Should You Buy or Rent HP Printers
If you’re a fan of HP printers and are in the market for a new unit, or any other business asset for that matter, the choice of renting or buying needs to be considered carefully before committing to either of the options. Rental is an alternative to buying the asset outright, whether on finance or cash.
There are companies that offer rentals on business equipment on terms as short as a day, but most companies offer units on longer-term leases. Either way, one needs to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the two.
Choosing the right option may help a business gain control over their printing costs. Renting your HP printers, office copier, scanner, or other multifunction device can be a cost-effective and flexible route to meeting your business’ office equipment requirements.
The Advantages of Renting Your HP Printers
Renting your HP printers assists your business with cash flow and makes budgeting easier. Rental agreements eliminate the need for a large capital outlay and usually include maintenance and service plans, providing further cover against ad hoc costs. Working capital can be preserved for alternative purchases or projects that generate income. The cost of consumables and regular maintenance can be made part of the monthly payment, which once again assists with budgeting and optimises cash flow.
Renting your HP printer allows for several flexible payment plans, which can be tailored to align with your business’ specific needs. Business equipment on lease is flexible, often allowing for upgrades when better or more cost-effective technology becomes available. This way, equipment can be kept current, and the end user doesn’t get stuck with obsolete equipment.
Business printer rentals allow for better control of the total cost of ownership. Each month, a fixed value is budgeted for and paid, limiting the possibility of unbudgeted-for cash expenditure. Outright cash purchase makes an accurate calculation of the real cost of ownership difficult as depreciation, currency fluctuations, replacement cycles, and other such variables need to be considered.
Renting your HP printers allows you to budget accurately over the full term of the agreement. Most reputable companies, offering rental agreements, provide sophisticated asset-tracking systems, which track the total cost of ownership among other things. This is particularly helpful to companies who rent many office machines, which are employed at several different sites.
Once a rental agreement ends, equipment can easily be upgraded to something newer or a reduced rental amount can be negotiated on the device, allowing you to keep your existing unit for an additional year or two at the reduced rental rate. If the existing machine is still fit for purpose, this can offer better value than acquiring a new HP printer.
Rental offers tax benefits through how depreciation is handled and the fact that the entire HP printer lease payment is deductible as an expense. Since you never actually own the HP printer, it is not a balance sheet item and is not considered a depreciating asset.
The Disadvantages of Renting Your HP Printers
Depending on the specific terms, some rental agreements allow for equipment upgrades before the end of the agreement. In this case, there may be a settlement figure on the equipment being upgraded, which is built into the new deal. This results in the replacement device rental being significantly higher than it would be had one waited until the end of the rental period.
Some agreements include an annual escalation clause within the agreement, which increases the cost of the equipment over the term of the agreement. Exclude this type of clause or make sure that you clearly understand the effect on your costs towards the end of the term. Some agreements include a compulsory notice period before the end of the initial lease period, which may result in extended cost obligations that were not intended when the initial lease was entered into.
Early termination of your rental agreement may attract expensive penalties, so make sure you clearly understand the end-of-agreement renewal terms. Some agreements provide for automatic renewal. A rental option is more expensive than outright purchase due to the inclusion of interest in the monthly payment, so the total spend is greater than the ownership option.
Get Professional Advice
While it’s always good to do one’s own research at the end of the day before you acquire your new HP printer, get advice from a company involved in both the selling and rental of business equipment. Contact us at Raydian for professional advice on anything to do with printers and printing and make an informed decision on whether to buy or rent.