In our small community, no one charges for cabinetry design.  Yes, we have our designs taken to our competitors and theirs are often brought to us.  Because the standard in our community is complimentary design, we spend a lot of time focusing on our salesman ship, the bond we form with our builders of trust and reliability, as well as ensuring clients are educated about what we are really bringing to the table.  If all you have with the client is a bidding war, the lowest price will always win. Our goal is to create more than a design, we see each client as a relationship.  The truth is that it does not always work and the client takes our design and shops us.  My perspective is perhaps those clients are not really "our ideal client."  There are no easy answers to this. Charging for design could cost you some up front business,  it may also ensure that your time is not under valued going into the process and that you are serving your ideal customer.  Let me know how it works for you, I will be interested to see your outcome.