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?
Der Da schrieb:
I’ll get a quote next week too... I hope the carpenter can keep up. I need a bit more from the carpenter and hope to get a good overall package. If I have to deal with such nonsense like a kitchen store, I want to be well prepared. Negotiating doesn’t come hard to me; it’s in my blood. But I like to have a strategy ready beforehand, and hearing from others about how it looks is also not bad :=)Hello Der Da, I would also recommend the carpenter to you. My parents built a new house last year and got several quotes from kitchen retailers; they were all around ~24,000€ (about 26,000 USD), but the carpenter’s kitchen ended up costing them 16,000€ (about 17,500 USD).
By the way, my kitchen is like Bauexperte’s, from IKEA, and I can’t complain about the quality at all. If you look around a bit, you’ll find the same suppliers, for example for the hinges, as those used by brand-name kitchens. We bought our appliances elsewhere though. Cabinets in 80cm (31.5 inches) width are definitely available.
Best regards,
Sebastian
Well, the price is really the problem: The last kitchen I had planned was supposed to cost $19,000. I was shocked three times, turned pale, and then, out of nowhere, the dealer told me he could lower it to $13,000, plus an additional $2,000 promotional discount. So in just 10 minutes, I saved $8,000, and still felt like I was being taken advantage of. I’m convinced this kitchen could just as well be sold for $8,000.
These are the kinds of business practices that really bother me. But now I’m waiting to hear what the carpenter says. With him, I’ll get a fixed price. He calculates material + labor time + sales tax. Let’s see what comes out of it.
These are the kinds of business practices that really bother me. But now I’m waiting to hear what the carpenter says. With him, I’ll get a fixed price. He calculates material + labor time + sales tax. Let’s see what comes out of it.
N
Neubau20137 Apr 2012 10:13Hello,
I agree with Bauexperte.
Our first kitchen came from a kitchen showroom and was reasonably priced (or so we thought). After about two years, we wanted to reorder a narrow pull-out pantry cabinet (about 160cm (63 inches) tall and 25cm (10 inches) wide) and they wanted over €1000. Haha...
The second kitchen (due to moving) also came from the Swedish store! We assembled it ourselves, and a friend who works as a kitchen fitter at a large furniture store helped us align the parts. He said the quality was good, and he turned out to be right.
Our IKEA built-in appliances (oven, induction cooktop, and dishwasher) originally come from AEG (the AEG logo can be found, for example, behind the sealing lip at the top edge of the dishwasher).
The electrical appliances are good, except for the dishwasher. The dishwasher is a disaster, and I would replace it, but because we are moving to a new house next year, I will keep using it for now and sell it next year on eBay.
By the way, Swedish kitchens are good and partly come from the same factories as kitchens from various other brands.
I agree with Bauexperte.
Our first kitchen came from a kitchen showroom and was reasonably priced (or so we thought). After about two years, we wanted to reorder a narrow pull-out pantry cabinet (about 160cm (63 inches) tall and 25cm (10 inches) wide) and they wanted over €1000. Haha...
The second kitchen (due to moving) also came from the Swedish store! We assembled it ourselves, and a friend who works as a kitchen fitter at a large furniture store helped us align the parts. He said the quality was good, and he turned out to be right.
Our IKEA built-in appliances (oven, induction cooktop, and dishwasher) originally come from AEG (the AEG logo can be found, for example, behind the sealing lip at the top edge of the dishwasher).
The electrical appliances are good, except for the dishwasher. The dishwasher is a disaster, and I would replace it, but because we are moving to a new house next year, I will keep using it for now and sell it next year on eBay.
By the way, Swedish kitchens are good and partly come from the same factories as kitchens from various other brands.
Our current kitchen is also from Ikea. At the time, we wanted an affordable kitchen because we already knew we wouldn’t be staying in the apartment forever. We also assembled it ourselves. Overall, the kitchen offers good value for the price, but for our new build, I simply can’t imagine going with something like that. I want something special, something unique. Besides, the range of cabinet fronts isn’t really that impressive.
So now we’re curious to see what kind of offer the carpenter will give us...
So now we’re curious to see what kind of offer the carpenter will give us...
H
Häuslebauer408 Apr 2012 00:07Let me tell you what I did when it came to choosing the kitchen for the new house.
I took advantage of the annoying habit that you never get plans or itemized lists from any salesperson and used it to play two furniture stores against each other.
Salesperson 1 designed a kitchen for me from a well-known manufacturer. However, a few wall cabinets and various details (faucet, etc.) were still missing.
This price included various discounts, special offers, and similar deals.
Since, as usual, I didn’t receive any planning documents, the salesperson wrote down the calculated price on his business card and handed it to me.
I then went to furniture store 2 and asked them to price the same kitchen. This time, however, it included continuous wall cabinets, an additional shelf, faucet, and so on.
Naturally, this was more expensive. So I told salesperson 2 that I was very sorry, but we wouldn’t be making a deal again because I had already bought the living room furniture, two kids’ rooms, and so on from the competitor in recent years—they were always more expensive. He asked if I could prove that. I showed him the competitor’s business card with the price written on it and started calculating. After a while, he said it couldn’t be right, that he couldn’t match that price, and asked if the kitchen had really been designed exactly the same as his. Since salesperson 1, of course, didn’t provide any planning documents and obviously knew they wouldn’t be handed over, he had to rely on my word, which was, of course, “of course it was planned exactly the same and not differently.”
He then said his manager would have to decide.
And here is where you are really right. If he has to call his manager, it shows the margin is already quite tight, and you’re buying at a fair price.
I then told the whole story again to his manager. And lo and behold, I got the complete kitchen for less than the price of the half-finished kitchen at furniture store 1.
Good luck
I took advantage of the annoying habit that you never get plans or itemized lists from any salesperson and used it to play two furniture stores against each other.
Salesperson 1 designed a kitchen for me from a well-known manufacturer. However, a few wall cabinets and various details (faucet, etc.) were still missing.
This price included various discounts, special offers, and similar deals.
Since, as usual, I didn’t receive any planning documents, the salesperson wrote down the calculated price on his business card and handed it to me.
I then went to furniture store 2 and asked them to price the same kitchen. This time, however, it included continuous wall cabinets, an additional shelf, faucet, and so on.
Naturally, this was more expensive. So I told salesperson 2 that I was very sorry, but we wouldn’t be making a deal again because I had already bought the living room furniture, two kids’ rooms, and so on from the competitor in recent years—they were always more expensive. He asked if I could prove that. I showed him the competitor’s business card with the price written on it and started calculating. After a while, he said it couldn’t be right, that he couldn’t match that price, and asked if the kitchen had really been designed exactly the same as his. Since salesperson 1, of course, didn’t provide any planning documents and obviously knew they wouldn’t be handed over, he had to rely on my word, which was, of course, “of course it was planned exactly the same and not differently.”
He then said his manager would have to decide.
And here is where you are really right. If he has to call his manager, it shows the margin is already quite tight, and you’re buying at a fair price.
I then told the whole story again to his manager. And lo and behold, I got the complete kitchen for less than the price of the half-finished kitchen at furniture store 1.
Good luck
It can happen anywhere that the exact kitchen model you bought a year ago is no longer available.
If you are happy with your purchase, you shouldn’t have to think about it anymore. But if I buy something and still feel like I’ve been taken advantage of afterward, then I don’t enjoy the kitchen at all. I know that the final kitchen price is often multiplied by a factor of 2.4 or 2.0.
I got these numbers from various forums and from the prices initially quoted compared to what was actually paid at the end. Many times, there were weeks of discussions involved to reach those results.
I don’t have the energy for that kind of hassle, but I also don’t want to pay too much, since building a house is challenging enough.
That’s why I’m looking for strategies, tricks, and tips to shorten the process for me.
Next Friday, I have an appointment with the cabinetmaker, and I’m curious how much about 8 meters (26 feet) of kitchen will cost.
If you are happy with your purchase, you shouldn’t have to think about it anymore. But if I buy something and still feel like I’ve been taken advantage of afterward, then I don’t enjoy the kitchen at all. I know that the final kitchen price is often multiplied by a factor of 2.4 or 2.0.
I got these numbers from various forums and from the prices initially quoted compared to what was actually paid at the end. Many times, there were weeks of discussions involved to reach those results.
I don’t have the energy for that kind of hassle, but I also don’t want to pay too much, since building a house is challenging enough.
That’s why I’m looking for strategies, tricks, and tips to shorten the process for me.
Next Friday, I have an appointment with the cabinetmaker, and I’m curious how much about 8 meters (26 feet) of kitchen will cost.
Similar topics