ᐅ Strategy for Buying a Kitchen / How to Negotiate Effectively?
Created on: 6 Aug 2020 16:47
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Shiny86
I’ve started planning my kitchen and feel completely overwhelmed. It feels like being at a bazaar. Exactly what you see on TV shows happened to me. So far, I’ve visited 4 kitchen showrooms. I’m still waiting on the design and price from 2 of them. These are smaller studios, so I’m curious to see what they come up with.
But with the other two, it went exactly as expected. Twice I asked the manager for a discount, and it turned into a kind of show. The comments were laughable: “We can do it for price X, but then we won’t make any profit on you. The manager will probably want to talk to me about this.” Even after the second discount, I still felt like I was paying too much. Both salespeople set deadlines for me. One even said I had to sign the contract that same day.
I also don’t know how to negotiate smartly or what the right tactics are. I don’t really know the actual value of my kitchen. When does negotiating become unreasonable? How do you know for sure when there’s no more room to negotiate? Are there actually people who don’t negotiate at all and just accept the first offered discount? I’ve wondered about that too. It’s a shame I don’t know any kitchen salesperson personally to get insider tips.
Since I have a lot of expensive requests, I feel almost ridiculous setting my budget too low. The problem is that I can’t compare apples to apples because my kitchen concept has changed with every planning appointment. In my small town, I’ve now visited all the studios except for Roller. There are still studios in neighboring towns, but I already feel like I won’t have a kitchen even after visiting 5 more showrooms.
Nearly all plans are for a Nobilia kitchen, coming to around 20,000 euros (about $22,000), or even more if I include my latest wishes. I’ve asked if I should buy the appliances myself to save money, but I was advised against it. They said they wouldn’t install them due to warranty reasons.
What price would you set if you were in my position? And please share how you got your kitchen and how you negotiated.
My requirements are:
- A tall cabinet row with 6 cabinets, each 60cm (24 inches) wide, boxed in drywall. Two of these should be pantry cabinets with pull-out shelves, and the other 4 will house appliances.
- A kitchen peninsula about 1.2m (4 feet) wide and approximately 3.10m (10 feet) long, with drawers on both sides only.
- I want quite high-end appliances, probably Bosch Series 8 black Carbon Accent line, likely including an oven with microwave, a combi-steam oven, and a built-in coffee machine.
- Cooktop with an integrated downdraft vent, recirculating air, flush-mounted (Bosch Series 8 has been planned so far, but I don’t know how good the cooktop is).
- Very quiet dishwasher, brand doesn’t matter (Bosch and Neff have been suggested so far).
- Refrigerator inside a tall cabinet with 2 bio-fresh drawers, brand doesn’t matter (Liebherr and Bosch have been suggested).
- Ceramic countertop
- Undermount ceramic sink
I don’t want to spend more than necessary. But I realize I probably won’t get everything for 15,000 euros (about $16,500).
How should I proceed?
But with the other two, it went exactly as expected. Twice I asked the manager for a discount, and it turned into a kind of show. The comments were laughable: “We can do it for price X, but then we won’t make any profit on you. The manager will probably want to talk to me about this.” Even after the second discount, I still felt like I was paying too much. Both salespeople set deadlines for me. One even said I had to sign the contract that same day.
I also don’t know how to negotiate smartly or what the right tactics are. I don’t really know the actual value of my kitchen. When does negotiating become unreasonable? How do you know for sure when there’s no more room to negotiate? Are there actually people who don’t negotiate at all and just accept the first offered discount? I’ve wondered about that too. It’s a shame I don’t know any kitchen salesperson personally to get insider tips.
Since I have a lot of expensive requests, I feel almost ridiculous setting my budget too low. The problem is that I can’t compare apples to apples because my kitchen concept has changed with every planning appointment. In my small town, I’ve now visited all the studios except for Roller. There are still studios in neighboring towns, but I already feel like I won’t have a kitchen even after visiting 5 more showrooms.
Nearly all plans are for a Nobilia kitchen, coming to around 20,000 euros (about $22,000), or even more if I include my latest wishes. I’ve asked if I should buy the appliances myself to save money, but I was advised against it. They said they wouldn’t install them due to warranty reasons.
What price would you set if you were in my position? And please share how you got your kitchen and how you negotiated.
My requirements are:
- A tall cabinet row with 6 cabinets, each 60cm (24 inches) wide, boxed in drywall. Two of these should be pantry cabinets with pull-out shelves, and the other 4 will house appliances.
- A kitchen peninsula about 1.2m (4 feet) wide and approximately 3.10m (10 feet) long, with drawers on both sides only.
- I want quite high-end appliances, probably Bosch Series 8 black Carbon Accent line, likely including an oven with microwave, a combi-steam oven, and a built-in coffee machine.
- Cooktop with an integrated downdraft vent, recirculating air, flush-mounted (Bosch Series 8 has been planned so far, but I don’t know how good the cooktop is).
- Very quiet dishwasher, brand doesn’t matter (Bosch and Neff have been suggested so far).
- Refrigerator inside a tall cabinet with 2 bio-fresh drawers, brand doesn’t matter (Liebherr and Bosch have been suggested).
- Ceramic countertop
- Undermount ceramic sink
I don’t want to spend more than necessary. But I realize I probably won’t get everything for 15,000 euros (about $16,500).
How should I proceed?
My daughter has the "wood" from LEICHT; the wood was also installed by the LEICHT studio. The built-in refrigerator and freezer, as well as the front panel on the dishwasher, were installed there.
She bought the handles elsewhere, but the LEICHT fitter also installed those.
The appliances were purchased separately from a retailer; two appliances were bought online and installed by an electrician. The only wall cabinet that contains the hood was custom-made by the carpenter.
The countertop was purchased and installed by a stonemason.
She bought the handles elsewhere, but the LEICHT fitter also installed those.
The appliances were purchased separately from a retailer; two appliances were bought online and installed by an electrician. The only wall cabinet that contains the hood was custom-made by the carpenter.
The countertop was purchased and installed by a stonemason.
You can buy the "wood" yourself and even install it, no one will stop you. However, that wouldn’t be advisable because it’s difficult to prove whether “the front was delivered scratched” or if you caused the damage.
As Kerstin already mentioned, I would also have all work directly related to the wood done by professionals.
You don’t have to choose handles from manufacturer A if you don’t like any of theirs. She wanted brass handles, which LEICHT did not have in their range at the time.
The biggest cost was the countertop (quartz composite); she needed 3 slabs (3 x 1.2 m (3 x 4 feet)). She went to a supplier who cuts, polishes, etc., the slabs (Caesarstone) in Poland. However, there are manufacturers in Germany as well that offer quartz composite and are significantly cheaper than the market leader. Hotzenplotz, who was active in this forum for a long time, bought his slabs from an affordable manufacturer in Germany.
If you want these "special heating devices," you really need to buy them from a retailer, as they are not available online. As I said, I bought one device online, two others were bought through an employer, and the rest through an electronics retailer. Oh, and the sink was purchased via LEICHT, while the faucet was bought online.
I believe LEICHT doesn’t do trade-in credit, whereas Nobilia and similar companies do, so buying appliances separately might make less sense.
So, it was a mix.
As Kerstin already mentioned, I would also have all work directly related to the wood done by professionals.
You don’t have to choose handles from manufacturer A if you don’t like any of theirs. She wanted brass handles, which LEICHT did not have in their range at the time.
The biggest cost was the countertop (quartz composite); she needed 3 slabs (3 x 1.2 m (3 x 4 feet)). She went to a supplier who cuts, polishes, etc., the slabs (Caesarstone) in Poland. However, there are manufacturers in Germany as well that offer quartz composite and are significantly cheaper than the market leader. Hotzenplotz, who was active in this forum for a long time, bought his slabs from an affordable manufacturer in Germany.
If you want these "special heating devices," you really need to buy them from a retailer, as they are not available online. As I said, I bought one device online, two others were bought through an employer, and the rest through an electronics retailer. Oh, and the sink was purchased via LEICHT, while the faucet was bought online.
I believe LEICHT doesn’t do trade-in credit, whereas Nobilia and similar companies do, so buying appliances separately might make less sense.
So, it was a mix.
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Nice-Nofret24 Aug 2020 10:53Basically, an all-inclusive package is only available if you buy everything from a single source. If you want to skip that, you can assemble any kitchen studio kitchen yourself (which is much easier and faster than IKEA) and purchase the appliances on your own. Dishwashers, especially built-up dishwashers, are only suitable for creative DIYers at IKEA.
Not all appliances are available online; some are sold exclusively through kitchen studios or authorized dealers.
If you get the appliances yourself, it is your responsibility to ensure they fit with the chosen base cabinets/countertop/heel height, etc.
Not all appliances are available online; some are sold exclusively through kitchen studios or authorized dealers.
If you get the appliances yourself, it is your responsibility to ensure they fit with the chosen base cabinets/countertop/heel height, etc.
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pagoni202024 Aug 2020 12:33Shiny86 schrieb:
Actually, I don’t want to buy the devices separately. That annoys me again.Then just don’t do it and get everything from one source.
In my case, I would have saved 1000 EUR compared to the quote from KFB for 4 units.
I believe you are planning with more units. Maybe it’s possible to find comparable devices (not exactly the same) with two to three hours of research, saving 1000–2000 EUR.
That effectively equals an hourly rate of 300–400 EUR, minus the flat-rate installation cost for third-party unit installation, minus the hassle with warranty issues.
I believe you are planning with more units. Maybe it’s possible to find comparable devices (not exactly the same) with two to three hours of research, saving 1000–2000 EUR.
That effectively equals an hourly rate of 300–400 EUR, minus the flat-rate installation cost for third-party unit installation, minus the hassle with warranty issues.
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