ᐅ Planning kitchen appliances: How to approach it. The market is overwhelming.
Created on: 11 Sep 2017 12:34
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G-Star1988
Hello everyone,
I have an appointment at the kitchen studio next Saturday and I’m preparing for it. Specifically, I’m looking for the appliances I want to have later in the kitchen. I’ve been researching a lot from brands like Neff / Siemens, Miele, Bora, etc., but I’m not making much progress.
For example, the current selection at Siemens looks like this:
Dishwasher IQ300 SN636X03MD
Oven IQ700 HB634GBS1
Microwave IQ500 HF15M264
Cooktop with integrated downdraft extractor EX801LX34E
or
2 x Cooktop IQ700 EX375FXB1E with extractor IQ700 LF16VA570
(The cooktop with integrated downdraft is the only fixed requirement, unfortunately I don’t have any influence on that ^^)
I actually value quality, energy efficiency, and a balanced price-performance ratio. But how can I find out if what you pick is really good? Or if there are possibly cheaper but equally high-quality products from other manufacturers. For example, the cooktop with integrated downdraft extractor from Miele—according to the catalog, it’s cheaper but just as good or even better?
How do you approach this?
I have an appointment at the kitchen studio next Saturday and I’m preparing for it. Specifically, I’m looking for the appliances I want to have later in the kitchen. I’ve been researching a lot from brands like Neff / Siemens, Miele, Bora, etc., but I’m not making much progress.
For example, the current selection at Siemens looks like this:
Dishwasher IQ300 SN636X03MD
Oven IQ700 HB634GBS1
Microwave IQ500 HF15M264
Cooktop with integrated downdraft extractor EX801LX34E
or
2 x Cooktop IQ700 EX375FXB1E with extractor IQ700 LF16VA570
(The cooktop with integrated downdraft is the only fixed requirement, unfortunately I don’t have any influence on that ^^)
I actually value quality, energy efficiency, and a balanced price-performance ratio. But how can I find out if what you pick is really good? Or if there are possibly cheaper but equally high-quality products from other manufacturers. For example, the cooktop with integrated downdraft extractor from Miele—according to the catalog, it’s cheaper but just as good or even better?
How do you approach this?
The pricing policies of some manufacturers can be quite strange. We were interested in an induction cooktop with an integrated extractor hood for our new kitchen. Siemens, for example, offers attractive models, but with a list price of over 4400 euros (around 4900 USD), which is far beyond what we want to spend. So, we had essentially given up on the idea that a Siemens appliance would be an option for us. Then we visited the kitchen showroom, and a model we were interested in was priced 1961 euros (around 2200 USD) below the list price...
AxelH. schrieb:
And then we go to the kitchen showroom, and a model that interests us is priced 1961 euros below the list price...Check out the online prices for Siemens appliances to get a sense of the "real" price.
For example, the cooktop from the IQ700 series mentioned by the original poster costs €1,150 (and they want two) in the Siemens online shop, but in the "open market," it can be found starting at €350.
These so-called kitchen studios that use fixed-price packages, extreme special deals, and “house price minus xx% just for today and because you’re a valued customer” tactics really annoy me. Unfortunately, this also includes all the big furniture stores and those who let themselves be “negotiated down” with competing offers.
Seriously, does anyone really believe they will make an exception and lower the price just because you show them a 10% cheaper offer from elsewhere? Usually, they just start with an “offer” that is way too expensive. I see that as customer baiting, which I’m not willing to go along with.
A reliable kitchen builder will tell you upfront how things stand—that this is not a marketplace where you haggle, and that the price is the price, even if you come with a lower offer nearby. From my current experience, you get more for the same money outside the big furniture chains—in my case, better quality fronts and better advice/planning. That might have been a coincidence or a one-off case, of course. But Hö***ner, X**l, and all the rest were consistently no good. The only serious alternative for us was the custom kitchen carpenter. What ultimately mattered for us was that our kitchen builder had already worked well with our architect several times, which was important to us because of some specific structural details.
By the way, neither the kitchen builder nor the carpenter had a problem with us providing appliances ourselves, sourced online. The carpenter even recommended this, since he could never offer those devices at such low prices. He told us to have them delivered to him, and then he would bring them in and install them. That’s something worth suggesting at a furniture store or at so-called kitchen studio chains like “Die Küchenplaner”...
Of course, not everyone will share this perspective… [emoji6]
Seriously, does anyone really believe they will make an exception and lower the price just because you show them a 10% cheaper offer from elsewhere? Usually, they just start with an “offer” that is way too expensive. I see that as customer baiting, which I’m not willing to go along with.
A reliable kitchen builder will tell you upfront how things stand—that this is not a marketplace where you haggle, and that the price is the price, even if you come with a lower offer nearby. From my current experience, you get more for the same money outside the big furniture chains—in my case, better quality fronts and better advice/planning. That might have been a coincidence or a one-off case, of course. But Hö***ner, X**l, and all the rest were consistently no good. The only serious alternative for us was the custom kitchen carpenter. What ultimately mattered for us was that our kitchen builder had already worked well with our architect several times, which was important to us because of some specific structural details.
By the way, neither the kitchen builder nor the carpenter had a problem with us providing appliances ourselves, sourced online. The carpenter even recommended this, since he could never offer those devices at such low prices. He told us to have them delivered to him, and then he would bring them in and install them. That’s something worth suggesting at a furniture store or at so-called kitchen studio chains like “Die Küchenplaner”...
Of course, not everyone will share this perspective… [emoji6]
K
Knallkörper14 Sep 2017 23:26For example, I visited a furniture store. We have a fairly large kitchen, I would say. The planner and salesperson designed and drafted the kitchen, and you could watch the progress on a large monitor. When he finished, he said, "You have a great kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances—that naturally costs something. My calculator shows: 51,000 euros" ... "But we have a trade fair next week, so I can probably lower it to 30,000" ... "Let me get my manager; maybe they can do more, as they have higher system permissions" ... The manager comes, sits down at the computer, makes a thoughtful expression, probably playing strip poker while at it ... "Okay, the calculator is recalculating now" ... plays strip poker for another 2 minutes ... "So, we can offer you 19,999 euros—but only until tomorrow" ... I said goodbye and told them I’d think about it. Two days later, I received an email: "We are pleased to offer you the kitchen at the price of 18,800 euros."
A similar situation happened again at a kitchen studio. It was really annoying. So, “out of principle,” I bought a kitchen at Ikea, without the appliances. It was more work, but for the same price, I ended up with a significantly better-equipped kitchen overall. I bought the appliances separately from various different retailers through price comparison websites and saved at least four figures.
A similar situation happened again at a kitchen studio. It was really annoying. So, “out of principle,” I bought a kitchen at Ikea, without the appliances. It was more work, but for the same price, I ended up with a significantly better-equipped kitchen overall. I bought the appliances separately from various different retailers through price comparison websites and saved at least four figures.
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