Buy or hire an exhibition stand
Whether to buy or hire an exhibition stand hangs on one question: how often do you exhibit, and does the stand stay the same? Below is the trade-off without a sales pitch, with the costs that do and do not return.
When hiring is smarter
Hiring wins if you exhibit once a year, if the stand size differs per fair, or if you do not yet know whether trade fairs work for you. You pay per fair for exactly the stand you need at that point, and you have no storage, no maintenance and no material that no longer matches your house style after three years.
Hiring is also the logical choice for a one-off large stand, for example an anniversary edition or a product launch at a fair where you normally take a smaller space. Everything we hire out and how it works is on exhibition stand hire.
When buying pays off
Buying pays off if you exhibit two, three or more times a year with a stand that stays largely the same. You pay once for the construction, the frames and the custom elements; per fair, only the costs for transport, build-up and possibly new banners remain.
What you buy is then not a one-off wooden construction but a modular system of Aluvision frames. They are made to be built up and taken down dozens of times and can later be reconfigured to a different size. We store the stand for you between fairs and build it up each time.
Hire or buy: the comparison
| Hire | Buy | |
|---|---|---|
| One fair a year | Usually cheaper | Rarely pays off |
| Two or three fairs a year | Possible, depending on the stand | Starts to pay off |
| More than three fairs a year | More expensive over time | Usually cheaper |
| Stand size changes per fair | Ideal | Only with a modular system |
| Storage between fairs | Not needed | Needed; we arrange it |
| Maintenance and replacement | On us | On you, or through us |
| House style changes | New banners at the next hire | New banners on the same frames |
| Ownership and depreciation | None | On your balance sheet |
The sums, item by item
An honest comparison does not look at one fair but at the whole series. With a purchased stand, these items do not return at a second fair: the design, the frames and the construction, and the custom elements such as a counter or a built furniture piece.
These items do return every time, bought or hired: transport there and back, build-up and dismantling, the applications with the fair organiser, and the banners if your message changes. Want the items in a row without the figures? Then exhibition stand cost is the page you are looking for.
For most companies the break-even point lies somewhere between two and four fairs with the same stand. Where exactly depends on the stand size and the amount of custom work. We will work that out for you if you give us the fairs for the coming year.
A middle way: buy what stays, hire what changes
Most of our clients who exhibit more often choose a combination. They buy the base that returns every time (the frames, the walls, the counter) and hire per fair what changes: an LED wall at one fair, an extra meeting corner at another, a raised floor only where that is allowed and needed.
That gives you the advantage of ownership without a warehouse full of parts you only use once.
Buying exhibition walls or separate frames
You do not have to buy a complete stand straight away. Buying exhibition walls or separate Aluvision frames is also possible, for example if you want to set up a small stand yourself or extend an existing stand. We supply the frames with or without print and explain how they fit together. Larger stands we prefer to build ourselves; that saves you a long day on the exhibition floor.
A second-hand or cheap exhibition stand?
Anyone searching for a second-hand exhibition stand or a cheap exhibition stand is usually looking for the same thing: a good stand without the price of one-off custom work. The answer is almost always a modular stand with new banners. The frames are by definition reused (that is exactly what they were made for), the banners are new and yours. Nobody on the exhibition floor sees that as second-hand, while you do pay the lower price.
What we advise against: a cheap stand of thin panels that no longer stands straight after one fair. You end up buying that one twice.
What we recommend
Give us the fairs for the coming year with the stand size per fair. We will put hiring and buying side by side for your situation, in items and in figures, and tell you honestly which of the two is cheaper for you. If that is hiring, we will say so.