Heck Cindy, at that kind of payout, I think I will become a stager. LOL

Cindy, that's just dishonest marketing.  If stagers found customers that would pay that kind of money for the average job, everyone would be doing it.  Unfortunately, it's just another example of "if it sounds too good to be true..."  In today's difficult market, I'd recommend staging to anyone serious about selling.  It's probably next in importance to proper pricing.

I just started working with a stager last week.  So far I've been impressed.  The cost has been well below  $5,000.  I wouldn't have been wiling to pay that much.

Cindy: I have often thought about all those poor suckers wanna be stagers that have wasted good money on a bad training program that made outrageous claims about potential income, but I never considered how those claims may be hurting my business. You are absolutely right. Fortunately we have HGTV to give an equally wrong but opposite impression of what home staging cost to balance the other outrageous claims.

Cindy,great post. You are right that new Stagers will become frustrated when they are not making the money they believe they should be making.My belief is that with any 1st time business owner you must crawl before you walk,have patience and work on your growth skills.My self included. Luckily,I knew starting would be slow and I try to use this time to better my skills so that I will have great things to offer my future clients.

HI Cindy, this is good heads up for people thinking about becoming Stagers. It's a rough and tumble world out there and the road is very bumpy for the uninitiated.

It's good to hear from Realtors that they find Staging for the most part is done far below the $5,000 mark.

Great post, Cindy.  The concern I have with that comment is the word "minimum."  The home staging professionals that I know, myself included, do not make a minimum of $5K to $10K.  Perhaps the training company who makes that sort of claim should be put to the test and challenged.  It's bordering on false advertising.

Kathy

Cindy,

It would be interesting to know which company is promoting this false information for luring people into their training program.  What a disservice they are doing for anyone associated with this field.

Rich in experience not in the pocketbook. 

Cindy, we must have been hitting our heads against the same brick wall!  I just recently posted about being "On my Soap-box" about all the new staging "schools" that have been popping up and jumping on the bandwagon.  Good grief, Charlie Brown!

Hi Cindy...maybe we read the same article.  The one I read also went on to say the flexibility gave a home stager the ability to home school her kids in the morning and stage vacants (including a 2 million vacant from top to bottom) in the afternoons.  Yeah...right.   I don't know about you...but anyone that's staged a million dollar vacant knows better.

Thanks for sharing this well done post -- I have been annoyed by the advertising claims on getting rich quick from staging, but hadn't thought about it from the viewpoint of making clients/realtors think the price was so high that they wouldn't pursue staging.

Just google home staging and you'll be amazed at the number of training/publications you see that make claims to get rich quick! 

it is getting a bit out of hand. most people start training workshops and have never had a business. there are a lot of naive people getting sucked into these schemes.

While I admit that I have been paid $5000 to $10,000 for jobs before...

1) it is not the norm

2) there were A LOT of costs involved in that kind of payout - not the least of which were subcontractors, furniture investments, etc. 

That certainly is not what we actually take home for a job!

When my sister and I met up with furniture rental and contractor companies a few weeks ago, we couldn't understand their attitude towards us.  They both asked us what kind of money we were going to be making from using them.  We just stared at each other, wondering why they were asking such a question. I realized after, they must have been talking about referrals fees.  By the way - we will not be charging referral fees.  

There is a certain organization that one of them referred to a number of times (the name I shall keep anonymous) - a number of students had been calling him during the past few weeks.  From whatever had been discussed, it had not left a good impression on this man, and we had walked right into the middle of it.  By the end of our meeting, he seemed to be more responsive, maybe realizing we did not follow the teachings of this other staging training company. 

In smaller areas like ours, where we do not have the same amount of suppliers to choose from, it becomes much more prevalent when someone else has been undermining what we are trying to achieve.

Like Melissa states above, just because a stager is paid $5000 for a project, it does not mean that amount is all free and clear - BUT in the efforts of what they call 'good' advertising, they're going to leave that kind of information out of the headlines.

Don't you just love those silly articles. How many people did the author even talk to - one? Crazy. Would love to make that kind of money - but not so. We have done some surveys and we have found that most stagers charge from 750 - 3500 depending on the house, whether it's vacant or occupied. Hopefully, homeowner's will look around a bit more.

Yes, I've been annoyed with all this false advertising - from scools and from HGTV.  The schools make it sound like you'll be "rollin' in the dough", and HGTV makes it sound like for ONLY _____$$ you WILL sell you home in record time!  They never show any labor/stager cost!

Debbie Fiskum Perfect Transformations Home Staging and Decorating  http://www.Home-Decor-Genie.com

Hear, hear.  There's another post on AR about who is making six figures in staging.  There are a few - very few, and it seems like it is usually because they are doing several aspects of business, not just staging.

Wow...I had no idea this had so many comments, hadn't been on here in a while...gotta answer all of these. Thanks!

I'm finding that customers are reading these adds too. It does give them the impression that staging is very expensive. I have had this discussion with many people that have said they would not even consider staging because "it is so expensive". These adds and tv shows are not helping us at all. My main goal this year is to educate the general public about staging. I'm starting at my local library.

Cindy, great post! I think I may have written the post referred to above about who is making 6 figures in this business. I believe that most training companies overpromse. and it's a difficult lesson to learn that the reality is much harsher. But I love what I do, and am fortunate to at least be paying my bills. I have often thought of the incorrect impressions given by HGTV, but now that there are all those ads out there for staging compnies, it adds more to the confusion. Hopefully clients will at least give us a call to find out the truth!

On the other hand, I still find it difficult to get paid what my service is worth...

Hi Cindy-  The confusion seems to happen when the public is lead to believe that stagers can make a lot of money 'staging'. YET also found stated is that it costs mere peanuts to stage a home.  Both are not the norm.

Clarification is always important.  Some stagers have never staged a vacant home.  Some of us stage ONLY vacant homes and large ones at that.  Varying levels of skill and experience need to be a part of the  equation as well.  In a creative field, all levels of pay are the norm. 

Have Faith though....there will come a time when many more good stagers will regularly break the 6-figure profit mark. 

Also, I would like to see good stagers earning an additional 1% at the closing (aside from REA fee).  You need to ask for what you are worth....and not give it away for free. (or be paid in peanuts!)  Regards-Kathleen G

I am just rich with experience, knowledge, and friends. To me... that is what counts.  Though..... I could, willingly, take that much money if clients wanted to pay me for each job ;)

Cindy, thanks for addressing this issue, it's a big one.  We take two steps forward and one step back when irresponsible articles like that are printed.  It's amazing what some will do to justify their course fees.  Unfair to the students, they should revolt...

Thanks for posting; it is ridiculous what some of these "sources" quote for pricing for Staging. $5k for a job? Sign me up!  I would love to earn that kind of money :-)

I would like to make that kind of money...and yes some of the staging shows makes it look like we earn that kind of money, however here in East Tennessee...not happening !!! I think that the most that I have been paid is around $2,500 and that was for the rental of the accessories also.

Hi Cindy, thanks for showing our readers that the pricing seems to be all over the board. It's a good idea to ask what your client's budget is and then price accordingly.  If they don't have any idea of the cost, I give two options - a couple of rooms staged and a full house (what they asked for).

Uggghhh! It's so frustrating to constantly combat this false sense of profit.

Revenues are not the same as net income and after all is said and done on most jobs I would say we clear in the hundred dollars range on larger jobs but have our overhead costs (accessories, warehousing, staging assistants, hours to stage, destage, delivery, gas, insurance etc)  to consider as well. Many people do not understand the full scope of our job and OUR costs involved (and I don't know about everyone else but the actual hours involved always exceed what I charge - there are many unseen hours behind the scenes).

It's part of our job to explain this and I hope more do what you did here Cindy, do some research!

Fred-I wouldn't blame you at those rates!

John-You are right, it's so far from the truth.

Justin-That's great, I hope your listing sells fast!

Michelle-If people saw the episode of "Stagers" that cost $20k, they are definitely sticker shocked. 

Angela-New stagers should know that even the seasoned veterans are not making that much on every job.

Michelle-It's definitely not for the unmotivated.

Kathy-I agree, you know they can't prove their claim, and will never be challenged.  Only to make money off of newbies thinking they'll get rich.

Michelle-I'm sure you'll come across it eventually, there are actually 2 that I've seen.

Ginger-I totally agree!

Connie-I know it's so frustrating to watch when you've worked so hard on educating the consumer.

Teresa-Nope, I didn't see that one.  Now that is ridiculous!

Margaret-Thanks, I hadn't either, until I read the claim.

Benita-I wonder how many people are scratching their heads wondering why they aren't making 5k per job so far?

Melissa-Nobody seems to take the expenses into consideration.  It is a huge factor.

Vivian-That's odd, whey would they care?

Kym-Exactly, probably none, just spewing off numbers.

Debbie-I know this is frustrating and a recurring topic.

Beth-A very few...maybe.

Belinda-What are you going to be doing at the library?

Kathi-Yes if homeowners call us, I think they'll be surprised at how reasonable it is.

Kathleen-True, it seems that some call expecting it to cost next to nothing.

Lori-Wouldn't we all!

Terrylynn-Well put!!

Tori-I think we have an overall consensus, we would all sign-up!

Mary-And it's not like we do a house a day either, it takes several days from start to finish, or sometimes longer.

Diane-Exactly, that's all we can do.

Karen-I know it's like we are beating our heads against a wall.  No one really knows what goes on behind the scenes.  There is alot of time involved!

Hi Cindy,

I will be giving a free class to home sellers and Realtors on the importance of staging a home along with helpful tips. I'm know pricing will come up. It's always the first question.

When I started my staging business, I was shocked at how many friends and family members thought that I would be making 5,000 per job. I told them "I wish"!

I know saying this might anger some folks, but I hate the show Stagers. It scares away customers. The price scares them and the rudeness of some of the stagers on the show.