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Buying or hiring a tent: when each option pays off

5 days ago
4 min read

Updated: 1 day ago

It depends on how you plan to use it. If you need a tent for a one-off event and would rather not deal with putting it up or storing it afterwards, hiring is usually the better choice. If the same need comes back season after season, buying turns out to be the more practical option in the medium term, even though it means taking on tasks that another company used to handle. If you decide to buy, see our tents for sale, direct from the factory.

When hiring a tent pays off

Hiring makes sense when the event is something out of the ordinary in your calendar, not an activity that repeats month after month. Working with a company that specialises in tent hire takes a lot of the logistics off your hands: they bring the structure, put it up, sort out the power connection or decoration if you need it, and take it away again as soon as the event is over. You don't have to worry about where to store it or what state it's in for next time.

  • You're holding a one-off event, such as a wedding, a family party or a single presentation, with no plan to repeat it

  • You have nowhere to store a structure or the covers when they're not in use

  • You don't have your own staff or previous experience putting one up

  • You'd rather have another company handle the logistics, the assembly and the removal afterwards

  • The event is held in a different location each time, which makes it impractical to have a fixed tent suited to just one site

When buying a tent pays off

When the need stops being occasional and becomes recurring or seasonal, the sums change. Putting up and taking down a hired tent several times a year, coordinating dates and availability with another company, ends up outweighing having your own ready to use whenever you need it. What's more, if you repeat the same type of installation every season, at some point it becomes more practical to have your own structure built exactly for your space.

  • Hospitality terraces that need covering for much of the year, with or without sides depending on the season

  • Estates, function rooms or venues with wedding season marked on the calendar

  • Local authorities and organisations with a calendar of events that repeats year after year

  • Companies that need to cover storage space or work areas, including industrial sheds and tents

  • Hire companies looking to expand their own tent fleet for greater availability

What owning your own tent involves

Buying a tent doesn't end once it's delivered. Owning one means taking on a series of tasks that the hire company used to handle, and it's worth being clear about them before you decide.

  • Having a dry, ventilated space to store the structure and cover when they're not in use

  • Learning the assembly and dismantling procedure, or training someone on your team so you're not reliant on outside help

  • Cleaning and maintaining the cover regularly so it keeps its appearance and function over time

  • Checking the condition of the structure between uses, especially if the tent goes for stretches without being put up

  • Bearing in mind that, after years of use, the cover can be replaced with a spare cover without needing to change the whole structure

Questions to ask yourself before deciding

Before settling on one option or the other, it's worth going through a few specific questions about your particular case.

  1. Am I going to use the tent just once, or several times over the year?

  2. Do I have a suitable place to store it when it's not up?

  3. Do I have someone who knows how to put it up, or do I need an outside team every time I use it?

  4. Does it pay off for me to take on the cleaning and maintenance, or would I rather another company was responsible for that?

  5. Is the use I'll give it going to continue over time, or is it just a one-off for this season?

  6. Does the size and type of tent I need vary from one event to another, or is it practically always the same?

Buying and hiring aren't mutually exclusive

Many hire companies don't make their own tents: they buy them from a manufacturer and then make them available to their customers, taking care of the assembly, transport and support during the event themselves. Plastold manufactures and sells made-to-measure tents and covers directly from the factory; we don't hire out tents, and a good number of the hire companies we work with are actually regular customers who renew or expand their fleet with us when they need more structures or to replace worn covers.

Take the next step

If, after going through these points, you find that buying suits you best, take a look at our range of tents for sale, available in different sizes and always made to fit your space. And if you'd like to sort out specific questions about your project before deciding, get in touch with us: we'll help you weigh up which option suits your case best.

Real project: PVC grandstand roofs and 288 tent side walls, made in Málaga for a major motorsport event in Madrid. See the project

 
 
 

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