Sourcing is one of the stages of an interior design project where every designer makes the most mistakes. Designers who felt confident during the design stages suddenly find themselves overwhelmed, second-guessing their fees and spending far more time than expected managing products, suppliers, budgets and client decisions.
One of the main reasons sourcing becomes a problem is that it is often treated as an extension of design, rather than as a distinct phase with its own responsibilities and risks. This confusion is reinforced by television shows and celebrity designers who strip out large parts of the design process for entertainment, focusing on visual outcomes while omitting the complexity of decision-making, coordination and procurement that sits behind them. While this makes for compelling content, it can blur expectations for both clients and designers about what is actually involved in a full sourcing and procurement phase.
I also see this confusion amplified by the fact that some states in the USA impose specific rules on how designers are allowed to work. Designers operating within those frameworks can become understandably protective of their processes and assume that the rest of the world should work in the same way, when in reality those approaches represent a minority rather than a global standard.
Clients often think that sourcing just means choosing furniture. Many interior designers go along with that assumption at first, only to realise later that sourcing actually involves much more. It includes coordinating multiple products, dealing with suppliers, managing money, tracking lead times, handling changes and taking responsibility when things go wrong. It also means communicating with lots of different people and dealing with the consequences of their decisions.
This is very similar to what I explore in more detail in my post on why developed or detailed design is where most interior design project problems begin, because both stages are often misunderstood and undervalued in exactly the same way. They look simple on the surface, but carry a huge amount of hidden work and responsibility.
Even a one-room sourcing project usually involves every stage of a full interior design project. There is concept thinking, detailed decision-making, sourcing, implementation, and oversight. This means many designers who price a “simple” one-room sourcing job are actually delivering a full-service interior design project for a fixed fee. This is one of the most common mistakes designers make when pricing sourcing work.
Another layer of confusion comes from how sourcing roles are described. Acting as an Agent, sometimes called a purchasing agent in the USA, is very different from acting as a Principal, often referred to as resale. When acting as an Agent, the designer researches, specifies, and coordinates items, while the client purchases directly from suppliers.
When acting as a Principal, the designer purchases items on the client’s behalf and takes on financial and contractual responsibility. The work may look similar on the surface, but the pricing, risk and liability are not. When designers do not clearly understand this difference, they often mix the two roles without realising it, which is where problems usually begin.
Sourcing also carries risks that many designers do not include in their fees. Prices can change, products can go out of stock, deliveries can be delayed and suppliers can make mistakes. Clients can also change their minds after approvals have already been given. Each of these situations takes time, communication and problem-solving, yet they are rarely accounted for in a basic sourcing fee. When sourcing is underpriced, designers end up absorbing this extra work themselves, which often leads to frustration, resentment and burnout.
Are You Ready To Join?
Get support, learn, grow and build your career one project at the time.
Pricing sourcing properly does not mean charging random or inflated fees. It means understanding what the work actually involves and structuring fees deliberately. Breaking the budget down and working out everything you’re doing that sits inside your professional fee, then deciding upfront whether you are acting as Agent or Principal all make pricing more predictable. This is why pricing sourcing needs to be taught properly (something that even universities don’t teach, yet something I do thoroughly inside IntoDesign)!
This is why sourcing should be treated as its own pricing exercise, not something casually added onto design. The same interior design project can be priced very differently depending on whether the designer is acting as Agent or Principal and neither approach is inherently better. What matters is choosing deliberately and pricing accordingly.
Inside IntoDesign, sourcing is broken down into clear, practical steps. Designers are shown exactly how the same project should be priced when acting as Agent versus Principal, using real examples and client-ready fee proposals.
Designers who learn this stop undercharging, stop feeling uneasy about fees and stop seeing sourcing as the point where projects become messy or unprofitable. In most cases, it is not that the designer is doing something wrong, but that no one ever showed them how sourcing should actually be priced in the real world.
If pricing sourcing has ever felt confusing, uncomfortable, or like the point where projects start to slip out of control, it’s usually not because you’re doing anything wrong. It’s because sourcing sits at the intersection of design, money, responsibility and risk and very few designers are ever taught how to handle that properly.
This is exactly why I built IntoDesign. Inside the platform, pricing sourcing is not treated as guesswork or instinct. It is broken down step by step, using real project examples, clear fee structures, and client-ready fee proposals. You’ll see how the same sourcing project should be priced differently depending on whether you are acting as Agent or Principal, how to avoid absorbing unpaid work, and how to communicate your role and fees clearly so clients understand what they are paying for.
IntoDesign is designed for working interior designers at all stages, whether you are just starting out, transitioning into paid work or already running projects but feeling uneasy about pricing, scope, or responsibility. You can explore IntoDesign and see what’s included here and start pricing your projects with a system that makes sense in the real world. Why not join hundreds of interior designers who are already using IntoDesign globally?
Jo Chrobak
