How an office printer lease works
An office printer lease puts a commercial machine in your office for a fixed number of months at a fixed monthly payment. The leasing company owns the machine. You use it, and at the end of the term you decide what happens next.
That is the whole idea. The details that matter are the term, what the payment covers, how service works, and how the lease ends. This page covers each, the way our leases work.
How does leasing a printer work, step by step?
- Size the machine. Tell us your pages per month, the paper sizes you print, and whether you need color, stapling or 11×17. The quote names the machine.
- Apply. Lease approval needs at least three years in business, or a personal guarantee. The answer comes back the same day.
- Sign. You sign the lease and the Total Coverage Plan. Nothing is due yet.
- Install. In Dallas Fort Worth and Houston the machine is installed 3 to 5 business days after approval.
- First payment. Your first lease payment starts after install, once the signed lease documents are mailed to you.
- Use it. Service calls, toner and parts run on the Coverage Plan for as long as the machine is in your office.
- End of term. The lease stops. It does not renew on its own.
What lease terms are available?
Our leases run 12, 24, 36, 48 or 60 months, at fair market value. Most offices choose 36 months.
The term spreads the cost of the machine over the months you keep it, so a longer term carries a smaller monthly payment. It is also a longer commitment. An equipment lease is a real commitment for its term and cannot be cancelled in the middle. That is true of every lease, ours included. Pick the term you are sure of.
What does the monthly payment cover?
The lease payment covers the machine. Delivery, installation and in-person training are included on every term. There is no setup deposit on a lease.
Install day also includes network and print driver setup, scan to email and scan to folder setup, and haul-away of your old machine.
Service is its own line. It runs on the Total Coverage Plan, billed per page, month to month. That keeps the two apart: the lease is the commitment, the service stays flexible.
If you would rather see one number, the Turnkey Plan puts the machine, the Coverage Plan and a block of pages into one flat monthly amount. Pages past the block bill at the same published rate every office pays, not a penalty rate.
How does service work on a leased printer?
Service is where a lease is won or lost, so here is exactly how ours works.
The Total Coverage Plan covers toner, parts, labor, maintenance, training, and phone and onsite support. Paper is the only thing it does not cover. Scanning is never metered.
When something goes wrong, you call, and phone support is part of the plan. When a machine needs hands on it, a factory-trained technician from our service partner is onsite within 4 hours.
The Coverage Plan has no minimum, no overage and no base charge. It runs month to month and can be cancelled any month with no cancellation fee. Because it is billed separately from the lease, you are never locked into service you are unhappy with for the length of the lease.
The lease itself does not work that way. The lease runs its term. The flexibility belongs to the service.
What happens at the end of a printer lease?
It depends on the kind of lease.
Fair market value lease. Ours do not auto-renew. At the end of the term the lease stops and runs month to month until you sign a new one. There is no notice window to track and no extra year to fall into. The standing offer at the end of a term is a newer machine, typically at the same monthly rate. You can also return the machine.
Many leases elsewhere work differently. An evergreen clause renews the agreement on its own, commonly for another 12 months, unless you send written notice inside a window that usually runs 90 to 120 days before the end date. If you are in a lease like that now, read the renewal clause before anything else.
Lease to own. Some offices choose a lease that ends in ownership. The monthly payment is fixed for the term, and at the end you buy the machine for a nominal amount and own it outright. Nothing renews and nothing goes back. Service continues on the Coverage Plan if you keep it.
Is leasing or renting a printer worth it?
It depends on how long you will keep the machine and how you want to pay for it.
A lease fits an office that will keep the machine for the term and wants a lower monthly rate on it. See the office printer lease page for how ours is set up.
Month to month fits an office that wants a full machine with no term and no credit application. There is a one-time setup deposit that covers delivery, installation, setup and pickup, and the monthly and per-page rates run higher than a lease. Keep it as long as you need it, return it when you don’t.
A purchase fits an office with the cash that plans to keep a machine three to six years or longer. Delivery and setup are included, and service is on the same Coverage Plan.
Who owns the printer during the lease?
The leasing company owns the machine for the term, and you have the use of it. On a fair market value lease, at the end you return it, keep it month to month, or replace it with a newer machine. On a lease to own, it becomes yours at the end.
FAQ
Can I cancel a printer lease early?
No. An equipment lease runs its full term. The Coverage Plan is the part you can cancel any month.
Is anything due before the machine is installed?
No. Your first lease payment starts after install.
What happens if the machine breaks?
Call. A technician is onsite within 4 hours on the Coverage Plan, and parts and labor are covered.
Do your leases renew automatically?
No. At the end of the term the lease runs month to month until you sign a new one.
How long does approval take?
The answer comes back the same day. Approval needs at least three years in business, or a personal guarantee.
Request a quote for your office. Tell us your pages per month and paper sizes. The quote names the machine, the term and every rate, in writing.