

165 Things You Can Rent Out for Extra Income in 2025
Looking to earn extra income? Discover 165 things you can rent out in 2025, from vehicles and tools to fashion and gadgets. Start your rental business today!
Ever tried juggling bookings, messages, cleaning schedules, and tax compliance all at once? It’s like playing Tetris—but blindfolded, with one hand, during a storm.
Starting a short term rental business can feel just like that—chaotic, exciting, and a little overwhelming. Whether you’re eyeing your first property or looking to expand from one cabin to a full-blown fleet of rentals, this guide is here to walk with you. Not lecture. Not pitch. Just practical help.
Let’s break it down.
Are you renting out a single apartment downtown or managing a portfolio of vacation homes? Your model shapes everything else—from legal structure to software selection.
Common models include:
For new rental services, check out this page on rental start-ups.
This one’s not fun—but it’s non-negotiable.
Some cities have strict zoning laws. Others require permits, business licenses, or specific insurance. And if you’re renting out physical property, make sure you comply with short term occupancy limits, tax obligations, and safety codes.
Hot tip: Always register your business legally. A simple LLC can protect your assets down the road.
Here’s where things get hands-on.
Whether it’s a furnished loft or a fleet of paddle boards, your inventory needs to shine. Think cleanliness, durability, aesthetics, and easy access. For equipment or gear-based rentals, inspect and log each item.
To manage your gear like a pro, try inventory rental management tools to track check-ins, damage, and availability.
This is where many small businesses stumble. Why? Because managing bookings manually—via DMs or spreadsheets—gets messy, fast.
Instead, get a rental booking software that handles:
Tools like Sharefox’s online booking system are built for this—and scale with your business.
Sure, Airbnb and VRBO bring traffic—but they also take commission and control your brand.
List on the big platforms, but also build your own online rental store using website booking systems. You’ll capture more revenue, own the customer journey, and appear more professional.
You can even integrate self-service rentals if you want to go fully contactless.
Marketing doesn’t have to be a beast.
Here are a few grassroots tactics that work:
Need help designing your rental website? This rental website builder can help you go live in days, not months.
Automation is your new best friend.
From customer emails to recurring payments and inventory syncs—automate wherever you can. This saves time, cuts down human error, and keeps your operations lean.
Explore subscription rental software if you plan to offer recurring packages (e.g., camera gear every month, or a monthly coworking desk).
Once you’re live, it’s time to:
The businesses that grow aren’t always the ones with the best properties—but the ones that listen, adapt, and improve quickly.
Let’s be real—most short term rental businesses don’t start with a five-year plan.
They start with a feeling.
Maybe it’s the empty basement you never use. Maybe it’s the extra camera gear lying around after your wedding photography side gig. Or maybe—like Mads, one of our early Sharefox users—it started with a kayak.
Mads lived near a lake outside Oslo. One summer, a few neighbors asked to borrow his kayak. He agreed—then bought a second one. And a third.
By the end of the season, he had eight kayaks… and a spreadsheet that looked like a crime scene. Bookings, pick-up times, payment reminders—all over the place.
“I was texting people at midnight to remind them about life jackets,” he told us. “It wasn’t a business—it was chaos.”
Fast forward one year, and Mads runs a branded outdoor rental store with kayaks, paddle boards, and tents. His customers book online. Payments are handled automatically. Gear is tracked using rental inventory software.
He’s not alone.
Here’s the truth most don’t talk about: the jump from side hustle to business happens when you get control.
Not more bookings.
Not more ads.
More clarity.
So, what helped Mads (and hundreds of others) grow?
No more juggling texts, Google Sheets, and phone calls.
Instead, Mads set up a booking system that shows real-time availability and lets customers self-book and pay online.
This freed him from admin tasks—and gave him weekends back.
When people can browse your gear, read policies, and book in three clicks, they trust you more.
Your digital storefront (aka rental website) doesn’t just attract bookings. It builds credibility—especially for first-time customers.
Rentals are physical. Stuff breaks. Stuff gets lost.
A simple inventory management system tracks each asset—when it went out, who has it, and when it’s due back.
It’s like a library system, but for your business.
Once your foundation is strong, it’s time to scale. Here’s what that looks like.
Only add items that are:
– In demand
– Easy to maintain
– Profitable after 5–6 rentals
Pro tip: Use the jet ski rental calculator to model profitability. It works for other gear too.
Mads didn’t grow alone. He teamed up with a local café for pick-ups and returns—adding value on both sides.
Think about your ecosystem: cafés, gyms, events, even real estate agents.
We browsed through this excellent Reddit thread on short term rentals, and here’s what stood out:
“Start simple—get your first process right before thinking scale.”
“Expect cancellations, guest no-shows, and gear damage—it’s part of the game.”
“Once I automated payments and messages, my business doubled. I stopped being the bottleneck.”
Redditors are your peers. And they’re right: The tools and tactics don’t matter unless you step out of the weeds.
We built Sharefox with folks like Mads in mind.
You shouldn’t need a developer, a marketing team, and an accountant just to run your business. You need:
And all of it, in one place.
If you’re sitting on that kayak, that apartment, that trailer—you don’t have to “build an empire.”
Start with one item.
One customer.
One weekend.
Then build processes. Test pricing. Automate the mess. And if you want help along the way? Book a demo with Sharefox. We’re rental people, too.
And we’re here to help you grow.