The Great Event Badge Printing Question: To Hire, Buy or Pre-Print?
When organising an event, the registration desk is your attendees' first impression. You want the badging process to be fast, professional, and visually striking. But when it comes to the hardware and stock, should you hire a printer, buy one outright, or rely on pre-printed badges ordered from a supplier like Badge Wave?
We often get asked what the most cost-effective and high-quality solution is when printing badges. In this post, we break down the costs, benefits, and drawbacks of each approach, so you can make an informed decision for your next event, regardless of the size.
1. Hiring vs. Buying a Badge Printer Outright
Many organisers default to renting equipment, assuming it's the cheaper option. But often, especially over a period of a few years, this really isn’t the case.
The Cost of Hiring
Renting a professional badge printer (along with configuration and delivery) typically costs around £250 to £350 for a 2-day event, and £300 to £450 for a 3-day event. While this avoids an upfront monetary expense, the costs can accumulate rapidly. If you run just three events a year, you could be spending upwards of £1,000 annually just on rentals.
The Cost of Buying Outright
Purchasing a printer outright requires a larger initial investment, but the return on investment (ROI) is incredibly fast for regular event organisers or an exhibition which runs like clockwork, year in, year out.
- Direct Thermal Printer - £715 (e.g. the Zebra ZD621):
- How it works: Uses heat to print in one colour (black).
- Ink Cost: £0. No ink required whatsoever, keeping costs low and maintenance easy.
- Benefit: Fast ROI. You can break even after just 2-3 events compared to hiring.
- Full-Colour Inkjet - £1,490 (e.g. the Epson CW-4000e):
- How it works: High-quality on-demand full-colour printing.
- Ink Cost: Approximately £27 per colour cartridge, or £108 for a complete set.
- Benefit: Complete design flexibility on-site.
2. The DIY Approach vs. Professional Pre-Printing
Some organisers want complete control of the printing process, and consider buying blank badge stock to print everything—branding, logos, and attendee names—on-site using an inkjet printer like the Epson CW-4000e. However some prefer to order pre-printed badges from a supplier like Badge Wave, and then print variable information themselves using a desktop printer onsite.
Situation A: The DIY Blank Stock Method
If you order 500 blank 4" x 3" adhesive badges from us, the cost is just 55p per badge.
- The Drawbacks: While the stock is cheap, printing full, heavy-colour backgrounds on an Epson CW-4000e drains ink rapidly. You will find yourself replacing that £100 ink set frequently during a 500-person print run, which drastically drives up your true cost per badge. Furthermore, while the Epson is a great desktop printer, the print quality and finish simply cannot match the stunning, edge-to-edge vibrancy of our industrial in-house presses.
Situation B: The Pre-Printed Stock Method
Alternatively, you can order 500 pre-printed 4" x 3" adhesive badges from us for £1.58 per badge.
- The Benefits: We print your core branding, logos, and colourful backgrounds using state-of-the-art commercial presses like the Bobst Mouvent LB702-UV. This guarantees a high-definition, premium finish that desktop inkjets cannot replicate. It also eliminates the stress of monitoring ink levels and changing cartridges mid-event.
Our Ultimate Recommendation: The Hybrid Approach
After years in the event industry, we've found the perfect sweet spot for most events that balances cost, speed, and premium quality. For most organisers, we highly recommend buying a direct thermal printer outright, for a relatively low cost, and pairing it with our full-colour pre-printed badges.
- Step 1: Get Badges Pre-Printed by Us (£1.58 each). Let us handle the heavy lifting. We print your beautiful, full-colour event branding on our Bobst Mouvent LB702-UV press, ensuring every badge looks spectacular and you create a great first attendee impression. We just leave out the variable information that you can print yourself easily on the day.
- Step 2: Buy the Zebra ZD621 (£715). Purchase this reliable, easy to use direct thermal printer for your registration desk to avoid ongoing rental fees, and avoid ink costs completely. This will pay for itself after just 2 or 3 events.
- Step 3: Print Variable Data On-Site. On the day of the event, use the Zebra to print only the variable information (attendee names, job titles, and QR codes) in crisp black text onto the pre-printed stock.
Why this is the winning strategy: Direct thermal printing is incredibly fast, cutting down queue times. Because it uses heat, you will never have to buy or replace an ink cartridge on the day. You own the hardware, avoiding recurring rental fees, and your attendees wear a badge with commercial-grade colour printing, elevating the prestige of your event.
BadgeWave: Your Trusted Badge Printing Partner
Do you need a badge printing solution for your next event? Contact us today for a tailored recommendation based on your event length, type, staffing levels and badging needs. Or if you’ve decided on the best way forward for your event, then browse the range of printers and badges here and order today!
- August 5, 2026
FAQS
Frequently Asked Questions
This will depend on what you want to print onto your badges on the day of your event. Our thermal tickets are designed to be printed on the Zebra range of printers, namely the ZD621 and GK420D. These printers will print your data and text in a single colour. Our Inkjet tickets are designed to be printed on the Epson C3500 and C4000 range of printers, which both allow for full-colour on the day printing.
Direct thermal technology uses a heat-sensitive coating to create clear, high-quality text or images from a single-colour printer, offering a simple and efficient printing solution without the need for ink or toner. Our Inkjet material is specially coated to allow a CMYK print process in full colour.
Typically, our on-site printers will accept any badge width up to a 4” wide. The most common size for an event badge is 4” x 12”, which folds to 4” x 6” double sided.
You can view our artwork requirements on the downloadable, editable templates on each product page.
Yes this is possible! We would just need a good understanding of your event, your branding guidelines, what is required to be printed on the badge and the logo(s) that you wish to feature. Email us at: BadgeWave@soabar.co.uk