Start here, because this explains most gaps. Every company lays out its quotes differently, so two quotes can look similar and cover quite different amounts of furniture.

Ask each company for a room-by-room list of what’s going in. Not just a total, a list. Then put the lists side by side and look at these rooms first.

• The dining room. A cheaper quote will sometimes set the dining space up as a sitting area, with two occasional chairs, a rug and a side table. Less furniture means a lower price. But buyers walk in and see a sitting area where the dining room should be.
• The living room. Check the size of the sofa against the size of the house. As Phoebe put it, a 4-bedroom home needs more seats than a 2.5-seater sofa gives you. A single small sofa doesn’t show buyers a family living space.
• Outdoor areas. These are often the first thing trimmed to bring a price down.

If one quote styles four rooms and another styles seven, you’re not comparing the same job.

The second thing that separates quotes is what goes on top of the furniture. That means greenery, jugs and glasses in the kitchen, pieces on the bedside tables, and a dressed bathroom.

These are what the photographer gets in close to shoot. Phoebe’s view is that if the kitchen has nothing in it, the photos can’t show buyers what living there would be like, and that’s a chance lost. Quotes don’t always list these pieces. A good one shows them room by room, like accessories, greenery, linen and towels. If a quote doesn’t mention them, ask whether they’re included.

A quote done from photos or a floorplan can be accurate. It can also miss things, especially in odd-shaped or larger rooms, where the amount of furniture matters most.

That’s why we recommend a free on-site consult wherever we can. A Foxy stylist can see what the home needs, and we can sort out the practical side at the same time: access, the building manager’s details, and whether a loading dock needs booking.

We also quote from floorplans and video walkthroughs when a visit doesn’t suit. But ask each company whether someone saw the property, and if not, what they based the quote on.

Sometimes a sofa turns out too big for the room, or a bed doesn’t fit. Sometimes the first open home or the agent’s read on the likely buyer shows something isn’t working. None of this shows on a quote, so ask each company two questions.

1. How quickly can you fix it?
2. Who pays for the fix?

Here’s how it works with us. If we got something wrong, like a faulty piece, something we quoted and didn’t bring, or a sofa we measured wrong, we fix it at no charge and send a truck back. If you’d like something different, like a room that feels sparse or a colour you’ve changed your mind on, that usually has a fee, because it’s a second job rather than a correction.

How fast a company can fix things depends on how it’s set up. A company that hires its furniture from someone else, or books an outside removalist, has to wait on those other businesses before it can say yes.

Photography dates move. Ask each company what happens if yours comes forward three days.

It’s also worth noticing how each company handles your first few calls and emails. Jake’s point was that at a small company one person often does everything. If they’re out styling a home when you ring, you wait until they’re finished. None of this is good or bad on its own. It just matters when your listing date is close.

The common-sense check is the company itself. It takes a few minutes and tells you a lot.

• How long they’ve been doing it, and how many homes they’ve staged.
• What their Google reviews say. Look past the star rating to what people actually mention, like turning up on time, short notice, and how problems were handled.
• Which agents in your area use them. Agents see how every campaign goes, and they put their name behind every company they recommend. Ask your agent who they’d use, and why.
• Whether they show their work on social media. Not just finished rooms, but how they actually work: install days, the team, and how they handle a tight turnaround.

Ours: more than 8,000 homes across Brisbane and the Gold Coast since 2016, and more than 320 Google reviews.

In the middle, and on purpose. We’re not going to be the cheapest quote you get, and we’re rarely the most expensive.

As a guide, a 4 bed, 2 living home is about $5,700 with us, and a 4 bed with one living area is about $4,700. Both include GST, delivery, setup, collection and 8 weeks of hire, with four weeks paid and four free. Every home is different, so your quote shows the exact price, room by room.

If you’ve run every check above and the gap still doesn’t add up, go with the cheaper quote. We’d rather that than you feeling talked into something.

In the middle, and on purpose. We’re not going to be the cheapest quote you get, and we’re rarely the most expensive.

As a guide, a 4 bed, 2 living home is about $5,700 with us, and a 4 bed with one living area is about $4,700. Both include GST, delivery, setup, collection and 8 weeks of hire, with four weeks paid and four free. Every home is different, so your quote shows the exact price, room by room.

If you’ve run every check above and the gap still doesn’t add up, go with the cheaper quote. We’d rather that than you feeling talked into something.

1. Get a room-by-room list from every company, not just a total.
2. Check how each quote sets up the dining room and living room.
3. Compare sofa size against the number of bedrooms.
4. See whether outdoor areas are included, and how much goes in them.
5. Ask what accessories are included in the kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms.
6. Find out whether anyone saw the house before quoting.
7. Ask what happens, and who pays, if something needs changing.
8. Ask what happens if your photography date moves.
9. Check how long they’ve been going, their Google reviews, which local agents use them, and how they show their work on social media.

If you’d like a quote to compare, book a free consult here. A Foxy stylist meets you at the property, talks through what will make the strongest impression with buyers, and you get a plan and a full quote back within 24 business hours.