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Staging Diva

Home Staging Business Report

Information, Tools + Inspiration to Grow Your Home Staging Business

Home Stagers When Do You Cut Your Rates?

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Home staging business dilemmaHome stagers are often asked to do free home staging consultations which masquerade as free estimates until you get to the home and are bombarded with very specific questions like:

  • Should I replace the vinyl floor in the kitchen?
  • What do you think of my front porch?
  • Home buyers aren’t going to care about (insert any one of a thousand problems), right?

Staging Diva students learn how to avoid falling into what I call this “free estimate trap” in Course 3, Taking the Mystery Out of Home Staging Consultations.

Here’s a related (and all too common) staging business dilemma. What about the potential client who says:

  • “I’m a real estate investor and after this property there will be 5 more for you to stage. How much can you cut the price of your current estimate?”
  • “I really wasn’t planning on spending that much, if you give me a deal I’ll recommend you to all my friends. How does that sound?”
  • “I get lots of real estate listings so I can really throw a lot of business your way. But I was hoping to spend much less per listing for your advice. What can you do for me?”

Home stagers, what do you do when faced with the business dilemma of being asked to cut your rates? What do you say to the potential client?  Please weigh in on this topic and add your comments below.  I’ll write a follow up post about how home stager Amy tackled this problem and what it did for her business.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Debra Gould developed the Staging Diva Training Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own money making home staging businesses. There are now 4,000 students in over 20 countries around the world following her formula for business success.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Andrea Marshall says

    Wow! I think I have heard every single one of these comments. I’m sorry to say I have no good answer for these. I am curious to hear what other people say and what works for them.

    • Debra Gould says

      Hi Andrea, thanks for sharing your comments. I’ve heard them all too, I’ve been staging houses since 2002.

  2. Sveta Melchuk says

    Hi, I have been staging houses since 2006 and have heard them all as well. I am very clear on my rates and what I do for the client for those prices. I make them see that my rates are very fair and I stick to them. Usually the client agrees…if he doesn’t, maybe I don’t want him anyway LOL

  3. Cathy Tarrant says

    Hi, as a newbie, I have had these thrown at me a number of times, but I learned my lesson. A Realtor who was paying for the actual staging wanted to bring all this business my way…if I gave him breaks, etc. As a new stager I was desperate to get my name out there, so I naively took on his jobs. The first one I went in the hole, the second one I prob broke even and the third one I hoped to make a little profit…..but he balked at the price of the third one and told me he would go back to another stager who would do it for $XX. (He was thrilled the results of my staging when compared to the other stager…and the houses sold almost immediately). After thinking about it for a day or so, I sent him a very detailed email, explaining why I would not lower my prices, etc. I told him if he didn’t think my expertise was worth the money, then I would understand if he went with another stager. I did not hear from him again until about a year later….when he wanted me to do a consultation over the week-end (the very next day). I told him I would be happy to do it on Monday. Again, no response. A couple of months ago he called me and wanted a staging done ASAP, but I told him I was booked but would be happy to have a look at it next week. No response again. I haven’t heard from him since then.