ᐅ The Business of Toilets

Hello everyone,

I know my title is a bit ambiguous. I initially wanted to write “toilet cartel,” but that wouldn’t be nearly as funny.
We received a first quote for the sanitary fixtures, and I’m really taken aback. I carefully researched the prices for the items I want online beforehand. I can’t accept paying €980 (about $1,070) in this quote for a washbasin that I can buy online for €250 (about $270)! That’s over 300% more. Where do these prices come from, generally speaking? I understand that the manufacturer, the supplier, and finally the installer all want to make a profit… but is there no way to get these items cheaper, the ones the installer will install?
I just don’t understand why we’re supposed to pay an additional €7,700 (about $8,400) for a few things we want done differently. Our general contractor doesn’t care where we source the bathroom fixtures, so we’re not tied to this one supplier.
How did you handle this? Did you just accept the extra cost? Or did anyone dare to organize and have these things installed independently?
Thanks in advance for your advice!

You’re building with a general contractor, right? 30% might be acceptable, but at 300% I would definitely take action and, if necessary, have it installed yourself.

Regards, Steffen

Exactly, Steffen, with a general contractor. We were told that if we organize everything ourselves, no installer will do the work due to warranty issues...?

Bautraum2015 schrieb:
Exactly Steffen80, with a general contractor. We were told that no installer will fit anything if we supply the materials ourselves because of the warranty...?

That’s nonsense. The Yellow Pages is your friend.

We bought everything ourselves and installed some parts on our own (toilet, washbasin, and faucet are really not complicated), while other parts were installed by the plumber (the entire shower).

Another option would be not to obtain these through the general contractor but possibly through the installer?