To lease or to buy a printer, that is the question.

If your business needs to do a lot of printing and copying, you may be considering purchasing a new multi-function printer or MFP, such as a world-renowned Konica Minolta. However, did you know that you also have the option to lease an MFP or a fleet of printers to keep your business running? Additionally, with managed print services, you can lease your printers and not have to worry about administration or maintenance.

The Difference Between Leasing and Buying Multi-Function Printers

Before we get more into the pros and cons of leasing vs. buying a multi-function printer, let us review the definitions of each option:

Option 1: Buy a Printer or MFP

Buying a multi-function printer such as a business-class Konica Minolta can be a large investment. For top of the line MFPs, upfront costs can run upwards of $10,000 depending on the make, model, and brand. This can be a significant expenditure, especially for a small business. For this reason, many businesses, small, medium, and large, opt to lease their on-site printers. However, many good lower-cost options are also available.

Option 2: Lease a Printer or MFP

MFP printer leasing can be a simple contract based on a set fee for renting the printer equipment. These agreements may also be based on printer usage, in other words, your spending is based on how many pages or copies you print. Many printer leasing options (such as ours) also come with maintenance of the printing equipment included.

Option 3: Managed Print Services

One step above printer or MFP leasing is managed print services. With a managed print services solution, you lease your printers, so you don’t have to buy them. Your managed print services provider will not only maintain the MFP equipment for you, but help monitor and run your entire printing fleet and network. This comprehensive service can include usage monitoring, volume reduction, security, and much more.

Pros and Cons of Buying vs. Leasing Your MFPs

Your printer fleet might be aging, or maybe your main multi-function printer is out of commission. It’s time to upgrade. So, what do you do? If your company is used to buying printer equipment, that might seem like the obvious choice. But is it? Maybe it’s time to lease. Maybe it’s not. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons, so you can make an informed choice.

Pros and Cons of Buying Your Own Multifunction Printer or MFP

It used to be that the only option, when it came to high-end printers, was to buy them or get printing done by an outside company. Now, you can buy a very high-end, capable MFP machine that can print, copy, fax, and scan your documents. Some of the best ones come with advanced features such as collation, sorting, stapling, duplex printing, high resolution printing, network connectivity, and more.

The positives of buying your own MFP is that you own the equipment and can do whatever you want with it. You have one upfront cost and that’s it (other than toner) – unless the printer breaks down. This might provide certain tax advantages, especially at the end of the year.

The main downside of buying an MFP for your business is that the initial costs can be prohibitive or expensive. Additionally, if the MFP breaks down or has a problem, you will either need an in-house IT person or an outside consultant or repairman to fix the printer for you.

Pros and Cons of Leasing an MFP (or Using Managed Print Services)

When your business leases an MFP, you do not need to worry about a large up-front cost. As a renter of the printing equipment, you will have a monthly cost that can be easily budgeted. This can enable small businesses, especially, to benefit from higher-end MFPs without needing to spend upfront money that might not be available.

Additionally, along with your printer lease contract, you will get maintenance included in the price (when you lease from us). This means you do not have to worry about “surprise” costs of having to deal with a particularly complex paper jam or other issue.

Managed print services are a step above leasing and include custom solutions for your business. This includes consultations on how to improve workflows and enhance security measures.

For example, we are the number-one Konica Minolta dealer in New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. While we can certainly sell a Konica Minolta MFP to your business, with our managed print services, we can do even more. Our expert consultants can assess your document workflows and implement a customized solution using third-party software, such as OpenText, Prism, Square9, and Papercut, to make the most of your MFP.

Want to learn more about our MFPs for purchase, leasing, and managed print services? Contact us today.