A printer stand is a piece of home/office furniture which holds a printer or scanner on it's top shelf, and has shelves or drawers below to hold other printer supplies like paper, etc. 

Why do we need a printer stand? A few things stand out quickly, but we will get to them in a proper way. 

The immediately obvious benefit of a printer stand is the space saving and convenience it affords in a small workspace due to it's dimensions and structure. It's wheels afford mobility for your printer, which can then be shared between different computers by moving the printer stand around.

Space on your work desk can be freed up by moving the printer and it's accessories & supplies to the printer stand. Apart from freeing up your desk, the printer stand keeps all your printer-related stuff in one place for convenience and easy accesibility, when needed.

Last but not the least, but also not so obvious as it is distracted by the above benefits, is the security a printer stand provides to your printer, which is a necessary and much-used piece of equipment in our day-to-day activities.

Some of these benefits are common to all printer stands, but there are also specific benefits provided by different types of printer stands. For example, a cart style printer stand, with wheels can be pushed around to different computers at different times, when required. Or they can be placed in a nook, and brought to your desk only when required, thus clearing a lot of clutter around your workspace.

Then, there are also, 'rise above' or 'desktop' printer stands which are designed to keep your printer a few inches above your desk, for those who don't have the floor space to keep a proper printer stand. Such desktop printer stands, also called 'printer caddies', also allow books to be kept under the upraised printer.

Apart from the variety of design available for printer stands, they are also available in different materials (steel vs wood in different finishes) to suit the aesthetic needs of your workspace. 

All these attributes/benefits make the printer stand an ideal accessory for use in your home or office.