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Renting vs. Buying a Printer

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Having some type of printing device is essential in an office space. Printing notes, scanning documents, and faxing papers are all tasks completed almost daily in the common office. Depending on the amount of printing, scanning and faxing that the office expects to handle, deciding on whether to rent or purchase a printer from Carraway Office Solutions may be a difficult task. Here are some of the pros and cons of renting and buying printers Greenville NC.

Renting

Pros

  • Printers can be expensive machines, deciding to drop a lump sum of money at one time can be challenging for newer or smaller companies. Renting allows for the company to receive the same machine, with a lower monthly rate which is more manageable.
  • When renting a printer, service is covered in the agreement. We all know that printers tend to malfunction on the worst possible days. Renting ensures in those stressful cases that the issue will be handled without any extra charge.
  • By renting a printer, you won’t need to keep the receipt for returns when you are done using the equipment. Resale and disposal of products are all taken care of and you get the pleasure of enjoying your printer only while you need it.
  • Installation, connections, and demonstrations are all included in the initial set up when renting from Carraway. Allowing a skilled technician to install the printer correctly, explain step by step how to work the machine, and connecting to the companies desktops results in a stress-free startup.

Cons

  • While leasing printers is more cost-effective on a monthly basis, it does end up being more costly in the long run. When leasing anything, there is interest involved which results in the lessee eventually paying more than the actual product itself.
  • Contracts bind you into keeping the piece of equipment for a certain amount of time. In this time, the company could grow tremendously or they could realize they overestimated how much work would be done and are stuck with unnecessary accessories.

Buying

Pros

  • The overall price is less because paying the total amount at one time eliminates the interest rates included in the rental price. If you know you will be using the printer you purchase for a while, we recommend buying printers Greenville NC.
  • There are no contracts when buying a printer which means if you decide you want a different one months after, the printer can be sold and the company can pocket that money or turn around and use it to buy a different device.
  • When printers malfunction, as they do, the company is open to hiring a tech of their choice to immediately fix the problem. Sometimes maintenance companies take hours or days to gather a crew member to stop by the office and service a rental piece, which can cause headaches. Buying a printer allows you to decide when maintenance is needed.

Cons

  • Stated before, buying a printer does require a large amount of money to be placed up front. Newer companies may not have the initial funds required to purchase the equipment, or paying on a monthly basis may be more achievable for companies fluctuating income.
  • While the initial thought of maintenance being at your every call, when purchasing a printer Greenville NC, the company is required to pay for the technician’s time and components used to solve the problem.
  • Similar to other large purchases, printers tend to depreciate over time. This means that in a situation where one decided to sell the machine, the sale price will almost never equal the original purchase price.

Now that we have explained a few of the factors in renting or buying a printer, stop in either of our two locations that serve the area, with our main location at 2600 East 10th Street in Greenville, NC and our second location, Daughety’s Office at 401 West Vernon Avenue in Kinston, NC, we are ready to help you decide which route to take.  Feel free to visit or call either location and we will be happy to assist you in all of your office business service needs.