Should I rent or buy my exhibition stand? This is a question that every exhibitor has to grapple with when managing budgets for their next trade show.
With the two routes having their unique perks, it’s important to understand their differences to decide which route can best benefit your business and ambitions over the coming year.
Let’s detail what is meant by a rented or purchased exhibition stand and what their benefits are.
Purchasing your exhibition stand
Renting your exhibition stand
Stand builders like Graphic Mill offer rental stand elements to offer maximum flexibility to their clients. Rental assets include wall structure, counters, flooring, furniture, touchscreens, iPad demo stations, free-standing display units, shelving and lighting. To supplement these rented assets, reusable graphics can then be purchased to provide custom branding on your stand. For example, you can hire a welcome counter and then purchase the branding which wraps or clads the counter structure and provides a more bespoke feel to your stand design. Equally, you can hire the wall structure required on your stand and then purchase the branded fabrics or panels that dress it.
Why you should rent your exhibition stand assets…
1. A more efficient investment – If you need a stand for a one-off or small run of exhibitions, renting the majority of your stand assets makes for a sound investment. You won’t have to put aside money for purchasing stand assets you won’t see a return on such as wall structure or flooring, instead allowing you to direct your budget towards the branding which makes your stand pop.
2. A truly modular solution – Renting our highly modular wall structure, flooring and counters, gives you the option to exhibit across different sizes of stand space. You may need to purchase graphics to fit the varying spaces, but this investment is much lower than if you had to replace every stand asset.
3. Try before you buy – We often have clients making the most of our rental options which provide a low commitment means of exhibiting. Once they’ve gained show experience and further understand what they need from their stand going forward, they are then in a better position to explore a purchase option.
4. Low storage costs – An often overlooked consideration is how much it is to store stand assets in between shows. By hiring the larger elements of your stand, you’re left with only the graphics which are much easier and cost-effective to store.
5. Sustainability – Whilst everything we offer and produce at Graphic Mill has sustainability at its core, there’s no denying that hiring your stand elements provides the most environmentally friendly means of exhibiting. The structures and furniture we rent out are built to meet the demands of being used again and again, show after show.
Purchasing your exhibition stand
When you purchase your exhibition stand, you’re making an investment which sets you up for a string of upcoming shows. Stand builders like Graphic Mill will build you bespoke solutions which opens up greater possibilities in its design and lowers the ongoing costs associated with each show.
Why you should purchase your exhibition stand…
1. Longer-term investment – Purchasing most or all of your stand assets provides a better long-term investment. You’ll quickly make your money back if you have a busy exhibiting calendar as after the initial outlay, recurring costs are usually limited to paying for storage, installation, and the occasional stand refresh.
2. Increased design options – One of the biggest perks of purchasing completely bespoke stand assets is that you open up a world of creative possibilities. You can break away from effective but formulaic rented assets, and produce pretty much anything, straight from your imagination!
3. Self-installation – If working to a tight budget, purchasing portable stand solutions is great if you aren’t able to invest in the help provided by an external stand builder. At Graphic Mill, we sell a range of exhibiting solutions which are easy to brand, transport and assemble yourself on your stand.
4. Rebrandable – Just because your stand assets have been purchased and made to order, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be re-branded as your business evolves. Everything we design and build at Graphic Mill has been done with reusability in mind and can therefore be refurbished with your latest branding as required.
Should I rent or buy my exhibition stand?
When deciding whether to rent or buy your stand assets, it’s important to recognise the regularity of your exhibiting plans, what your budget allows, and the scale of your ambitions. We’ve always found solutions that suit any size of business and budget, but what is essential is that you arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible before commencing on a new stand-build project. This is why I thoroughly recommend that you schedule a call with a stand builder like Graphic Mill, allowing them to share their experience and know-how. This will position you to make the most informed decision to benefit your business.
Why not book a call to see how Graphic Mill can help you with your next project!
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