Rent vs Buy Charger Plates

I think I'm going to rent, if I use them at all. Depends on where I fall in the budget. A local rental company has them for $.75 each. Besides, what do I need with 75 chargers after the wedding. Amd selling them is just more hassle than I want to deal with.

I really wanted to do chargers, but with the number of people at the table and with all the other stuff, there wasn't room. Just something to keep in mind. Make sure to measure and do a mock up.

I think it all depends on the cost! I don't think anyone actually wants to buy 100 chargers, but sometimes it can be cheaper than renting. I'd price compare event rentals vs buying your own in your area!

If you buy, remember there's also the hassle of getting them there yourself, set up, packing them back up and getting them home. If you rent, the rental company will likely deliver, set up and tear down...at least the company I'm using will. I just couldn't see it being worth the hassle to buy them...and there's no guarantee you actually WILL sell them afterwards to recoup some $$. You may have them lying around for alot longer than you'd want. Renting may be a little more $$ in the long run, but I think well worth the convenience.

What are you doing about your other table settings, plates, cup, etc...? If you are renting them then it may be easier to rent the chargers to.

I've seen plastic chargers for sale at Michael's for $1.

If the rental chargers are $0.75 and are not plastic, go with them!

It really depends. For example, my rental company charges $.50 or I could buy them for $1. If I purchase them, I may be able to re-sell them for $.50 and would be in the same out of pocket cost position but with more hassle. Honestly, I'm not doing chargers. They just take up too much space on the table and aren't really necessary in my opinion but that could be region specific.

Please take Summer's points into consideration. They are very good.

Definitely depends on the cost difference. I chose to buy mine, because they were so much cheaper than renting...but we had to deal with bringing them back from the venue (120 charger plates weigh A LOT), we had to clean them, and they're now in giant boxes, taking up space in our apartment! I haven't even mustered up the strength to figure out what to do with them -- shipping would be ridiculously expensive. So I would actually recommend renting, just cause of all the extra work that comes with owning them.

ETA: just saw that Summer's comment is exactly the same lol

I'm renting mine because I'm doing glass chargers and they were about $25 a piece to buy and I'm renting them for $3!

I bought mine for about 1.33/ea and sold them for just under $1/ea. I found that gold chargers were extremely easy to resell and actually had mine sold before the wedding by responding to an ISO post. The others raise excellent points about storage and transport though.

I struggled with this same problem. I ended up buying them because they are around $3 to rent in my area. I spent $75 for 100 of them at Michaels during a sale. I may or may not sell them after.

Your focus will have to be 1. What use will you get out of them after? 2. How difficult will it be to sell them and will it matter to you if they don't sell? 3. Would you be willing to donate them later? 4. Can you designate someone to be responsible for making sure you get them all back, packed, and delivered wherever you want them or will it be you? If any of that is a hassle, it can be worth a little extra to rent them. Personally, I'm buying and designing mine. But I'm a designer. I don't personally care about end use later. I know what I want to see on my tables and if that upscale high end look has to be done by my hand to have the breathtaking outcome I desire, so be it. I have my mom and others I can designate to make sure I get all my stuff. I'll take the Extra step to inventory and provide lists. This is your special day. Whatever is going to work best for you, do it. Congrats!

EXCELLENT advice, I agree. I think that is what I'm going to do. I also want to know what their delivery/pickup fee is....

Rent as much stuff as you can. Otherwise you're going to have a ton of stuff collecting dust in your house that will either go straight to the dump or a garage sale if you don't host a large party of that scale again. Also much cheaper to rent and every rental company has chargers available.