If you are on the fence as to whether to rent, purchase or to ship out your own display, here is a condensed list of pros and cons.

Let's start with shipping your own exhibit. So much of your judgment will have do with weight and the number of cases or crates as well as the type of show you are planning to attend. For instance, say you have a beautiful yet heavy 10 x 20' booth but that the show you are attending is a smaller regional show. It probably makes sense to rent a simpler exhibit. If you ship your own booth you'll not only have the shipping expense, but also a large drayage bill along with an installation and dismantling expense.

If your choice is as to purchase or rent you may be interested to know that the trend seems to be towards rentals. There seems to be a growing emphasis upon the convenience factor. The primary advantages of renting are: 1). Not having to make a purchasing decision. This can be a bit stressful in that you don't want to make the wrong decision. Choosing the right size and boxing yourself in seems to be the biggest issue. You don't need to store between shows. You don't have to arrange for shipping to and from the show. You don't have to arrange for installation and dismantling services. In other words, you can literally just show up for the show. Although we always recommendthat you try to arrange to be on the floor when your exhibit is going up so as to make sure that the positioning is correct and that graphics are placed in the right spots.

On the other hand, when you purchase a booth, you can pay attention to the little details that set your booth apart. This positive, however, is changing as custom exhibit rentals are becoming more available. Remember - if you do a lot of shows, some companies are doing shows every month, it will be more economical to own your own.