How interior designers stop clients price-shopping their furniture

Price-shopping is when a client takes a designer's furniture selection and looks for the same pieces cheaper elsewhere, often online. Also called out-shopping or shopping the designer, it cuts out the product margin the designer was counting on. Designers in online discussions name it as one of the main reasons they prefer trade-only suppliers whose prices clients can't easily look up.

Why do clients price-shop their designer?

Clients price-shop because product names, photos and model numbers are easy to search. A quote that shows a brand name and a retail price invites a search, and a client who finds the same sideboard 15% cheaper may start to question the whole fee. Business of Home has covered designers' frustrations with the practice since at least 2019.

How can designers protect their furniture margin?

Designers use five main tactics, often in combination:

1. Source trade-only pieces. Furniture that isn't sold through mass retail is harder to find and compare.
2. Use unbranded quotes. Present pieces by description and dimensions, not supplier name or model number.
3. Ship with unbranded paperwork. Ask your supplier for packing slips with no supplier branding and no prices.
4. Charge for design separately. A clear design fee means your income doesn't depend only on product margin.
5. Put it in the contract. State that sourcing, ordering and coordination are part of the service, and how product pricing works.

Should you charge a design fee or rely on product margin?

Most designers combine the two. A design fee pays for your time whatever the client buys; product margin rewards the sourcing work. The more of your income that comes from a fee, the less price-shopping hurts. See what trade discount designers should expect for how discount levels affect that balance.

What should you look for in a supplier to reduce price-shopping?

Look for a supplier that sells mainly to the trade, keeps trade prices behind a login, and can ship to your client without its branding on the box or the paperwork.

Artisan Furniture Canada keeps trade prices behind your login, and quotes and packing slips can carry no retail pricing and no Artisan branding on request. Designers get 25% off MSRP with no minimum order, and furniture is delivered free to your client's home anywhere in the 10 provinces from Brampton, Ontario.

When the client is right to shop around

Price-shopping isn't always a threat. For commodity items such as basic lighting or bedding, letting the client buy direct can build trust and save your time. Keep your sourcing effort, and your margin, for the distinctive pieces that make the design. See delivering trade furniture to your client's home.