You want to rent your company laptops flexibly through a workplace-as-a-service model, and now you wonder what to do with the laptops that are already in use. The answer is simple: you can sell them and rent them back. With buy-and-rent-back, a provider buys your existing devices, your employees keep working as before, and from then on you pay a monthly rate that includes service. The real benefit: once the service is running, you can modernise the laptops (that is, replace them) at an agreed point in time. That lets you renew the whole fleet without a big-bang project and without weeks of disruption for IT. A device-as-a-service provider such as Everphone offers this, for example. You may know the model as sale-and-leaseback. We call it buy-and-rent-back because Everphone does not lease, it rents. This article is about laptops and mixed fleets.
What buy-and-rent-back means for laptops
Buy-and-rent-back swaps ownership for rent without changing anything in day-to-day work. The same laptops stay with the same employees. Only the owner changes, and with it the responsibility for replacement, data erasure and keeping track of the devices. Laptops are where this matters most. They cost more than smartphones, stay in use for longer and take more work every time you set one up. Selling and renting back therefore shifts more than capital: it also shifts a lot of routine. The table shows what you can do with existing devices and what each option takes off your plate.
| Keep | Sell individually | Sale-and-leaseback with a lessor | Buy-and-rent-back | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash today | No | Yes, per device | Yes | Yes |
| Devices stay in use | Yes | No, replacements needed | Yes | Yes |
| Management and replacement | Your own IT | Your own IT | Your own IT | Part of the service |
| Erasure and return at the end | Your own IT | Your own IT | Often with extra costs | Certified erasure and refurbishment at no extra cost, purchase option by arrangement |
If all you want is financing, a lessor is the place to look. The typical cost traps there are described in 9 reasons why smartphone leasing costs are too high.
How selling with rent-back works
The process has five steps, and the first one usually takes the longest.
- Create an inventory list
Model, serial number, year of purchase, condition and the employee each device is assigned to. If this list sits in three Excel files and a ticketing system, it costs days on its own. - Valuation
The provider estimates the current value of the devices and names a purchase price. Age, model and condition determine it. - Internal review
Finance and your tax adviser clarify how the sale and the rent-back are booked (see below). - Contract and payout
You sell the devices, the purchase price is paid out and the rental contract starts. - Rent-back
The devices run in the provider's asset management. Faulty devices are replaced as part of the service, and damage is covered by the rent.
Worked example: 100 laptops, three years old
A sale feels like a saving, but the proceeds are an advance on the rent. A worked example with 100 laptops shows this. All figures are assumptions for the example, not market figures and not Everphone prices. The assumed current value is €450 per device, the assumed rent-back is €30 per device per month.
| Item | Assumption | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Fleet | 100 laptops, three years old | |
| Current value | 100 × €450 | €45,000 |
| Rent-back | 100 × €30 per month | €3,000 per month |
| Proceeds used up after | €45,000 ÷ €3,000 | 15 months |
Today €45,000 is in your account, and after 15 months of rent you have, on paper, given that sum back. After that you keep paying for use and service. Set against this is what managing the fleet internally costs. In our TCO example for 100 laptops, setup, staff changes, defects and returns came to just under €10 per device per month. With rental, this part disappears entirely, and your IT team can get back to substantive work. To work out your own TCO, simply use our Device Forecast tool. Run the numbers for your own fleet: current value per device, internal hours per year and the rental rate from the offer. Only then will you see whether the rate outweighs the service and the liquidity you free up.
What is different for mixed fleets
With a mixed fleet, you value each device group separately. Windows laptops, MacBooks, tablets and smartphones have different current values, and within a group the year of purchase counts. Take a company with 150 laptops from three purchasing rounds, plus 60 tablets and 80 smartphones. The newest laptop generation brings in the most. The oldest brings in less, but the sale is still worthwhile for process reasons. The advantage of a mixed fleet: afterwards everything runs under one contract and in one asset management system, instead of in three lists. For replacing the oldest devices, you will find the key points in the article on renting laptops for business.
Who buy-and-rent-back suits, and when it does not
Buy-and-rent-back is worthwhile for companies of any size if the fleet still has value and managing it eats up time. It pays off most clearly when at least one of these points applies:
- You want to move to a managed device lifecycle service (DaaS, WaaS).
- The laptops are one to three years old and bring in a noticeable amount.
- The money is needed elsewhere, for a project or for growth, say.
- The fleet is inconsistent, and nobody has the full picture.
- A replacement is due in the next twelve months.
Your next step is the inventory list: sort the devices by age and strike out everything that does not support Windows 11. With this list, a short consultation with the Everphone team will show you what selling and renting back means for your fleet.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between buy-and-rent-back and sale-and-leaseback?
With both, you sell devices and keep using them. With sale-and-leaseback, you pay a lessor who finances the purchase price. With buy-and-rent-back, you pay rent to a provider who also takes on management, replacement and erasure.
Can I sell and rent back laptops that are not yet fully depreciated?
Yes. A higher book value even lowers the taxable gain from the sale. If the proceeds are below the book value, a loss arises. What that means for you is something to clarify with finance or your tax adviser.
Do I have to buy the devices back after the term?
At the end of the term, there is a purchase option by arrangement. So you can keep the devices or return them. Certified erasure and refurbishment after return cost nothing extra.
What happens to the data on the laptops?
On return, Everphone erases the devices with certification. How that works is described in the article on securely erasing data when devices are returned.
How many devices do I need for buy-and-rent-back?
Device as a Service is worthwhile for companies of any size, and there is no rule of thumb based on the number of devices. What matters is the age and condition of the devices and what liquidity and management are worth to you.