There are a number of things to consider when deciding if an exhibit rental or purchase is the right choice for your exhibiting needs, but it ultimately comes down to cost and flexibility.
Cost for renting vs buying
Similar to owning a home, however, you will need to plan for upgrades and emergencies if you own your booth. Damage can occur in transit requiring hardware fixes and you’ll more than likely want to update your graphics periodically. You’ll also need to store that booth somewhere between shows as well as arrange for shipping it around the country to your various shows.
If you’re new to the tradeshow industry, purchasing a booth may be hard on your budget. This is especially true if you’re still in the exploratory phase trying to figure out your marketing strategy. But ultimately, if your plan is to use the same exhibit for multiple shows, purchasing your display will be the best option. As a general rule of thumb you can pay for the cost of a new display with the cost of three rentals. So if you’re attending 3 shows where the same booth will work, purchasing is the most cost effective.
Renting is obviously more expensive in the long term, but provides many other benefits that we’ll get to below.
Flexibility: Renting vs Purchasing
Our business has come a long way over the years, and one of the big industry changes has been the shift from booth purchases to rentals. For the majority of our clients the ease, convenience and flexibility of renting is much more appealing than purchasing. Plus, with our rental system you aren’t limited to the pre-designed kits on our site. Just about anything you can get with a purchase can be done as a rental these days!
Renting a booth means you’re not tied down to any size or design. This means that for large shows you can go BIG, then scale down at smaller shows without owning multiple booths. Or, if you prefer to use the same booth multiple times we can store your graphics to save reproduction costs. While purchasing the booth might be less long term, the convenience of just being able to show up and sell your product is worth it to many. Time is money, right? Not having to worry about storage, shipping, installation & dismantling is a huge benefit of renting.
As an example of how a client might change their look every year with a custom rental, here are 3 different rentals we’ve provided for the same company over 3 years. Notice how their basic needs are similar each year, but renting allows them to drastically change their design to compete in an ever-evolving tech industry. Do these designs look like cookie-cutter rentals to you? (hint: the answer is NO!)
Exhibit rental- 2015
Rental Exhibit- 2016
Exhibit Rental- 2017
Renting could also be a good starting point if you want to test the waters before committing to a purchase. When purchasing, not only are you investing more money upfront, but you’re committing to a longer run with that design. If flexibility isn’t important to your company as saving money, purchasing is probably the best option for you.
At the end of the day it’s a judgement call. It really depends on your company, budget, and marketing goals. If you’re on the fence you can view more information about renting on our site here. Or you can give us a call to discuss with an industry expert!