Purchases thru designer

amother

Tue, May 30 2023, 1:17 pm

If I shopped for some very expensive items with a designer like linens (over 6k worth) or light fixtures, and I know the designer is getting 20% commission, should she be the one to go pick up the items, or is that my responsibility? As I work full time I was assuming that’s something she should do — after all she made about 4000$ off these purchases for spending an hour at each store!

Amarante

Tue, May 30 2023, 1:20 pm

My designer did all the legwork for everything I ordered.

Items were either picked up by her - dropped off by her or shipped to her place of business.

That is what - in part - she is being paid for.

amother

Tue, May 30 2023, 1:22 pm

amother Babypink wrote:

(Never heard of this system) who pays her the commission: you or the stores?

Apparently this is how it works. The stores pay them a percentage. This is to encourage them to bring in business. Yes, on top of what I pay her to work for me.

amother

Tue, May 30 2023, 1:22 pm

Amarante wrote:

Thanks. If she doesn’t offer is it fair to ask her to do this for me?

Amarante

Tue, May 30 2023, 1:24 pm

amother OP wrote:

Apparently this is how it works. The stores pay them a percentage. This is to encourage them to bring in business. Yes, on top of what I pay her to work for me.

I missed the part where she collects a commission from the stores in addition to the amount you pay her.

This is extremely unethical. My designer provided me with invoices of the prices SHE paid from her professional sources and I paid her the percentage I owed based on those prices.

I had a rug made which she designed and the rug store asked whether they should send me an invoice indicating the actual cost and she said of course because her pricing was transparent.

Amarante

Tue, May 30 2023, 1:27 pm

amother OP wrote:

Thanks. If she doesn’t offer is it fair to ask her to do this for me?

I would just assume.

Ask her when she wants to set up a mutually convenient time so she can bring over the linens.

One of the reasons designers have stuff picked up or sent to them is so they can check to see that the order is correct and no defects. She would do that at the store before she accepted them or at her location/warehouse when she accepted delivery

amother

Tue, May 30 2023, 1:39 pm

Amarante wrote:

Sorry maybe I wasn’t clear. I pay her an hourly fee of 150 for her time. I pay for her time when we go to vendors she has a relationship with, and the vendors pay the commission.

Amarante

Tue, May 30 2023, 1:46 pm

amother OP wrote:

Sorry maybe I wasn’t clear. I pay her an hourly fee of 150 for her time. I pay for her time when we go to vendors she has a relationship with, and the vendors pay the commission.

My friend has an arrangement with her designer where she pays her hourly because she isn't doing large projects at the moment.

However her designer passes along the benefit of her "to the trade" price so there is a benefit to using the designer in this manner.

Amarante

Tue, May 30 2023, 1:47 pm

Amarante wrote:

I still say that for the amount in total she is being paid, she should pick up and deliver because she needs to check that everything is as ordered and not defective and up to standards.

There were some items which my designer rejected when she inspected and just re-ordered and told me they had arrived but were not acceptable.

amother

Junglegreen

Tue, May 30 2023, 1:53 pm

amother OP wrote:

Apparently this is how it works. The stores pay them a percentage. This is to encourage them to bring in business. Yes, on top of what I pay her to work for me.

I deal with tons of designers in our company. Not only do they not get a percentage, but we charge them much more that a wholesaler. I suppose they also add a percentage to make a profit

arn

Tue, May 30 2023, 2:01 pm

amother Junglegreen wrote:

I deal with tons of designers in our company. Not only do they not get a percentage, but we charge them much more that a wholesaler. I suppose they also add a percentage to make a profit

What type of company is this? Most places I dealt with including the carpet store, furniture store, tile store, and others told me they give designers a percentage. My last designer charged me a flat fee and then gave me the items at her cost price which was 15-20% off the actual price for customers. This seems pretty standard in the industry.

Amarante

Tue, May 30 2023, 2:13 pm

amother Junglegreen wrote:

I deal with tons of designers in our company. Not only do they not get a percentage, but we charge them much more that a wholesaler. I suppose they also add a percentage to make a profit

This is my understanding based on my designer

She does have some companies that she is a distributor for and so gets an even cheaper price than a standard "to the trade" price. She was completely upfront about it because a few times I would like a certain item and she would say she could get a really good price for that line of goods because of her distribution agreement. She even tried to get distribution with a few lines that I "discovered"

I would not feel comfortable using a designer who in effect gets "kick backs" from stores because they have a vested interest in my buying from those sources.