ᐅ Strategy for Buying a Kitchen / How to Negotiate Effectively?
Created on: 6 Aug 2020 16:47
S
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?
We will have a Schüller/Next-Mix kitchen. Two rows, each about 4m (13 feet) long. One row goes up to the ceiling, including an oven, steam oven, warming drawer, and a 1.78m (5 feet 10 inches) tall refrigerator. The other row has the dishwasher and a 60cm (24 inches) sink, with base cabinets only.
The kitchen island is 2.70m (9 feet) long with a cooktop.
Appliances are from Miele, the refrigerator from Siemens, and the cooktop from Bora.
Our total cost is €27,500. I think you’ll be fine with around €20,000.
The kitchen island is 2.70m (9 feet) long with a cooktop.
Appliances are from Miele, the refrigerator from Siemens, and the cooktop from Bora.
Our total cost is €27,500. I think you’ll be fine with around €20,000.
Tarnari schrieb:
For us, it was €27,500.Could you share how you arrived at that price? For example, how many studios did you visit and how much did you negotiate?
We visited a kitchen showroom and what is reportedly the largest furniture store in Germany, located in the Eifel region.
First, the kitchen showroom, then the furniture store for comparison. The managing director of the showroom spent more than 12 hours upfront on the planning. First like this, then like that, then back again. He was very patient, critical, and inspiring. After 12 hours, he still didn’t know if we would place the order.
At the furniture store, we spent 2.5 hours. Admittedly, we went in with ideas from the showroom. Still, the salesperson was done after 2.5 hours. He told us he could offer the kitchen for €27,500 (about $27,500), but with lower-quality appliances. In the end, he said if we called the boss and asked for a price reduction, we’d probably get it for €25,000 (about $25,000).
Yuck. Just a built-in discount.
For us, it was already clear that we would go with the showroom. Some around us suggested we should get more quotes. But the feeling with the showroom was simply right.
They now have the order. And we feel good about it. We didn’t really negotiate in the end. The only thing we did was: initially, the price was around €32,000 (about $32,000). We said that wouldn’t work. So together with the showroom, we looked for ways to save costs without completely changing the kitchen.
In the end, it was a different choice of fronts.
He finally gave us an extra “one-off” discount, and we accepted.
It’s just a gut feeling, but from my point of view, he honestly couldn’t have offered more.
There’s no point in trying to squeeze the guy dry. They are supposed to deliver solid work.
First, the kitchen showroom, then the furniture store for comparison. The managing director of the showroom spent more than 12 hours upfront on the planning. First like this, then like that, then back again. He was very patient, critical, and inspiring. After 12 hours, he still didn’t know if we would place the order.
At the furniture store, we spent 2.5 hours. Admittedly, we went in with ideas from the showroom. Still, the salesperson was done after 2.5 hours. He told us he could offer the kitchen for €27,500 (about $27,500), but with lower-quality appliances. In the end, he said if we called the boss and asked for a price reduction, we’d probably get it for €25,000 (about $25,000).
Yuck. Just a built-in discount.
For us, it was already clear that we would go with the showroom. Some around us suggested we should get more quotes. But the feeling with the showroom was simply right.
They now have the order. And we feel good about it. We didn’t really negotiate in the end. The only thing we did was: initially, the price was around €32,000 (about $32,000). We said that wouldn’t work. So together with the showroom, we looked for ways to save costs without completely changing the kitchen.
In the end, it was a different choice of fronts.
He finally gave us an extra “one-off” discount, and we accepted.
It’s just a gut feeling, but from my point of view, he honestly couldn’t have offered more.
There’s no point in trying to squeeze the guy dry. They are supposed to deliver solid work.
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