Whether you’re planning to attend a trade show or set up a public display, you’re often presented with the choice of purchasing or renting your exhibit. This can be a difficult decision that you can’t take lightly because it involves a lot of money and effort if you do decide to purchase an exhibit, but the advantages can be well worth the extra work. In this article, we’re going to take a look at some of the cost savings of renting an exhibit versus purchasing and why you may want to consider renting instead.
How Often Do You Plan to Attend a Trade Show or Set up a Public Event?
Unless you’re already a well-established company that can attend all of the major trade shows and events in your industry, you’re likely going to need to pick and choose events to visit based on your budget. In a situation like this, it’s vital that you aim to attend events that are affordable, practical, and can provide you with the most return on your investment.
Because you’re likely not going to be attending several events in a single year, you probably don’t need to purchase your exhibit outright. This is a considerable cost-saving measure because you’ll realize that you might not have to attend several events in a single year, resulting in much more practical use of your money. Owning an exhibit is excellent if you plan to visit several events in a single year and attend almost every trade show, but if you’re only going to participate in a handful each year, then you’ll find it’s much cheaper to avoid this.
Renting Your Exhibit Allows You to Save a Lot of Money
There are a couple of ways to save money when renting an exhibit. Here’s a list of some of the most significant money savings that you can expect to take advantage of.
- Renting an exhibit is far cheaper than purchasing your own.
- Purchasing your exhibit means extra maintenance and replacing pieces when needed
- Renting an exhibit allows you to spend more money on other things like graphics, marketing or even your product
- You won’t need to ship your exhibit to different locations
- No storage space or cost required for your exhibit when it’s not in use
- Construction and dismantling are often included in the price
- You’ll have more freedom when it comes to upgrading your exhibit
All of these factors add up to create a surprisingly modest investment. Having a presence at an event is, and when you’re able to save a lot more money, it means you can re-invest that capital into making your products better or increasing your exposure.
Renting Offers Far More Flexibility
One of the most significant advantages of renting your exhibit is that you’re always going to have access to more flexibility. Do you want a large display? No problem–rent a bigger booth. Do you want to have monitors, seats and lots of space for banners? Then there’s a solution for you.
The flexibility also comes in the price tag. Since the price is a lot lower, it means you have more flexibility in how you wish to spend your capital on the event and your business as a whole. If you’d prefer to focus on marketing and getting your product out to a broader audience, then that’s an option since you have more money to work with. However, if you’d much prefer to invest in having a better position for increased foot traffic and a more massive booth to impress the visitors at the trade show, then that’s also an option.
Renting offers flexibility that allows you to have greater control over what you spend your capital on. As a result, it’s a fantastic way to promote your business and grow your audience without overspending.
Renting Has Lower Up-Front and Maintenance Costs
There are a couple of significant up-front and maintenance costs to worry about when you’re buying your exhibit. For instance, designing and building your exhibit will cost a considerable amount of money, and you’ll also need to find a contractor or a specialist to help you construct it. The design phase may also cost more money, especially if you don’t already have a complete design ready to go.
In terms of maintenance costs, you’ll have to think about storage fees to keep the exhibit and also the cost of repairs and upgrades. When you rent an exhibit, you’ll be able to upgrade it as you need or even pick an entirely new exhibit without much issue. You also don’t have to worry about storage or maintenance fees because the booth will likely be provided and shipped to you or the event that you plan to attend.
Renting Has Lower Transportation Costs and Concerns
Lastly, we also need to consider the costs of transportation and the issues that could arise as a result of it. Transporting a booth across the country is expensive, and it’s going to take a lot of planning, especially if it has to be moved via land. Moving across states with a large booth in pieces also means that you’ll need to set it up when you eventually arrive and that only adds to the potential cost and time investment that comes with purchasing and moving around your booth.
Moving can also introduce issues such as poor handling and pieces of your booth breaking during transportation. This can be expensive to repair once you arrive at the trade show because you’ll need immediate service and getting parts last minute will also prove to be costly.
In short, renting an exhibit comes with plenty of cost savings and conveniences that purchasing a booth doesn’t have. There are countless ways to save money, and if you’re only attending a handful of trade shows a year, then renting is the superior option thanks to the flexibility and lack of maintenance required. However, if you’re serious about your business and will be attending multiple events each year and have the means to transport it, purchasing could be a viable option.
