Renting versus Purchasing an Exhibit Display

Where does exhibit purchasing or renting fit within a marketing plan

Exhibit builders sell solutions – and every company needs their own personal solution. The exhibit display is simply a marketing tool to promote and support a client’s products and services. A rental exhibit can offer a great first impression without an up-front financial commitment of exhibit ownership. The client has an exciting, customized exhibit, with custom graphics, and A/V, furnishings, and high-grade flooring. With rental comes the possibility of a new exhibit for each show, possibly for less than the cost of owning one booth and not having to choose the exact same size and configuration each go round.

Booth Ownership – The average life of an exhibit is about five years

1. Refurbishment of the booth – can be as high as ten to fifteen percent of the original price of the booth and more depending on damages from shipping, floor incidents, branding changes
2. Shipping of the booth – clients must do all the logistics unless a contractual agreement is made $$$
3. Storage of the booth – must have a place to store the exhibit that is also large enough to set the booth up to check for repairs and blemishes. And a crew to do this work.
4. Must be able to do all the forms correctly and on time to take advantage of the discounts
5. Arrange for installation and dismantle of the booth
6. When it is all said and done; you really have one to two years of the new, wow factor before an exhibit begins to look tired or out of style

Renting a Booth – there are some incredible cost savings

1. Exhibit renting offers a professional presence at a show while avoiding the responsibility of owning & upkeep
2. Renting reduces the cost of exhibiting – saving up to 75 percent of the up-front cost of ownership. That frees up more funds for related sales and promotion efforts.
3. The cost of ownership includes storage fees, maintenance charges and warehouse in and out fees
4. While a purchase is generally a large capital investment, which then must be expensed according to a depreciation schedule, a rental exhibit allows a company to expense associated rental costs immediately
5. Reselling a used custom exhibit is very difficult and returns a few cents on the dollar
6. Today there are finance programs for renting single and multiple show contracts of rental exhibits