One of the ways that I practice radical transparency is by displaying my purchase cost on the client invoice.   This separates the cost of the item from the design fees or markup.   By doing this you are clear about the cost of the item and your design fees.  I don’t think that lumping them together is good for business anymore. This practice is common, but I think it is becoming harder and harder for the lump-sum designers because clients are checking prices and are savvier than they ever have been. I recently read a post on a Facebook about a designer that had a client that was purchasing fine art. The designer had spent dozens of hours searching for the right pieces

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