Lease vs Buy

What Factors You Need To Know!

The purpose of this page is to help educate consumers on pricing for office copiers in Sonoma County and surrounding areas. Our goal is to provide you with some general rules of thumb to give you a good idea as to what you can expect to pay for a copier and which factors will impact the cost.

The Cost of Leasing Or Buying A Copier In Sonoma County

There are many variables that determine the final price of the copier. Here is a rule of thumb that Common Sense Business Solutions likes to share with our customers, that you may find helpful. Approximately 85% of all the copiers we sell, fall somewhere in the range between $3,000.00 to $8,000.00 or can be leased somewhere between the range of $60.00 to $150.00 a month plus the cost of the maintenance and supply agreement.

The variables that impact where the cost of a copier falls within these ranges, depends on the following variables.

Cost Variable #1) The Term of The Copier Lease

Most copier leases are either a 3-year lease or a 5-year term. You will pay about 50% more for the same copier on a 3-year lease than you would for the same copier on a 5-year lease. As an example, a color copier on a 5-year lease would likely be $80.00 to $100.00 a month whereas the monthly price on a 3-year lease would be $120.00 to $150.00.

Cost Variable #2) Choice and Size of The Product Model You Choose

There are a wide variety of copier models to choose from and obviously, prices vary based on which model you select. Shown below are the common criteria to help you differentiate what types of models are available and how the difference in models impacts the cost of the copier.

• Size of the copier you choose – As one might expect, a smaller desktop copier model has a lower price than a larger, free-standing copier model. As a rule of thumb, a desktop model is approximately 50% less than a larger free-standing unit with comparable print speed and capabilities. As an example, a desktop color copy-print-scan system might be $3,000.00 – $3,500.00 to purchase or $60.00 – $70.00 a month to lease whereas the free-standing model with comparable print speed could be $4,500.00 – $5,250.00 to purchase or $90.00 – $105.00 a month to lease. Free-standing models are generally more robust, capable of handling heavier print volumes, and can print onto larger paper sizes and thicker paper stocks.

• Monochrome or Full-Color Copier – A model that can only print in black and white has a lower price than a model with full-color printing capabilities. As a general rule, you can expect to pay 20 – 25% more for a comparable unit that offers full-color printing compared to a monochrome model that only prints in black. As an example, a mid-size 35 pages a minute monochrome copier may cost approximately $4,000.00 – $5,000.00 to purchase or $80.00 – $100.00 a month on a 60-month lease and a comparable color copier may cost approximately $5,000.00 – $6,250.00 to purchase or $100.00 – $125.00 a month on the same 60-month lease.

• Copier Printing Speed – The print speed has a significant impact on the price of a copier. Whether you choose a monochrome copier or a full-color copier, the price you pay will be largely based on the print speed of the model you choose. What makes this interesting is that free-standing, business class copiers with 25, 30, 35, 45, or 55 pages a minute print speed are virtually identical in size, appearance, quality, and capabilities with the only significant difference between the models being the multi-page print speed. This being said, the cost of a copier varies dramatically based on the print speed you choose. As an example, 25 pages a minute, free-standing copier may be $4,000.00 to purchase or $80.00 a month to lease, 35 pages a minute comparable model may be $5,500.00 to purchase or $110.00 a month lease, 45 pages a minute comparable model may be $6,500.00 to purchase or $130.00 a month to lease and 55 pages a minute model may be $7,000.00 to purchase or $150.00 a month to lease. This is a significant cost variance when you consider that each of these 4 models are virtually identical except for speed.

• Optional Accessories – Optional accessories have an impact on your monthly copier lease price. Most color copiers come standard with network printing, network scanning, and automatic document feeders however you can expect to pay approximately $500.00 – $1,000.00 more to add any of the following accessories: Automatic Stapling, Hole Punch Kit, Folding Kit, Large Capacity Paper Drawers, or a Fax Kit. If you are leasing, you can expect to add approximately $10.00 – $20.00 more per month for each optional accessory you add.

Cost Variable #3) New or Used Copier

As you’d expect, a brand-new color copier has a higher cost than a used color copier. In most cases, when working with our company, you can expect to pay approximately 50% more for a brand-new machine compared to a comparable used machine. As an example, a lightly used, 30-35 pages a minute color copier would cost approximately $4,500.00 – $5,500.00 to purchase or $90.00 – $110.00 a month on a 60-month lease whereas the comparable brand-new model would likely run approximately $7,000.00 – $8,000.00 to purchase or $140.00 – $160.00 a month to lease. This can also help you determine if it is better for you to purchase your copier or to lease one from us.

Cost Variable #4) Which Company You Get Your Copier From

The company you choose to get your copier from can have a significant impact on the price you pay for a copier. There are companies of all types and sizes that sell and service copiers ranging from huge global monoliths to smaller, locally owned copier companies like Common Sense Business Solutions. There is no set pricing or regulations that dictate what a company charges for any given copier. Instead, it is up to the copier company to determine the pricing they offer. By keeping our overhead low and selling our copiers without using commissioned salespeople, Common Sense Business Solutions is consistently on the lower end of the copier price scale compared to many of our larger competitors. We encourage our customers to compare our pricing to larger competitors and in most cases, our pricing is amongst the lowest.

Cost Variable #5) Which Salesperson You Choose

It is our opinion that most people would be shocked at how wildly the price of a copier can range based solely on the individual salesperson’s discretion. In almost every copier company, salespeople work on commission, meaning they earn a percentage of profit on each sale they consummate, and in almost every company, the salesperson sets their own pricing based on “how much” they feel they can sell the copier for.

In many cases, the same salesperson might sell the same exact copier to different customers for a dramatically different price based on their interpretation of how much each individual customer is willing to spend. Therefore, at Common Sense Business Solutions we tout that we don’t have any commissioned salespeople on staff and no one in our company has their compensation directly impacted by the sale or lease of any given copier.

We use standardized pricing that is the same from one customer to the next and only salaried members of our ownership and management team quote the pricing. You can feel confident that you are always getting the best price we have to offer, and you will never be subjected to sales pressure or negotiations. At CSBS, it’s important that we provide a fun, no-pressure, consultative approach to helping our customers.

*Please note that all pricing and examples of pricing are shared in good faith to give you, the consumer a good understanding of general price ranges and the variables that impact where a given color copier may fall within this range. All pricing examples shown are general estimates and do not represent any guaranty of actual pricing offered by Common Sense Business Solutions on any given or specific models.

Please contact us directly by telephone, email, or website submittal request for a formal price on any equipment or service we offer. We are always happy to provide specific pricing on any model we carry and promise you a fun, no-pressure experience. No one at Common Sense Business Solutions receives a commission or has any aspect of their compensation directly impacted by the sale or lease of any copier equipment you purchase or lease. We are a small company where all pricing is pre-set and provided by salaried members of our management team.

At Common Sense Business Solutions, our only goal is to serve you well in hopes of earning a happy, loyal, long-term customer. If you are looking for the best price on a copier or printer, we encourage you to use Common Sense.