The storage industry has changed considerably over the last few years, there seems to be a trend to lease or buy shipping containers. Many business owners are looking at savings that comes with renting or leasing a shipping container.

Portable or Permanent

The shipping container is portable, that is, it can be picked up and moved. If your business is a construction company, a shipping container can go with the work crews from site to site. The container can be used to store items that are needed for the particular job your company is working on at the time.

What you want the container for will help you decide to buy, rent or lease. You have a short-term project, and you want to get a shipping container to store materials during a project. Do you plan to use the shipping container for shipping goods to your customers, on a need to ship basis.

Container sales/leasing/rental companies can tailor plans to suit your needs. What type of container and how long you want it for, the container company can draw up a rental agreement or a lease contract to fit that need.

Container sales/leasing companies clearly define what ‘short term and long term’ means to them. Shipping container sales/leasing companies define two years or less as short term. Long-term usually is 5 to 10 years or longer.

Container sales/leasing companies may have contracts that will fit your needs.

What to Do?

What your company wants or needs the container for should be the deciding factor whether you rent, lease or ultimately purchase a container. Your need for a shipping container is for storage for a period of three to six months, then rent. The need for a shipping container may be from six months to a year, then lease.

You want to use the container for more than a year then maybe purchase the container. The difference between leasing and renting are the terms of the contract. A rental agreement you pay a monthly fee to use the container short term, six months or so. A lease agreement is for a longer duration of possession on your company’s part, a year or more at least. A lease requires a damage deposit, some upfront fees, and the monthly lease payments are paid in advance of the usage period.

Whether you rent, lease or buy, there is going to be a delivery fee for bringing the container to where you want to use it. In a rental agreement, the shipping container sales/leasing company might waive or reduce the cost for delivery.

Their thinking, hey can make up the difference from your rental payments. In a lease contract, the delivery fee is included in some of those upfront payments, as well as the return delivery fee. In a purchase, the shipping container may have already figured the cost of delivery in the purchase price. Another thing to consider is what is the overall cost to your company for the use of a shipping container for the period of time you are using it.

It’s Only Money

Shipping containers come in two primary sizes 40 ft and 20 ft lengths. Depending on the scale, age, and condition of the vessel, rental and lease payments run from $75.00 to $200.00 per month. Again, depending on the size, and age of the container, used containers sell for around $1,500 to $3,000 per container.

You want new expect to pay between $3,000 to $6,000 for the container depending on size. For example, you need a container for six months, and the monthly rental payment is $150.00, your total cost would come to roughly $900.00. That is $600.00 less than the low-end purchase price.

On the other hand, you lease for two years at $200.00 a month your cost for two years is about $4,800.00. That is a mid-range purchase price for a new container. Unless you are making a profit from your use of the container, leasing for more than twelve months might not be the right business decision.

Your Choice

Whether renting or leasing a shipping container for your company is going to be cost-effective, know how long your company will be in possession of it, and what the total cost of the lease agreement is going to amount to. Bottom line is this going to affect my ROI?

Source: Tiger Containers