Credit Card Terminals - To Lease or Not To Lease, That is The Question

Credit & Debit Card Machine Video Overview

A new business owner should be aware of telemarketers and companies offering to help them with their credit cards. Because of ignorance in the credit card industry, many new business owners are led to believe that leasing a credit card terminal is the way to go for their business.  This is not so.

Leasing a credit card machine is really not the best option to go with.  For the majority of businesses a swipe/print credit card machine is a simple and acceptable way to take credit cards.  What a new business owner should do is research the prices available before making a decision. The purchase of a credit card terminal is usually quite reasonable and is less than a lease.  A credit card terminal will only cost $200 to $300 to own but would cost a lot more to lease.  If money is an issue when starting up a new business, the extra money that would have been used to lease a machine could go towards another piece of equipment or necessity for the business.

New companies are usually now the only ones still leasing equipment because they are so busy trying to get their business started and do not spend the proper time researching their options, they get convinced to lease by eager sales people.  Back in the eighties and early nineties a lot of businesses leased their equipment because they were led to believe that the equipment was very expensive.  Now because of the internet, people are more aware of the facts and cannot be easily scammed about their investment options.  It’s usually only the new businesses that are still leasing.

Some business still do lease their equipment if the equipment is very highly priced.  Wireless terminals are becoming more affordable but can still cost over a thousand dollars which is quite a bit of money. Leasing may sound more reasonable initially but in the end you will pay more than the original cost of the terminal.

If you do decide to lease your equipment, always be aware of all the terms that go with it. There are always strings attached.  Leases last anywhere from 12 - 48 months and the shorter the lease the higher the monthly payments will be.  There may be penalties for trying to terminate the lease and also buyout options to consider at the end of the lease.  Be sure you completely understand what you are getting into before signing a lease.  The costs can be hefty.

Use the lease cost calculator to find out what the price of leasing your equipment will be compared to your buying it outright.

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