How Much to Charge for Home Staging
Price home staging in three parts: a consultation of $200–$500, a staging fee covering design, delivery, and install, and a monthly rental commonly running $500–$1,200 for the first month of a vacant home with lower monthlies after. Occupied staging prices as a flat design fee instead. ShowTheReceipts saves each line and bills the monthly rental automatically.
The three revenue lines
- Consultation — $200–$500, paid at booking
- Staging fee — design, sourcing, delivery, install
- Monthly rental — the recurring line that funds the warehouse
Most stagers underprice line three because it’s invisible on install day — and then carry storage costs all year on it.
Reference ranges
| Job | Common range |
|---|---|
| Consultation | $200–$500 |
| Vacant, first month (all-in) | $1,500–$3,500 |
| Vacant, monthly thereafter | $400–$1,000 |
| Occupied (design fee) | $500–$1,500 flat |
| De-stage / pickup | $250–$600 |
Rental is the business
Storage, the truck, insurance, and inventory replacement are paid out of monthly rental — not out of the install fee. Price the extension rate on the original invoice and let a long listing be revenue rather than a surprise.
A listing running six months is normal. Discovering you never priced month four is not.
Watch your cost recovery per piece
Divide a piece’s cost by its monthly rental contribution. Eight to twelve rentals to recover cost is healthy. Anything sitting in storage between listings for a year is a warehouse bill, not an asset.
What not to do
- Don’t give away consultations
- Don’t discount the monthly rental to win volume
- Don’t price occupied jobs off a vacant rate card
- Don’t leave storage and truck costs out of the rental price
Frequently asked questions
How much does home staging cost per month?
A vacant home commonly runs $1,500–$3,500 for the first month including design, delivery, install, and rental, then $400–$1,000 a month after. Rates track your inventory cost, your storage overhead, and how many rooms are furnished — not the list price of the house.
What should a staging consultation cost?
$200–$500 for a walkthrough plus a written report. Charge it even when it may convert to a full staging — a free consultation attracts agents collecting free advice, and the report itself is a deliverable that takes real hours to produce.
How do I know if my inventory is paying for itself?
Track cost recovery per piece: divide what a piece cost by its monthly rental contribution. A sofa that recovers its cost in eight to twelve rentals is working; one that sits in storage for two years between listings is a warehouse bill wearing a price tag.
Should I charge less to win an agent's repeat business?
Discount the consultation, not the rental. Rental income is what pays for storage, the truck, and replacing worn inventory — cutting it to win volume means running the same warehouse for less money. Volume agents are better rewarded with priority scheduling.