The Pros and Cons of Buying or Leasing your Point of Sale System

Breaking Down The Benefits Between Buying and Leasing a Point of Sale (POS) System

As a restaurant or small business owner, you’re tasked with making many small and large decisions daily, each one affecting the success of your business. Sometimes it’s hard to decide what the best course of action is with these decisions, especially when it comes purchasing equipment that will impact your daily routine, such as POS systems. Luckily as a restaurateur and business owner, you have flexibility- after reviewing some simple details you can decide to lease your POS system or that you’re ready to purchase it outright. But what details should you review before making this decision? Read on to learn more.

The Pros and Cons of Leasing a POS System

Pro: Small Monthly Payments

Leasing a POS is an ideal situation for new restaurateurs who are short on cash. As a leaseholder, you will have the ability to make monthly, smaller payments, which will allow you to save money up front. After your lease ends, you always have the opportunity to purchase a POS in full.

Pro: Regular Upgrades

As we all know, most technology companies release upgraded versions of their products on a fairly regular basis. The same is true for POS companies- they also release upgrades regularly. As a leaseholder, you can easily upgrade your POS. That means, if you see a function that you have to have, you don’t have to wait until you can afford a new system to use it.

Con: Long Term Payments

While your POS is an integral part of your business, indefinitely making payments can become tiresome. Leases generally run around 4 years- that’s 48 months of making payments. For individuals who don’t like to continuously pay bills, it may best to pay in full up front, and purchase the Point of Sale outright.

Con: Making Repairs

No matter if you’re leasing your POS or you purchase it outright, you will still have to pay to make repairs if something breaks. Accidents do occur and a lease won’t shield you from the responsibility of making repairs when your POS breaks. On the positive side, switching out your POS system when your lease ends will likely avoid any repairs that are due to old age, as you won’t have the system long enough for it to age.

The Pros and Cons of Buying a POS System

Pro: Purchasing Outright

If you’re an established business owner or restaurateur, or if you simply have a flexible budget, purchasing a POS system might be for you. By purchasing your POS system outright, you will have full control over it, won’t have to pay interest fees, and can adapt the POS system to any future business directions you go in.

Pro: Consistent Pricing

When you purchase a POS system, you avoid interest fees, so you only pay for what you purchase. In addition, if you purchase once, instead of renewing your lease frequently, you’ll avoid the increases in prices that come with technology upgrades.

Con: Warranty Expiration

While your POS system may come with a warranty when you purchase it, that warranty doesn’t last forever. That means if you own the POS system for many years to come, when something runs afoul, it will be up to you to pay for the repairs.

Con: No Upgrades

When you purchase your Point of Sale system outright, you get what you pay for. That means you’re stuck with whatever harware version you purchased until you’re ready to purchase a new one. And that could be years. SilverEdge does provide free software upgrades on both Clover and Lightspeed so you can update your software free of charge. However, not all compaines offer that, so you need to make sure before you make the purchase.

There are many benefits to both leasing and buying POS systems- it really comes down to what is best for your personal business. Do you have questions about leasing or purchasing? We’re here to help. Email info@silveredge.com today.