Why add staging to your deliverables?
Because the demand walks in the door with every vacant listing, and because the margin is unlike anything else in your price list. You already own the hard part — the photograph. Staging turns the same frame into a second billable deliverable without a second site visit.
Will it respect the photograph?
Architecture Lock adds furnishing and nothing else: your composition, your verticals, your window pulls and your floors survive untouched. The staged image is recognisably the frame you shot — which matters when your name is on the delivery. And every image passes through a full-resolution side-by-side before/after for your approval before it exists as an export at all.
What do the margins look like?
| Route | Your cost per image | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| ShowDwell Pro ($69/mo, 150 rooms) | $0.46 | Minutes, in your session |
| ShowDwell Agency ($149/mo, 500 rooms) | $0.30 | Minutes |
| Outsourcing to per-image services | $7–24 | Hours–2 days, out of your control |
What you charge the agent for staging is your call — per-image services charging $7–24 — BoxBrownie at $24, Styldod at $16, Apply Design from $7 (the 2026 market prices) are the reference point your clients already know. The spread is the point.
How does it fit a delivery workflow?
- Finish your normal edit and export the empty-room frames.
- Upload each room; pick the buyer profile the agent is selling to — first-time, family, premium, rental, downsizer.
- Approve or retry against the side-by-side. A failed generation, once confirmed, gets its credit back.
- Export at 1536px and deliver both versions — staged for marketing, original for the record and the MLS label.
What about disclosure rules?
Deliver both versions and say which is which. MLSs like ARMLS and CVR MLS require virtually staged images to be identified — a photographer who ships clearly-labelled pairs makes their agent look professional, and keeps their own work honest.
Try it on a real shoot
Three rooms a month are free — full resolution, no watermark, safe to put in front of a client. Volume plans on pricing.
Photographer questions, answered
Who owns the staged images?
You do. You keep all rights to the photographs you upload and to the staged versions generated for you — ShowDwell uses your images only to provide the service. Deliver them to clients however your own licensing works.
How fast can staged images be added to a delivery?
Minutes per room. Upload, choose the buyer profile the agent is selling to, approve the side-by-side, export at 1536px. A whole vacant listing fits inside the same editing session as your exposure work.
Does the agent need to disclose the staging?
Almost always yes — MLSs commonly require virtually staged images to be labelled, and NAR’s Code of Ethics requires listing media to present a true picture. Flag it in your delivery notes; the disclosure itself is the advertiser’s responsibility.