How Should an Interior Designer Charge for Fragrance Specification?

The guide's hero gift Hotel Collection Fragrance From ₹299 The gift this guide is built around. Tap the photo for full details, scents and current per-unit pricing on the store. View this gift →Bulk quote on WhatsApp

Three models, and the one that matches how the layer behaves

All three of the usual models work here, and the interesting part of the question is not which one is correct but which one fits a property that fragrance has and most fit-out lines do not. Take the models first. Pass-through means the client pays supply price and your specification time sits inside the design fee. It is the cleanest arrangement, it is the easiest to explain, and it has a structural advantage that becomes relevant below: it puts the ongoing purchasing relationship directly between the client and the supplier rather than through you. A disclosed markup means you take a stated percentage on supply, exactly as many practices do on FF&E, and there is nothing wrong with it at all provided the word disclosed is doing real work. In a premium residential project the client will eventually see supply pricing - they will look something up, or a contractor will mention a figure - and a markup that was disclosed at the outset is a commercial arrangement while the identical markup discovered later is a trust problem that costs far more than the margin was worth. Say it in the first conversation and it never becomes a subject. A specification fee means you charge for the work of drawing the layer and writing the schedule, and the client buys directly. This suits practices that already charge separately for specification or procurement services, and it is the most transparent of the three, though it requires a client who understands what they are paying for. Now the property that complicates all three, which is that fragrance is a consumable rather than a fixture. A tap, a light fitting or a piece of stone is bought once and the transaction ends. Reed diffusers are replaced every three to four months, and machines need refills on a schedule that depends entirely on how they are run. Garden Bloom and Evening Calm are Rs 799, Morning Freshness Rs 749, and Fresh Brew and Mountain Breeze Rs 849, with refills at Rs 2,399 for 300ml and Rs 3,499 for 500ml, working out at roughly Rs 200 to Rs 280 per room per month. Reeds are consumed by time rather than by use, so a guest bathroom used twice a month costs exactly the same as one used daily, which is worth telling a client because it is counterintuitive. Machine consumption depends on run schedule and we do not publish a millilitres-per-month figure, because any number we printed would describe our assumptions rather than a particular home - we quote against the actual setup instead. That recurrence raises a question a practice should answer deliberately rather than by accident: do you want a continuing role after handover, or a clean exit? A continuing role is genuinely valuable in some practices - it keeps a light relationship alive with a client who may well have another project, and some designers build a small annual servicing arrangement around it. But it is also an administrative burden entirely disproportionate to the sums involved, and most practices, once they think it through, want the clean exit. That points at pass-through, with the client set up to reorder directly, and it is the model we see most often. Whichever model you choose, three things belong in the proposal. The first is the model itself, stated plainly. The second is the running cost, stated even though the client will not ask - because a client who discovers an ongoing cost after handover feels it was concealed, however small it is, and Rs 200 to Rs 280 per room per month is a small enough number that stating it costs you nothing and buys a great deal. The third is the reorder path, so that the client knows what to do in month four when the first reed bottle needs replacing. A layer that quietly stops working three months after handover is worse for your reputation than one that was never specified. There is also a scope point worth putting in writing. Fragrance is the finishing layer and it is never a correction: if a home has an extraction problem, a damp problem or a ventilation problem, those sit outside this scope and have to be solved first, because fragrance layered over an existing smell combines with it rather than masking it and the result is worse than either alone. Writing that into the proposal protects you from being blamed for a smell you did not cause. And the exclusions belong in the document too, priced at nothing: never the kitchen, at any time, because cooking smell is aerosolised oil and the answer is extraction; no fragrance in children's rooms; a covered terrace, balcony or verandah cannot hold fragrance because the air is not enclosed, so no system will achieve it; staff quarters and utility areas get nothing; and anybody who shares the home and cannot leave it gets a low neutral register and a physical off switch they never have to justify using. On the specification itself, the plan decides: the Vaayu at Rs 11,999 for a large open volume, waterless with no tank, coverage up to 1,000 square metres or roughly 10,700 square feet, with Bluetooth app and timer control; the Megh at Rs 3,499 with a 6L tank; the Sukoon at Rs 1,799 for a single room; the Boond at Rs 799 for a small one; and reeds for every closed room. The seven Hotel Collection registers are Rs 299 for 15ml, Rs 999 for 100ml and Rs 1,799 for 300ml, and these are SOSA's own interpretations, since we are independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by or associated with any hotel brand. Machines take the water-based Hotel Collection only at three to six drops per tank with a rinse between scents, never reed oil, which can damage them, and that instruction belongs in the handover pack. Do not write any claim about mood, focus, sleep, stress or wellbeing into a proposal; we make none. Everything is alcohol-free and made to IFRA-compliant standards, and a portion of every order supports girl-child education through Nanhi Kali. Volume pricing across a project is quoted against the specification on WhatsApp.

Pairs with this programme SOSA Vaayu Waterless Scent Machine ₹11,999 The natural companion to what you just read. Click the image to see it on the product page. View this gift →Bulk quote on WhatsApp

Charging for something that keeps being bought

All three usual models work, and the interesting part is which fits a property fragrance has that most fit-out lines do not. Pass-through means supply price to the client with your specification time inside the design fee - cleanest, easiest to explain, and it puts the ongoing purchasing relationship directly between client and supplier. A disclosed markup is a stated percentage on supply, exactly as on FF&E, and is perfectly fine provided disclosure is real: in a premium project the client will eventually see supply pricing, and a markup disclosed at the outset is a commercial arrangement while the identical one discovered later costs far more than the margin was worth. A specification fee means charging for the drawing and schedule while the client buys directly, which suits practices that already charge for specification work. The complication is that fragrance is a consumable rather than a fixture. Reeds are replaced every three to four months - Garden Bloom and Evening Calm at Rs 799, Morning Freshness at Rs 749, Fresh Brew and Mountain Breeze at Rs 849, refills at Rs 2,399 for 300ml and Rs 3,499 for 500ml, roughly Rs 200 to Rs 280 per room per month - and they are consumed by time rather than use, so a guest bathroom used twice a month costs the same as one used daily. Machine consumption depends on run schedule, and we do not publish a millilitres-per-month figure because any number we printed would describe our assumptions rather than a particular home, so we quote against the actual setup. That recurrence raises a question to answer deliberately: a continuing role after handover, or a clean exit. Most practices want the exit once they think it through, which points at pass-through with a direct reorder path. Whichever model, three things belong in the proposal - the model itself, the running cost even though nobody asks, and the reorder path, because a layer that quietly stops working in month four is worse than one never specified. Add a scope line: fragrance is the finishing layer and never a correction, so extraction, damp and ventilation problems sit outside it. And the exclusions, priced at nothing: never the kitchen, nothing in children's rooms, no covered terrace, nothing in staff or utility areas, and a physical off switch for anyone who cannot leave. Systems follow the plan: the SOSA Vaayu at Rs 11,999 with coverage to 1,000 m², the SOSA Megh at Rs 3,499, the SOSA Sukoon at Rs 1,799, the SOSA Boond at Rs 799. Hotel Collection from Rs 299, machines only, never reed oil. Everything is alcohol-free and made to IFRA-compliant standards. Volume pricing is quoted on WhatsApp.

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Hotel Collection Fragrance From ₹299 See details → SOSA Vaayu Waterless Scent Machine ₹11,999 See details → Garden Bloom Reed Diffuser From ₹799 See details →

Planning volumes? WhatsApp the bulk desk on +91 96192 18531 with your customer count, per-unit band and timeline - we will quote and build the programme with you.

The proposal mechanics are in the proposal chapter, raising it without a pitch is in the upsell chapter, and the handover complaint is in the handover chapter.

The SOSA business gifting edit

Whatever your business gifts, the logic is the same: gift the milestone moment, set the per-unit band by customer value, keep the register gentle and crowd-safe, and brand the gesture with your card rather than your logo on the product. Every SOSA fragrance is alcohol-free and made in India, and a portion of every order supports girl-child education through Nanhi Kali - so every customer gift quietly gives twice. Here is the full business range by per-unit band.

Scent your own space too The SOSA Vaayu at ₹11,999 - the scent machine for showrooms, lobbies and offices Waterless cold-air diffusion to ~1000m³ with app and timer control. Run it in your own premises so customers experience the scent there - then gift them the matching fragrance to take home. That loop is how a space becomes a memory. Tap to see full specs. See the Vaayu →

Complete the programme Garden Bloom Reed Diffuser From ₹799 The piece that rounds out the gifting programme. Tap the image to view details and current offers. View this gift →Bulk quote on WhatsApp

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