Read about SBID’s Fair Trading campaign.
June 2012
SBID launched a campaign to create a charging standard for interior design services, lobbying government to support a proposal to abandon ‘Free Design’ by registered design professionals.
SBID has been campaigning with respected government peers on methods that do not breach European Law yet support the design industry. The issue, debate and result of findings left SBID with an industry-wide problem to resolve.
The Fair Trade Policy supports SBID Members when clients use anti-competitive conduct to negotiate trade discount as part of the service they buy from the designer. It is not good practice for design professionals to pass on trade discounts and SBID supports the trade in these difficult times by taking action to stamp out the conduct.
- SBID lobbies for change in industry against free design. Interior Design is a valued professional industry; we do not give our value away, we sell it.
- SBID promotes trade pricing to the trade…. not to the consumer. This policy protects the retailer, the specifier and the manufacturer.
SBID does not advise on hourly rate fees but we do promote transparency. Members are therefore invited to adopt the SBID Fair Trade Pricing Policy.
The SBID Fair Trade Pricing Policy
- Protects Trade Price for regular trade between designers with suppliers and manufacturers of products costs less to provide to repeat customers such as design professionals. Repeat trade buyers do not need one-to-one attention in the same way that a first time buyer requires, this saving is passed onto regular users. Providers recognise the value of regular purchases by the design profession and use incentives for repeat business. It is not and never has been the intention of a trade supplier to create a two-tier retail pricing structure and therefore it is our duty as a profession in return to respect and support the pricing policies offered to design professionals.
- Supports Consumers rights to know the actual value of the design fee for comparison. Even if it is rolled into an inclusive sum, the Design Fee must be individually priced. Only by promoting such transparency can consumers make an informed choice on the value of each service or product offered. It is wholly necessary to enable like-for-like comparison.
- Promotes a Design Fee for a design service provided. SBID does not support or promote free design. Free Design is unsustainable. Claims by some designers of free design or price included undermines the value of the work a designer has trained to perform. Promoting a free service means that providers fees and costs are rolled into alternative services and makes it more difficult for potential customers to check prices via comparisons. An SBID member is a trained, experienced and qualified professional. The earning potential as a qualified professional is realised through the income. An investment of time and money to obtain valued qualification is a commodity to be respected and purchased, as other professional services are provided. If a free service is being offered, the monetary value of the service should be clearly defined in writing.
To support members, SBID provides a letter by request (to admin@sbid.org) outlining the Fair Trade Pricing Policy.
March 2012
Fair trading differentiates the amateurs from the professionals.
Vanessa Brady, SBID President, said: “Trade discount is for trade, not retail, and mixing the two is unfair to all parties. The SBID Fair Trading Policy does not support the common practice of designers passing trade discounts to their customers, i.e. the public, because it shrinks the development of interior design as a profession and ultimately costs each market sector profit and reputation.
“SBID’s aim in implementing the Fair Trading Policy is specifically to further separate hobbyists from professionals and, in doing so, raise the standards of the entire profession.”
With that in mind, SBID launched a campaign to create a charging standard for interior design services, lobbying government to support a proposal to abandon ‘free design’ by registered design professionals. Under the policy, a transparent billing system that sets out other services such as sourcing and supplying products will be a recommended part of any design contract.
The thinking behind it is simple. Retail prices need to be high to counterbalance the considerable cost of stock, showroom space, staffing, after-sales service and product training. Designers get trade discounts on products because manufacturers want to keep them as returning customers – unlike regular consumers who are primarily one-off purchasers. Finally, the fee a designer earns in a trade price reflects some of the services the designer performs, including specifying products, installing, taking delivery, organising returns etc.
Practitioners who share trade prices as leverage to obtain projects, providing a free design service and solely receiving income from supplying products, are the professionals who undermine this efficient business model. It is neither appropriate nor financially sustainable for design professionals to provide their key performance, their knowledge and advice, free of charge. It is by charging a fee for the trained services of a professional designer, that a designer generates income.
SBID launched a campaign to create a charging standard for interior design services, lobbying government to support a proposal to abandon ‘Free Design’ by registered design professionals.
SBID has been campaigning with respected government peers on methods that do not breach European Law yet support the design industry. The issue, debate and result of findings left SBID with an industry-wide problem to resolve.
Read the result and call to action announcement exclusively in the April issue of FX Magazine.
