Copier lease vs. buy, which is the best option for your business?
Without a doubt, the cheapest way to acquire anything is to save up the money and buy it outright. Whether it’s a car, a dishwasher, a washing machine, or a copier. The least expensive option is always to buy it in cash. The reality is, most of us either don’t want to do that, or can’t afford to do that at the present time.
Especially in business, waiting until you have enough cash on hand to buy something is usually not an option. When you need a copier you need it right now, whether or not you have the whole amount to purchase it. In business, production doesn’t stop. You need to print things out for customers, create proposals, produce advertising pieces, and so on. In other words, you need to print things out and get the job done.
Copier Lease vs. Buy: Making a Business Case for Leasing
Leasing allows people to acquire something without having to lay out a large amount of money up front. In fact, most of the equipment in my business is leased. Like cars, most office equipment is financed. If you don’t want to part with a large sum of money up front, you’re not alone. Most businesses want and need to acquire the equipment before saving up all the money needed to buy in. That’s why leasing is such an attractive option.
A lesser known benefit to leasing is the fact that it comes with tax breaks. For more information about that you’ll need to ask your accountant. You can usually write off a good percentage of the lease payments, so the tax advantages alone are often enough of a reason for businesses to lease office equipment.
Copier Lease vs. Buy: You Can Do Both!
The biggest advantage to leasing in relation to buying is if you’re leasing something over a period of time you can lay out less money right now. It’s a bit more expensive in the long run though, but keep in mind leasing is a competitive business. If your credit is good you can always negotiate a good leasing rate.
On a typical three year lease, if equipment costs around $10,000 to buy then over three years you’ll end up spending a few hundred dollars more than the cost to buy it. You can get the equipment at mostly the same price on what’s called a fair market value lease.
When leasing a copier, just like when leasing a car, you can always buy the equipment at the end if you want to. Then you get the best of both worlds; the affordability of leasing with the permanence that comes with buying.
If you want to own the equipment at the end of the lease there will be an amount due that is usually between 15% and 20% of the value of the machine. For example, if you’re leasing a copier worth $10,000, then you’ll typically have to pay between $1,500 and $2,000 to own it at the end.
However, a lot of people, like with cars, want to have the latest model with the latest features. If that applies to you, then you can just go back and lease a new machine to stay up to date. There’s no obligation to own a machine at the end of a lease.
For full information about the leasing options we offer, everything you need to know is can be found here.