If you want to be rational, stay on budget and get the most out of your office furnishing, there are two options:
- Rent office furniture;
- Buy second-hand office furniture.
Numerous companies face a real dilemma in choosing between those two options. They both have their perks as well as pitfalls. At the same time, all businesses are different as well as their operation, work process, demands and routine. Therefore it is almost impossible to give a final answer whether, let’s say, it is better to rent or buy a second-hand office desk.
In this article, we shall go through the main pros and cons of each option so you could make an informed decision and pick the solution that will work best precisely for your business.
Money and value
Both renting and buying a second-hand office desk, chair, or wardrobe would be a great money-saving solution. However, they don’t work the same in any case.
To decide which option will save you the most money, consider the following:
- What kind of office desk are you aiming for;
- For how long are you planning to use the office desk;
On the one hand, both renting and buying a second-hand office desk allow you to get on the next level and have an advanced model or even a truly luxurious item.
Once you are renting it, the payments may come up more modest than those for purchasing. Moreover, you may need your office desk for a short period of time due to temporary relocation or any other reason. In this case, buying a second-hand office desk may come up more expensive than renting it.
However, once you rent for a longer time, the overall sum that you pay may even exceed the price for a new item.
Moreover, after you are done with payments for your branded second-hand office desk, it is your company’s asset. You can easily sell it and reinvest the money. Needless to say that the trick won’t work with a rented piece.
Customisation options
You may have to spend about 8 hours behind your office desk every day. Of course, it has to be comfortable, safe and organised according to your needs and demands.
Once you have bought a second-hand office desk, the customisation options are endless. You can add or take off the drawers, change the desk’s colour, handles, mechanisms, adjust its height and much more.
Once you rent an office desk, those options are out of the question. Moreover, you may get fined for any change to the piece that may be addressed as “property damage”.
Maintenance.
Many people think that second-hand office furniture may require more maintenance. And it is generally true as your used office desk might have gone through several owners, have some mechanism or exterior ware-off.
In this care, renting your office desk might seem like a no-brainer as the renting company takes responsibility for its maintenance and adjustment.
However, in reality, used office desks often appear much more reliable and low-maintenance than even new items. It mostly happens because previous owners have definitely detected and eliminated all manufacturing flaws of your office desk or even enhanced it with some adjustments. As we have already discussed, it does not work the same for rented furniture as no adjustment or customisation options are allowed.
Guarantees.
Second-hand office furniture may appear pretty tricky. It can look perfect on the display or website pictures but reveal numerous flaws once you receive and start using it.
From this point renting your office desk looks more reasonable. The renting company stays in touch with you the whole renting period and is fully responsible for the furniture’s quality and condition.
However, rented office furniture has definitely gone through more hands than a second-hand office desk that you buy from a dealer. It almost guarantees that the risk of flaws and damage is much higher in this case.
Moreover, once you address a credible second-hand furniture dealer, you get all the necessary guarantees and comprehensive aftersales customer support.
Kings Office Furniture gives 12 month warranty on every used item they sell.
Business assets
Unlike home furniture, office furniture is an investment as it automatically becomes the company’s asset. You can flip it, sell once again and reinvest the money you get from the deal. You are free to adjust it, get rid of it, relocate to a different branch, etc.
Once you have bought a used office desk, you become its righteous owner and use it the way you want.
Renting is much less flexible in this matter. Although you pay money for using the furniture, you are still not its owner and cannot consider it as a liquid business asset.
Both renting and buying a second-hand office desk might be a great way to save your time, money and effort getting a high-quality piece of office furniture. Renting works great if you need the desk for a short period of time and got lucky enough to find a piece that you won’t need to customise or adjust in any way.
Once you want to get the most out of your office furnishing, see it as the company’s asset and plan to adjust it to match your demands and safety requirements, it is better to buy a sued office desk.