Bathroom sampling, saving tips?

They wanted to sell us toilet seats that close softly with silicone damping. What nonsense.

or rather, a (namely our) 20€ duropolym seat from Ebay also has damping. Such "features" are also no justification for unnecessarily high prices.

Such toilet seats can already save your nerves if you have small children, and they are also repeatedly available cheaply as clearance stock in the hardware store.
Regards Daniel

We supplied the washbasins, mirrored cabinets, fittings, and lamps ourselves.

It is important to have an idea of what you like and what it might cost before the sample selection.

Our washbasins cost not even close to half of those in the showroom. What am I supposed to do with a 2000/3000 euro washbasin? I don’t want to keep it for 20/30 years just because it was too expensive to replace after 15 years. Better to choose something cheaper (certainly not as high quality, that’s clear) and replace it with something new and modern at some point.

We went with (modern) standard for the bathtub and toilet. The more modern toilet was supposed to cost 800 euros extra. And I hardly saw any visual difference. And I did not want a rimless toilet, since it probably splashes more often.

For the sake of completeness:

We actually held ourselves back.
3 x rimless toilets (each €200 surcharge),
1 x rain shower coming from the ceiling (€850),
180cm washbasin with 2 above-counter basins Villeroy & Boch Artis and base cabinet with drawers, plus a lit mirror (€6,000 WTF),
90cm washbasin with above-counter basin, base cabinet with drawer (€2,500 WTF)

End of the story, both washbasin units are completely removed from the delivery scope. Instead, we are having custom-made, high-quality furniture crafted; faucets, basins, and mirrors are available online for half the price.

In total, we save €3,500 - €4,000 this way

Outrageous surcharges. Washstand with 2 drawers, mirror cabinet with LED light was sold to us by our plumber for a flat 1000,-, and that for good quality. However, I got the mirror cabinet for the guest WC from mail order for 75,-, also with light and also good quality. Self-installed, done.