If you are buying or leasing a copier worth more than $5,000, you should be sending a proper request for proposal. Not a phone call. Not a “send me a quote” email. A real RFP. The dealers who actually want your business will respond. The ones who are hoping to get away with a sloppy quote will fall away. Either outcome is a win.
Here is a complete copier lease RFP template you can copy, paste, and send today.
Why Bother With an RFP
Most small offices skip the RFP step and just ask three reps for a “quote.” The problem is that every rep will quote a slightly different machine, term, and coverage. Comparing them is impossible.
An RFP forces every dealer to answer the same questions in the same order. That gives you a clean side by side. It also signals you are a real buyer who knows what to ask. Reps will sharpen their pencils when they see it.
Section 1: About Your Business
Start here. Three to five lines tops. Company name. Industry. Number of employees. Number of locations. Roughly how long you have been in business. This sets the context.
Example: “We are a 32 person accounting firm in two offices. We have been in business 14 years and currently lease one Canon copier that expires August 30, 2026.”
Section 2: Your Volume and Use Case
This is the most important section. Be specific.
Include: average monthly black and white pages, average monthly color pages, peak month volume (tax season, end of year, etc.), required paper sizes (letter, legal, 11×17, etc.), required features (scanning, faxing, stapling, hole punch, secure print, mobile print), and any software you need to integrate with (DocuWare, SharePoint, Google Drive, etc.).
Section 3: Equipment Requirements
Tell them what you need, but stay vendor neutral. Required pages per minute. Required monthly duty cycle. Required color or black and white. Paper handling capacity. Touch screen size. Connectivity (wired, wireless, mobile).
Do not specify a brand or model. Let the dealers compete. You may get a better deal from a Kyocera dealer than a Canon dealer even if you have always used Canon.
Section 4: Lease Terms You Want Quoted
Spell out exactly what you want. Term (36, 48, or 60 months). Lease type (FMV or dollar buyout). Required residual percentage. Required money factor disclosure. Required buy rate disclosure.
Example: “Please quote a 60 month FMV lease with the residual percentage stated, the money factor stated, and the buy rate from the leasing company disclosed. We will not consider quotes that do not include all three numbers.”
Section 5: Service Contract Requirements
Black and white click rate, separately stated. Color click rate, separately stated. Any annual rate increase capped at 3% with written notice required. Toner included. Parts included. Labor included. Loaner provided if downtime exceeds 24 hours.
Also state: “Please list every fee not included in the click rate (delivery, setup, document fee, property tax, end of lease return, etc.) with a flat dollar amount.”
Section 6: Required Exit Terms
This is the section that catches dealers off guard. State that you require no auto renewal at lease end, written reminder of lease end at 120 days, 90 days, and 60 days before expiration, no return shipping fees, and no end of lease inspection penalties for normal wear.
Some dealers will not agree to all of these. That is fine. You want to know now, before you sign.
Section 7: Timeline and Decision Criteria
Tell them when quotes are due, when you will decide, and what you will weigh. Example: “Quotes are due May 25. We will make a decision by June 10. We will weigh total cost of ownership over 60 months (60%), exit terms and flexibility (25%), and service response time guarantees (15%).”
This kind of transparency works in your favor. Reps know what to emphasize.
Section 8: Required References
Ask for three customer references the same size as you, with similar volume, who have been with the dealer for at least three years. Call them. Two questions: “How is the service response time?” and “Any surprise fees at lease end?”
What Most Guides Miss
Most RFP templates online were written for huge enterprises. They are way too heavy for a small office. The trick is to keep the RFP short (two pages max) but include the half dozen questions dealers hate. Money factor. Buy rate. Residual percentage. Click rate annual increase cap. Auto renewal terms. End of lease fees. That is the meat. Skip the 40 question matrix.
One more thing: send the RFP at the same time to every dealer, with the same response date. Do not let one dealer drag the process out for two weeks while the others wait. Synchronized pressure produces sharper quotes.
For a deeper dive on what the answers should look like, see our copier lease pricing benchmarks. And if you are debating whether to lease at all, our lease vs. buy guide shows the math both ways.
Ready to Compare Copier Lease Quotes?
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