Reserving items

Everything you need to know about making reservations in our online tool inventory.

How long can you reserve items?

The inventory allows reservations for one week only. However, if you really need the tools for two weeks (or three weeks in case of organisations), let us know at [e-mail].

We can extend the reservation manually, but only if your items are available during the extra week. Please don't ask us if you notice the tools are reserved by anyone else.

Note that you can always extend your loans at least once. For more information, see the FAQ about extending your loans.

What's the standard procedure to reserve items?

Follow these four simple steps to make a reservation:

First step

In the inventory overview, you have two options. You can click immediately on the reserve button (1), or click on the item for more details, including a loan calendar and reservation button (2).

(1) This is the first and quickest option to reserve an item.

(2) This is the second and more detailed option to reserve an item.

Second step

You then get to choose your preferred reservation period. Click on one of the days we are open (the font colour is slightly darker than days we are closed), then select a return date.

Third step

You will now have the item in your reservation cart as seen in the top right your screen (1). Feel free to add other items to your cart by clicking the reserve button (2).

(1) The cart shows you have one reserved item to check out

(2) No need to repeat the second step. The inventory remembers the loan period you've chosen.

If you want to borrow other items for a different time period, you'll need to finish your current reservation by confirming (see fourth step), before choosing a different period.

Fourth step

Now your items are in the cart, all you need to do is to confirm the reservation. It's called 'Check Out'. After that you're good to go.

Note that you will receive an e-mail confirmation when checking out your items. If you haven't received an e-mail, you probably haven't confirmed your reservation.

When is it (im)possible to make reservations?

You can only start and end a reservation on dates that our lending desk is open, as these are the only occasions you can drop by to collect tools. For an overview of these opening times, check our website.

It's important to note that we apply a buffer period between two loans of the same item. That means you cannot reserve an item that will be brought back that day by another member.

Why? We want to avoid people having to wait an hour or more for a reserved item that's not yet brought back. Also, if maintenance is required, we can tend to that before lending it out again.

Here's an example of a buffer period (in gray) 2 days before and after a loan, as indicated in the tool calendar of a specific item:

At the time of writing, openings hours are on Monday and Friday. This means the tool returns on August 20, and the next reservation can only happen on August 24 as is the case here.

In the example above, the next potential reservation can be made for Monday 3rd of September.

Where to check reservations and loans?

Checking reservations

Check the reservations page in your account menu. This page displays everything you have reserved at the moment.

Checking loans

Check the loans page in your account menu. This page gives an overview of all your current and past loans. You can also extend loans here for an extra week.