Dear Members and Colleagues, I am writing this letter to formally accept the position of President of the International Association of Home Staging Professionals® (IAHSP®). I am honored and thrilled to have been chosen for this significant role, and I am excited to embark on this excursion with the IAHSP® community. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Jennie Norris, whose trust and confidence in my abilities have led to this remarkable opportunity. I am grateful for her belief in me, and I assure you that I will dedicate my utmost efforts to fulfilling the responsibilities and expectations associated with this evolving position. Having been actively involved in the home staging industry since 2007, I have developed a deep passion for our profession. I firmly believe that the time is ripe for meaningful change within our industry. It is my firm conviction that to grow, thrive, build wealth, and live life to the fullest, we must embrace change. I am committed to working collaboratively with all stakeholders and members in the IAHSP community to drive positive transformations and bring our shared goals to fruition. Together, we will elevate the standards of excellence, foster innovation, and inspire continuous growth for all members. Change is indeed in the air, and I am excited to spearhead this transformative path. I invite and encourage all members who share our vision and aspirations to join us in shaping the future of home staging and design. Your insights, ideas, and active participation are invaluable, and I look forward to collaborating with each of you to make a lasting impact. I kindly request you to reach out to me at Amy.Powers@iahsp.com at your earliest convenience if you are interested in contributing to this exciting chapter of IAHSP's growth. Together, we will create a brighter and more prosperous future for our industry and its professionals. Once again, I express my deep appreciation for the trust given to me. I am genuinely honored to serve as President of IAHSP®, and I am eager to commence this journey alongside all of you. Let us embrace change, seize opportunities, and achieve remarkable success together, because, above all, WE ARE IAHSP! Thank you for your continued support. Sincerely, Amy Powers President, International Association of Home Staging Professionals® (IAHSP®)

Learn from the EXPERTS who have built home staging businesses that rank in the TOP 2% OF ALL HOME STAGING BUSINESSES IN THE WORLD! Be the FIRST in Europe to earn this prestigious credential at a LIVE training! Join us for 3 full days of learning how to SCALE for Success - and Master Your Business! This is the FIRST TIME this course is being taught in Europe! The ASP Master Accreditation is the HIGHEST form of learning in the industry. Course originally developed by the Creator of Home Staging and has been updated by active Home Staging & Design professional educators and leaders to teach you what you need to learn to advance your success with a firm foundation for growth. Space is Limited. Register now and secure BEST PRICING! www.IAHSPScale.com Course is held directly after the HSA-UK Forum - you need to attend the Forum to attend the Masters as content will build. The Masters Course is usually 4 days long - and we are reducing to 3 days and including the Forum.

To answer that question, we need a little history lesson. When the Home Staging industry began, it was birthed out of real estate as a way to make properties look and show better to prospective buyers.  Back when the industry began in 1972, there was no governing body established to regulate the industry.  Maybe it is because from 1972 to the early 2000’s, Staging was not really seen as a “viable” industry.  We were sort of considered the “ugly step-sister” of the Design Industry and as such were not seen as professional or necessary.  In the late 1990’s the first Home Staging Training Course was developed and taught by Stagedhomes.com.  In 1999 the International Association of Home Staging Professionals ®  (IAHSP ® ) – the first – and to date – the  largest –  Home Staging Industry Association was founded based on the principles and guidelines found in other reputable associations such as the National Association of Realtors.  It was not until about the early-2000’s that Home Staging really was put on the map with talented business owners providing this service and sharing their talent and expertise with homeowners around the world. Because of the way the industry began and grew, there is NO official governing entity telling Home Stagers how they have to set up a business. Unlike real estate where someone has to take a test and pass it in order to sell property, and have required education to keep their license active, Home Staging sort of slipped under the radar of any agency taking the service and controlling who could open up a business, who can call themselves a Home Stager, how they have to operate a business or mandating any sort of educational requirements. Individuals can literally decide one day they are going to start a Staging business, and off they go. We are required to have a business license and pay taxes on our income, but Home Stagers do not have the same requirements for education, association or performance standards that other industries have. If we were able to go back in time and adjust things, it would be great if there were an agency that had oversight on our industry to help establish educational ground rules for those entering the industry, and have a place where the public could go to resolve any disputes or ethics issues. Since there is no regulatory or government agency that exists to do that for Home Staging, the industry has self-regulation practices – and it is the Home Staging Associations that have stepped up to fill the gap. So let’s take a look at what “Accreditation Means” and who is eligible to provide Accreditations to individuals, Training Courses or Companies in the Home Staging Industry. Accreditation: noun noun: accreditation ; plural noun: accreditations 1. the action or process of officially recognizing someone as having a particular status or being qualified to perform a particular activity. “the accreditation of professionals” official certification that a school or course has met standards set by external regulators. 2. an acknowledgment of a person’s responsibility for or achievement of something. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT: Q: WHO is eligible to provide ACCREDITATIONS in the Home Staging Industry? A: In short – anyone who wants to do so, can. Because there are no external regulators for the Home Staging Industry that are officially recognized by any legal institution or government , ANY entity can claim the ability to audit, evaluate, approve and recognize an individual, training course or company and provide an Accreditation. Entities that claim otherwise, are sharing information that is false. It may be their desire or opinion that our industry should function that way, but the reality is any group, association or company that claims they are the only ones able to accredit another entity, are not sharing accurate information. There is NO agency in or outside the Home Staging Industry that has Accredited a Home Staging entity to Accredit other Home Staging entities to be Accredited! (say THAT 10 times fast!) Home Staging Industry Associations are the closest thing we have to any sort of “regulatory agency” in the industry. However, an association has no authority to prevent an individual from owning and operating a Staging business and has no authority in dictating what courses someone should or should not attend. An Association CAN provide guidance to the industry and its members. An association can provide guidelines for ethical standards, best business practices and resources to help members grow and thrive, and they can even remove a person from membership who is not representative of what that association stands for – but they cannot put anyone out of business. Q: WHY bother with getting Accredited? A: Credibility . Plain and simple. The goal is that any course offered is evaluated based on its merit, content, complexity, and quality – it is evaluated based on a set of standards determined by the accrediting agency. As we have already determined, anyone who wants to be an accrediting agency in the Home Staging industry CAN provide this stamp of approval. Again there are no rules that an entity must follow in order to issue an accreditation, and the criteria is subjective . One entity may opt to use a set of third party guides from some other industry, and another entity may opt to evaluate a course based on their expertise in the industry that qualifies them to know what courses deserve to be accredited or not. The outcome is the course being evaluated is given a stamp of approval by the entity accrediting it. That, in turn, lends credibility to that course and the course provider. Q: So WHO issues Accreditations? A: When you read the definition above, an Accreditation is issued by an external regulator and in the Home Staging industry, there is no governing body dictating who CAN or CANNOT issue an accreditation or who has determined who is an approved external regulator . Q: Can an Association who is issuing Accreditations to educational course providers in the Home Staging Industry ALSO provide their own courses that compete with the entities who have paid to be accredited by that Association? A: In short – YES. But SHOULD THEY? In our opinion, No . In our opinion if an Association offers courses that compete with the entities who have PAID to be accredited and promoted on the association site, it represents a conflict of interest because the association is now taking potential business away from the companies that paid the association for the review and accreditation, and approval. The association is making money off their own courses they have self-accredited instead of remaining a completely neutral entity in the Home Staging industry. Here are some FACTS to CONSIDER: FACT : Any Home Staging Industry Association CAN issue an Accreditation to an entity serving the industry – whether a training provider, an individual, or a course. FACT:   There are no guidelines an entity must follow in order to provide an Accreditation outside of being recognized as a school that is qualified to issue an accreditation.  What is required is “officially recognizing someone as having a particular status or being qualified to perform a particular activity,” and in the Staging industry, that can be done by an Association, a Company, a Course, an individual – there are no set guidelines that must be followed. FACT: The evaluation for the Accreditation should be without bias. An entity reviewing and approving courses needs to be unbiased and not influenced by the entity they are evaluating. FACT: Being PAID to evaluate a course could constitute a bias. If another course is unwilling or unable to pay the FEE for evaluation, and the provider is only approving those who paid, this means there are courses that are not being approved simply because they do not want to pay a high fee to an entity that is not THE official accrediting source for the Home Staging Industry. This does NOT mean that course that is not listed is not as qualified, as good or valid. It ONLY means the course provider opted NOT to pay a large fee to be evaluated. The ability to Accredit is a self-proclaimed status . FACT: Evaluations of courses do help provide the public with information on what courses to evaluate and recourse for investing in education in one of the approved courses. If a course is Accredited by an Association and someone who attends that course is unhappy with their course or learning, that person has recourse to go to the Association and ask for resolution help. However if a course is not listed on an association site, it does NOT mean that course is not reputable or qualified. It only means that course provider has not asked to be evaluated or has opted not to pay a large sum for this stamp of approval. FACT:   IAHSP ®  is an entity in the Industry that DOES provide Accreditations for Courses.  We have reviewed, approved and accredited courses in the US, Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK, Brazil, Israel, and Spain.  In IAHSP ® , the evaluation is conducted by individuals who have nearly two decades of experience IN the industry as educators, business owners and leaders.  Because they work IN the industry, they are qualified to recognize aspects of courses that are necessary for students to learn in order for them to be successful. FACT: IAHSP® receives NO MONEY for evaluating and approving educational courses in the Home Staging industry. The accreditation process provided by IAHSP is truly independent and without bias as no funds are being paid in order for an entity to receive an approved accreditation status. FACT: There are no rules prohibiting a cross-over in terms of being both in leadership in an Association and also a course developer or instructor. Any entity or individual who states otherwise is offering up an OPINION – not a fact. FACT: Home Staging Courses can ACCREDIT the STUDENT. The Accreditation recognizes the accomplishment and achievement of an individual who has attended a course. Most courses in the industry offer a designation and a certification to graduates. Those that offer an Accreditation as well are providing it to the graduate – giving them the highest level of credibility and status in the industry. For more information on approved Industry Accreditations, go to  www.iahsp.com .  There is a list of industry credentials approved for membership in IAHSP ® . If you are a course provider and would like to be evaluated by IAHSP to see if your course is eligible for the IAHSP ®  Accreditation, please email  Jennie@iahsp.com You can also UPLOAD your course to the Hyve.pro portal on the http://www.iahsp.com site and earn money from your courses by getting them in front of industry members. The International Association of Home Staging Professionals IAHSP® is dedicated to advancing the education of the professional Home Stager and Realtor® as they prepare homes for sale. IAHSP® members strive to serve the public to the best of their ability built upon the principles, practices, and education of approved Home Staging courses and designations. #business #professional #Accreditation #industry #homestaging #home #educational #international #credential #realestate #stager

What You Can Expect The business of Home Staging, Real Estate and Design. Register Today This year’s Conference & Expo will be emceed by celebrity designer and host of host of AWEtv’s “Behind the Gates” and “Find Me a Vacation Home”, and spokeswoman for REALTOR.com, Jennifer Farrell. Topics will take a renewed focus on providing you the tools and inspiration to grow your business and business strategies. Whether you are just starting out, or your business has scaled and you are seeking for advanced business strategies to take your business to the next level, this year’s IAHSP Conference and Expo is loaded with content and value. View Full Event Schedule Industry Experts We have assembled experts from within the industry to share strageties and answer your questions on how they have build programs, teams and strategies that have lead to success and mastery. Outside Experts Learn from experts from outside of the industry, who lead national and international brands and teams. Leverage their experience to expand our knowledge and set a higher level of business strategy and business mastery. Breakout Sessions by Experience Level Business Owners – Work “on” your business This year we are creating two conferences in one. Where business owners will learn tools and strategies for working “on” their business. With break out sessions designed for beginner, intermidiate and advanced business owners, to focus on: – Marketing Strategies – Business & Planning – Business FInances Teams – Work “in” your business For the employees and teams – We have created a seperate set of sessions for the employees and teams, to learn on the job, taclical ways to perform their jobs better. We have the Top Large Scale Businesses, leading a 3-Part Breakout Session, exclusively for your teams. We will cover: Session 1 – A general overview and introduction of Home Staging, how home staging impacts Real Estate, and the importance of Home Staging in the home sales process. Session 2 – On the job, best practices, practical knowledge on Do’s and Don’ts, and customer service standards. Session 3 – Team building and communication, Apps and efficiency tools, and conflict resolution within teams and clients. Vendor Expo Booths and Panel Discussions In addition to the vendor expositions on Friday evening and Saturday morning, this years conference has a few extra surprises. Cash & Carry – This year, our VIP Ticket holders will have first dibs on purchases from the vendors. Followed by members, then non-members. From The Stage – This year, we are inviting several of the manufacturers on stage for our Manufacturers Panel. There they will be able to share some insights into the industry, shipping and logistics concerns that are impacting your business. Exclusive VIP Mixer Saturday Night VIP Mixer – Available exclusively to our VIP Conference Ticket Holders, we are hosting a VIP Mixer, where you will get the opportunity to mingle with our speakers and brands, over a casual mixer. This is a great way to spend a little bit more time talking with and engaging our speakers and vendors, to gain insights and build relationships. EDUCATION  from TOP Industry Pros for beginners, intermediate and advanced business owners! INSPIRATION  that will carry you forward to new heights of success! MOTIVATION  that will get you out the door to achieve your goals! NETWORKING  with colleagues from around the world! SHOPPING OUR VENDOR EXPO  with special pricing unavailable to non-attendees! AWARDS  to recognize top staging individuals and teams! GALA DINNER  where we have fun and enjoy celebrating each other and our industry! Register Today #business #staging #professional #industry #homestaging #neworleans #home #educational #conference #realestate #stager

IAHSP brings you the BEST Education, Speakers, Networking, Vendors, and Recognition – and you don’t want to miss out! Register NOW – only $590 for the ENTIRE EVENT including: Education Sessions Keynote Speaker Sessions Awards Dinner & Gala Prices go up incrementally, so secure the BEST PRICING NOW by registering sooner than later! We have special pricing for TEAMS as well so if you have 3 or more team members we can offer you special discounted pricing for the 3rd+ team member you register. Advance your Business Growth and Success – whether you are a NEW, GROWING or SEASONED Home Staging Pro – we have topics and education that pertains to YOU and where you are in your business journey. Our Conference starts off with an EXPO on Friday evening where our attendees get to see our amazing VENDOR PARTNER SPONSORS who have traveled to New Orleans to share their products or services with YOU! We have music, dancing, food, and shopping! It is a great way to KICK OFF our event with a party! Saturday and Sunday are EDUCATION DAYS with EXPERT SPEAKERS on various topics related to: Business Logistics Sales Strategies Marketing Strategies Scaling Your Business Adding to Your Team Warehousing Purchasing Wholesale Staging & Design Trends Our conference is a TRUE CELEBRATION of the Industry – with our Annual Awards Gala Dinner! We issue the IAHSP Staging Industry Awards and our theme this year is the MARDI GRAS MASQUERADE BALL – and we will have fun recognizing all the top stagers in certain categories, and wrap up our conference with a party! Check out some pics from our last conference!

The greatly anticipated Stagers of Color Issue is here! This IAHSP Magazine issue is released publicly (versus our other issues that are for members only) as we want those who are thinking about getting into home staging, and those looking to hire pro-Stagers to see the amazing men and women of color who are part of our growing industry. IAHSP is proud to share this inspiring issue with our global community and hope it helps increase the success of all stagers as they read the inspiring stories of staging journeys each person included. Thank you to all those who submitted to be included in the issue. If you did not submit and want to be included for our next issue, please let us know! Click HERE to see the online digital magazine. #homestaging #magazine #industry #minorities #stagersofcolor #iahspworldwide #staging #realestate #association #professional #connection #international #membership #stager #business #success #homestager #magazine #business #staging #professional #homestager #industry #magazine #homestaging #stagersofcolor #home #international #minorities #realestate #stager

Register NOW for the all-new, updated Buyer Trends Specialist (BTS) Designation Course. This will be taught LIVE on May 12th – and recorded for those who cannot attend live. All grads receive NEW BTS Logo, Style Sheets, Course handouts, and more! Position yourself as an EXPERT with your clients and gain CONFIDENCE in discussing updating and trends. This course will take 4 hours to teach as we cover: Learn the 7 Demographic Groups Identify Who is Buying What and Why Learn How to Identify Home Styles Understand Industry Design Terms Current Color Trends to use for paint recommendations Staging trends to appeal to target buyers Trending Furniture Styles Trending Furniture Colors Interior Material Trends (flooring, fixtures, hardware, counters, carpeting) #business #staging #designer #professional #interior #homestaging #home #Course #international #designtrend #Designation #Class #Education #realestate #credentials #stager #exterior

By Sasha Barker The IAHSP® EU proudly brings to you the 3rd European Conference and the 2nd European Awards. This year, the conference will be held in Lisbon’s Pestana Palace Hotel on the 28th and 29th of May 2022. IAHSP® EU has lined up 7 top industry professionals to share their valuable insights over the course of the weekend. Attendees will have access to inspiring talks on success, time management, design principles and even warehouse logistics, just to name a few! This year’s speakers will be as follows: Birgit Anich (Warehouse and Logistics: Tips and Tricks to Maximise Operational Efficacies) June Carter (Time Management for Home Stagers) Annie Doherty (Design Principles) Barbara Heil-Sonneck (First Impressions Matter) Marta Monteiro (Vision for Success) Jennie Norris (Senior Staging Specialist Course and Certified IAHSP Course Trainer) Mariah Wayhudi (How to Save Time, Increase Sales and Generate Leads Using LinkedIn) The full schedule (subject to change), which will include lunches and coffee breaks, can be found here. Everything you need to know about what is best for your staging business will be at your fingertips, and you’ll also be surrounded by like-minded individuals with a passion for Home Staging – the perfect opportunity to network and build connections. There will be opportunities to meet our sponsors and discuss their products and services throughout the conference. We’re proud to announce this year’s main sponsor as quality furniture brand Kave Home. Our Gold Sponsors are StagedHomes & 221, and our Bronze Sponsor is data insight company Stageflow, whose support is hugely appreciated. We are also honored to have Stagedhomes.com , Home Philosophy and Staged4More, who share the same vision with us in giving importance to home staging education, as our Educational Supporters. On the evening of the 28th, the 2nd European Home Staging Awards will take place. This is a wonderful occasion for everybody to come together and celebrate our successes as Home Stagers from all over Europe. We are looking forward to seeing you all there and are confident it will be a fun, fulfilling weekend. You can find more information about the conference, including this year’s speakers, and buy your tickets here .

By Sasha Barker The IAHSP®’s European Home Staging Conference and Expo is just around the corner, and we are here to fill you in on those all-important details! You really won’t want to miss out on what is set to be a brilliant weekend for the Home Staging industry. Beautiful Lisbon, Portugal This year, the conference will be held in Lisbon’s Pestana Palace Hotel on the 28th and 29th of May 2022. THE FUTURE IS NOW The IAHSP® Europe has lined up 7 top industry professionals to share their insights over the course of the weekend. Attendees will have access to inspiring talks on success, time management, design principles and even warehouse logistics, just to name a few! On the second day, there will be a specialist course on Senior Staging, reviewing Home Staging solutions for more mature adults. Senior Staging Specialist Designation from IAHSP The full schedule (subject to change), which will include lunches and coffee breaks, can be found here. Everything you need to know about what is best for your staging business will be at your fingertips, and you’ll also be surrounded by like minded individuals with a passion for Home Staging – the perfect opportunity to network and build connections. There will be opportunities to meet our sponsors and discuss their products and services throughout the conference. On the evening of the 28th, the 2nd annual European Home Staging Awards will take place. This is a wonderful occasion for everybody to come together and celebrate our successes as Home Stagers from all over Europe. It is a black-tie event with a Gala Dinner, not to mention the afterparty where we can all let our hair down! We are looking forward to seeing you all there and are confident it will be a fun, fulfilling weekend. You can find more information on our guest speakers and buy your tickets for the conference here. #Training #professional #IAHSPEurope #interiordesigner #homestaging #estateagent #portugal #awards #conference #Education #realestate #stager #europe

Our members are excited about our February IAHSP Magazine issue! This is an exclusive benefit of being an IAHSP Member and our digital magazines are great to re-read and use as a resource for the topics covered. This month, we discuss Shabby Chic and Boho Styles, remind ourselves why we LOVE what we do, and much more! Not a member yet? You can join by going to www.IAHSP.com – and join now to start receiving all the benefits of membership!

Our first issue for 2022 is OUT and ready for you to enjoy! The IAHSP Magazine is emailed to all current IAHSP members and is one of the many benefits of membership in the world’s largest Staging association.

https://www.whatsellsbest.com/source/lowball.php by Jennie Norris, President & CEO, Stagedhomes.com, CEO, Sensational Home Staging – We Stage Colorado, Chairwoman, IAHSP PRICING. We need to talk about it in order to understand it for our industry, and yet so many stagers are afraid to talk openly about pricing and what their market supports. As such we have an industry under valuing their time, product and service. You don’t want to be the Low Ball Leader. In general, staging pricing is tied to the price of homes in a region. If an area has higher priced properties, stagers can charge more, and if the pricing is more modest, they charge less. Our industry is hard to explain as it is not based on hourly or salary or even experience per se. If the region has grown and staging is established, there is a benchmark of pricing that is accepted by the clients, and stagers need to be taught what that is. Some established stagers believe that a newbie should not/can not price their services at the same rate as an experienced stager. What this has done is as new stagers enter the market and are told they cannot charge as much as an experienced stager, the market is devalued and undercutting happens. I have always taught the opposite. New people entering are benefitting from a seasoned stager who established the market. The seasoned stagers should not want a new person to charge less and drive the market down. The public honestly does not always care about experience or even education when it comes to staging – it is pricing and results. We all strive to add value and use our credentials to get business. FACTORS IMPACTING PRICING: Pricing is a factor of many things – and ultimately, turning a profit of 25% or more is the goal. We have costs and overhead to run our business, not just a project. A stager who has more overhead, has to charge more to cover their costs for their overall company, versus one who does not have a larger operation. The larger operation must do more volume to cover costs and find ways to be very efficient with their staging. However, all stagers need to analyze their operating costs and factor that information in when pricing their projects. It is never just about that one project – it is always about the overall bigger picture of what the revenue is covering. EFFICIENCY IS A FACTOR: A new stager usually takes way too long to stage – and they do not always factor all those hours into their time, nor should they be paid for all their time because they are slow and learning. However, a stager who is charging less could still be more profitable than a seasoned pro – it all depends on the type of operation they run. WERE YOU TAUGHT HOW TO PRICE FOR YOUR MARKET? I wish I had one “right” answer but the price vs cost vs value discussion is one we all have and it irks me when I see stagers who have not been taught how to price their services, think, “I got paid $2000 to stage! I made all that money.” Yes – but that is NOT all profit! They rarely take a look at the costs to secure the business let alone the costs to run the project. Did they actually make a profit? I once had a student in our ASP Masters course and as we broke down business models and talked about pricing, she shared she was getting $4500 per staging project. We were all very impressed. She had a little warehouse that cost her $1700 per month. She owned all her own things. So I was thinking, “Wow – she is doing pretty well.” UNTIL I asked, “How many stagings do you do per month?” Drum roll please. . . . she told me, “I stage about 6 houses – PER YEAR!” Yes – per YEAR! I mean – WHAT? As I looked at THAT fact, it was clear, she was losing money and not making any profit. I shared, if she could add in just 6 more per year – she would at least make some money. She was sort of in shock when we analyzed the reality of her biz – but it was a good eye opener. Personally, I would not survive on 6 stagings per year. We do that in one week in our staging biz that serves Denver. Now her pricing per staging was good – she did every room (not necessarily needed) and only had one client. In my opinion, she should never have invested in a warehouse at that amount when she did not have the business to support it. We didn’t even get to cover all the other expenses she had: marketing, events, education, insurance, maintenance of her things, etc. She ended up selling her items and moving to a different state to live with her daughter (that was already sort of in the works anyway) and wanted to focus on consultations were there is much lower overhead and good potential for profit. IAHSP actually has a pricing course that has 7 different webinars, handouts, planning forms, etc. For those struggling with where to price their services, it is worth looking into it – one of the handouts is the hourly price range each major city in the US supports for staging. There are 4-5 ways to price a project and help with coming up with guidelines for your country/region and deciding which model works the best for a staging company is subjective. Stagers who want to crank out proposals and use a more predictable framework will opt for % of list, $ per sq foot or $ per room. Using actual costs is the 4th method – figuring out what rooms need staging, pricing out what goes in each area – is one half of the equation. The labor is the other part. If the % of list, price per sq ftg or price per room do not cover the labor and create a profit or price the stager out of their market, the actual pricing model has to be used. We use a hybrid method of pricing – a combo between #3 and #4 to price our vacant staging projects. KNOW YOUR BOTTOM LINE: I believe every stager needs to take a look at their actual costs – and then for expediency can use one of the other models for pricing as long as they know they are turning a profit. We can all framework our own set of pricing that works for us – and it is hard not to compare to others. We do not own their companies so we have no way of knowing if they are making money or not. We do know if something is greatly undervalued such as $500 for staging a 3 room condo for 90 days. Because entities like NAR put out pricing averages for Staging that are not based in reality, the buying public believes our pricing should be that low and it is up to US to educate them. TEACHING THE VALUE OF STAGING – what the hourly rate should be to calculate the lump sum pricing for the client – SHOULD be shared with ALL stagers so they don’t have to guess. If stagers are using a consistent number, the decisions to use one or another won’t be about price and who is cheaper – but be about quality, availability, relatability, responsiveness, etc. Price will always be a factor as people do not want to overpay, but stagers should be within acceptable range of one another in a market where they understand their value when it is an apples-to-apples comparison. TIME IS MONEY: I know we run a tight ship and can get staging done quickly and efficiently. This means I am more profitable than a stager who takes all day to stage a property when we can get it done in 1-2 hours. Time is the great equalizer. And if I can make MORE than another stager because we are faster, that is a good thing. If I can get it done in 2 hours and can charge as much as someone who takes 8 hours, and win, I just made 6 hours of profit that was not needed. It also provides me with a buffer to negotiate if a client comes back to me and asks for an adjustment. I want to win the business, not at any cost, however I am willing to negotiate within reason. Sometimes that might be doing a little less, taking out a room, or making a little less profit. I NEVER go in knowing I am going to lose money. I know what my walk away price is: The price where I am essentially paying the client for the privilege of Staging their property. I refuse to start off at a loss. There are times things go awry on a staging, and we do end up costing ourselves more than planned, however that cannot be the norm. Stagers need to be focused on making as much as possible, not just enough to cover their expenses. There are clients where I know I can pad the proposal, and then times where I know I have to be tighter. If you are reading this and are not sure what your rates should be, ask a colleague. If they are not forthcoming, take a look at sister industries and other affiliates who are part of the overall process of buying and selling a property. A stager can take a look at the hourly rate for interior designers in their region, and then fall in below that number as designers are usually seen as expensive. They can also take a look at what other pros involved in the sales/buying process for a property charge: what does an appraiser charge, and what a real estate photographer charge, etc. In other words, look at the others involved in the sale of a property and make sure for the service we are providing in the real estate industry, we are on par. PRICING PSYCHOLOGY: The psychological factor of pricing is also important. $1950 sounds and looks a lot less than $2010 and they are only $60 apart. If I am adding up our pricing and we bump up just over $2000 or $3000 – I will see if I can get it down to just under the next thousand level. I stay away from round numbers – never add up to something with “00” as psychologically it sounds too perfect, like you didn’t really add up anything for their property quote. Look at $1987 versus $2000. If you got a quote and saw one or the other, which one seems like a better price? Visually 1987 looks a lot less because it has a “19” in the front. Once you bump up over that next threshold, the client’s see it as a lot more. THE ETHICS OF PRICING: Having open discussions about pricing and agreeing from an ethics standpoint that a stager will not knowingly come in and undercut a market is key. Having recourse for stagers who deliberately do this is key. There are stagers in every market – who stage “for fun,” who don’t actually care about making money – and they will charge less, drive a market down, and do not care they are leaving LOTS of money on the table. A Stager who is NOT money motivated will ruin it for the pros that are out there. The good news is eventually, running at a loss year over year, will become a problem for that stager as the IRS does not like seeing a loss for more than 3-5 years. Additionally, the adage, “You get what you pay for,” rings true and their quality will suffer, they will be forced to take a look at their poor business strategy and whoever is bankrolling their operation and allowing them to just do whatever they want and lose money, will wise up – after all that person does not want to lose thousands year after year. If that cheap stager exists in your market, go after the higher-end listings as the cheapo cannot stage them to the standard of expectation of a client – and so they will not go after that biz. The investors or agents who don’t care about quality, will hire the cheapo, and when the clients start seeing the lack of results and find themselves having to supplement stagings with their own things or not getting the results they expected, they will start to seek out a true pro. Edify the industry. Encourage others to price according to their value and their market. Focus on how you can be most efficient to reduce overhead. And be strategic with who you target for business. When real estate prices are climbing and everyone involved in the sale is making more (Realtors, Lenders, Title companies, photographers, appraisers, etc.) why shouldn’t Stagers? If we truly are tied to the value we bring to the process of listing and selling a property, we should be making MORE as the markets grow stronger. Not less. If you are an interior designer, decorator, professional organizer or feng shui practitioner looking to add Staging to your business, watch this 1 hour complimentary webinar that shares what it takes to add Staging to your business. Having an “eye” is not enough. The business goals are totally different, process is different and factors such as front-loading furnishings is a necessity not found in these sister industries.