How to lease or purchase Tanning Beds and Tanning Booths

April 21st, 2010

The age old phrase, “It takes money to make money”, applies to running a successful tanning salon.  Unfortunately, it is often hard for salons to continually pay cash for new equipment.  Thankfully, tanning equipment is available through a multitude of financing programs.  These programs can help salons stay competitive with little to no up-front capital.  The types of programs vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and also between the different leasing companies.  Some programs are a standard lease-to-own where a standard monthly payment is made that covers principal and interest on the equipment.  Usually the interest rate is determined by the down payment and length of lease.   Tanning industry standard lease lengths are 24, 36, and 48 months.  Sun Capsule has added a unique twist to the concept and offers a “pay per session” program called FLEX financing.  The program allows salon owners to pay the equipment off using the cash it is generating.  Each time the booth is used Sun Capsule receives $4, the rest of the income generated by the unit goes to the salon owner.  If the salon owner charges $15 a session for the piece of equipment on a flex plan, then they would pocket $11 and the remaining $4 would go to Sun Capsule.  After 500 hours the tanning booth is then fully owned by the salon and all future cash flows are 100% the owners.  When you break this program down it is really Sun Capsule investing in your business for you.  The plan varies on how you have your salon set up.  If you are a membership based tanning salon then the pricing will be slightly different but the concept is the same.

Another way to finance equipment is getting a bank loan, but with the economy in its current state it is more difficult for salon owners to receive credit.  It is a risky loan for a bank to make considering that new tanning equipment can cost over $35,000 per bed.  Used equipment is a good way to save money, but it is important that you inspect the equipment before buying.  It might cost $3,000, but when you receive it you learn it needs $2,000 in repairs.  A lot of manufacturers provide certified used equipment that comes with a full factory warranty and has been restored with any broken or dirty parts being replaced.  The other nice part about buying certified used tanning booths and tanning beds is that they come with new bulbs.  This in itself can be worth hundreds of dollars and is a necessity with any used equipment purchase.

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Tags: equipment leasing, Tanning, tanning beds, tanning booths, tanning lamps, tanning salon, used tanning beds
Posted in Tanning, Tanning Equipment | 2 Comments »

2 Comments to “How to lease or purchase Tanning Beds and Tanning Booths”

  1. Tim Brown
    April 21, 2010  |  5:00 pm

    Great Post! Thanks for the info!

  2. Alex
    April 26, 2010  |  3:30 am

    Using one of the leasing programs is the best way to go. I needed new equipment, but with the down market it didn’t seem wise to invest capital. By leveraging the bed I was able to get a new piece of equipment in my salon that started to increase my sales