AidersPlus — Premium Peer-to-Peer Event Equipment Rental Marketplace

Fidelia Ogoh interviewed 22 developers worldwide before choosing us to build AidersPlus — a premium peer-to-peer marketplace for event equipment rentals in Canada. The platform connects equipment owners (suppliers) with event planners and individuals who need audio bundles, lighting packages, photo booths, projector kits, premium décor, and seating sets for their events.

The core challenge: physical-goods rental is fundamentally different from service bookings. It needs deposit handling, damage protection, category-specific risk tiers, and a commission structure that protects both sides. We built a custom Sharetribe Flex transaction process that handles all of this — migrating the client's existing audience from Squarespace to a fully operational marketplace with native Stripe Connect CAD payments.

Physical Goods Rental on a Platform Built for Services

Sharetribe's native transaction model is designed for service bookings. Physical equipment rental requires fundamentally different logic: security deposits that vary by equipment category, damage protection opt-ins, pickup and return confirmation steps, and dispute workflows if equipment comes back damaged. None of this exists out of the box.

Per-Category Deposit Tiers

Different equipment carries different replacement risk. Audio bundles and photo booths (CAD $500 deposit) vs. premium décor (CAD $150) vs. lighting and projector kits (CAD $300). The deposit tier had to be determined automatically from the listing category — and the client needed this to be clear to renters before checkout, not hidden in fine print.

Damage Waiver as an Optional Checkout Add-On

The platform earns 10% of the booking value if the renter opts into damage protection. This isn't a fixed fee — it's calculated as a percentage and presented as a checkbox at checkout. Implementing this cleanly inside Sharetribe's transaction process, without a confusing UX, required careful line-item design.

Card-on-File Without Stripe Authorization Holds

The client's business constraint: no money should leave the renter's account until the booking is confirmed by the supplier. But Stripe authorization holds expire after 7 days — too short for events booked weeks in advance. The solution had to capture the card at checkout, hold it logistically, and charge only on supplier confirmation, without running into Stripe's auth-hold expiry window.

Squarespace Migration with Zero Audience Loss

AidersPlus already had a Squarespace marketing site with an existing audience. The new marketplace needed to coexist — Framer handling the marketing site, Sharetribe handling the actual marketplace — with clean brand token sharing so both surfaces feel like the same product.

Custom Sharetribe Flex Transaction Process

We designed a custom process.edn transaction process with states tuned for physical equipment rental:

• Renter initiates booking → enters card details via Stripe Connect
• Supplier has a confirmation window (no auto-accept)
• On supplier confirmation → booking enters active state
• Pickup confirmation by both parties
• Return confirmation → triggers payout to supplier (87% of booking value)
• Platform retains 13% commission + damage waiver amount if opted in

Native Sharetribe Line Items for Deposits and Damage Waiver

Rather than a separate Stripe payment_intent (which would have introduced the 7-day auth-hold problem), we used Sharetribe's native extra line item system:

• Security deposit shown as a refundable line item at checkout, amount pulled from listing's category-mapped deposit tier
• Damage waiver shown as an optional 10% line item — operator adds it post-booking if the renter opted in during checkout (via a custom listing extended data field)
• Deposit refunded via operator action post-return if no damage claim is filed

This approach eliminated dual-payment-intent complexity entirely while keeping the UX clear for renters.

6 Equipment Categories with Tiered Deposits

Each listing category maps to a deposit tier configured in the marketplace operator console:

• Audio Bundles — CAD $500
• Photo Booths — CAD $500
• Lighting Packages — CAD $300
• Projector Kits — CAD $300
• Premium Décor — CAD $150
• Seating & Table Sets — operator-set per listing

Framer Marketing Site + Sharetribe Marketplace

The public-facing marketing site (aidersplus.ca) runs on Framer, giving Fidelia full design control without touching code. The marketplace runs on app.aidersplus.ca on Sharetribe. We shared brand tokens — colors, typography, and component styles — between both surfaces so the experience feels seamless to visitors crossing from the marketing site into the marketplace.

Jotform Pickup and Return Checklists

Equipment handoff at pickup and return is documented via Jotform forms linked in the transaction flow. Suppliers and renters complete a checklist noting equipment condition — this creates a paper trail for any future damage claim without requiring custom backend code.

Stripe Connect CAD with 87/13 Split

Stripe Connect Express handles all CAD payments. The 87/13 split is configured as a Sharetribe provider commission, automatically calculated on every transaction. Supplier payouts are held in escrow until return confirmation, then released via Stripe's automatic payout schedule.

Delivered Across 4 Milestones in 6 Weeks

• M1 — Sharetribe console configuration: 6 categories, custom listing fields, brand application, custom user types
• M2 — Transaction process: custom process.edn, deposit line items, damage waiver flow, Stripe Connect CAD 87/13
• M3 — Framer marketing site: all pages, supplier intake form, brand token application
• M4 — Go-live: 5–10 sample listings seeded across all 6 categories, Loom handoff video, written operator runbook

Platform Capabilities

• 6 equipment categories, each with custom listing fields tailored to that equipment type
• Per-category deposit tiers displayed clearly at checkout before payment
• Optional 10% damage waiver opt-in at checkout
• Native Stripe Connect CAD with automatic 87/13 split on every transaction
• Two-way public reviews (both renter and supplier can leave reviews post-transaction)
• Jotform-based pickup and return condition checklists
• Google Sheets supplier intake via Framer's native integration
• Dual-surface brand consistency between Framer marketing site and Sharetribe marketplace

What the Client Said

"I worked with a prior developer who wasted 5 months of my time. With you, I am finally seeing this vision coming to life. I interviewed 22 developers across the world before I settled with you. I could not have asked for a better partner in a developer." — Fidelia Ogoh, Founder & CEO, AidersPlus

Migration Outcome

The Squarespace site was decommissioned and the audience migrated to the new Framer + Sharetribe stack — a cleaner, more professional presentation with full marketplace functionality that Squarespace could never provide.

Technical Decisions in Detail

Why Native Line Items Instead of Dual Stripe Intents

The original specification called for a separate Stripe payment_intent with capture_method: manual to hold the deposit. We pushed back on this approach for two reasons:

• Stripe authorization holds expire after 7 days — equipment events are often booked weeks in advance, so the hold would expire before the rental date
• Two simultaneous payment intents per transaction creates dual-capture complexity that increases operator error risk

The native line-item approach (deposit as a visible checkout line, refunded post-return by operator action) is simpler, auditable, and avoids Stripe's auth-hold expiry entirely. This was a proactive architecture recommendation that saved significant ongoing maintenance.

Why Manual Damage Waiver Instead of Automated Privileged Transition

Automating the 10% damage waiver via a custom Sharetribe privileged transition would have required a Node.js webhook receiver (200+ lines, deployed separately on Render) to fire when the renter checks the waiver opt-in box. Instead, we implemented it as a manual operator action: the renter signals their choice via a custom listing extended data field, the operator adds the 10% line item post-booking in the Sharetribe console.

• Saves approximately 6–8 hours of custom development
• Eliminates a separate deployed service and its associated maintenance
• Keeps the transaction process readable and debuggable

This is a deliberate beta-phase decision — automation can be added post-launch once volume justifies it.

Sharetribe Flex Configuration

• User types: Suppliers (equipment owners) and Renters (event planners/individuals) — each with distinct onboarding flows and profile fields
• Listing fields: Category-specific custom fields per equipment type (e.g., Audio: wattage, brand, setup included; Photo Booths: backdrop options, attendant included, max hours)
• Search filters: Category, availability dates, location radius, price range
• Reviews: Two-way post-transaction reviews, publicly visible on both supplier and renter profiles
• Transaction process: Custom process.edn with pickup confirmation, return confirmation, and dispute escalation states

Framer Site Architecture

The Framer marketing site covers:

• Homepage with hero, category showcase, how-it-works, and social proof sections
• Supplier intake page (form connecting to Google Sheets via Framer's native integration)
• Category landing pages for each of the 6 equipment types
• Shared brand tokens ensuring visual consistency with the Sharetribe marketplace

The CTA on every Framer page deep-links into the Sharetribe marketplace at app.aidersplus.ca, maintaining a seamless journey for renters and suppliers.