Why It’s Time for Furniture Dealers to Charge for Services — And How to Do It Right

For years, commercial furniture dealers have quietly absorbed project services like space planning, lookbook revisions, and design coordination without charging for them. In a project ecosystem where every other professional, from architects to project managers, submits scopes of work, tracks hours, and bills for time, dealers have too often played along for free, fearing lost opportunities or industry pushback. But increasingly, dealers are recognizing this model is unsustainable.

A recent panel at Design Days in Chicago called Dealer Pain Point Panel, brought this tension to the surface, highlighting both the problem and actionable strategies for dealers ready to take control of their time and profitability.

The Problem: Time Creep Without Compensation

Dealers are often brought into projects early, sometimes before design development formally begins. While early involvement can be valuable, it introduces a major risk: scope creep. Without clear boundaries, dealers find themselves doing preliminary programming, multiple iterations of plan, and early product selections — long before furniture specifications or orders are imminent.

The challenge? Most dealers aren’t charging for this time. One panelist candidly admitted, “I’m scared to charge for it.” And therein lies the problem. While other service providers bill for pre-construction services, dealers hesitate, worried it might alienate clients or push them to a competitor down the street.

This leads to dealers spending months, sometimes years, managing revisions, coordinating with designers, and handling value engineering requests without ever recouping those hours. Over the life of a long commercial build-out, that unpaid time can severely erode profitability.

A New Mindset: Dealers as Service Providers

The panel’s clearest takeaway was this: furniture dealers must start thinking and operating like the service providers they are. “Every person on a project team bills for additional services when the scope changes — except the dealer,” noted one industry leader. “It’s time we change that.”

The first step is reframing the dealer’s role. Instead of viewing themselves solely as product suppliers, dealers should position their firms as professional service providers. That means establishing a scope of work early, defining service deliverables, tracking hours, and setting expectations for revisions and meetings.

Dealers are already performing valuable services, from ancillary product curation to budget analysis to project management, they just need to start billing for them.

Charging for Project Services: How Dealers Are Doing It

Some forward-thinking dealers are already adopting fee-for-service models. One dealership in New York tackled the issue by itemizing a “Project Services” line on every proposal. This covers design hours, project management, revisions, and other non-product-related services. Transparency has been key to client acceptance.

Initially, they framed it as protecting project timelines: “We’re allotting for two rounds of revisions. Beyond that, it’s an hourly fee.” This wasn’t about nickel-and-diming clients, but about setting fair, reasonable limits to maintain efficiency for all parties.

Other dealers noted the importance of mirroring how design firms scope their work — by clearly defining phases, deliverables, and revision limits. “Without a scope of work to anchor to, you’re vulnerable,” one panelist warned. Service providers protect themselves through contracts and scope clarity, and dealers need to adopt the same discipline.

The Technology Solution: Platforms Like Avanto’s Orderbahn

One of the most practical solutions discussed was using a tech platform like Avanto’s Orderbahn. While many dealers track hours internally for order management or commission calculations, few use those hours to assess project profitability or inform billing.

Orderbahn allows dealers to track hours by task, project, and team member — down to the minute — just as architecture and design firms do. It provides the reporting needed to flag when hours exceed projections and to trigger fee discussions with clients before profitability vanishes.

One panelist pointed out that clients often fear open-ended hourly charges, so providing estimates alongside hourly rates helps ease that anxiety. “Clients would prefer either a lump sum or an example of what another revision might cost,” she advised. Tech platforms make this kind of real-time forecasting and reporting much easier to manage.

Setting a Market Standard

A concern raised by several dealers was market acceptance. Would being the first to charge for services drive clients to competitors who continue to give time away for free? It’s a valid fear, but one that needs reframing.

The panel’s consensus was clear: “You don’t want to be the first dealer charging fees. You want to be the first dealer explaining why it makes sense.” Dealers shouldn’t position fees as a penalty, but as a value-aligned practice that benefits the entire project team by maintaining efficiency and accountability.

Interestingly, some geographical markets are already ahead. Washington D.C., for example, has seen greater acceptance of project service fees than Chicago. The lesson? Dealers can help set the standard by speaking the same business language as the other consultants on a project.

Practical Next Steps for Dealers

If your dealership is still giving away hours of valuable project services, here are some starting points:

1. Define your scope of work upfront. Clearly outline what services are included, how many revisions are expected, and what additional services will cost.

2. Track hours rigorously. Use a platform like Orderbahn to monitor how much time your team spends on each project task and compare it to your projections.

3. Communicate fees transparently. Introduce a “Project Services” line item, with clear descriptions of what’s covered. Provide clients with estimates for additional work.

4. Educate your team. Not everyone is comfortable asking for money. Train your project managers and account reps on how to have these conversations confidently and constructively.

5. Collaborate with project partners. Understand how design firms, architects, and other consultants structure their scopes and fees. Align your processes to fit seamlessly within the broader project team.

The Bottom Line

The commercial furniture industry is at an inflection point. Dealers can no longer afford to absorb months of unpaid design services and project management without jeopardizing their margins. The solution isn’t radical. It’s simply aligning dealer practices with the standard business models of every other project team member.

By clearly defining services, tracking hours, leveraging technology, and communicating fees with transparency and professionalism, dealers can protect their profitability, improve project outcomes, and elevate their role within the design and construction process.

It’s time to charge what you’re worth. And the good news? Your clients already expect it — you just need to ask.

‍