Worked Numbers
Bounce House Rental Business Profit, Worked Through
A bounce house rental business makes its profit in layers. Each rental keeps its price minus the card fee and its direct costs: crew time, cleaning, supplies and fuel. That net pays back the units first, then the fixed costs you pay whether or not anything goes out, such as insurance, storage and the vehicle. What is left after equipment wear is the season’s profit. In the illustrative example below, 3 units booked for 89 rentals at $275 each make a season profit of $2,926.75, and a unit pays for itself after 26 rentals.
None of the prices, costs or booking figures here are market figures. They belong to one made-up rental business, and every one of them is meant to be replaced with your own. Insurance, permits and safety rules are not covered here: what your business needs is between you, your insurer and your local rules, so check them where you operate.
The bounce house rental profit formula
direct cost per rental = crew + cleaning labor + supplies + fuel
net per rental = price x (1 - card fee) - direct cost
rentals to pay back = equipment cost / net per rental, rounded up
break-even rentals = fixed costs a season / net per rental
season profit = revenue - fees - direct costs - add-on costs
- fixed costs - equipment wear
Step 1: price per rental from your costs
The example unit costs $2,600, plus a $300 blower and $100 of tarps, stakes and straps: $3,000 of equipment, expected to last 120 rentals. A crew of 2 spends 3 hours each from loading to pickup, at $18 an hour.
| Line | Working | Per rental |
|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 people x 3 hours x $18.00 | $108.00 |
| Cleaning labor | 1 hour x $18.00 | $18.00 |
| Cleaning supplies | $6.00 | |
| Fuel inside the free radius | $15.00 | |
| Direct cost | $147.00 | |
| Equipment wear | $3,000 / 120 rentals | $25.00 |
| Cost with wear | $172.00 | |
| Price for $90.00 profit after a 3% fee | ($172.00 + $90.00) / 0.97 | $270.10 |
So $270.10 is the least that covers this rental, its wear and a $90 profit after the 3% fee. The example charges $275, above that floor. Insurance and storage are not in this price; step 5 handles them.
Step 2: unit payback
At $275 a rental the unit nets $119.75 after the fee and direct costs. It pays back its $3,000 after 26 rentals. At 30 rentals a season and $150 of upkeep, that is 0.87 of a season, and over 4 seasons the unit nets $10,770.00 beyond its cost, $3.59 for every equipment dollar.
That payback is before fixed costs. It answers “does this unit earn back what it cost?”, not “is the business making money?” The same payback arithmetic runs through the vending machine profit calculator.
Step 3: delivery fee by distance
Inside a free radius the fuel line in step 1 covers delivery. Past it, distance costs real money. The example party is 25 miles away. Drop off and pick up is 100 miles of driving: $70.00 of vehicle cost at $0.70 a mile (your own figure, from your own records) plus 2.50 hours on the road for a crew of 2, $90.00. That is $160.00, or $6.40 per one-way mile.
Charging that rate for the 15 miles beyond a 10-mile free radius brings in $96.00. The other $64.00 comes out of the rental price, so a free radius is a discount you can put a number on.
Step 4: weekend capacity
Capacity sets the ceiling on the season. 3 units, each going out once on each of 2 weekend days, is 6 slots a weekend and 132 over a 22-weekend season. The example books 60% of them, 79.2 rentals, plus 10 weekday rentals: 89.2 rentals, about 29.73 a unit, netting $10,681.70 before fixed costs.
The booked share comes from your own calendar, not a forecast. Each 10 points more of weekend slots booked adds $1,580.70 of net.
Step 5: break-even rentals
Fixed costs are the ones you pay whether or not a unit goes out. Every line below is an example input; your insurance figure is your own quote, and permit and license costs are whatever your city, county or state charges you.
| Fixed cost a season (example inputs) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Insurance (your own quote) | $2,400 |
| Storage | $1,800 |
| Website and booking software | $600 |
| Marketing and phone | $1,200 |
| Permits and licenses (your local rules) | $200 |
| Vehicle or trailer payments | $1,500 |
| Fixed costs | $7,700 |
At $119.75 net a rental, $7,700 takes 64.30 rentals to cover, so 65 rentals, 49% of the weekend slots. The example season expects 89.2, 24.9 above break-even. The break-even analysis formula post walks through the same arithmetic for any business.
Step 6: the season profit
The season below uses 89 rentals, the step 4 figure rounded, plus delivery fees and add-on revenue. Equipment wear spreads each unit’s cost over the 4 seasons it is expected to last.
| Line | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Rental revenue | 89 x $275.00 | $24,475.00 |
| Delivery fees collected | $1,200.00 | |
| Add-on revenue | $1,500.00 | |
| Revenue | $27,175.00 | |
| Card and booking fees | 3% of revenue | -$815.25 |
| Direct rental costs | 89 x $147.00 | -$13,083.00 |
| Add-on costs | -$400.00 | |
| Fixed costs | from step 5 | -$7,700.00 |
| Equipment wear | 3 units x $3,000 / 4 seasons | -$2,250.00 |
| Season profit | $2,926.75 | |
| Kept after a 20% tax set-aside | $2,341.40 |
That is a 10.8% margin on revenue, $32.88 per rental. Reaching a $10,000 season would take 60 more rentals at the bounce house net alone, more than the 52.8 weekend slots step 4 leaves open, which makes that target a units question, not a booking question.
The insight: net per rental is not profit per rental
$119.75 a rental looks like the business. It is not. Take the 89 rentals on their own: they net $10,657.75, and after $7,700 of fixed costs and $2,250.00 of wear they leave $707.75, just $7.95 a rental. The delivery fees and add-ons, after their fees and costs, bring in $2,219.00, which is 76% of the season’s $2,926.75.
On these inputs the rentals cover the business and the side lines make the profit. So the delivery fee in step 3 and any package you sell are not extras; they are where this example’s money is. Change the price, the fixed costs or the booked share and the split moves, which is why it is worth running on your own numbers before buying another unit. For pricing your own time at events, see how much to charge as a DJ.
How these were calculated
Direct cost per rental is crew size times hours times crew cost, plus cleaning hours times crew cost, supplies and fuel. Net per rental is the price times one minus the card fee, minus direct cost. Rentals to pay back and break-even rentals are rounded up to whole rentals. Delivery cost is miles driven times vehicle cost per mile, plus road hours times crew size times crew cost. Weekend slots are units times rental days times weekends. Season profit subtracts fees on all revenue, direct costs, add-on costs, fixed costs and equipment wear (units times equipment cost divided by seasons of life). Every figure was computed twice, once by the code behind the product below and once by an independent program written from the formulas, and the two agree to the cent. All inputs are illustrative, not market prices, rental rates or booking levels. Insurance, permit, license and safety requirements are not stated anywhere here; check your own policy and local rules. None of this is financial, legal, tax or insurance advice.
To run this on your own units, prices and calendar, the pack below has the same seven calculators linked together, including package pricing.