Check What's Inside a Product

Some gear isn't a single item — it's a kit made of several parts. A four-person tent is a body, poles, stakes, a footprint and a rainfly. A kayak set is the boat, a paddle, a spray skirt and a seat. When that gear goes out and comes back, it's easy for one piece to be left behind in a field or a car boot.

Contents check fixes that. You list the parts a product is made of — and, if you like, what each part costs to replace. From then on your staff tick every part as they pack it at pickup and again as it comes back at return. Anything left unticked is the thing that's missing — and if it's a priced part, you can add the cost straight to the customer's bill.

Staff-only

The contents check is entirely internal — for your counter staff. Customers never see the parts list or the checklist. It is not part of the booking widget or any customer email.

One product, one list

The contents list lives on the product, not on a bundle or a booking. Set it up once on the product and it runs automatically on every booking that includes that product — at pickup and at return, on the web app and the mobile app.

Turn It On for a Product

Contents tracking is off by default. Switch it on for any product that's made of multiple parts.

You can turn it on in two places — whichever is handier:

From the product's add/edit panel

1. Open Rentals → Products and add a new product or edit an existing one.
2. On step 3 of the panel, switch on Check contents at pickup & return.
3. Finish saving the product.

From the product page

1. Open the product and go to the Details tab.
2. In the Product settings card, switch on Check contents at pickup & return.

List the Parts — and What They Cost

Once the toggle is on, a Contents tab appears on the product. This is where you list what's inside.

1. Open the product and click the Contents tab.
2. Click + Add part and type the name of each part — for example Tent body, Poles ×2, Stakes ×8, Footprint, Rainfly.
3. For each part, optionally set a Replacement cost — what it costs you to replace that piece if it doesn't come back — and a quantity.
4. Click Save contents.

That's the whole setup. There's nothing to configure per booking — every booking with this product now runs the check.

The replacement cost is optional

Leave it blank for parts you'd never charge for (the tent body itself), and fill it in for the easy-to-lose bits (a $25 pole, a $4 stake). Only priced parts can be charged for — everything else is still tracked, just never billed.

What Staff See at Pickup

When a booking includes a product that tracks its contents, the Pick Up Items panel shows the parts right alongside the item being picked up, under Check before pickup.

1. On the booking, click Pick up.
2. Tick each part as you pack it. Anything left unticked stays behind.
3. Click Confirm Pickup.

Ticking a part at pickup is what records that it actually went out — that's the baseline used at return. A part you never ticked out can't be counted as missing later.

What Staff See at Return

When the gear comes back, the Return Items panel shows the same parts under Check back in.

1. On the booking, click Return.
2. Tick everything that came back. Anything left unticked is logged as missing.
3. Click Confirm Return.

You can always confirm the return — it's never blocked. Whatever you leave unticked is recorded as missing on the booking, so you have a clear record before the gear goes back on the shelf. A part marked "Not checked out at pickup" is greyed out and won't count as missing — you can't lose something you never handed over.

Charge for Parts That Don't Come Back

If a part with a replacement cost is left unticked at return, EquipDash adds up what's missing and offers to put it on the customer's bill.

1. Finish the return with the missing parts left unticked.
2. A Parts didn't come back prompt appears with an itemised total — for example Footprint $40, Stakes ×8 $16.
3. Click Add to bill.

The missing-parts amount is added to the booking as a Missing parts line, and the booking's Total and Amount due go up by that amount. From there you take the money however you normally do — card on the terminal, manual card, cash, a bank transfer, or a payment link — using the same Add payment button you use for everything else.

Because it's one amount due, whatever settles it settles it once: if the customer pays the link, there's nothing left to take in store, and vice versa.

Don't want to charge?

Staff with the override permission can choose Override & return instead of Confirm Return. It still logs exactly what was missing on the booking's history, but it doesn't add anything to the bill — for when you'd rather let it slide for a good customer.

How It Relates to Booking Checklists

The contents check is the simplest member of the Booking Checklists family. The difference is who sets it up and what it's for:

• Contents check (this page) — you list the parts of one product right on the product, and staff tick them at pickup and at return. It's a packing list, owned by the product.
• Booking Checklists — you build safety and readiness checks in Settings ("brakes work", "life jackets aboard") and choose which products and experiences they apply to. They run at handover.

Both run in the same Pick Up panel, so a product can have a safety check and a contents check side by side.

Related Articles

• Creating Products
• Managing Products
• Booking Checklists
• Fulfillment — Pickups & Returns