Rent or buy an exhibition stand?

Should your company rent or buy an exhibition stand? This question is on the minds of many companies. And yes, we can find lots of recommendations on the Internet. Yes, that's right, and most of the time we are already with the supposedly “right provider”. For this reason, I don't want to make any recommendations for exhibition systems, stand builders or solutions in my article, but rather discuss a few questions with you.

1. Standardized or unusual?

How should your exhibition stand be: standardized or rather unusual? Of course, every provider of rental exhibition stands will tell you that you can customize your stand. But honestly, have you ever tried to determine the color of the interior at a car rental company? It's not about whether it's technically possible or not. It's about whether it makes commercial sense or not.

Please allow me to be blunt: If the individual components of your exhibition stand are as “fancy” as the provider claims, then he can only rent this component to you - otherwise everyone would have it, right!? Well, then he has to rent out these components at the price he would otherwise sell them for. Otherwise it makes no sense.

Does this mean that rented exhibition stands are boring? No, not at all! A rented exhibition stand is never unique. And that doesn't have to be a bad thing. So if the cost of the trade fair appearance is more important to your company than the “individuality”, then renting makes perfect sense - if individuality is the priority, then you also have to buy unique components.

2. High or low quality?

I am often asked whether rental exhibition stands are actually of better or worse quality than purchased exhibition stands. My answer is always very clear - it depends. Why?

Well, think for yourself, if you are a provider of exhibition stands for rent, how can you make your model economical? Your exhibition stand must be able to be rented out so often that it generates more rental income than it costs. In other words, it must not break down during use, otherwise it would not make any “profits”. For this reason, very high-quality and often expensive components are usually used for rental exhibition stands - quite simply, they have to last a long time.

On the other hand, this also means that exhibition stands for rent are used very often - because if not, they would not be profitable for the landlord. This in turn can lead to heavy wear and tear on the systems and thus reduce the visual quality.

So how can exhibitors ensure that they get the best quality exhibition systems that are not worn out? Quite simply, invest a visit to the stand construction company's warehouse. After that, you will be able to make your decision easily - one way or the other.

3. Old-fashioned or innovative?

Are exhibition stands for rent old-fashioned or innovative? This is certainly an important question if you want to present your company at a trade fair. When was the last time you had a rental car - I mean one in Germany from one of the big providers and not on a small vacation island somewhere in your backyard? That's right, you got the latest model from Mercedes, BMW or Audi. Why?

It's quite simple. The car rental company can only earn money if the car doesn't break down, has no breakdowns and no repairs. So he takes a car from the big, reliable providers. At the same time, the risk of a breakdown increases with increasing mileage. For this reason, the car rental companies (with the exception of the provider on the small vacation island) usually return the cars to the manufacturer after 6 or 12 months. Then the risk is usually too high. At the same time, the current models roll into the rental company's yard with 0 km on the clock.

It works in a very similar way in exhibition stand construction - the systems tend to be used frequently and therefore also frequently renewed. As there are also innovations in exhibition stand construction systems, the latest systems are also purchased here. So there is a lot to suggest that exhibition stands on a rental basis should tend to be more innovative than old-fashioned. But again, there are also “small suppliers in the backyard of the vacation island”.

My tip: Pictures say more than 1000 words - invest the time and visit the warehouse (not just the decorated showroom) of your supplier. My bet is that even a layman will be able to tell the difference between old-fashioned and innovative.

4. Environmentally friendly or harmful to the climate?

Fortunately, ecological aspects are having an increasing influence on our decisions. For this reason, this topic should also be considered when deciding whether to rent or buy an exhibition stand.

Unfortunately, there is no general answer to this question, as there are too many parameters that have an influence on the ecology of an exhibition stand. Where was the exhibition system manufactured: in Germany, in Europe or in the Far East? How often is it used? What materials is it made from? And these questions are completely independent of whether you rent or buy the stand.

However, one central parameter always has an influence on the ecology of an exhibition stand, and that is the question of how often it is used. What do I mean by that? Well, regardless of where the exhibition system was manufactured or what materials it is made of:

The more often it is used, the lower the effect of the manufacturing process on the environment.

So the fewer trade fairs you plan to attend with the same stand or exhibition system, the more environmentally friendly the stand rental will be.

Conclusion

By answering these 4 questions, you can make an informed decision about whether your company should rent or buy an exhibition stand. 

Standardized or fancy?

High-quality or low-quality?

Old-fashioned or innovative?

Environmentally friendly or harmful to the climate?

What decision have you come to? For more information on renting exhibition systems, please visit our information page Rent an exhibition stand.