Reasons to rent. When you buy a trade show booth, it’s yours—for good or ill. This can be a fabulous thing for most businesses, but some don’t realize that renting may be a better option. Here are a few reasons why renting might be a better choice than buying.

You’ve never done a trade show before. If you’re inexperienced with trade shows, you might not have a good idea of what’s involved. Trade shows aren’t for everyone—they take a lot of work and preparation, and you have to be an extrovert to succeed. If you’re looking into trade shows because someone else told you it was a good idea, you may not want to invest in your own booth just yet. Rent a booth and see if you like the trade show scene. There’s nothing worse than deciding trade shows really aren’t for you—after spending thousands on a new booth.

You don’t know what everyone else is doing. Ever been to a trade show in your industry? Did you notice the types of booths most people had? If not, it may not be a good idea to buy a booth just yet. You could wind up with one that looks like everyone else’s. That’s not a good position to be in—you want to stand out, not blend in. If you don’t have a firm understanding of the trade show trends in your industry, it can be a good idea to rent a booth the first few times you go. This will help you get a good idea of what makes you stand out and what doesn’t.

You can’t afford a new booth. There’s no getting around it—a good display can be expensive, and not all companies can afford to buy one. Renting a booth exposes you to all the opportunities a trade show has to offer, without the hefty price tag. If everything goes well, you should be able to afford your own booth after a few successful appearances.

Reasons to buy. Of course, not every business rents a booth before buying. Here are some reasons why buying might be a better choice for you than renting.

You’re no rookie. You’ve done trade shows before—either in your current industry or in others. You have a good idea of the work involved, and you know your personality is suited to the task. In other words, there’s little chance you’ll change your mind about trade shows after buying your own booth.

You’ve scoped out the competition. You may or may not have run your own trade show booth before—but you’ve gone to shows in your industry, and you know what the trends are. You know enough to choose a booth that will stand out from the crowd and make an impact. It’s not likely you’ll buy a booth, then realize when you get to the show that you look just like everyone else.

You go to trade shows regularly. If your business attends trade shows on a regular basis—once a year or more—it’s definitely worth it to buy your own booth. If you go to trade shows regularly, you’ll reach a point where you’re spending more money on rental fees than you would have if you’d just bought a booth years ago. If you’ve done a couple of trade shows and decided they’re worth doing, buy your own booth and save money in the long run.

Some companies will allow you to put the money you spend on your rental towards the purchase of a new booth later. There’s no question that a trade show booth can be a big investment, so make sure you know what’s involved and what type of booth is likely to get you noticed before making the leap. Renting before buying can be a great way to introduce yourself to the trade show circuit, experiment with different booth designs, and figure out what works before making an investment in a booth of your own.