A stylist does not book a dress; they pull a rack. Twenty pieces leave for a fitting, six are used on the day, and the rest come back untouched. Billing that like twenty separate rentals is wrong for the stylist and a bookkeeping mess for the house. Showcase billing is the model wardrobe houses use instead.
The showcase model
- A flat pull fee is charged when the pull is created: a price for the rack for a set number of days.
- Pieces are scanned out as they leave. The scan is the record of what actually went.
- Pieces are scanned in on return. Anything kept past the showcase window, or used on set, is charged at its rental rate from that point.
- The booking settles from the scans: the pull fee plus the per-piece charges for what was kept, minus nothing for what came back unused inside the window.
The stylist pays for access to the rack and for what they used. The house is paid for the time the pieces were unavailable to anyone else.
Why the scan is the truth
A pull list written before the fitting is a wish list. What the courier actually took is the invoice. Scanning each piece out and in gives a timestamped record per unit, which is what settles the charge and what answers "did the red gown go out on this job or the last one".
In Share Marketplace, showcase billing is a day-billing mode per store: the flat fee is charged at creation, and the settle step reads the scans to compute the final amount. The invoice groups pieces by what was kept and what came back.
Showings inside a booking
Productions often fit in rounds: a first pull, then a second showing a week later with new options, then the shoot. Rather than three bookings that have to be reconciled, a showing is added inside the same booking with its own dates, its own pieces and its own fee, and it settles on its own scans. One booking, one invoice, separated by showing.
Extending the booking
If a second showing ends after the original return date, the booking extends to cover it, and the pieces on the first showing keep their own return date. Nothing already returned is affected.
Deposits and card on file
Productions rarely pay a deposit per pull; a card on file or a purchase order covers the account. Keep the payment terms on the company record so every pull for that production inherits them, and bill the balance when the job settles.
Returns from a pull
Scan in, inspect, and note condition on anything used on set. Pieces that came back unused inside the window go straight back to the rack with no cleaning charge if they were not worn; used pieces follow the normal cleaning turnaround.
Set-up checklist
- Showcase billing mode on, with the default number of showcase days
- A pull fee per rack size, or a per-piece showcase price
- Barcode labels on every unit; scan out and in on every pull
- Company records for productions with terms and a card on file
- Showings added inside a booking rather than as new bookings
The dress and wardrobe rental software page covers showcase billing and showings, and the inventory guide covers labelling.