Have You Considered Leasing?

Lets face it: We are in the technology business. Whatever is hot this year will probably be cast aside in favor of something newer and better within 3-7 years. Plus, if it is a server, it will wear out after working hard in your machine room 24 hrs a day / 7 days a week.

Having to ‘write the big check’ for a new camera or storage server every 5 – 10 years can be traumatic when the fact is, you need current technology to stay competitive in this ever changing marketplace.

Leasing let’s you boil all of that stress down to a much more manageable monthly payment, i.e. a cost of doing business. At the end of the lease, give it back, get all new gear, and continue with a new (probably lower) monthly payment. It’s very, very predictable.

Here are some general rules of thumb that we have learned after doing video equipment leasing for over 20 years:

1. Don’t lease gear that has a lifespan of over 10 years. Things such as tripods, lights, grip equipment, lenses are great examples.
   
2. A loan will usually be cheaper, interest-rate wise. Getting a loan from your banker will always be cheaper, interest-wise than a lease. There are other factors, however, that may make you consider a lease:
   • Tax advantages
   • Cash Flow
   • A simpler credit approval process (as opposed to a loan)
   • Not tying up credit lines with your lenders
   • Fair market value buyouts where you give the older equipment back – no dealing with trying to sell it or even making the decision when to flip it

3. Vendor sponsored leases are usually a good deal. Sometimes, the larger vendors like Sony, Panasonic, Canon, and Fujinon will have leasing programs. These are usually a pretty good deal – they ‘pay down’ the cost of the lease on your behalf as a promotional tool to get you to buy their gear. They can be hard to qualify for and usually don’t apply to any other manufacturer’s purchases, which can make them a little more complicated.

Any Easy On-line Lease Payment Calculator

We partner with several leasing companies, but our preferred leasing vendor is a local firm: https://rapidcap.com/quote/ . We like them because they have proven to be honest, have competitive rates, are a small Minnesota-based company, and we trust them to do right by us and our customers.

Click on the link above to learn more about them and try out their lease estimator – it’s a quick and easy way to calculate a monthly lease payment based on the amount of your purchase, the number of years you want to lease it, and if you want to own the gear at the end of the lease (that’s called a dollar buyout lease), or give it back (a fair market value lease.)

We are here to help – please just give us a call if you have more questions.