Practice customers: try your checkout safely
Three built-in practice customers let you book, pay with a test card, and check the whole flow without real money or real effects.
Where to find it
Sidebar footer → Try checkout (next to View Storefront); Customers list
Every business has three built-in customers named Practice Customer 1, 2, and 3. A booking made as a practice customer runs the full flow on your real items, but nothing about it counts as real business.
Where to find it
Press Try checkout at the bottom of the sidebar, right beside View Storefront. It opens your storefront in a new tab as Practice Customer 1. Practice customers also show in your Customers list with a "Practice" badge, so you can book them from the admin too.
How it works
- Payments run in Stripe's test mode (Stripe is the company that processes card payments). Use the test card 4242 4242 4242 4242; it is already filled in on the pink banner at checkout.
- Practice bookings show in pink on the calendar.
- Practice bookings are left out of your revenue and other money reports, and do not affect payouts (they run in Stripe test mode), coupon use counts, maintenance counters, QuickBooks, or review requests.
- A real gift card can't be used on a practice booking. Renta refuses it with "Gift cards are real money and cannot be applied to a practice booking."
- Emails for a practice booking go to the account owner's login email, with "[Practice]" at the start of the subject. They never reach a real customer.
Good to know
- Owners and managers can delete all practice bookings at once with Clear practice bookings on the Bookings page.
- Practice bookings do not change how live bookings behave, so you can leave them in place or clear them whenever you like.
- Some shared settings show "Shared with Live" when you try to edit them from a practice view. Edit them in your normal admin view instead.
Related articles
- Demo mode has been retiredDemo mode no longer exists. Every business works on live data, and Practice customers are the safe way to try things.
- Common questions: signing up, the free account, practice customers, and going liveQuick answers for your first week - how to sign up, what the free account includes and limits, why customers cannot book yet, how to practice safely, whether you need Stripe, and exactly how to go live.
- Testing the kiosk with practice customersWalk through pick-up, return and tips on the kiosk with a practice customer and Stripe's test card, with no real money, no real door code and no effect on your reports.
- Kiosk tips, testing and troubleshooting: common questionsQuick answers on testing the kiosk with practice customers, why a return went to staff, tips and the Renta fee, a tablet showing the sign-in page, missing door codes and deposit holds, and settings that do not show up.
- What's new in RentaChanges you may notice in Renta since late September 2026, newest first, each linking to the help article that explains it.
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