A kitchen topic: After just two consultations, I’m already completely fed up with those annoying kitchen salespeople.
I feel totally ripped off. You look at a kitchen, ask for the price—which of course isn’t displayed—and then you faint... €20,000 (about $21,600).
After the initial shock, the salesperson offers the first discounts... after two hours, you’re down to €12,000 (about $13,000) but still feel like you’re being taken for a ride.
If you then want to compare kitchens from the same brand, you can’t, because nobody gives you the itemized lists.
Everyone knows that dealers do this on purpose to be able to offer those huge discounts. I’m done with it.
How do you negotiate your kitchen, or how do you compare prices?
I feel totally ripped off. You look at a kitchen, ask for the price—which of course isn’t displayed—and then you faint... €20,000 (about $21,600).
After the initial shock, the salesperson offers the first discounts... after two hours, you’re down to €12,000 (about $13,000) but still feel like you’re being taken for a ride.
If you then want to compare kitchens from the same brand, you can’t, because nobody gives you the itemized lists.
Everyone knows that dealers do this on purpose to be able to offer those huge discounts. I’m done with it.
How do you negotiate your kitchen, or how do you compare prices?
I have seen this happen with my parents and a friend. You get a 50% discount on very expensive kitchens almost everywhere. However, you never actually receive concrete offers to take home and compare. The likely strategy is to have many sales talks and to negotiate the price down.
It gets expensive again if you want special kitchen appliances 🙂
It gets expensive again if you want special kitchen appliances 🙂
Marit schrieb:
Hello,
it quickly became clear to us that we didn’t want to be fooled by kitchen salespeople, so we decided to go with a custom kitchen from a cabinetmaker. That way, we get exactly what we want…I’m also planning to get a quote from a cabinetmaker next week… I hope the cabinetmaker can keep up. I need a bit more from the cabinetmaker and hope to get a good overall package. Only if I do end up going to one of those kitchen stores, I want to be well prepared and know all the tricks. Negotiating doesn’t come hard to me—it’s in my blood—but I like to have a strategy ready beforehand, and it’s also helpful to hear from others how things look :=)
B
Bauexperte4 Apr 2012 22:40Good evening,
I’ll share our story, and then you can decide what to take from it.
A few years ago, we faced the same problem. My husband was already frustrated because I have a knack for picking the most expensive options on the market (regardless of the project); this works even without price tags. In short, the kitchen I liked always ended up costing a five-figure amount at checkout; neither of us could justify that. A good friend advised us to visit a well-known Swedish furniture store; we had strong reservations about an excess of screws, etc. — just the memories we had stored somewhere from earlier years. However, the friend was as persistent as we were in not finding a reasonably priced kitchen.
So, off we went to the nearest Swedish store... and were quite surprised. What supposedly brand-name suppliers offered — like soft-closing drawers or a wide selection of fronts — was also available from the Swedish furniture retailer; the feet and cabinet boxes are basically all the same anyway. Feeling adventurous, we put together the kitchen furniture to fit our kitchen measurements... with one exception: I would never have bought the Swedish retailer’s Russian/Polish or whatever electrical appliances! We purchased those separately at an electronics specialty store.
Long story short — the kitchen is still like new today, after 3 moves. We have already swapped out the base cabinets because our kitchen dimensions changed, and we have supplemented it as well. Everything still works as on day one, and the price was about one-third less than that of a brand-name supplier or carpenter. The only thing I would do differently today: I would use the furniture store’s assembly service. Not because screws were missing or too many, but because it would make for a less stressful coffee break.
Kind regards
Der Da schrieb:
How do you negotiate your kitchen, or how do you compare prices?
I’ll share our story, and then you can decide what to take from it.
A few years ago, we faced the same problem. My husband was already frustrated because I have a knack for picking the most expensive options on the market (regardless of the project); this works even without price tags. In short, the kitchen I liked always ended up costing a five-figure amount at checkout; neither of us could justify that. A good friend advised us to visit a well-known Swedish furniture store; we had strong reservations about an excess of screws, etc. — just the memories we had stored somewhere from earlier years. However, the friend was as persistent as we were in not finding a reasonably priced kitchen.
So, off we went to the nearest Swedish store... and were quite surprised. What supposedly brand-name suppliers offered — like soft-closing drawers or a wide selection of fronts — was also available from the Swedish furniture retailer; the feet and cabinet boxes are basically all the same anyway. Feeling adventurous, we put together the kitchen furniture to fit our kitchen measurements... with one exception: I would never have bought the Swedish retailer’s Russian/Polish or whatever electrical appliances! We purchased those separately at an electronics specialty store.
Long story short — the kitchen is still like new today, after 3 moves. We have already swapped out the base cabinets because our kitchen dimensions changed, and we have supplemented it as well. Everything still works as on day one, and the price was about one-third less than that of a brand-name supplier or carpenter. The only thing I would do differently today: I would use the furniture store’s assembly service. Not because screws were missing or too many, but because it would make for a less stressful coffee break.
Kind regards
Hehe... I already checked with the Swedish supplier and got a reference price. That was my first approach and also my fallback solution in case everything else fails. But there are simply some restrictions that have to be accepted, which don’t fit with my/our concept. For example, the standard unit length of 60cm (24 inches). As far as I remember, they don’t offer 80cm (32 inches) wide cabinets. And especially for our kitchen, three 80cm (32 inches) cabinets make a lot more sense than four 60cm (24 inches) ones... But that’s a matter of personal preference. Also, we’re bothered by the fact that there’s basically no door style that really convinces us. Sure, a compromise solution is possible, but that would cost us almost 4000 just for the cabinets alone, without appliances.
Assembly service definitely makes sense, since I’ve installed such a kitchen once and never want to do it again. Too many parts, too many screws... hehe
As for the appliances from the Swedish supplier, they can be ruled out, that’s clear too.
Assembly service definitely makes sense, since I’ve installed such a kitchen once and never want to do it again. Too many parts, too many screws... hehe
As for the appliances from the Swedish supplier, they can be ruled out, that’s clear too.
Hello!
So, after buying about a dozen kitchens (some professionally), I still haven’t found a perfect solution to this headache.
The only thing that really worked was buying a display kitchen. The dimensions didn’t fit, the stove wasn’t to my liking, the sink wasn’t right, etc. – all no problem, as some cabinets were modified in the in-house workshop.
If I understood the post correctly (a kitchen run of 3 meters (10 feet)?), that shouldn’t be a real issue. However, I wouldn’t recommend 80 cm (31.5 inches) upper cabinets for structural reasons.
I’m happy to quickly sketch a kitchen plan of this size – no seller will mind that.
I recently moved with a kitchen that’s now 17 years old and gave it a bit of an upgrade (kitchen island, LED lighting, freestanding stove, induction cooktop, ceramic sink, recessed outlets, full-extension drawers) – it was a tough job.
In the end, you only have two options: either do a lot of research or spend a lot of money.
Best regards,
TomTom1
So, after buying about a dozen kitchens (some professionally), I still haven’t found a perfect solution to this headache.
The only thing that really worked was buying a display kitchen. The dimensions didn’t fit, the stove wasn’t to my liking, the sink wasn’t right, etc. – all no problem, as some cabinets were modified in the in-house workshop.
If I understood the post correctly (a kitchen run of 3 meters (10 feet)?), that shouldn’t be a real issue. However, I wouldn’t recommend 80 cm (31.5 inches) upper cabinets for structural reasons.
I’m happy to quickly sketch a kitchen plan of this size – no seller will mind that.
I recently moved with a kitchen that’s now 17 years old and gave it a bit of an upgrade (kitchen island, LED lighting, freestanding stove, induction cooktop, ceramic sink, recessed outlets, full-extension drawers) – it was a tough job.
In the end, you only have two options: either do a lot of research or spend a lot of money.
Best regards,
TomTom1
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