Virtual staging for estate agents

Where it fits in the instruction-to-launch sequence

Nothing about the shoot changes. The photographer visits once, shoots the property empty as they normally would, and sends you the files. Staging happens afterwards on the photographs, so there is no furniture to hire, no delivery slot to book, no access to arrange with a vendor who has already moved out, and no second visit.

That is the entire operational argument. Physical staging inserts a logistics chain between instruction and launch; this inserts a file upload. For a property that is empty precisely because the vendor has already gone — probate, a chain-free investor sale, a new-build, a rental between tenancies — that difference is usually decisive.

The per-listing economics

Pricing is per listing rather than per photo, which matters because a listing is the unit you actually work in. A one-off listing is £19 for up to ten photos. The Agent plan is £49 a month for six listings, and the Office plan is £129 a month for twenty-five listings across three seats.

At the Office plan's volume that works out at £0.52 per photo at ten photos a listing, which is generally well inside the rounding error on a photography invoice. The relevant comparison is not staging against nothing — it is a staged photograph against the cost of a second week on the portal.

Those figures are quoted and charged in GBP: a UK branch is billed in pounds rather than in a converted euro price. A customer who has paid before in another currency keeps that one, because Stripe pins a customer to the currency of their first payment.

• Full pricing and per-photo maths →
• Run the numbers for your branch →

What it will not do, and why that is the point

It adds free-standing furniture, rugs, artwork, plants and soft decor. It does not alter walls, windows, doors, floors, ceilings, light fittings, built-in units or the view out of any window, and the output is locked to your original's aspect ratio so nothing gets reframed for the portal.

That restriction is the reason this is usable on a regulated listing at all. A tool that will happily add a fireplace or replace a kitchen worktop produces images that describe a property that does not exist, and the exposure from that sits with the agent rather than with the software.

There is one thing to be plain about: no automated vision check runs on renders today. The furniture-only instruction is in every prompt and the output is constrained, but nothing verifies the result automatically. Your untouched original is delivered beside every render so the comparison takes seconds, and that comparison is the control.

• The rules that apply to listing photos →

Disclosure is built in rather than left to you

Every render is delivered in three versions: your unaltered original, a clean file, and one with the "Virtually staged" badge composited into the corner. The badged version is the one intended for portal upload, and a one-line disclosure note ships with every download and in the ZIP for the listing.

The wording comes from one place in the codebase and is identical in the badge, the interface, the download and the email, so it cannot drift between surfaces. That is deliberate: disclosure that varies by channel is the kind of detail that gets picked apart after the fact.

• Disclosure and compliance →

Working as an office rather than an individual

The Office plan carries three seats and twenty-five listings a month, which suits a branch where two or three negotiators are each preparing their own instructions. It also unlocks a branding-free share link for a finished gallery — useful for sending a vendor their photographs without a third-party logo on the page, and for white-labelling to a partner agency.

The compliance badge stays on the images in a white-label gallery, because it is a legal requirement rather than a branding element. That is the one thing white-labelling does not remove.

• Staging room by room →
• Choosing a style for the property →

Questions agents ask before trying it

Do I need to tell the vendor the photos are staged?

You should, and you need to tell the buyer. The images carry a visible "Virtually staged" badge and ship with a disclosure line for the listing. Treating that as a formality is the mistake — an undisclosed staged photograph is what turns a marketing image into a potential misdescription.

Will my photographer object?

Most do not, because nothing about their work changes and the staged version is derived from their file rather than replacing it. If they licence images to you with restrictions on derivative works, check the terms — that is a contract question rather than a technical one.

How many photos in a listing should be staged?

Usually two or three: the main reception room, the principal bedroom, and whichever room reads worst empty — often a box room or a separate dining room. A gallery where every photograph is staged reads as a brochure rather than as a property.

What happens if a render comes back wrong?

Re-roll it. You can regenerate the same photo or change the style and render again, included on the subscription tiers. A result that does not land costs a couple of minutes rather than a decision.

Can I try it before committing a branch to it?

Yes — one room free, no card, on a real photograph from a real instruction. That is the honest test, because it puts the output next to your own original rather than next to a demo.