Exhibition stand hire verses Exhibition stand purchase

In these days of cutbacks and quantitative easing its even more important to ensure that the money you put aside as your exhibition budget is well spent.
Spend too little and the impact you get will be diminished, you will hardly be notices let alone be taken seriously and you will look like everyone else – probably with a Pop UP display of some kind.
Buying a big stand (modular or custom built) is a brave move and one career decision that should not be taken lightly. You can spend anything from £7,000 to £50,000 on an exhibition stand. There are several things to keep in mind when considering a purchase.

1) Is the company your are buying from actually the people who are making the stand? Many companies act as brokers in this industry and can be working out of a bedroom somewhere with a great looking website and plenty of pretty pictures but if they are a middle man then you will be paying more than you need to. Just Google Map them and that should tell you!

2) Is the stand you are buying inclusive of graphics (the pictures that go on to the stand) or is that something you have to supply in order for them to print them and place them on the stand.

3) Does the stand price include installation? It’s not much good buying a stand if you don’t have someone to put it up at your exhibition for you.

4) Will the graphics on the stand be kept after the show and stored by the contractor with the rest of the stand or will you need to get them reprinted?

5) What are the costs for storage and for getting the stand put up at another venue?

6) Is the stand even going to fit the next space you buy at a show – probably not!

7) Will the stand price include furniture of any description or will you need to hire these?

8) Does the stand price include electricity supply to the stand or just lights on the stand?

So why is renting a stand better?
1) When you rent a stand it is normally a great deal cheaper than buying one
2) You can expect to pay 25% of the price of a new stand in many cases.
3) You may therefore be able to visit more shows and reach more people.
4) You are dealing directly with the company that hires them out – so no middle men.
5) The cost is for the duration of the show so you know what you are paying for.
6) The cost includes installation
7) The cost includes the printing of the graphics from your supplied artwork in most cases
8) The cost includes storage of your graphics or you can take the graphics away with you.
9) The cost includes removal after the show
10) The stand is designed to fit the exact dimensions of your exhibition space.
11) You can hire another stand to fit the new dimensions of any future exhibition space.
12) The money is usually taken from the budget for the exhibition rather than from capital expenditure.


Yes, some exhibition hire stands are better than others and some are rather basic but if you surf the net you will find pictures of what you are looking for. The secret is to look for a stand design that is 95% graphics meaning that only 5% is the structure (the hired bit) which may be a little ‘tired’. Any more than 5% and people will notice the tired structure rather than the impactful, striking, eye- catching and brand new graphics. A good example of a hire stand is the Rock Solid stand from Rock Solid Promotions with its 3m high seamless graphics. It comes as a package complete with lights, furniture, floorcovering, reception desk, literature racks, bar stools, bar tables, a raised floor under which all the cables are run, a 32” plasma screen, installation at any venue in the UK, removal and storage of graphics and an event planner to do all the stand related paperwork and form filling for a flat fee of £230 per square metre plus vat – capped at £5,500 plus vat for larger stands.