clear photos, sizes, colours and hire prices. If we build your website, we upload your initial collection, including imports from The Volte, One Wardrobe, DesignerEx, Instagram, a spreadsheet or another website.
- Set shipping, pickup and returns. Customers need to know how the garment arrives, when it must come back, and how to return it.
- Price your hires and your running costs. Account for the garment, cleaning, packing, shipping, platform fees and your time.
- Launch and take bookings. Complete ownership of the Shopify store sits with you after handover, with full admin access.
If you already have a website on Squarespace, Booqable or WooCommerce, we can move a dress hire business to Shopify and bring your branding, colours and fonts across.
What it costs to get a website
Our fee is separate from Shopify, your domain and card-processing charges.
The Complete Website Package + The Dress Rental App is $550 AUD, paid once. It includes a full dress rental Shopify website, the app installed and set up, a booking calendar with automatic date blocking, a Search by Date widget, try-on appointments, refundable bonds, a sales section for items bought outright, shipping and pickup options, terms and conditions pages, a mobile friendly design, your initial collection uploaded, unlimited revisions until you are happy, tutorials and documentation, and 30 days of free support after transfer.
Standard builds take 20 business days. Fast turnaround is 5 business days for an extra $149, which does not include revisions. Afterpay and Zip Pay are available through Stripe. The full package fee is paid upfront to secure the build.
Optional add-ons:
- Fully Custom Website Build + Mockup: $1,000 extra, combined total $1,550
- Vendor Consignment Build: $1,395 extra, combined total $1,945, for consignment and multi-vendor dress hire businesses
Each add-on is booked on top of the $550 package, not instead of it.
After launch, monthly care plans are available and can be cancelled at any time:
- Basic Website Maintenance: $49 AUD per month, for theme and app updates, small fixes, a monthly site health check and email support
- Website Maintenance and Product Uploads: $89 AUD per month, which includes everything in Basic plus monthly product uploads
Running costs paid to other providers
Shopify is required to host the store. On our packages page, Shopify Basic is listed as $56 AUD per month, or $42 AUD per month when billed yearly, plus card-processing rates. Shopify pricing and payment rates can change, and they vary by country, so confirm current charges on Shopify's official pricing page for your country.
A custom domain is optional and is often around $20 AUD per year, depending on the provider. Shopify includes a free yourbusiness.myshopify.com address.
The Dress Rental App is included in the one-off build. As a founding member offer for our first 100 customers, the Big Business plan, valued at $54.99 USD per month, is free for the life of your store. After that, the Big Business plan is A$15.00 AUD per month for package customers. Email notifications are free. SMS is optional at $0.17 USD per segment.
The Dress Rental App
The app is built by Dress Hire Websites for dress hire stores. It handles date-based bookings, automatic date blocking, search by date, try-ons, refundable bonds, cleaning fees, insurance and upsells, and automatic booking email reminders. Customers can hire and buy on the same website. In-studio pickup or try-on can be offered alongside shipping.
You can read more on The Dress Rental App page, or see the Shopify App Store listing.
Deposits and bonds
Many dress hire businesses take a refundable bond, or a card authorisation, to cover damage, loss or a late return. The amount and the rules should be written on the product page and in your terms, and the bond should be released or refunded when the garment comes back in the agreed condition. We can set refundable bonds up in The Dress Rental App. Do not copy another store's bond figure without thinking through your own risk and your local requirements.
Cleaning
Garments usually need to be cleaned between hires. Some stores include cleaning in the hire price. Others add a cleaning fee at checkout. Say which approach you use, and say who is responsible if a customer returns a garment stained or unwashed. Choose a cleaning method that suits the fabric, and build enough time into the calendar so the piece can be cleaned before the next booking.
Shipping and returns
If you ship, plan three dates: when the garment leaves you, when the customer needs it, and when it must be back so you can check it, clean it and release it for the next hire. Use a tracked service, and give a prepaid or clearly explained return method. National carriers such as Australia Post, USPS, Royal Mail, Canada Post, NZ Post or An Post are typical examples, depending on the country. Studio pickup is simpler operationally, and many stores offer both.
How to price a hire
There is no single correct hire price. Consider what the garment cost you, how often you expect to hire it, cleaning, packing, shipping, platform and payment fees, and the time it takes to manage the booking. Formal and occasion wear can often be hired for a fraction of the retail price, but that fraction should still leave room for wear and tear. Review your prices after you have taken a run of bookings, rather than locking them in forever on day one.
Guides by country
The steps above apply in most places. Local tax, consumer rules, shipping and everyday wording vary. Start with the guide that matches your market: