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Online van hire booking with live availability and deposits

Booqable shows which vans are free, takes bookings and payments online and holds security deposits. From about $29£22€26A$42C$41 a month, billed yearly.

At a glance

  • What it costs$29–35£22–26€26–31A$42–50C$41–49 a month

  • Worth, in extra profit or time saved in the worked example$505£380€452A$730C$714 a month

  • Pays for itselfIn a few days

  • Connecting two tools or some setup timeSome setup needed

Figures come from the worked example below, using its stated assumptions. Tool prices checked . How we check prices

The problem

Hire customers want to know right now whether a Luton is free on Saturday. A firm that takes every booking by phone spends about 6 minutes a call checking the wall planner, and loses evening inquiries to the national firms' websites. 120 booking calls a month is 12 hours, and if 8 evening inquiries a month go elsewhere at $120£90€107A$173C$169 a hire, that's $958£720€857A$1,382C$1,354 of hires lost.

What the AI does

Booqable is rental software with a ready-made booking page showing live availability. It tracks each van as a unique item with buffer time between hires for cleaning and checks, and its pricing rules handle weekend and seasonal rates. Customers can pay online, or you can take pre-authorizations and down payments, through Stripe, PayPal and others, and add a security deposit to each order. Automated confirmation emails carry a QR code you can scan at pickup.

A worked example

An owner-run van hire firm in Preston with 8 vans (two Lutons, four mid-sized vans and two small vans) takes all bookings by phone. They set up Booqable Start, link the booking page from their website and take a deposit online on every hire.

Before

120 booking calls a month at 6 minutes each: 12 hours, and about 8 evening inquiries a month lost

After

Half of bookings made online, leaving 6 hours on the phone, and those evening hires kept

What it's worth

About $505£380€452A$730C$714 a month: 8 extra hires at $120£90€107A$173C$169 is $958£720€857A$1,382C$1,354 about $383£288€343A$553C$541 in profit at an assumed 40% margin after fuel, cleaning, wear and insurance, plus 6 hours of phone time saved at an assumed $20£15€18A$29C$28 an hour, $120£90€107A$173C$169. Booqable Start is $29 (about $29£22€26A$42C$41) a month billed yearly, or $35 (about $35£26€31A$50C$49) monthly; payment providers charge their own fees.

How to set it up

  1. Start Booqable's 14-day free trial and add each van as its own item with photos and its rates.
  2. Set buffer time between hires, your weekend and seasonal pricing, and your minimum hire length.
  3. Connect Stripe or PayPal and set the deposit or pre-authorization for each van type.
  4. Add the booking page to your website and Google Business Profile, and make a test booking.
  5. At pickup, scan the QR code, check the driving license and insurance details, and record the van's condition.

What goes wrong

  • Online booking doesn't check driving licenses. Check the license and any endorsements before handing over keys, as your insurer requires.
  • Start is for one user. Staff needing their own logins means Grow at $69 (about $69£52€62A$100C$98) a month billed yearly.
  • Say clearly how and when deposits and pre-authorizations are released, or customers will ring to ask.

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Fleet reports for van hire firms: see which vans earn

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Hire invoices sent to Xero automatically for hire firms

Booqable Grow sends customer and invoice details to Xero, so hires aren't typed in twice. About $69£52€62A$100C$98 a month for Booqable, plus Xero.

  • Costs $69–86£52–65€62–77A$100–125C$98–122/mo
  • Worth $120£90€107A$173C$169/mo
  • Pays for itself within the month
  • Some setup needed

Last updated October 17, 2026.