Built for solo shooters

Turn your gear into a side income you can actually measure

You own $10-15K of camera gear. You rent on Sharegrid a few times a month. Rental IQ shows you which items are paying for themselves, which ones are dead weight, and what to buy next, so your side income actually compounds.

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Does this sound like you?

  • You've done 20-50 rentals on Sharegrid but couldn't tell me which lens has paid for itself.
  • You're thinking about buying a second body or more lenses but can't justify it without numbers.
  • You've looked at your Sharegrid dashboard and wished it told you more than gross revenue.
  • You know a spreadsheet would work, but you've tried and it falls apart after a month.
  • You want your gear to feel like a business, not a hobby with a P&L.

What Rental IQ does for you

See which lens actually earned its keep

Sharegrid tells you total revenue. It won't tell you that your 24-70 paid for itself in eight months while your 85mm prime is still at 40% after 18. Rental IQ imports your full Sharegrid history and splits multi-item rentals into per-item earnings automatically. You end up with a clean number next to every piece of gear you own: how much it's made, what percent of purchase price that represents, and how long until it breaks even at your current rate.

  • Import your Sharegrid CSV in under 60 seconds
  • Connect your email so service fees and discounts fill in automatically
  • See per-item earnings, not just gross revenue
  • Multi-item rentals split cleanly across every item included

Know if that next $3,000 lens is worth it

The biggest mistake solo shooters make is buying gear on vibes. A 50mm f/1.2 sounds great, but if your current 50mm f/1.4 only gets 3 bookings a year, the faster version won't save you. Use the Gear ROI database and the built-in calculator to see real-world payback timelines for any piece of gear, at your rental frequency. The answer is often "not yet, save that money."

  • Payback timeline per item at your real booking frequency
  • Calculator shows months-to-payoff for any proposed purchase
  • Gear database with real earnings data from other owners
  • Category performance: primes vs zooms, lights vs audio, etc.

Track earnings across every channel, not just Sharegrid

If you do any off-platform rentals (direct to clients, crew, repeat customers, any source outside Sharegrid), those earnings matter too. Rental IQ lets you log rentals from any source, side by side with your Sharegrid imports. Your analytics reflect your actual business, not just the one platform that happens to have an export button. Off-platform rental logging is a Pro-tier feature, which is free for everyone during beta and $7/month after.

Treat your gear like a small business

Once you have per-item data over a few months, decisions get easier. You know which items to insure at higher value limits. You know which pieces to list for sale when they stop earning. You know whether to raise your rates, hold steady, or test a lower price on slower-renting items. This is the level of clarity a spreadsheet never quite delivers.

  • Year-over-year trends so you see growth, not noise
  • Renter history to spot repeat customers and seasonal regulars
  • Rental history exports clean for tax time (Business plan)

What changes once you have the data

Before: You've had 30 rentals on Sharegrid. Total revenue: $4,200. Feels good but you're not sure if any specific item is actually profitable. You're thinking about a new prime lens but can't justify it.

After: You see your 24-70 has earned 140% of its purchase price in 14 months. Your 85mm is at 42% after 18 months. You realize the 85mm is the problem, not the solution. You sell it for 65% of what you paid, add $600 to the 24-70's "has paid for itself" number, and put the sale proceeds toward a second 24-70 that'll earn the same way.

That's the shift: from buying and hoping to buying and measuring.

Frequently asked questions

I've only done a handful of rentals. Is this overkill?

No. The earlier you start tracking, the better the data compounds. You can import your entire Sharegrid history in a few minutes, so even 10-20 past rentals give you a baseline to build on. The tool is free during beta.

What if I only rent on Sharegrid?

That's fine. Sharegrid is the deepest integration: CSV import plus email enrichment that fills in fees and discounts automatically. You'll get more analytics out of Sharegrid data in Rental IQ than you'll ever get out of Sharegrid's own dashboard.

Do I need to log things manually?

Only off-platform rentals. Sharegrid history comes in via CSV. Confirmation emails fill in the details. If you don't do any off-platform rentals, you won't log anything manually.

Will this help me decide whether to quit my day job?

Maybe. It will tell you exactly how much your gear earns net of fees and depreciation, which is a real number. Most solo shooters discover their gear earnings are smaller than they thought in absolute dollars but better than they thought as a return on capital. That usually leads to a smarter growth plan, not necessarily a day-job decision.

Keep reading

Deeper guides on the topics most relevant to your situation.

Ready to see this for your own gear?

You own $10-15K of gear. You rent a handful of times a month on Sharegrid. You want to grow, but you can't justify the next purchase without data. Rental IQ is free during beta. Import your rental history and see per-item ROI in minutes.

Other profiles

Scaling Gear Owners

15-20 items, $2-3K/mo revenue, a mix of Sharegrid and off-platform rentals.

Working Crew with a Kit

Camera op, AC, gaffer, sound mixer, or drone op charging kit fees on productions.

Small Rental Houses

50+ items, a warehouse, $8-15K monthly revenue, and enterprise software you don't need.