Booking links and QR codes — where to find them and how they work

You do not need a booking button on your website to get customers into your booking flow. Every location already has a booking link you can paste anywhere, a booking QR code for posters and flyers, and every lock has its own QR code for walk-up customers standing right in front of it.

They live on two tabs of the location, which is why they are easy to miss. The help box Where can I find my QR codes? in the QR booking settings says it in one line: "Booking QR codes are under this location's Book button tab. Lock QR codes are under its Locks tab."

Where the booking link and QR codes are

What	Best for	Where in the admin
Booking link	Social media bios, email signatures, newsletters, Google Business Profile, a link on your own website	Locations → your location → Book button tab
Location booking QR code	Posters, flyers, signs that should open your whole booking flow	Same place — Book button tab
Lock QR code	A sticker on each lock — the customer scans it and books that lock on the spot	Locations → your location → Locks tab → the QR Code column
Product, event or membership link and QR code	A link that skips the choice between products, events and memberships	Book button tab, under Options for one type of booking (or right under Standard booking for memberships)

All of them work on their own. You can run a whole season on QR codes and a link in your Instagram bio without ever embedding a button.

The old Stations page no longer exists. If you open it from an old bookmark you land on Locations with the notice The Stations page has moved — lock QR codes are now on each location's Locks tab.

Do I need to install a booking button to get a link?

No. On the Book button tab, Where do customers book? decides what kind of link you get:

Rentalbuddy website — "A simple booking page with photos and text — no website of your own required." Rentalbuddy hosts the page for you.
My own website → Booking link — "Add a link on your website. Customers book on your Rentalbuddy page." Also no code to install.
My own website → Embedded on your website — the booking button sits on your own website, and the link opens your website with the booking window already open.

Only the last option needs anything installed on your website; see the guide on installing the booking button.

Copy the booking link for your location

Open Locations, click your location and open the Book button tab. What you see depends on the option you chose:

Rentalbuddy website — under Manage your booking page you get Edit page, Preview, Copy page link, QR code and Download QR. The helper text sums it up: "Edit your page, preview it, copy the link, or download a QR code." Copy page link copies the address of your Rentalbuddy booking page with the booking window opened. Edit page takes you to the location's Website tab, where you edit the page's text, photos and, under Design, Primary Color, Accent Color and Font Family. As the tab says, these are "Colors and font for your Rentalbuddy-hosted page only — they don't affect the booking flow or the book button." The booking window's colour is the Booking theme color on the location's Booking experience tab.

Booking link — under Your booking link ("Copy a link below and add it to your website (menu, button, or text link).") each booking option has Copy page link, Preview, QR code and Download QR. Use the Standard booking row unless you have a reason not to.

Embedded on your website — first answer Which website builder do you use?, then go to the step Place the button where it should show. Once a valid address is saved in URL where book button is implemented, each booking option has Copy button code (the code for your website), Preview, and a group with QR code, Copy booking link and Download QR. Copy booking link gives you a short, permanent Rentalbuddy link that opens your website with the booking window already started — the same kind of link Rentalbuddy puts in confirmation emails.

If the buttons are greyed out on a Rentalbuddy page, the tooltip explains: "Your booking page is being set up. If actions stay disabled, save or try again." In embedded mode the QR and link buttons only appear once URL where book button is implemented holds a valid address (starting with https:// or http://, without a ?).

Links for products only, events only or memberships

Under Options for one type of booking there are rows for Product booking and Event booking, each with the same copy, preview and QR buttons. Use them only if your location offers both products and events and you want a link that skips the choice — as the admin puts it, guests "skip the type choice" and land directly on products or events. Otherwise Standard booking is the right row: "Works for products and events. If your location offers both, guests choose what to book; if you only offer one, they go straight into that flow."

Membership purchase opens straight on your memberships. While a membership is on sale at the location, the row sits right under Standard booking with an Optional chip — "The standard booking button sells memberships too. Use this one if you want a separate membership button or link on your website." Otherwise it is inside Options for one type of booking, marked Not available with the reason. Setting up memberships themselves is covered in the memberships guide.

A product, event or membership link or QR code that is still in use after the location stops selling that type doesn't open on an empty list. The booking window opens as the Standard booking link would: on the choice between what the location sells, or straight into the only option.

Download and print the location QR code

Next to the link buttons on the Book button tab:

QR code opens the code on screen (the dialog is called Booking QR code).
Download QR saves a print-ready 1024 × 1024 pixel PNG, named after your location.

There is no print button in the admin — download the PNG and print it with whatever you normally use. At that size it stays sharp on an A4 poster.

Scanning this code takes the customer straight into your booking flow — no hunting for the button on your website. That makes it the right code for flyers, roadside signs and especially signs at a pickup spot that is hard to find: a customer who has found the sign can book on the spot.

Style your QR codes: colours and logo

Open QR code on the Book button tab to style the code. You can set:

Contrast — Auto or Manual. With Auto you pick one colour under Choose which color to set and the other is chosen for good contrast; with Manual you set both.
QR color and Background color.
Include account logo — puts your logo in the middle of the code. It needs a logo uploaded to your company information first; without one the dialog says "No account logo uploaded yet. Add one under company information to use it here."

Two messages in the dialog are worth obeying:

"These settings apply to all QR codes for this location (booking and locks)." — the style is per location, not per code.
"These colors have low contrast. The QR code may be hard to scan." — if you see this, change the colours. A branded code that fails to scan in sunlight is worse than a plain black one.

Press Save to store the style. On the Locks tab the QR dialog shows the code first; press Edit style there to change the same location-wide settings.

Lock QR codes on the Locks tab

Open Locations, click the location and open the Locks tab. Each bookable lock has a QR Code column with three small buttons — the tooltips read Show QR code, Copy booking link and Download QR code (PNG). The downloaded file name includes the lock number, so a batch of downloads stays sortable when you print stickers for a whole location.

Storage locks and access points have no QR code — customers do not book them directly, so there is nothing for a code to open.

The code of a lock opens the booking page of the location the lock belongs to, with that lock selected. It therefore depends on the same booking page address as everything else — if lock codes open your front page or an error, see the troubleshooting guide for booking links that go to the wrong page.

What customers see when they scan a lock QR code

A lock code opens a shorter flow than the location code. The admin describes it under QR-Booking Flow Settings: "QR flow is a shortened on-site booking flow for customers who start from a QR code instead of your website. It's faster and designed for walk-up rentals." The Flow Comparison there shows the difference: Website: Browse → Checkout, QR Code: Scan QR → Quick checkout — and both end at the same unlock and return pages.

The booking a lock-QR customer completes is placed on that lock, so the PIN code they get opens the box they are standing at.

A few things decide what the customer is offered:

When the rental starts. The booking starts right away if the current time is inside the window your open dates allow — the setting Time before start that you can book (-59 = possible to book 9.00 untill 9.59) on the location's Open dates tab. Otherwise the booking starts at the next full hour. That is the usual answer to "why can't they rent it immediately?".
Which lengths are offered. The lengths come from Duration options in the QR settings. If you have not added any, the customer is offered 1 to 8 hours. Lengths that would run past closing time or into the lock's next booking are left out.
Locations with fixed time slots ignore the QR duration options — the admin notes "This location uses time slots, so QR bookings follow its session lengths instead of these options."
Nothing free right now. If the lock has no free time left today, the customer sees Sorry — "This product is not available right now. Scan a different product or go to PRODUCTS to see available products." with a Go to products button. At a time-slot location, a product without session lengths shows "This product cannot be booked here. Please scan another product or contact the rental provider."

When a lock's QR code cannot be used for that lock

If the scanned lock cannot be booked at the location the code opens, the customer simply gets the location's normal booking flow instead of an error, and can pick another unit. This happens when:

the lock has no product assigned,
the lock's product is not offered at that location, or
an old printed code still points at the lock's previous location (see the section on moving a lock below).

If the lock has been deleted, or moved to another Rentalbuddy account, its code opens a plain Not found page instead. Download and print a new code for whichever lock now stands there.

A switched-off lock (its Active switch off) cannot be booked, so switching a lock off is the way to stop bookings through its sticker. Customers may still open the quick flow from the code, but a booking on that lock does not go through.

Tune the QR booking flow

The QR-Booking Flow Settings card is on the Customer flow tab — in Settings for the whole account, or on the location's own Customer flow tab if it uses location-specific settings. The hint under the booking link on the Book button tab links straight to it: "You can customize the QR-Booking Flow under Customer flow → QR-Booking Flow Settings."

Under QR Booking Options you can:

switch Dates on or off — "Display date selection options in the QR booking flow so customers can choose when they want to start their rental."
set a Title shown above the length choice,
build the list of Duration options with Add QR-booking option (day options up to 14 days are possible). Options longer or shorter than the location allows are marked Outside location booking length but can still be saved and chosen. Add in the dialog puts the option in the list; press Save at the top of the page to store it.

The rest of the customer flow (checkout, unlock and return pages) is covered in the guide on customer flow and booking experience.

Move a lock — does its QR code keep working?

Mostly yes. Use Move to another location on an Igloo lock's row on the Locks tab. A lock QR code printed from Rentalbuddy follows the lock to its new location as long as both locations belong to the same Rentalbuddy account — the move dialog says "The lock's QR code keeps working after the move."

A lock with upcoming bookings can't be moved (or deleted). The dialog says so, for example "This lock has 2 upcoming bookings and cannot be moved. Move them to another lock in booking management, or use Replace lock, then try again.", and lists those bookings with a Booking link each.

The exception is old stickers. For locks that existed before 22 June 2026 the dialog says instead: "Printed this lock's QR code before June 22, 2026? Print a new one after the move. Codes printed later keep working." Codes downloaded before that date contain the old location's page address, so they keep opening the old location — where the customer now gets the normal booking flow, not the moved lock. Reprint those.

Other changes do need a new sticker:

Replace lock puts a different lock in the old one's place. The new lock has its own code — print it and put it on the new lock. The old sticker opens the normal booking flow, because the old lock loses its product.
A deleted lock's code shows Not found, and a lock you add again gets a new code. (A lock can only be deleted once it has no upcoming bookings.)

Moving, replacing and deleting locks are covered in the guide on connecting and managing locks.

Why printed codes keep working when you change your website

The links behind your QR codes — and the Copy booking link link — are short, permanent Rentalbuddy addresses. They do not contain your website address. When someone scans or clicks, Rentalbuddy looks up the location at that moment and forwards them to whatever booking page is saved right then.

That has three practical consequences:

Fixing the address fixes everything already printed. If you change domain, rebuild your website or switch how customers book, update the Book button tab (URL where book button is implemented for embedded booking) and every sticker, poster and flyer in the field starts pointing at the new page. Nothing to reprint.
A wrong address breaks everything at once. A typo or a deleted page sends every printed code and every emailed link to the wrong page until you correct it. See the troubleshooting guide for booking links that go to the wrong page.
Links copied with Copy page link are different. On a Rentalbuddy page, Copy page link copies the page's own address, which contains the URL slug from the Website tab. If you change the slug, update the places where you pasted that link. The QR codes are not affected.

Very old printouts are the exception. Codes downloaded long ago — lock codes from before 22 June 2026, and older location codes — can have your website address built into the code itself. Those do not follow when you change the address; they keep pointing at the old page. The address inside a printed code cannot be changed afterwards, so the only fix is to reprint (or keep the old page alive with your booking button on it).

If you have stickers or flyers from earlier seasons, scan one with your phone. If it opens your current booking page, it is fine; if it lands on an old or dead address, download the code again and reprint.

Does the booking window open by itself on my website?

No. Visitors who open your normal website address see your booking button as usual. The booking window opens by itself only when someone arrives through a booking link or QR code, because those add the instruction to the address. So you can safely put Copy booking link in a hotel's staff instructions or a newsletter without changing how your website behaves for everyone else.

Good places to put them

Lock QR on every lock — a weatherproof sticker next to the keypad. Walk-up customers become bookings instead of phone calls.
Location QR at the pickup spot — if your boxes are behind a boathouse or down a jetty, a sign with the code at the entrance lets the customer who found the spot book on the spot.
Location QR on flyers and posters — campsites, tourist offices, hotel receptions.
The booking link everywhere you can paste text — Instagram and Facebook bios, your Google Business Profile, email signatures, newsletters, instructions for hotel staff.

After any change to your booking page address, and once at the start of every season: scan one code of each kind with your own phone and make sure you land in the booking flow. It takes thirty seconds and catches the one problem your customers would otherwise find for you. To go all the way through checkout and the confirmation email without a real customer, use Make a test booking in the location's top bar, next to Save; the test is marked, left out of your numbers and cancelled automatically after 30 minutes.

Common questions

Do I have to install a button to get a booking link? No. Choose Rentalbuddy website or My own website → Booking link on the Book button tab and copy the link with Copy page link — nothing needs installing.

Where are the QR codes for my locks? They used to be under Stations. Open Locations, click the location and open the Locks tab; each bookable lock has buttons in the QR Code column. The Stations page has been replaced by that tab.

Where is the general QR code for the whole location? On the location's Book button tab, next to Standard booking (or under Manage your booking page): QR code shows it and Download QR saves a PNG.

Will the booking popup open every time someone visits my website? No. It only opens by itself for people who arrive through a booking link or QR code; everyone else sees your normal page with the button.

I moved a lock to another location — do I need a new sticker? Not if the code was printed on or after 22 June 2026 and both locations are on your account; the code follows the lock. Older stickers, replaced locks and deleted locks need a new code.

Can I make a lock's QR code unavailable? Switch the lock off with its Active switch on the Locks tab; a switched-off lock cannot be booked. To send people elsewhere instead, remove the sticker — the address inside a printed code cannot be changed.

Why does the QR code only offer a few hours? Without your own Duration options in QR-Booking Flow Settings, customers are offered 1 to 8 hours, minus lengths that would run past closing time or into the next booking. Add your own options, up to 14 days.

Why can't a walk-up customer start the rental right now? The booking starts immediately only inside the window set by Time before start that you can book on the Open dates tab; otherwise it starts at the next full hour.

I changed the Primary Color on the Website tab but the booking window still has the old colour. The Design colours on the Website tab only style your Rentalbuddy page. The booking window uses the Booking theme color on the location's Booking experience tab.

Can I reuse old printed flyers after we changed website? Scan one. If it opens your current booking flow it is fine; if it opens an old address, that address is built into the code and you need to reprint.

Why can't I move this lock to another location? It has upcoming bookings. The move dialog lists them; move them to another lock in booking management or use Replace lock, then move the lock.

How do I test the whole booking after printing new QR codes? Scan one code of each kind to check that it opens the booking flow, then use Make a test booking in the location's top bar to go through checkout and the confirmation email. The test is cancelled automatically after 30 minutes.