5 Reasons Why Home Stagers Should Buy Wholesale

Many people begin a career in home staging because they're creative and home decorating is so fun. But above anything else, home staging is a business. Home stagers need to be able to turn a profit in order to be successful.

The #1 key to profitability in your home staging business is buying inventory wholesale. Here are just a few reasons why you should buy your staging inventory from wholesale vendors:

1. Save half the cost on your staging inventory.

Typically, retail furniture, decor, and other necessary staging items are marked up about 2.5 times the wholesale cost. Even after factoring in the shipping costs and assembly time needed to shop wholesale, the savings are significant. We also recommend joining the Real Estate Staging Association's buying group–they've negotiated great prices for members. Those savings go straight to your bottom line, making your home staging business more profitable.

2. Save time on purchasing.

Why do we all shop so much on Amazon? Because you can find multiple versions of what you’re looking for in minutes, rather than the hours it would take you to find those items in stores. Plus, your order is delivered to your doorstep.

Those are the same reasons you’ll love shopping wholesale for your staging inventory. Buying from an online catalog and having items delivered directly to your warehouse is infinitely faster than physically walking through multiple furniture and home decor stores searching for what you need.

3. Save on sales tax in the US.

US stagers can avoid paying state and local sales tax on wholesale purchases. You’ll need your resale certificate—this is your proof that you’re exempt from paying state and local sales tax on your purchases. In turn, you’ll be required to collect sales tax on your own sales and then pay that amount to your local authorities, such as your state, county and city.

4. Gain access to a much wider range of products.

In retail stores, you are limited to whatever products that particular store carries. With wholesale, you have access to virtually every single product out there. That means a lot more options for you and your clients.

5. Earn money through resale.

The additional income stream through resale can’t be overlooked. Buying at low wholesale prices creates a profitable margin for you to sell to your clients at retail prices.

INSIDER TIP:

While buying wholesale will save you money on almost everything you need for your home staging inventory, there are a few items that you may be able to find at equally competitive prices at discount stores, like HomeGoods, Ross, and Amazon:

• Small accessories
• Lighting
• Botanicals

Ready to start shopping wholesale for your staging inventory? Whether you're shopping online or at one of the major furniture markets, like Las Vegas or High Point, you can make sure you're prepared by taking our online course, Buy Like a Boss: The Stager's Guide to Wholesale.

Staging Studio's Buy Like a Boss course teaches you how to navigate the complex world of shopping wholesale, with exclusive access to our (recently updated!) full vendor list that we use in our own home staging business. It took us years of attending furniture markets, conducting research and experience in the field to compile this list. You'll get the list, along with in-depth knowledge on everything wholesale, when you complete the online course.

Staging Studio was created for stagers, by stagers. Everything we teach, and all the resources we offer, are because we used them in our own business first.