Office equipment is an essential piece of a puzzle called productivity. Investing in quality equipment is a great way to boost productivity and avoid awkward moments when important contracts need to be copied but your copier is broken. Office equipment also happens to be quite expensive, which is why many organizations are leasing their copiers Today we’ll discuss copier leasing, how it works, and what you should know before you sign a lease.
Why Lease a Copier?
Leasing is usually something people associate with cars or properly. Office equipment? Not so much. However, there are several very good reasons why leasing a copier is a better choice than buying one even if you can comfortably cover the investment.
Despite the fact that more and more ‘paperwork’ never leaves the digital space, we still sign contacts, work orders, and similar documents. Copying such documentation requires a copier. If your organization handles many signed documents, you’ll want to get a quality copier.
Price
Quality copiers designed to meet the needs of a large office tends to be costly. If you’re just starting up your business, there’s a good chance you’re better off leasing than allocating precious resources to a new copier.
Truth be told, even if you can afford to buy one, leasing can be cheaper in the long term. This brings us to our second point.
Future-Proofing
Future-proofing is one of those tech terms people like to throw around. However, future-proofing is a real thing as far as copiers are concerned. When you buy a copier, you have to deal with it becoming obsolete a few years down the line. Once that happens, you’ll have to buy a new unit and sell the old one.
Planned obsolescence isn’t the only issue either. Experts at flatratecopiers.com/ argue that leasing works better if your organization is experiencing steady growth. Their experience has shown that negotiating a lease for a more versatile printer is usually cheaper than buying and selling several machines in a short period of time.
Leasing a Copier – Basics
Although leasing is often the right choice for many businesses, not all leases are the same. In fact, you have to understand a few things before you go looking for a lease. First and foremost, find out what kind of copier you’ll need?
Type of Copiers to Lease
Copiers keep evolving, but most of them can be placed in one of three categories. There are inkjet, laser, and digital copiers.
Inkjet copiers are the oldest type in use today. This type of copier is defined by slower printing speeds, lower ink efficiency, but also lower prices. Inkjet based copiers are perfect for smaller organizations that don’t print/copy a large volume of documents.
Laser copiers represent a more recent evolution of printing technology. Using a laser copier results in better print quality, higher efficiency, and overall faster printing times. As expected, these are slightly more expensive to lease.
Digital copiers can be either inkjet or laser. This type of machine offers much more than just the ability to copy and print files. You can also use digital copiers as high-quality scanners. Digital copiers are the type you’d find in larger organizations.
Lease Details
Lease contracts differ from one provider to another. It’s important to shop around and find the prices that best match your needs. That being said, it’s essential that you read the fine print and understand the terms of a lease.
- Avoid Auto-Renewal contracts – Some providers like to sneak in an auto-renewal clause in the contract, look out for that as renewals can place you under a 12+ month obligation. That being said, straight forward auto-renewal clauses that limit the renewal term to 1 extra month are perfectly fine.
- Usage-Based Service Allowance – When you lease a copier, there are two things you’re effectively paying for, hardware and service. Make sure that you’re getting a deal where your service rate follows your actual usage and not a monthly average. Why? Because you could end up paying much more than you need to during slow months.
Read the Fine Print
When you sign a lease, you’re signing a contract. A copier lease isn’t something you can simply abandon. There is usually a part of the contract that defines your obligation should you decide to break the contract before it expires. Triple check this section of the contract and make sure you’re fine with what it says before you sign.
Overall, if you do your homework and find a solid equipment provider to work with, you’ll save money by leasing in long term.
