Getting started
How to start a self-service rental
You need four things:
- Something people near you already pay to use – saunas, trailers, kayaks and SUPs are common first rentals.
- A place where you're allowed to keep it.
- One digital lock per item or door.
- A Stripe account to take payments – a sole trader can open one too. Lending for free? Then you don't need Stripe.
Rentalbuddy is the booking system that ties it together: customers book and pay online and get their own code for your lock, with nobody on site. Try it free for 30 days – or until your launch date, up to 180 days – with no credit card.
Where are you starting from?
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Have staff and a counter today?
Keep them for your opening hours and let self-service take early mornings, evenings and the days you're closed. Phone and counter bookings land in the same calendar. Strandstuviken's seaside campsite works this way – its sauna is booked, paid and opened with a code, and from April to August the staff still heat it for guests who phone ahead.
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Already take bookings online?
But still hand over keys, send codes yourself or give every renter the same code? That's the part Rentalbuddy takes over – a new code for every booking, made automatically.
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Starting from scratch, maybe next to a day job?
You need no shop, no staff and no website – just something people pay to use, a place you're allowed to keep it, a code lock per item or door and a free Stripe account. Bastuflotten Mariestad went from a sketch to a floating sauna that opens every day with nobody on site. Opening next season? Your free trial runs until your launch date, up to 180 days from sign-up, so you can set everything up over the winter.
From idea to first booking in six steps
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Agree the spot
With the landowner, store, campsite, marina or municipality. Planning a sauna raft or a sauna by the shore? Ask the municipality early whether you need a permit, and read how to start a sauna rental. Trailers? Agree the parking spaces with the store or petrol station – how a trailer rental starts.
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Check insurance, register the business
Make sure your insurance covers the equipment you rent out and your liability towards renters, and register the business with your tax authority as you would any other.
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Sign up and set your launch date
Create your account in a few minutes. Set your launch date in the admin, and the free trial runs until then, up to 180 days.
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Add your rentals and connect Stripe
A step-by-step guide helps you add what you rent out, with prices and extras, and connect your own Stripe account. Setting up typically takes a few hours to a couple of days; leave time on top for Stripe to check your business details. Lending for free? Skip Stripe.
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Make test bookings
Book like your customers will – before you buy a single lock. In the free trial, a manual lock with a fixed code is all you need.
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Order the locks, put them up and open
Pair the Igloohome locks in the Igloohome app, add a card in Igloo Connect for Igloohome's code fee and sync the locks in Rentalbuddy. Put up a sign with your QR code. Stripe's first payout to a new account usually comes 7–14 days after your first payment.
Before you open
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What it costs
Free to try. Then Rentalbuddy is from 299 SEK a month excl. VAT, with no commission and no setup fee. On top come the locks, bought once – Igloohome's EU shop lists the Padlock 2 and the Keybox 3 at about €160 each (October 2026) – Igloohome's code fee of about 20 SEK per lock a month and Stripe's fee per payment.
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Who will book?
Rentalbuddy is your booking system, not a marketplace, so plan how people will find you before you buy – a sign with your QR code where people pass by, your booking page in your Google Business Profile, local social media, and the campsite, marina or tourist office nearby. A first season is often quiet while word spreads.
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Your time
Start small, with one sauna or one box of kayaks. You don't need a website – every location gets its own booking page – and you can run it alongside a day job, since customers book, pay and unlock on their own. The upkeep stays with you – cleaning, restocking, checking the gear and answering renters who call.
Read before you start
Up and running quickly
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FAQ
Questions about getting started
What does it cost to start a self-service rental?
Starting one self-service sauna with Rentalbuddy costs about €160 once for its key box, then about 320 SEK a month. That is Igloohome's Keybox 3 (€159 in Igloohome's EU shop, October 2026), Rentalbuddy Starter at 299 SEK a month excl. VAT and Igloohome's code fee of about 20 SEK a month – plus Stripe's fee of about 1.5–3.15% + 1.80 SEK per card payment in Sweden. Three trailers outside a store: about €480 once for a padlock on each hitch lock (€159.99 each for the Padlock 2 in Igloohome's EU shop), then about 360 SEK a month – Starter plus 60 SEK in code fees – on top of the trailers. No setup fee, no commission, and the free trial costs nothing. Every cost · Starting a sauna, step by step
Do I need a limited company?
No. A sole trader can open the Stripe account you need – it's free to open, and Stripe charges per payment.
How long does it take to get started?
Setting up Rentalbuddy typically takes a few hours to a couple of days. The Guide in the admin takes you through it in order: your location and open dates, what you rent, locks and access, getting paid (Stripe, your terms and a tax rate), a test booking and choosing a plan. Your progress is saved, so you can stop and come back. Leave time on top for Stripe to check your business details and for the locks to arrive.
How do I know everything works before my first customer?
Book once yourself and follow the whole chain: booking, payment, confirmation email, the unlock page with the code, the lock opening and the return. Every location in the admin has a Make a test booking button: a free test (payment isn't tested) or a test with a real payment – Stripe's smallest amount, refunded right away. Test bookings are marked, left out of your numbers and cancelled automatically. Also check that your open dates cover the season, that the location's phone and email are your own – customers see them in their confirmation – and that your terms are your own text.
Can I use the padlocks or key boxes I already have?
Yes – a padlock or key box with a fixed code works as a manual lock, but then every renter gets the same code. You type the code into Rentalbuddy and renters see it on their unlock page around their booking, so change it now and then – between seasons, for example. A manual lock is also all you need for test bookings before you buy a single Igloohome lock. Swap in Igloohome locks one at a time when you want a new code for every booking. Which locks work
Do I get help setting it up?
Yes – Rentalbuddy includes setup help. Call +46 10 516 46 26 or email info@rentalbuddy.io, 8:00–17:00 CET/CEST, in English or Swedish – or book a demo and we show you Rentalbuddy set up for what you rent out. Still need the sauna itself, or the locks? We don't sell either, but we work with sauna builders and lock resellers and can help you put it together.
Run your self-service rental from wherever you are
Unlock time and opportunity. While your customers book, pay and unlock on their own, you can be out skiing or paddling, home with your family or opening your next location.
- Free for 30 days – or until your rental opens, up to 180 days
- No credit card
- From 299 SEK (about €27) a month excl. VAT
- No commission, cancel any time
- Setup help included
Want to see it first? Book a free demo: a short video or phone call where Jesper from our team in Malmö shows you Rentalbuddy set up for what you rent out, or plan to – he usually gets back to you within 48 hours. Or call us on +46 10 516 46 26, 8:00–17:00 CET/CEST, in English or Swedish.
Opening later? Set your launch date in the admin, and the free trial runs until then – up to 180 days from sign-up. Not ready to start yet? Ask us to get in touch before your season
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