Renting vs buying a wheelchair
When faced with the task of choosing between renting a wheelchair, or buying the wheelchair outright, you will come across seemingly conflicting information. In this article, we will discuss the pros of renting a wheelchair, along with some of the drawbacks that you will encounter, (depending on who you rent from, and how the wheelchair rental program is structured). You’ll get a fulsome understanding of why there are plenty good reasons to rent a wheelchair, perhaps some reasons you never even thought of!
Benefits of renting a wheelchair
The first benefit of renting is convenience: When you rent a wheelchair, you get to enjoy a high level of convenience. Things like having the wheelchair delivered to your door, or having access to the vendors expertise and recommendations are conveniences that you don’t always get to enjoy when you purchase an item outright. This is especially true when you purchase an item online. When you rent a wheelchair, you get the convenience of near-instant same day or next day mobility, without taking responsibility for selecting the right model, picking it up, maintaining it, etc. Additionally, knowing that the wheelchair will be promptly picked up at the end of the rental period provides added benefit, particularly when you are visiting, or a shorter term visitor for any reason.
Another benefit of renting a wheelchair is Freedom: Owning stuff is mostly a good idea, but there are times when owning your wheelchair can restrict your freedom. When you are mobile, or have occasional need for use of a wheelchair, it can often be better to get access to a wheelchair when you need it, as opposed to having it around all the time. As an item that takes up physical space in your home, choosing to own it means that you are also choosing to be responsible for maintaining it mechanically. It’s another thing that you have to figure out what to do with if you move, downsize, change up your space, or change other aspects of your life. Renting, on the other hand, gives you confidence that everyday wear and tear, regular maintenance, and upgrades are taken care of by a professional. It enables you to access mobility when you need it, and pass on it when you don’t. You have the freedom to use a wheelchair, as needed, and whenever works for YOU.
Next, lets talk about cost savings: Renting a wheelchair gives you access to a higher tier wheelchair, at a fraction of the cost. To truly know how economical renting a wheelchair is, you need to know the total cost of ownership of wheelchair. For any item the total cost of ownership includes the cost of buying the item, plus tax, plus maintenance of the item, plus any costs you incurred to clean, store, transport, or upgrade the item. When you own, you have to consider ALL of these costs, over the lifetime of the wheelchair, to recognize how much you are truly saving by renting a wheelchair. In todays world, having cashflow is often more important than being able to come up with a huge sum of cash at one point. Renting an item allows you to maintain cashflow, with steady predictability, rather than large chunks of your income being used to purchase an item. When you consider the fact that you also will likely end up renting higher end models that you would otherwise purchase, the economic benefits of renting become more obvious.
Finally, there is also the idea of sustainability: A wheelchair that is well maintained is able to benefit a wide number of customers over the course of its life. It also means that it saves those customers from having to buy their own wheelchair. In a world where we all seem to already have too much stuff, being able to access a wheelchair without needing to own it leads to environmental savings, and less use of resources overall. Those customers won’t need to worry about what happens to the wheelchair at the end of its life, since the wheelchair rental provider has their own approved processes for handling materials when they can’t be used anymore. Through this lens, renting is more efficient and streamlined.
What about longer term wheelchair rentals?
You could make the case that after a certain point, it makes sense to buy a wheelchair. After all, a wheelchair user who needs a longer term rental will end up paying for the cost of the wheelchair, and even more.
Take, for example, a typical manual wheelchair that rents for about $95 per month. After 5 or 6 monthly, the wheelchair user would have come out ahead if they had just bought the chair outright, no? In most cases, we believe this is true. It may not be cost effective for some long term users to rent, for exactly this reason. So we came up with a solution for this! There is no reason why long term renters should miss the opportunity to get the flexibility of renting, as well as the (potential) benefits of ownership. For this reason for long term rentals, we offer our users the opportunity to “buy-out” the equipment, with a portion of the rental fees paid applied to the cost of the rental. This way, it is an easy decision to rent, since you know that it can be easily converted into a “buy” in the future.
Benefits of buying a wheelchair
When you buy a wheelchair, you can have a higher level of customization and personalization of your equipment. This is an often overlooked benefit of buying. Often, it is not about the money. It is about the joy of customization and personal attachment, for a lot of folks. Sizing, height, width, “tippiness” (meaning how easy or difficult it is to “tip” the front wheels up, in a wheelie motion, such as when going over a curb), and other comfort factors can be customized to your ideal settings. That alone is an incentive to buy.
Spontaneity and “in the moment” access is another great reason to buy, and own a wheelchair. Having the freedom to make moves without waiting for a rental adds to your quality of life. For example, it can be empowering to know that you can have a lightweight transport wheelchair folded, in your trunk, in case a loved one needs a bit of extra mobility support after a long day out, or an extended walk. In cases like that, having a wheelchair rental booked and delivered just isn’t feasible. Some people need to have a wheelchair ready at hand, due to being a caregiver, being partially ambulatory, or when dealing with chronic illness, for example. If you find yourself in any of these categories, you may have good reason to own, so that assistance is on hand when you need it, without needing planning and booking. Of course, there are exceptions to all of that, such as when you are travelling outside of the country, and can’t or don’t want to travel with your own equipment. Renting is a smart choice, then.
Conclusion: Is renting a wheelchair a good idea?
For the majority of short and mid term users, renting a wheelchair is an easy and obvious “yes”. You spend less up front, get to enjoy higher tier, well maintained equipment, and can have the confidence of knowing that maintenance, disposal, and upgrades are all taken care of, with delivery and pickup included. In case you find yourself in the “long term” wheelchair user category, the comfort of knowing that your rental can be converted into a purchase in the future gives you great incentive to preserve your cashflow, and choose renting up front, without losing the chance to own later.
Renting a wheelchair is a great way to access mobility, when you need it, on demand. We’ll handle all the other tasks, such as wheelchair storage, transportation, maintenance, and end of life disposal. Renting a wheelchair is a smart, efficient option!
