Scissor lifts: Hiring vs Buying

Scissor Lifts: Hiring vs Buying

The more you hire something to get a job done, the more you find yourself thinking “I should just buy my own”. For some this could be a great idea, there’s clear benefits to owning your own gear, especially for smaller equipment that gets used frequently. However, as the gear gets bigger and more specialised, so many more factors come into play. We’re going to cover one of the most popular pieces of gear we hire out, the scissor lift, and lay out the pros and cons of owning one vs hiring.

The latest gear in the best condition

This might be the most overlooked factor of purchasing a scissor lift, or any larger piece of equipment. We’re constantly servicing our equipment between hires to make sure everything runs smoothly. It gives our customers peace of mind only having to ask ‘How much is it to hire a scissor lift?’ instead of ‘is the scissor lift working today? How much will it cost to fix? How long will it take?’. Along with servicing, we’re also constantly updating our range of scissor lifts so you’ll get the latest gear available.

Budget friendly

When it comes down to it, a lot of smaller businesses just can’t afford to purchase a scissor lift. Especially when you consider  the cost of the lifts themselves, the interest associated with a loan that could be needed to buy one, the cost of maintenance, registration and other insurance costs. There can be a lot of unexpected costs when you buy a scissor lift, and that’s not even taking into account the depreciation.

When you need it

One of the major advantages of hiring a scissor lift is having it delivered exactly when you need it and picked up when you’re done. This is not only very convenient, it saves a lot of time and labour of transporting the lift by yourself. Then there’s the issue that even smaller scissor lifts can take up a lot of space, so unless you have a spare garage space or two, owning a scissor lift often isn’t very practical.

Professional service

On top of everything else, we’re proud that our team will go that extra mile to make sure our customers are happy. Not every scissor lift will be suited for every job, and some could require other specialised gear. Our staff will always be there to work out a solution with you, and give the expertise that you wouldn’t find in an instruction manual.

While buying a scissor lift may seem like a good idea at first, unless you’re a very high frequency user, with a lot of service expertise, space to store it, and the manpower to transport it around, hiring is the clear winner over buying.

 
Talk to Coates for all your scissor lift needs - or find your local branch