Guide
Guide
How to start a party rental business: what to buy first and where to buy it
Starting a party or event rental business, or adding to one? This guide covers the stock: what to buy first, when a US wholesaler is the better route and when a factory order by the container is, how tents, chairs and barricades from different factories share one container, and how spares, new tops and reorders work in later seasons.
First purchases
What a new rental business buys first
Build the first stock around what nearly every booking needs, and buy each item to one specification from the start, so what you add later matches it.
Chairs, then tables
Nearly every booking needs seating, so chairs come first. A lot of weddings and parties are held outdoors, so decide where the chairs will spend the night before you pick a frame and seat. Folding chairs by the pallet or the container are made to the frame, seat and colour you choose, and tables can go on the same request.
Tents that join
Tent footprints that join into one larger tent let the same stock cover a backyard party one weekend and a wedding the next, and the bookings you take decide which footprints to stock. The tents we quote are frame tents: a galvanized steel frame under a PVC top, with no centre poles. Before you buy any tent to rent out, ask for the lab's test report on the exact top and sidewall fabric, because a fire code official can ask to see it. Party and event tents for a rental fleet has the spec sheet.
Barricades, if you supply events
Festivals, races, parades and street closures all hire steel bike rack barricades. Colour the frames or fit each one with a fleet plate, so yours can be sorted from everyone else's at the end of a shared event. Steel barricades for festivals and street closures are made to the frame, feet and finish you specify. Steel suits curbs and gates. Stage fronts, indoor queues and parking lots call for other types, covered in which crowd barriers a rental fleet stocks, venue by venue. Event clients often want custom flags for the course and the entrance as well, printed in their own design.
What the companies near you run
Rental companies borrow from each other when they are overbooked, and that only works when the pieces match. Decide early whether to match what other companies in your area run or set your own standard, then write it into the specification.
Where to buy
A US wholesaler or a factory order: which suits which purchase
Ask these questions of each purchase on your list.
| Question | A US wholesaler or stockist | Made to order in China, by the container |
|---|---|---|
| How many | One tent, or a few dozen chairs | Several of one item, or a container holding several items, all to one specification |
| When you need them | This month | Next season. The date is set with the factory before you commit |
| What you get | The model in the catalogue | Your frame, fabric, colour, labels and fleet plates |
| The smallest order | Often none. The stockist has already paid for a run and holds the goods, and that cost is in its price | The factory sets the smallest run it will set up. Tell us the quantity you have in mind, and the first reply says whether it works |
| The price to compare | A delivered price | A landed quote, line by line: the goods, haulage and export in China, ocean freight, the customs entry and broker, delivery |
| Tent fire paperwork | Whatever documents the seller has | The lab's test report on the exact fabric, asked of the factory before you commit |
| Parts and new tops later | From the catalogue, while the model is still sold | From the specification and drawing on file |
A stockist can sell you a single piece because it has already paid for a run and holds the goods, and you pay for that in the unit price. A factory has to set up a run whatever follows it, so its unit price falls as the quantity rises.
To compare the two, put the same list through both and set the wholesaler's delivered price against the landed quote per piece. The landed cost calculator adds up the factory side. A first trial quantity can ship as less than a full container, and the quote then shows the cost per unit next to the cost of filling the box.
Nothing stops you doing both: a stockist for the piece you need this month, and a factory order for next season's fleet.
By the container
How a container order works when it holds more than one product
One container can hold tents, barricades and chairs from different factories.
One list, in the off-season
What you want, how many of each, and the date your season opens. The quote works back from that date, which is why the off-season is the time to send it.
A specification for each product
Each product page has a "What to specify" section: the spec sheet for tents, the frame, feet and finish for barricades, and the frame, seat and colour for chairs. Fill those in rather than describing the goods in a sentence.
The specification and the date, confirmed
We confirm both with each factory before you commit, so nothing is ordered on a guess.
One container plan
Each factory works out how its own goods pack, and those plans go into one plan for the container, so you have the count of each product in writing before you commit. Chairs tend to fill a container's space before they reach its weight limit, while steel frames can hit the weight limit first, so the mix changes what fits. How many chairs fit in a container depends on the chair and the packing.
Made, checked and packed
Each tent ships as a labelled set with its own fittings, top, sidewalls and anchoring kit. Barricade frames are stacked flat and banded, with the feet boxed beside them, and chairs are packed the way your order specifies. Every model comes with a packing list and an assembly drawing. We check the goods at the factory before they are packed.
Loaded and shipped
When goods from more than one factory share a container, they are brought to one loading point. The Importer Security Filing goes in before the container is loaded, and it names where the container was packed and by whom.
Landed and delivered
A licensed broker files the customs entry. The container goes on to a rail ramp or straight to your yard, and you need a forklift or a dock to unload it. Each of those steps is its own line on the quote, and what each line of a landed quote covers is explained on its own page.
Later seasons
Spares, new tops and reorders over the life of the fleet
Order the spares with the fleet. Fittings, top panels, barricade feet and a repair kit can travel in the same container, so a broken fitting in the middle of the season is a swap from the shelf.
Keep a file on every model: the specification you signed off, the factory's drawing, the packing list, and each tent top's fabric code with its lab report. A reorder from that file is a quantity and a date, and stock bought in later seasons is made to the same specification as the first.
New tops for the frames you own are drawn to measurements you send, and nothing is cut until you approve the drawing. Barricade frames that hook into your line are specified the same way, from a photo and measurements of the hook and loop.
A replacement top in a different fabric needs a lab report for that fabric. Ask for it with the order, as you did for the first tops. What each fire paper says, and who signs it, is set out in the guide to tent fire paperwork.
Plan replacements with next season's list. Worn tops and broken chairs come out of the fleet during the season, and the order that replaces them goes in over the winter with everything else.
Working with us
Where we fit, and where we don't
We are a trading company. We have rental stock made in China to your specification and deliver it landed.
The specification and the date, confirmed first
We confirm both with the factory before you commit.
Tent fire paperwork, asked for early
For tents, we ask the factory for the lab's test report on the exact fabric before you commit. For tents that will be used in California, we check the fabric against the State Fire Marshal's list.
Checked at the factory
An American on our team checks the goods at the factory before they are packed.
Every step on its own line
The quote prices each step separately, the Importer Security Filing and the customs entry included, and names the arrangement: seller of record or buying agent.
Your file, kept
We keep your specification on file for the next order.
Made to order in China
Everything we quote is made to order. If you need a piece this month, a US stockist is the better route, and our first reply will say so.
Where this applies
The products this guide covers
Each product page has what to specify, what sets the price, how the date is set and the quote form for that product.
Party and event tents
Frame tents for rental companies, venues and event firms: a galvanized steel frame with no centre poles, under a white PVC top, with sidewalls to order. We have several made to one spec sheet and shipped by the container, and the test paperwork for the exact fabric is agreed with you before you commit. Send the footprints, the style and how many, and we come back with the date and the landed quote.
See the party tents
Steel crowd control barricades
Bike rack barricades, also called police barricades or French barriers: a welded steel frame with upright bars that hooks into the next one. We have them made to your specification and shipped by the container, for event companies, rental fleets and cities. A Type III road barricade, with its reflective boards, is a different product. Send the frame, the feet, the finish and how many, and we come back with the date and the landed quote.
See the barricades
Folding chairs, wholesale
Steel or resin folding chairs for rental companies and venues that buy by the pallet or by the container. Send the frame, the seat, the colour and the quantity, and we come back with the date and a landed quote, itemised line by line.
See the chairsWhere to go next
- Landed cost calculatorSet a factory quote against a wholesaler's delivered price.
- How we workSeller of record or buying agent, and which company invoices you.
- Shipping from ChinaWhat each line of a landed quote covers.
- What we handleEach stage of an order, from the specification to delivery.
More guides
More guides: Wholesale event supplies
GuideTypes of crowd control barriers, and which one each venue needs
Five different products are sold as crowd control barriers. Here is which one a parade route, a stage front, a queue or a parking lot needs, and where steel fits.
Read the guide
GuideHow to start a glamping business with domes: permits first, then the order
For a landowner or campground putting in several domes: what the county, the state and the fire marshal settle first, and how that shapes the order.
Read the guide
GuideNFPA 701 paperwork for tent fabric made in China
What a fire marshal can ask to see for a tent top or sidewall, who signs each paper, what goes on the label, and why California asks for something else.
Read the guide
Questions
Questions buyers ask
What should a new party rental business buy first?
Chairs and tables, because nearly every booking needs them, then tents whose footprints join into larger ones. Add barricades if you plan to supply festivals, races or street closures. Whatever you buy, buy it to one specification from the start, so the pieces you add later match.
How much money do I need to start a party rental business?
No single figure fits, because it turns on what you buy first and where you buy it. The stock is the part you can price before you commit: put your first list through a wholesaler's delivered price and a landed quote, and compare them piece by piece. The landed cost calculator adds up the factory side.
Where do party rental companies buy their equipment?
US wholesalers and stockists sell from their warehouses and suit small quantities you need soon. Second-hand stock, from companies closing down or replacing their fleet, can fill a gap. A factory order, made to your specification and shipped by the container, suits a company buying several of one item or stocking up for next season.
Can a rental company have its equipment made in China?
Yes. You send a specification for each product, the quantities and the date your season opens. The factory confirms the specification and the date before you commit, and the goods ship by the container. On our quotes we either sell you the goods landed or act as your buying agent, and the quote says which.
Should I buy used party rental equipment?
Second-hand tables and chairs can fill a gap. Check that they match the rest of your stock, because pieces that don't match are hard to rent as a set or to lend to another company. Be more careful with tents: a top with no label and no lab report on its fabric leaves you with nothing to show a fire code official.
Should I buy everything from one manufacturer?
Buying to one specification matters more than buying from one maker. With the spec sheet and drawing for each model on file, a reorder can be built to the same measurements by whichever factory makes it. Keep the fabric code for every tent top, so replacement tops match the rest.
When should a rental company order new stock?
Many rental owners order over the winter, between washing tents and cleaning chairs. Send the list with the date your season opens, and the factory confirms whether that date works before you commit.
Request a quote
A landed quote for your rental stock
Send the list: what you want to add, how many of each, and the date your season opens. The first reply confirms the specification and the date, and the landed quote follows, line by line.
- Reply within 1 business day
- Landed cost, itemised
We take on the orders we can do well, and we will say so if yours isn't one of them.
