Cost Benefits of Leasing vs Buying a Printer

October 17, 2024 in Helpful Tips

As a business, why would you enter into a long term lease for a multifunction printer when you can buy a machine outright for a few hundred pounds from highstreet tech companies or an online retailer?

The short answer is the cost, and this is where printer leasing can actually help to reduce costs and make your working environment more efficient. 


What is the difference between leasing and buying a printer?

Before we dive into the details of printer costs, it’s a good idea to get an understanding of what it actually means to buy or lease a printer. 

  • Buying - You purchase the printer outright by paying in full. You immediately own the printer and it becomes your business’s property.

  • Leasing - You pay a monthly fee to use the printer for a set period of time and the printer will be given back to the leasing company at the end of the term. 

Each option comes with its own advantages and disadvantages, which is why you should weigh up both options before deciding. 


What costs are associated with leasing a printer?

There are a few costs you can expect to see associated with leasing a printer, including:

  • The monthly lease fee

  • Document fee 

  • Maintenance and servicing (though this can be included in a different package: see below!)

Our Managed Print Service agreements include a fully comprehensive 5 year guarantee service support package for the printer of your choice, which include the following:

  • 5 Year Warranty

  • Full service & Maintenance Cover

  • All toners included

  • Installation and networking of device

  • Replacement parts

  • Labour charges and call out charges

  • Preventative maintenance

  • Guaranteed sub 4-hour response times for any faults

  • Full product training for the duration of the contract for all team members


What are the cost differences between buying and leasing a printer?


Costs of a leased printer 

Our most popular multifunction printer is currently the Develop Ineo+ 251i, which is an A4 and A3 colour and mono printer with scanning and copying abilities. 

On a 5 year lease plan, this printer would have a fixed monthly lease cost of £72.45 per month. On average, our customers will print 2,000 mono pages and 2,000 colour pages per month, which is covered by managed print service agreements.

An example of these print costs are:

  • 2,000 mono pages x £0.0032 = £6.40

  • 2,000 colour pages x £0.032 = £64.00

We bill in arrears for how much printing you generated that month, so in this example your monthly bill from us will be £142.85 (£72.45 for the lease + £6.40 + £64.00 for the printed pages).

This is a typical cost for having a leased machine with a managed print service, but let's look at the costs associated with buying a machine outright. 


Costs of a bought printer 

Xerox has a range of good quality machines with reasonable running costs and for this example, we will look at the Multifunctional Xerox C405. 

This printer costs £783.00 to purchase outright, however, this does not include set up or configuration. There are cheaper machines available but the cheaper the machine, the more expensive it is to run.

Using the same average monthly print output of 2,000 mono pages and 2,000 colour pages, let's calculate how much you can expect to pay. 

Firstly, inks, parts and spares will have to be purchased. The ink cartridge prices are based at 5% coverage cost per print:

  • Mono prints are £0.013 

  • Colour prints are £0.087

In this scenario, the costs to print are now:

  • 2,000 mono pages x £0.013 = £26.00

  • 2,000 colour pages x £0.087= £174.00 

It is also worth mentioning that in the “purchase” scenario, there is no provision for on site labour/call outs or support.

This means the cost of the purchased device over 5 years would be £783, or £13.05 per month. 

To work out the monthly outgoings in this scenario, we need to add £13.05 (monthly payments for the printer itself) + £26.00 (2,000 mono pages) + £174.00 (2,000 colour pages) =  a total cost per month of £213.05. 

So after both examples, the monthly costs for both are:

  • Leased machine costing £142.85 per month 

  • Purchased machine costing £213.05 per month 

This means that by choosing the leased machine, you can save £70.02 per month or £4,212 over 5 years. 

However, it is important to remember these are just the ‘cash savings’ and there are lots of other efficiencies to be had when leasing with a managed print service agreement, since these can impact the overall costs for a business.


Should I lease or buy a printer?

Whether you choose to lease or buy a printer really depends on the needs of your business and if you would prefer to have a piece of equipment that you know is yours to keep. 

However, it's worth keeping in mind that if you do choose to buy your own printer, you won’t be able to benefit from our managed print services. 

With a leased printer and our managed print services, you can benefit from:

  • Initial installation onto your network and set up on all print drivers and scan settings

  • Full training on how to get the most from the machine and how to use it properly 

  • 4 hour response to breakdowns  

  • Automatic toner replenishment (the machine will order its own toner) 

  • Local experts at the end of the phone to help with scanning and printing issues 

  • Replacement machine in the case of a ‘terminal failure’ 

If you think a leased machine is right for you and your business, get in touch with our team to find out more. 

About the author 

John Hynes

Working in the printing industry for 35 years (office equipment servicing and maintenance), John - Managing Director of Copy Print Services - started as a hands-on technician repairing all kinds of equipment.

He always kept up to date with the “evolution” of the machinery and worked on the latest equipment that would give the customers the most efficient way of producing a document.

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