Sandbox demo: PayPal Sandbox only, no real money moves.

Holdfastat Kestrel Gear Rentals, a demo shop

How your deposit is settled

Holdfast keeps your deposit as a PayPal hold and only takes what you agreed to. Here is who does what, in order.

Who does what

  1. Booking

    YouApprove the deposit in PayPal

    PayPalPlaces a hold on the deposit. Nothing is charged.

  2. Pickup

    Shop staffPhotograph the item from 6 angles

    Gemini (AI)Lists marks that are already there

    YouConfirm the photos and existing marks

  3. Return

    Shop staffPhotograph the same 6 angles

    Gemini (AI)Compares each angle and proposes what looks new

  4. Review

    Shop staffCheck every finding, price it from the shop's list, confirm

  5. Your decision

    YouAccept each line, or contest it with a reason and photo

  6. Settlement

    Shop staffPress Settle

    PayPalCaptures only the agreed amount and voids the rest of the hold

The AI lane never meets the PayPal lane: money only moves after a person has decided.

How the AI did on real photos

Evaluation run of Oct 30, 2026 on 8 real photo sets of our own gear (source: REAL, no AI-edited images). Too few cases for an accuracy claim; read each number as evidence, not a rate.

Clean returns with no charge proposed
4 of 5
One false charge (a speaker grille “dent” in direct sun): the kind of line staff review and contest exist to remove.
Damaged items flagged
3 of 3
Missing ear cushions, a cracked lens hood, a dented speaker.
Pre-existing marks left uncharged
2 of 2
Wear recorded at check-out was not charged again.

The rules Holdfast follows

AI proposes, people decide
The AI compares photos and suggests what changed. Staff confirm every line and you accept or contest it. The AI's code has no path to PayPal.
Prices come from the shop's list
The AI never sees prices. Every charge is a line from the shop's published price list, or a staff override that records a written reason.
Nothing is captured without your agreement
Settlement runs only after staff confirm and you accept. Contest a line and it goes back to staff, for up to two rounds; you can still raise a dispute with PayPal.
Every PayPal action is checked and can't repeat
Each capture or void is locked and sent with a fixed request ID, so a retry can never charge twice. PayPal's notifications are signature-verified before they count.
Sandbox only
This demo uses PayPal Sandbox. No real money moves, and the app refuses to start against live PayPal.

Browse rental gear