Hi! I’m Adam, the owner of Luxury Portable Restroom Trailers. In just one year since starting this business, we reached an exciting milestone of over 100 bookings! One of the biggest factors in achieving this was learning how to price our luxury restroom trailer rentals correctly for different events and occasions. Setting the right price has been crucial not only to attract clients early on but to sustain steady growth and build a solid reputation in the industry.
If you’re reading this, you might be asking yourself, “How much should I charge for an event?” or maybe you already own a trailer but struggle to keep it booked consistently. Don’t worry—figuring out your ideal price point is something every business owner in this field goes through, and I’ll walk you through the steps to make sure your trailer stays busy and profitable.
In this post, I’ll primarily focus on pricing for 2-Station restroom trailers, as they are often the most popular choice for clients and a common starting point for business owners. When I mention specific price ranges, just know that for larger trailers, you can generally add $100-$200 for 3-Stations and $250-$400+ for 4-Stations. My goal is to help you understand how to set your prices strategically, from the early days of building your client base to establishing maximum profitability as your business grows and gains credibility.
Starting out, you’ll need to price your rentals lower than you might initially expect. Whatever you thought you could charge for a luxury restroom trailer rental, I recommend cutting that rate by 40-50%. While it might be discouraging to lower your rates, it’s crucial to understand that potential clients are hesitant to spend a significant amount on a service without an established reputation. Charging a lower rate in the beginning will help you get those early bookings, allowing you to build up content and credibility.
By offering lower prices upfront, you’ll increase your chances of getting events booked quickly. Each booking is an opportunity to take photos/videos, collect testimonials, and build content that you can use on your social media, website, and other platforms. This visibility is key because it shows potential clients that your business is active, reliable, and experienced. The more you can demonstrate that you’re involved in real events, the more trust you build with future clients. Trust leads to confidence, and with confidence, you can gradually start increasing your rental rates.
When we first launched our business, we assumed we could charge $900-$950 per rental. However, we soon realized that starting at those prices wasn’t realistic. At first, we quoted $900, but we quickly noticed we weren’t getting the bookings we needed. So, we took a different approach: we began lowering our rates by $100 each week until we started to gain traction. We settled on a floor price of $500, which became our baseline. Once we reached $600, bookings started coming in more consistently, and we were able to maintain a steady flow of events.
This strategic approach not only got us through those challenging early months but also gave us the chance to gather the kind of content that would become the backbone of our marketing efforts. We were able to add photos of our trailers at real events, customer testimonials, and engaging social media posts that demonstrated our service quality. This process helped us create a more polished, professional image for our business, which is crucial for attracting higher-paying clients in the long run.
After about three months of booking at these lower rates, we finally saw a steady stream of inquiries and bookings. With each event, we added more photos and videos to our website and social media, showing that we were an active, legitimate business. The impact of this was clear—not only did it help us build credibility, but it also boosted our organic reach, both through social media platforms and in Google search results. (If you’re curious about how to set up a website that supports this growth, check out my post on How to Create the Perfect Website for Your Luxury Restroom Trailer Business).
As our online presence and reputation grew, so did our ability to raise our rental prices. We gradually increased our rates as we became more confident in the demand for our trailers and had a better understanding of seasonal trends. This allowed us to align our pricing with the peak times of the year when demand was high, ensuring that we maximized our revenue. For more on how to make the most of these seasonal opportunities, you can read my post on Seasonal Booking Trends for Luxury Restroom Trailers.
By starting with lower rates and then increasing them as you build credibility, you’ll find it much easier to establish a strong foothold in the market and ultimately create a more sustainable business. It’s a long game, but it’s one that pays off if you’re willing to put in the effort early on.
Once you’ve booked a few events and gotten your feet wet, it’s important to start assessing what rates are realistic for your market. Where you are located in the United States plays a huge role in determining how much clients in your area will be willing to pay. Many people new to the luxury restroom trailer business often come in with the misconception that they can charge $1000 or more per rental, regardless of their location. While high rental rates are possible in some markets, they are generally only feasible in higher-income areas, such as major metropolitan hubs like New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago, where disposable incomes are higher and luxury services are more in demand.
To get a clearer sense of how to price your rentals in your specific area, look at the average income levels in your region and compare them to those in nearby high-income cities. This comparison can help you gauge a realistic price range that aligns with your market’s economic landscape and consumer spending power.
For example, here in Fresno, the average hourly wage is approximately $29.05 (Source), while in Los Angeles, it’s about $35.02 (Source), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This might seem like a small difference at first glance, but that roughly 18% wage gap reflects a noticeable disparity in the cost of living, disposable income, and affordability between these cities. In a lower-cost area like Fresno, most clients simply can’t justify spending Los Angeles rates for a luxury restroom rental, even if it’s a high-quality product. Adjusting for these income differences ensures that you’re not overpricing and alienating potential clients in your area.
With this in mind, we set our rates for 2-Station rentals in California’s Central Valley between $750 to $850. We’ve found this range allows us to stay consistently booked without pricing ourselves out of the local market or undercutting our profit margins. Setting a fair price for the area has enabled us to maintain a strong flow of bookings, build a good reputation, and keep clients happy with a service they feel they can afford.
In a city like Los Angeles, however, rates for the same 2-Station trailer rental might easily reach $1000-$1200 because of the higher cost of living and the increased disposable income. In markets like these, clients may be more willing to spend on premium services like luxury restroom trailers for their events. While pricing will never be an exact science, and every market will have its own nuances, I’ve found that taking this approach—matching rates to the economic realities of the area—has kept our trailers in high demand in the regions we serve.
Adapting your prices to your location is a crucial part of building a successful, sustainable business in this industry. It’s also a strategy that ensures your luxury restroom trailer rentals remain a viable option for local clients.
Here’s a rough summary of what we just went over to help you set the right price for your luxury restroom trailer business.
By following this approach, you’ll create a solid foundation for your business that builds credibility, attracts a loyal client base, and generates steady revenue. As you become a recognized name in the market, your rates can rise alongside your reputation, helping you scale as your business grows. This method also makes it easier to manage expenses, anticipate revenue, and focus on increasing profitability as you progress. Over time, this gradual yet strategic approach to pricing will allow you to establish a well-regarded brand that commands competitive rates and keeps your trailers rented consistently, even as your business gains momentum.
If you’re uncertain about how to set rates for your luxury restroom trailer rentals or need guidance to get your business off the ground, don’t hesitate to reach out! We understand the challenges that come with launching and growing a rental business, and we’re here to support you in every step of the process. From setting up a professional website and optimizing it for SEO to creating an engaging social media presence, we’ll work with you to build a strong foundation for success. Our goal is to help you attract the right clients, keep your trailers booked, and maximize profitability. Feel free to contact us for tailored advice to get your business up and running successfully!
