Copiers Leasing Central is a service for businesses and individuals who are hoping to obtain a copier lease, or replace their current copier lease. The website launched in 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts, and services customers and businesses across the United States. The lease rate service allows you to compare rates from multiple copier companies in your area for popular brands like Canon, Toshiba, Ricoh, Savin, Konica Minolta, and more, so that you can find the best copier deal with minimal effort. We have also provided information on each brand, lease rates paid by others, and every model offered by each brand. Start your research here and get copier lease rates without the hassle of shopping around. Interested in partnering with us? Email us at sales@copiersleasing.com.
Table of Contents for Copier Leasing FAQ's
Click each question to be taken down to that spot on the page.
- Should I lease a copier or buy one?
- When does a copier lease not make sense?
- How much does it cost to lease a copier?
- What is the difference between leasing and renting a copier?
- What is the average length of a copier lease?
- How can I compare copier lease rates?
- What speed copier should I lease?
- Should I lease an inkjet, laser copier, or digital copier?
- How do I get out of a copier lease?
1. Should I lease a copier or buy one?
It makes sense to lease a copier if you are absolutely certain that your business will be capable of paying your monthly charge for the entire contract term. A copier lease locks you into a year, two-year, or three year monthly contract. For many companies, a copier lease is a great way to save thousands of dollars on an initial purchase, and can lessen the impact on the balance sheet by spreading out the cost over time. Service agreements are another major reason people opt for a copier lease over buying a machine, because they include free service calls and can cover major parts that break over time. So all in all, a copier lease does make sense for an established business, whether you're a small business or Fortune 500 company.
2. When does a copier lease not make sense?
If you own a newer business, a copier lease may not make sense. Keep in mind that a copier lease is quite difficult to break, just like any other leasing contract. Also, if your business makes fewer than 700 copies a month, it may not make sense to enter a leasing contract for a business-level or multifunction copier. You might consider buying an all-in-one copier, which is a smaller, usually desktop copy machine that can print, copy, scan, and fax just like a multifunction copier but at a slower speed. Make sure to look for a laser all-in-one copier rather than an inkjet copier, because inkjet ink is more expensive than laser toner. Inkjet printers have a price per page of around 20 cents, compared to laser printer pages which cost about 6 cents a page.
Also consider buying a used copier. Used copiers that are purchased directly from dealers have the added advantage of coming with a warranty; something you won't usually get if you're buying from an individual owner.
3. How much does it cost to lease a copier?
Most businesses pay between $100 and $250 a month to lease a multifunction copy machine. Take a look at these copier lease rates that people pay each month; we've also posted more lease rates on our homepage.
Tip: when you compare copier lease rates between companies, make sure to calculate the full cost of the copier by taking your monthly rate multiplied by the number of months of the contract. This is important if you're struggling to decide whether or not you want to buy a copier or lease one -- you can see exactly how much your copier will "cost" over the term of the lease compared to what you'd pay to purchase a new copier.
4. What is the difference between leasing and renting a copier?
A copier rental is generally a monthly rental that can last from 1 to under 12 months. Renting a photocopier is usually more expensive per month than leasing a copier, though the advantage is that it is a temporary contract rather than a several-year commitment. A copier rental makes sense for short-term projects, events, or converting a paper-based office's files to electronic files. Renting a copier usually means you're renting a used copier, which can be fine for most businesses. Leasing is generally more common and requested by most types of businesses.
5. What is the average length of a copier lease?
24-month and 36 month leases are most common, though some businesses opt for a longer lease to spread out the payments and lower their monthly rate.
6. How can I compare copier lease rates?
You can compare copier lease rates by using Copier Leasing Central's copier lease rate comparison feature, which will provide you with lease rates on any major brand of copier. You'll receive rates from up to 4 copier leasing companies, which you can then compare and choose the best deal.
7. What speed copier should I lease?
If this will be your office's first copy machine, you might not need a copier that prints faster than 30ppm (pages per minute). Keep in mind that 30 pages per minute mean you receive 1 page every 2 seconds. What will your staff be printing most often? If it's emails or short contract pages, a 30ppm multifunction copier might be fine for right now. Copiers you might consider leasing are the Canon imageRUNNER 2530, 2535, or 2535i, a Ricoh Aficio MP C3000, C3001, or C3500, or a Konica Minolta bizhub 361 or 363. View the rates others paid on a Canon copier lease, Ricoh copiers lease, and Konica Minolta copier lease.
If you own a law office, need to regularly print presentations for client meetings, or rely on a paper filing system, opt for a mid-range multifunction copier that prints at a speed of about 45ppm or faster. A few examples of multifunction copiers that print at 45ppm are the Canon imageRUNNER 2545 pr 2545i, the Ricoh Aficio MP C4500 or C4501, or the Konica Minolta bizhub 421 or 423.
You can compare lease rates on these models or get rates on other brands of copiers by using the Copiers Leasing Central rate comparison tool.
8. Should I lease an inkjet, laser copier, or digital copier?
Inkjet: Inkjet copiers are almost always a bad idea for any size of business, because it makes the least sense cost-wise. Inkjet ink is more expensive than laser toner: inkjet printers have a price per page of about 20 cents, while printer from a laser printer costs about 6 cents a page. Inkjet printers are lower capacity, meaning that you'll have to replace paper and ink more often. Last, they print at a far slower speed than a laser or digital copier. So all in all inkjet printers may appear to make sense to consumers because of the lower initial cost, but really don't make sense for a business.
Laser: A laser copier is one of the most popular choices with businesses because they print at a faster speed and require toner which costs less per page than actual ink. Not to mention, laser printer copiers produce higher-quality documents (which might be a concern if you’re often printing presentations or contracts).
Digital: Most of todays business laser copiers are also digital copiers. By "digital," a copier usually includes an internal scanner, meaning that the machine can scan and store documents. The ability to scan is a must in most offices because of the ability to send documents or contracts as email attachments, or store contracts on a network for safe record-keeping. A digital copier can also "remember" a scanned document and then make ten copies of it (while an analog copier must scan the page ten times to make ten copies.) Thankfully, copier companies like Canon, Ricoh, Xerox, Konica Minolta, and other major brands primarily sell digital laser copiers today, so you don't really have to make that choice when you're shopping for a copier.
9. How do I get out of a copier lease?
Before you go down the winding road of trying to figure out how to get out of a copier lease, make sure you go over the contract thoroughly before you sign the copier lease. Like any lease, a contract is a contract and can be extremely difficult to break, should your business be unable to pay the monthly rate. First, understand when you need to cancel an automatic renewal on the lease (most copier leasing companies auto-renew your contract). Knowing your window of opportunity to exit the lease is also important so that you don't renew the contract before you actually need to. Next, try to bill your maintenance contract separately from the copy machine. You don't want to get roped into holding onto a copier purely because your service agreement lasted three years, especially if the copier is obsolete or not working as well as it should be.
All in all, if you think there is a slight possibility that you will need to get out of a copier lease, opt for a short-term rental or buy a used copier instead.
Sources include Laser vs. Inkjet Printers: Which is Better?, Bad Experiences with Leasing, and Lawyers.com: How to Get Out of a Copier Lease.