"How much should I charge?" is the question I get asked most, by far. And it's the one that scares new stagers the most, because nobody wants to sound expensive and nobody wants to work for free.
I'm not going to give you a magic number. Rates change a lot from one city to another, and a number copied from the internet tells you nothing about your costs. What I'll give you instead is the method I use on every project, so you can build a price you can defend.
Why "what does everyone else charge?" is the wrong question
Looking at other stagers in your area is useful, but only as a sanity check. Their price includes their inventory, their team, their truck and their experience. If you copy it without knowing what's behind it, you'll either price yourself out of the market or, much more often, lose money on every job without noticing.
Start from your own numbers. Then compare.
The four pieces of every staging quote
1. Your time
Count every hour, not just setup day. A typical project includes the walkthrough, planning the rooms, sourcing and shopping, loading, setup, styling for photos, teardown and unloading. New stagers usually forget half of these and only charge for the day they're in the house.
Decide what an hour of your work is worth and multiply. If that number feels uncomfortable, that's normal. It gets easier with every project.
2. Furniture and decor
Whether you rent, buy or use your own inventory, it has a price:
- Rented pieces: pass the rental through, plus a fee for managing it.
- Your own inventory: charge a monthly rate per room or per piece. Your furniture is an investment, and every job should pay back part of it.
- Small items that get damaged or lost: cushions, bedding, towels, plants. Build a little extra in for wear and tear.
3. Moving and labor
Truck rental, gas, helpers, parking, stairs with no elevator. These are real costs and they can eat your whole margin if you don't include them. That's why stairs and parking belong on your walkthrough checklist.
4. Your margin
This is the part people feel guilty about, and it's the part that keeps your business alive. Margin is what pays for the jobs that go wrong, the slow months, the new inventory and your own growth. It isn't greed. It's how you stay in business long enough to get good.
Common ways to structure your price
- Consultation fee. A paid walkthrough where you tell the owner exactly what to change. Perfect for occupied homes and a great entry point for new clients.
- Flat project fee. One price for design, setup and teardown, usually including the first month of furniture.
- Monthly extension. What the client pays for every extra month the staging stays in the home after the first one.
Whichever you choose, write down how long the staging stays, what happens if the home takes longer to sell and who's responsible for damage. Most problems with clients come from things that weren't agreed in writing.
A simple example (round numbers, just to show the method): 14 hours of work, plus furniture for three rooms for one month, plus a truck and a helper for two days, plus your margin on top. Add it up, round it, and that's your project price. Then set a monthly rate for extensions. Once you've done this two or three times in a spreadsheet, you'll quote in minutes.
What to do when a client says "that's too expensive"
Don't drop your price on the spot. Cut the scope instead. Offer to stage only the living room, the kitchen and the main bedroom. Offer a consultation so the owners do the work themselves. Or offer to use more of their own furniture.
And remind them what they're comparing against. Home staging isn't a cost, it's an investment in selling faster. A home that sits on the market for months usually ends up with a price cut much bigger than your fee.
Raise your prices as your portfolio grows
Your first prices won't be your forever prices. Every project you finish gives you better photos, more confidence and better data about what things really take. Review your numbers every few months and adjust.
If you want a quote template that already does all this math for you, it's one of the tools inside my home staging course. And if you're still at the very beginning, start with my guide on how to start a home staging business.