The reasons to rent a laptop are plenty, but we won’t go into that with this post today. Today we’ll talk about why I don’t think laptop rental is a good idea. Yes, you heard that right. I’m going to tell you why doing such a thing can mean financial trouble for you in the long run.
Laptop rentals have a lot of costs that aren’t addressed up front by the rental agency. These costs add up throughout the life of the rental term, and in the end you come out much less ahead than you thought you would when you originally signed on the dotted line. In fact, you come out quite a large amount behind. This is due to a simple rule of life: interest. Yes, our friend interest strikes again. As the saying goes: “There are two things in life that are for certain: death and taxes.” I propose we make it three: “Death, taxes, and interest.”
Why does the interest on your laptop rental add up so quickly? It’s simple, really. The interest rates on rentals are absolutely massive, and aren’t usually brought to your attention unless you’re reading the small print (you are, aren’t you?). You’re just quoted a monthly rate and a rental term (the length, basically). It’s not like car shopping where you’ll negotiate. If the monthly rate sounds good to you, you sign. They’ll never tell you what the interest rate is.
Well, I’m here to tell you this: The interest rate you’ll see on a typical laptop rental is upwards of 100%. You heard that right: 100%. For every month you rent a laptop, you pay just as much interest as you pay principle, and that, my friends, is ridiculous and downright criminal. That rental agency is lining their pockets because you’re not reading the fine print.
Just remember this post the next time you get the idea to do something silly like think you can beat the system on a cheap laptop rental.
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