Cheap Copier Lease for Small Business: How to Get a Good Deal Without Getting Burned
You need a copier but your budget is tight. Maybe you’re a 5-person office printing a few hundred pages a week, and you can’t justify $400 a month for a machine that mostly sits idle. The good news: you can lease a solid copier for under $150 a month. The bad news: cheap leases come with traps that can cost you more in the long run if you’re not careful.
What “Cheap” Actually Looks Like in Copier Leasing
For a small business printing under 5,000 pages per month, you can find reliable copier leases in these ranges:
- Basic black-and-white copier (25 to 30 ppm): $79 to $129/month
- Black-and-white with scan and fax (30 to 35 ppm): $129 to $179/month
- Entry-level color copier (25 to 30 ppm): $149 to $225/month
These prices assume a 36- to 60-month fair market value lease with decent credit. If your credit is below 650, expect to pay 10% to 20% more or put down a security deposit.
Brands like Kyocera, Sharp, and Ricoh offer strong entry-level machines that work well for small offices. You don’t need a top-of-the-line Canon or Konica Minolta if your volume is low.
Where Small Businesses Overpay
Most small businesses overpay on copier leases because they buy more machine than they need. Here’s what happens:
A dealer shows you a 45-ppm color copier with a booklet maker and three paper trays. It looks great. But your office prints 2,000 pages a month, almost all black and white. You’re now paying $350/month for features you’ll use maybe twice a year.
Before you talk to any dealer, figure out three numbers:
- Your monthly page count. Check your current printer. Most machines track total pages in their settings menu. If you don’t have a copier yet, count how many reams of paper you buy per month. One ream is 500 pages.
- Your color percentage. What share of your prints are color? For most small offices, it’s under 10%. If that’s you, a black-and-white copier with a cheap color inkjet on the side saves a lot of money.
- Your must-have features. Do you need scanning? Probably yes. Fax? Maybe. Stapling? Probably not if you’re a small team.
For a deeper look at what you should expect to spend on the machine itself, see our breakdown of the average price of a copier.
5 Ways to Lower Your Copier Lease Cost
1. Lease a previous-generation model. When a new copier model comes out, dealers need to move the old stock. A 2024 model copier works just as well as a 2025 model for most small offices, and you can save 15% to 25% on the lease.
2. Go black and white. Color copiers cost 30% to 50% more per month. If you only print color for the occasional flyer or presentation, buy a $200 color inkjet printer and lease a black-and-white copier. You’ll save $100 or more each month.
3. Negotiate the service agreement separately. Some dealers bundle service into the lease to make the monthly number look simple. But bundled service often costs more than a standalone service contract. Get quotes for each separately and compare.
4. Choose a 48-month lease instead of 36. The sweet spot for small businesses is usually 48 months. It’s long enough to lower the monthly payment meaningfully, but short enough that you’re not stuck with old technology for five years.
5. Get quotes from at least three dealers. This is the single biggest money saver. Dealers in the same city can quote the same machine with a 20% to 35% price difference. Competition drives prices down fast.
Watch Out for These “Cheap Lease” Traps
A low monthly payment doesn’t always mean a good deal. Watch for these common problems:
High per-page rates. Some dealers offer a low lease payment but charge $0.04 or $0.05 per page for service. At 3,000 pages per month, that’s an extra $120 to $150 on top of your lease. Ask for the per-page rate before you sign, and get it in writing.
Auto-renewal clauses. Many copier leases auto-renew for 12 to 24 months if you don’t cancel in a specific window, sometimes just 30 to 90 days. That means you could be stuck paying the same rate for a machine that’s now worth half of what it was. Read our full breakdown of the copier lease auto-renewal trap.
Minimum volume charges. Some contracts include a minimum monthly page count. If your agreement says 2,000 pages minimum and you only print 800, you’re still paying for those 2,000 pages. Small businesses with low volume should push for contracts with no minimums or very low ones.
End-of-lease fees. Returning the copier isn’t always free. Some leasing companies charge $200 to $500 for pickup and “reconditioning.” Ask about end-of-lease costs upfront. More details on these charges are in our guide to copier lease hidden fees.
What Most Guides Miss
Here’s something most articles about cheap copier leases won’t tell you: the cheapest lease isn’t always the cheapest option.
If your office prints under 1,000 pages a month, leasing might not even make sense. A good multifunction laser printer costs $400 to $800 outright and handles low volume just fine. Toner cartridges run $60 to $100 and last 3,000 to 6,000 pages. Over three years, you might spend $1,500 to $2,500 total. Compare that to a $129/month lease that costs $4,644 over 36 months.
The break-even point is usually around 3,000 to 5,000 pages per month. Below that, buying often wins. Above that, leasing makes more sense because you get a better machine, included service, and you’re not stuck with a worn-out printer in two years.
Also, don’t overlook refurbished copiers. A certified refurbished machine from a reputable dealer can cost 40% to 60% less than new. Some dealers even offer leases on refurbished equipment, which drops your monthly payment significantly. Just make sure the service contract covers parts and labor the same way it would on a new machine.
Ready to Compare Copier Lease Quotes?
Ready to compare copier lease quotes from verified dealers in your area? CopierFinder connects you with pre-vetted local providers so you can compare real pricing, not ballpark estimates. No obligation. No sales pressure. Just honest numbers so you can make the right call for your business.