Make smart decisions when purchasing equipment for your Rage Room. Learn about the equipment you will need, typical costs, and where are the best places to buy it.
Required Equipment and Materials for a Rage Room
Depending on the number and theme of your rage rooms, your business may need the following equipment to get started:
Assorted scrap items for smashing
| Telephones Glassware CRT TVs (rather than flat TVs) Printers Computers Keyboards | Fans Dishware Desks Chairs Other home appliances Drywall or other foam boards |
Hitting equipment and protective gear
| Mallets Shovels Sledgehammers Baseball Bats Face Shields | Helmets Padded Chest protectors Gloves Security cameras |
Cleaning equipment after each room use
| Cleaning Gloves Brooms and Dustpans | Vacuums Duct Tape (for broken glass) |
Sample List of Purchases
A typical person looking to purchase equipment for a rage room might make the following purchases:
| Assorted smashable items ($2,000) 5 Long Hand Digging Shovel 5 Sledge Hammer 5 Baseball Bat 5 Fiberglass Rubber Mallet | 10 3M Headgear, Face and Head Protection 10 Padded Chest Protector 10 Pairs of Tactical Gloves 2 Security cameras Robot Vacuum Cleaner 2 Dust Pan and Broom |
Grand Total: $3,404.11
Key Decisions
Safety
Items for the rage room should be safe to destroy and shouldn’t cause health concerns for customers after a session. For instance, mercury thermometers and used batteries are dangerous if broken. Before making purchases, examine your items carefully for any safety hazards.
Safety requirements should also be enforced on your customers as well. Everyone should be equipped with a helmet, vest, mask, closed-toed shoes, and gloves before they enter one of your rage rooms. Children under 18 should be accompanied by a legal guardian.
Room Design
While the items can be smashed in a theme-styled room, you would want to protect your room lighting, cables, switches, and HVAC system from being damaged. Install these things away from the center of the room, preferably in hidden corners and use protection if needed.
Cleaning Equipment
Lastly, be sure to get some sturdy cleaning equipment, such as a high-power vacuum, broom, dustpan, a heavy-duty gloves to quickly pick up the glass shards, and clean up the mess after each rage room session. This will be a repetitive but essential part of your daily operation schedule.
Best Places to Buy
Because your business involves smashing a large number of items, you may want to set up a deal with a local dump or recycling facility to pick up large batches of discarded appliances, bookshelves, and other items.
Other places where you may be able to find cheap or free items include local classifieds, garage sales, second hand stores, used equipment wholesales, construction sites, back doors of local supermarket chains, computer repair stores, restaurants, and moving companies.
You could invite locals to drop off their broken appliances at your business. Another option when starting out is to drive around local neighborhoods on trash/recycle day to pick up any items that are left out for pickup.
Here are two great websites that have free listings:
If you cannot find items for free, thrift stores are also a good option:
Next Steps
Find out more about what goes into starting and running a rage room
Protect your personal assets from unexpected legal claims. Consider structuring your business as an LLC.
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