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How do you price services for staging?

By Carol Ellis

Home Stager with Luxury-Domain to Home Stage

May 15, 2007 12:43 AM

I have had quite a few calls lately about pricing and how I go about it. This is what I do:

1. Calculate all costs accurately, this includes inventory, inventory carrying costs,(if you have inventory on a credit card and pay a finance charge this can be hefty) inventory transportation costs( delivery and pickup)

2. My transportation costs for the particular vehicle I am using, the Suburban is costly

3. Phone costs, computer costs, printer costs

4. Your time costs, computer time, phone time, shopping time, time spent billing

5. I have a trip charge outside of a 20 mile radius-it is a $50.00 trip charge

6. Advertising materials cost, brochures, flyers, presentation folders , post cards,power point presentation cases and labels etc.......

7. My actual time staging

8. Moving costs

9. Cleaning costs for cleaning services

10. My cost for legal fees, for contracts, business set up, insurance, bonding, business filing fees, postage, digital photo cards and photo printing including photo paper and color cartridges.....

11. Bank costs, checking account carrying costs

THEN I add the staging fee and voila----I have my pricing structure! Now wasn't that easy?

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Lynette Lawson

Starlight Design - Yucaipa, CA

Inland Empire, CA Home Staging

Hi Carol, That gives you your costs but how do you calculate your fees? That is the tricky part.

Lynette

May 15, 2007 03:38 AM

Carol Ellis

Luxury-Domain to Home Stage - Charlottesville, VA

Lynette, after I calculate my actual costs of doing a particular job I calculate how much time I think it will take me and charge between $50.00 to $100.00 per hour and I stick to the time given in the estimate or proposal. Any time after the initially contracted time is at the $50.00 to $100.00 rate.

EXAMPLE:

If I have a job that I think will take me 10 hours total, I add up my out-of-pocket, up-front costs.

Lets say I spend $350.00(proposal time, getting some inventory specific to that job, phone calls to get info etc.) getting ready to stage a job

Lets say the job is 58 miles away (time @ $50.00/hr, and trip charge) that will be $100.00

Say the first months accessory rental is $250.00 I always include this in my first invoice

So that is;

$350.00 + $100.00 + 250.00 + $75.00/hr for 10 hours soooooo............That will be $1450.00 and that is more, or less, how I come up with my fee for each client. So far realtors and clients think this is a bargain.

Any moving costs are borne by the client separately, as are cleaning costs to the individual suppliers and you have to plug in your amounts tailored to each situation. No two are alike.

May 15, 2007 06:27 AM

How do you price services for staging?

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Carol Ellis

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