would you rather Buy or Rent stage equipment?

[earworm]

hi all,
some might have read it already somewhere else, but gonna say it again,
i'm a guy with studio expierience and some small live gig expierience,

more and more people are asking for my favors so i deceided to start doing the PA for "bigger" live gigs,,,nothing REAL big of course,
i'm just gonna move from the local youth houses to bigger indoor places...

i got mic stands, bunch of cables, mics, mixing descs,,,,outboard processors... but i don't have any Monitors, Speakers or Amps,,, oh, and very long snakes..;don't have that either

so i wonder, would it be best to go rent equipment, or go BUY it?
i'm gonna keep on doing this stuff, that's for sure,
but right now my budget isn't super big you know

so any advice... like maybe its best to go buy an amp, and rent speakers,
maybe its best to buy my own stuff so i know its nice quality....

what are your thoughts?

thanx alot,
earworm

[Wireneck]

Assuming your getting paid, do a few gigs with rental gear. When you have enough cash put back to buy your own rig, you can start taking in 100% profit. Or close to it........

[JARIK5760]

rent, never buy. it's a waste of cash. i'm in a free lance events company, and it's easy coz i'm also training with a sound company, so we get some cool stuff. and yeah, it's a total hassle when things have to be upgraded. speakers, amps, and whatever always get damaged.

[earworm]

good good,
i started looking out for companies that rent stuff

actually all i need are Speakers, monitors, extra cables

could use my equipment for all the rest,
but maybe its best to keep my own stuff at home...and let the rented stuff be damaged

[SGL Cables]

be careful when renting though you don't know what your getting lots of the time! if you buy your own stuff you know exactly what you are getting. And also your equipment is only as good as you keep it. I work for a professional sound company that deals mostly with corporate gigs and we handle our equipment very well. but we also do our fair share of live gigs and you find that for the most part the equipment is kept intact just as well. And also be reminded that when you rent you have to pay everytime. But buying costs a lot more so...