Buying an Exhibition Stand: The Pros and Cons

The decision to buy rather than hire an exhibition stand can drastically change your exhibiting experience, giving you complete freedom to exhibit whenever and wherever you want.

There are definite benefits to both hiring and purchasing an exhibition stand. Hiring an exhibition stand is often a more stress-free option, including the logistics, installation, dismantling and storage. Buying an exhibition requires you to take on more personal responsibility, handling aspects such as planning, logistics, and the stand build and dismantling yourself.

In this guide, we reflect on the pros and cons of purchasing an exhibition stand.

Self-build exhibition stands are a DIY exhibiting option, where businesses purchase both the exhibition stand graphics and the hardware to build their own stand across a range of different shows.

Before you take your stand, you participate in a comprehensive stand training session in Poole, where you learn how to build and dismantle the stand in full, as well as how to pack it to maintain its quality long-term. Some businesses choose to consolidate training for more than one reconfiguration of the stand in this session, while others revisit for additional training in the future.

Unlike hire plans, where the logistics, installation and dismantling of the stand are all taken care of by the exhibition stand contractor, with self-build, you handle all of these elements yourself. While this means extra planning and legwork, you gain complete control over when and where to exhibit.

Let’s break down some of the advantages of buying an exhibition stand:

• Flexibility – When you own your own exhibition stand, you gain complete flexibility to exhibit at different events, even at short notice.
• Freedom – You have the ultimate freedom to exhibit in any place, at any time or anywhere, without the involvement of exhibition stand contractors.  Try new shows with little risk, as you already own the stand.
• Cost – Owning your exhibition stand can save you significant money across an exhibition calendar. The more you exhibit, the more economical your self-build stand becomes.
• Easy to Update – Since you already have the hardware, you can update your setup by investing in new graphics.

While self-build offers many advantages, there are some drawbacks:

• Time  – Managing your own exhibition stand can be very time-consuming, particularly when you factor in the planning, paperwork, shipping, logistics, pre-build, installation, and dismantling.
• Storage – Purchasing your exhibition stand brings additional responsibilities, such as storage. If you cannot store your exhibition stand privately, you have to factor this in as an additional cost.
• Paperwork Handling – Self-building can involve a lot more paperwork than people expect, which takes additional time.
• Self-Managed – While self-managing gives you freedom, it can be quite laborious.
• Self-Building – In order to self-build well, you need a solid team of long-term staff. It can take a fair bit of time to learn how to build an exhibition stand, and it’s probably not worth it if your staff are changing frequently.

We understand that purchasing a stand can feel like a big decision. That’s why, when you work with us, the support continues long after the initial investment.

As part of your investment, you are entitled to our Lifetime Free Design service, where we provide reconfiguration designs free of charge. This allows you to make the most of your exhibition stand investment. We can also continue to offer you exhibiting advice, access toour training library, and additional in-person sessions where needed.

Still not sure if buying an exhibition stand is right for you and your business? For more information, contact our team on 01202 723 500 or email design@quadrant2design.com.