Franking machines - Buy or Rent

10th October 2012

 

To Buy or Rent a Franking Machine

 

 

Having looked at the potential costs in choosing a franking machine, I’ve been thrown a curved ball, as I was asked by Mailcoms (the small independent business I mentioned in my last article), if I wanted to rent or buy my franking machine!!  So not only do I need to consider the basic set up costs, of topping up my franking machine, minimum of once a year maintenance of the franking machine and costs involved with Royal Mail changing their franking machine rates during the year.  I now also need to analyse my business, to decide if renting a franking machine would be more cost effective than buying a franking machine.

 

From what I can gather whether you buy or rent your franking machine you have to pay the costs of franking mail + any changes that royal mail make during the course of the year.  An entry level franking machine (small number of envelopes to frank) will cost you around £20 a month to rent, therefore around £240 per year.  If this was the only cost of having the franking machine it would appear to be the cheap option, but you will need to read the contract carefully to be sure of what is included in your franking machine contract.  If maintenance is not included (which it very often isn’t) think very carefully, as the repairs for even an entry level franking machine, can apparently run into hundreds of pounds.  This being the case, whether the franking machine is hired or bought.  However, if you buy a franking machine you are probably more likely to take out a service agreement at the outset which will cover any franking machine breakdowns.

 

So are you better making an upfront investment and owning your franking machine, or paying a monthly rental? Though renting has its benefits, in that you can upgrade, or change from an entry level franking machine to a higher capacity franking machine, you will still be limited by the small print of your rental agreement. Whereas, if you buy a franking machine, you can trade it in, or sell it second hand and I think, in the round I would rather own my franking machine than be paying someone else to own it!