Renting trade show booths offers a number of advantages, particularly if your company doesn’t attend conventions with much frequency. Although it can be a great choice for some companies, the process is not without its drawbacks. To make an informed decision about whether your company wants to rent or buy, you need to have a thorough understanding of what it means to rent displays and how it compares to owning them.
The Display Rental Process
When you rent a pop up display, it’s like renting a movie. You tell the company what you want, they get it for you, and you have to return it within a certain period of time. You don’t own the actual unit that you get, and you’ve got no right to own it unless the company specifically offers to sell it to you.
The obvious difference between a movie rental and renting trade show booths is the level of customization required. A pop up display would be useless if it was just a stock unit, available for rent with no custom options at all. Part of the contract would determine what types of customized graphics and other modifications are to be made to the initial pop up display, which will impact the price. Some businesses may include that in the initial price and give you just one flat rate. Others may vary the fees depending upon what customizations you require.
Advantages Of Renting Trade Show Booths
One big advantage that comes from renting is that you avoid shipping charges, because you work with a local company from the city that hosts the convention. Thanks to the internet, you shouldn’t have to see your unit before the day of the convention in order to feel confident that it is well designed. You can collaborate with the producer remotely and then take possession of the unit on the morning of the exhibition (or the night before). The savings in shipping charges alone can be a major cost factor if you’ve chosen a large exhibit.
In addition, you save because you don’t have to lay out the capital to buy displays on your own. A large unit can be quite expensive, which is a big problem for a new company. Even if you get a good deal, it may still be troublesome to come up with the funds. By borrowing displays at first, you get an exhibition presence without a problematic price tag.
Disadvantages Of Borrowing A Pop Up Display
The main problem is a lack of customizability. The selection of units is typically limited compared with what’s for sale. Some styles may be entirely unavailable because they are simply impractical to change for each client’s use. In addition, if you work with a small business, they may not be able to provide the type of stand you want because they might not have it in stock. No matter what your business, if you exhibit regularly, it’s usually unwise to choose a rental stand more than a few times. If you’ve rented more than that, you are probably better off buying.
Which To Choose?
Picking a borrowed unit or a purchased one isn’t an easy decision. Ultimately, either choice will be a good one for your business, as just attending the convention is likely to help drive up sales. If you’re not sure which to pick, favor borrowing for now. If you find conventions to be successful, you can always buy later on. If not, you tried it, and you haven’t invested too much money. Just be sure that you don’t end up sinking money into borrowed trade show booths when you’ve had enough success to be purchasing real displays.
