Terms of Service

Last Updated: October 8, 2026

The Short Version

HotCrate is an inventory tracking and rental management tool for production gear rental businesses. It helps you list your inventory, manage availability, and receive rental inquiries. Use it as intended, treat others respectfully, and don't do anything illegal with it. The service runs on a best-effort basis.

What HotCrate Is (and Is Not)

HotCrate provides a Free plan with a text Rate Card and a paid Rentals plan for individual operating businesses. Businesses manage their own inventory and customer relationships. Private groups allow invited businesses to present a shared catalog, with equipment ownership identified and inquiries sent independently to each business. Groups do not combine rental bookings or payments.

HotCrate is purely an inventory tracking and rental management tool. It is not insurance. It is not a risk mitigation service. It does not provide liability coverage, loss protection, damage coverage, or legal protections of any kind. You are solely responsible for your own insurance, rental agreements, waivers, and any contracts between you and your renters.

Businesses can connect their own Stripe account for supported rental payments. Rental payment processing is separate from the HotCrate subscription, and processor fees apply separately. Businesses manage rental terms and customer arrangements themselves.

HotCrate tracks inventory availability based on the data you enter. It does not verify or guarantee the physical condition, location, or existence of your inventory.

Using the Service

By using HotCrate, you agree to:

Provide accurate information about your business and inventory
Use the service only for legitimate rental management purposes
Maintain the security of your account
Not use the service for spam, harassment, or unlawful activity

Subscriptions and Billing

HotCrate offers a Free plan and a paid Rentals plan. When you subscribe to Rentals, you authorize us, through our payment provider, to charge your payment method on a recurring basis until you cancel. Subscriptions renew automatically for the same period unless you cancel before the renewal date. You can cancel anytime from your account; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid period, and you keep Rentals access until then.

Subscription payments are handled through Stripe. Current plan pricing and allowances are shown on our pricing page. Prices may change, and we'll give notice before a change applies to your next renewal. Refunds are governed by our Refund Policy, which includes a 14-day money-back guarantee on your first Rentals payment. The subscription is separate from rental payments collected through a business's connected payment account.

Your Content

You retain ownership of everything you add to HotCrate (inventory listings, photos, customer records, etc.). Using the service grants us permission to store, display, and transmit your content as needed to operate the platform, including displaying public items in your catalog and embed widget.

Customer Data

When your renters submit inquiries or you manually add customer records, you are responsible for having appropriate consent to store their personal information. You are the data controller for your customers' data. HotCrate processes it on your behalf to deliver the service.

Data Processing

For your customers' personal data, you are the data controller and HotCrate (Sandpiper Media Group) is your data processor. We process that data only to provide the service and on your instructions, keep it logically separated by account, apply reasonable security measures, and return or delete it when you close your account. We rely on a limited set of sub-processors to operate HotCrate, covering hosting, database, email, payments, and abuse prevention; these are listed in our Privacy Policy. If you require a separate Data Processing Agreement, contact us.

Embed Widget

If you embed your HotCrate catalog on an external website, you are responsible for that site's compliance with applicable privacy laws, including disclosing the use of third-party services like HotCrate.

Acceptable Use

You agree not to use HotCrate for any of the following:

Honest Use

Listing items you do not own or have no right to rent
Creating fraudulent listings (misrepresenting item condition, listing items that don't exist)
Fabricating rental records for insurance claims, tax purposes, or loan applications
Impersonating another rental business or individual
Subletting rented equipment as your own inventory without authorization

Legal Compliance

Listing illegal items (stolen goods, controlled substances, or items you are not licensed to rent)
Renting equipment that requires permits or licenses you do not hold
Listing gear known to be unsafe or under recall

Content Standards

Uploading illegal, harmful, or inappropriate content as item photos
Stuffing item names or descriptions with unrelated keywords for SEO manipulation
Using item descriptions to link to malicious or unrelated external sites

Data Responsibility

Storing sensitive information that doesn't belong in the app (SSNs, payment card numbers, passwords) in freeform text fields
Scraping or harvesting customer contact information for purposes unrelated to your rental business
Sharing customer data collected through HotCrate with third parties without consent

Fair Use

Creating multiple accounts to circumvent plan limits
Scraping other businesses' public catalog data or pricing
Using API access or embed functionality to build competing products
Embedding another business's catalog key on your own site to impersonate them

Communication

Using the rental messaging system for harassment, spam, or purposes unrelated to rental transactions
Sending unsolicited marketing through rental email threads

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these guidelines. If something falls in a gray area, just ask.

Our Responsibilities

HotCrate is provided "as is" without warranties. We are not responsible for:

Downtime or data loss
Accuracy of inventory or availability information you enter
Disputes between you and your renters
Damage, loss, or theft of rental equipment
Any financial transactions between you and your customers

Account Termination

You can delete your account at any time. We may deactivate accounts that violate these terms or facilitate abuse.

Communications

Transactional: Login codes, rental notifications, and inquiry alerts are always sent while you have an account.
Product updates: Feature announcements and development updates are opt-in only. Unsubscribe anytime.

Limitation of Liability

The service is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. To the extent permitted by law, HotCrate and its creators are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the service. This includes, without limitation, any losses related to rental transactions, equipment damage, or business decisions made based on information displayed in the app.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim arising out of or relating to the service is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim, or US $100.

Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Subject to the dispute resolution terms below, you agree to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in King County, Washington.

Dispute Resolution and Arbitration

Most concerns can be resolved by contacting us first, and we ask that you start there. If a dispute cannot be resolved informally, you and HotCrate agree to resolve it through final and binding individual arbitration rather than in court, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court. To the extent permitted by law, disputes are resolved on an individual basis only: you and HotCrate waive the right to a jury trial and the right to participate in a class action or class-wide arbitration. This section does not apply where it is prohibited by applicable law.

Assignment

You may not assign or transfer these terms or your account without our consent. We may assign these terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets.

Changes to These Terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Significant changes will be posted on this page. Continued use of HotCrate constitutes acceptance of updates. For questions, contact us.