That’s an excellent question 👍 — because furniture & décor sourcing is one of the grey areas where many designers in Delhi NCR make hidden margins. Some are transparent, some quietly add 10–40% markups on whatever they source for you.

✅ How Markups Usually Work

Table of Contents

🔹 1. Design-Only Firms

They give you a shopping list with vendor links.
You buy directly, pay actual prices.
No markup, but you handle delivery, coordination, quality checks.

🔹 2. Turnkey / End-to-End Designers

They source furniture, lights, rugs, décor on your behalf.
Some add 10–20% sourcing fee or markup for curation, logistics, styling.
Others keep the vendor’s discounts as their margin (e.g., vendor gives 15% designer discount → designer keeps it).

🔹 3. Luxury Designers

Usually clear about charging a sourcing fee (10–15%) instead of hidden markups.
Some allow you to pay vendors directly, while they only charge for design & styling service.

💡 What You Should Ask Your Designer

Do you charge a markup on furniture & décor you source?
Do you pass on vendor discounts (Kirti Nagar, Good Earth, Jaipur Rugs, IKEA, imported brands) to me?
Can I choose to pay vendors directly and pay you only for styling?
Do you provide a separate invoice for décor sourcing (transparent costing)?
If you add a fee, is it flat (sourcing fee) or % of total décor budget?

⚠️ Red Flags

Designer avoids answering 🚩.
No written mention in contract about sourcing charges.
You only get a lump sum décor bill, no breakup.

✅ Pro Tip

Best practice = you pay vendors directly, designer charges a clear sourcing/styling fee.
If they do sourcing, ask for original vendor invoices.
Clarify in writing: “All vendor discounts to be passed on to client.”

👉 Do you want me to draft a “Furniture & Décor Sourcing Transparency Clause” (contract-ready) so your designer is bound to declare whether they’re charging markup or passing discounts?

Do you add a markup on sourced furniture/décor?