Kitchen price comparison - Fair or fantasy?

We of course did the test drive and looked at it on site at the dealer in town. And precisely because the service was provided there, we also bought there. After negotiating for almost €1,000 more than the order would have cost on the internet. Why? Because it’s not about cheap, cheap for me. But about fairness.

I think that’s good! At least there are some like that! People gladly take the online price but use the convenient service on site.

But in the end, you can always determine the value of a diamond! If I give it to an expert to appraise, he states a sum. This is concrete and not arbitrary or varying from customer to customer.

But you won’t get that value back – not even from the one who appraises it

Regarding the kitchen again: I also wouldn’t see it as reasonable to pay value y for a value x. But I also didn’t have that bazaar experience. Maybe back then we could have bargained, maybe there would have been a bonus of – let’s say – €2,000. Maybe.

For us it went like this: I planned our house myself from the floor plan perspective. Also regarding the kitchen design. So I knew how I would equip each wall, where wall cabinets, if any, would go, etc. Planning was also done with the help of the online kitchen planner. I also considered getting an Ikea kitchen because I simply enjoy doing it myself. I like planning very much, too. Ideas for the look were set in my mind. And I also like saving! Got a price at Ikea including assembly... But: I know which Ikea cabinets will hang badly already on first use (own experience with the old kitchen), so look unpleasant, as well as Ikea showing limits with the electrical appliances. Since we have an open kitchen, botched improvisation was out of the question. So we ended up with the aforementioned kitchen studio with a price expectation above the Ikea price, as I was also willing to pay more for AI -> a perfectly rounded thing for round money! *after we had checked out quite a few furniture studios and smaller kitchen studios. Something was always off: moon prices in showrooms, no free salespeople, no appealing design in the display...

Our favored front was on offer there -> we went to the salesperson, who asked about our price expectation. Now I have to lie: he said with the front such and such, which is on offer, the price breaks down to 50% appliances and 50% furniture. The front was Nolte. So I pulled out my plan, and the salesperson planned corresponding cabinets with nice drawers. Regarding the pull-out cabinet for medicines he immediately said "doesn’t fit the budget." Also for another thing he looked critically and said the same. Electrical appliances were queried. They should of course be stainless steel look and nice to look at, have some features with steam oven, whisper quiet and of course the AAA or at least A+ version, etc.: he recommended Neff instead of Miele, for the built-in appliances AEG. They showed us a device catalog with original prices. I get short of breath at these. The salesperson said several times that prices shouldn’t concern us, as about 30% and similar discounts come off immediately during planning. Okay, so we chose... then my husband came up with the extra-thin countertop, which was of course more expensive than standard... and ultimately, after planning, the computer calculation came out a bit above our round limit: €10,400! That was a statement, and since you hear a lot about kitchen purchases, we went to the next town in the next days.

There, a typical kitchen shop (at the entrance to Lüneburg), right after my drawing and price announcement, they immediately offered a good-and-cheap brand. Unfortunately, the door heights there only offered little leeway, so my statement to have no horizontal offset in the doors was completely ignored. "Not available in this price segment"... The salesperson typed into the computer without involving us (she had my plan), and the result was a price of over €13,000 WITHOUT electrical appliances, which would come later (it was almost closing time). If I imagine what it would have been if she had taken the high-quality Nolte, at maybe around €17,000 without electrical appliances, I could vomit*** We didn’t go back there either! We accepted our €10,400 price without hesitation and also negotiated a top-quality induction pot set (which sold for several hundred euros). Four months later (when we had more overview of all other construction costs) I changed the kitchen a bit, so another €1,500 was added. The fridge came separately as an MM demonstration model, which we picked up ourselves 5 months before moving in.

If this kitchen would have been cheaper somewhere else... or if someone tells me we should have bargained more here, it wouldn’t have mattered to me, because I got my dream kitchen at our dream price

The thing that is at the very top on billiger.de and arises from wages that others in turn call unfair?

Again, the only difference between kitchens and all other consumer goods is that you cannot compare prices on the Internet, but only in the store. That may not fit the times, but as long as the customer accepts it, this lucrative model will certainly not change.

Do you read what we write? It is not about bargains, as cheap as possible, etc. It is solely about transparency. Nobody here says they want cheap cheap cheap! I am happy to pay appropriate surcharges in a specialty store if they are within a reasonably healthy range.

It is only about the fact that exactly the same kitchen costs €10,000 at one studio, €30,000 at the next, and as a customer, you cannot assess these prices. Many customers are being fooled because they do not know better. For any other product, I quickly check online and know whether the price is at least somewhat realistic (which by no means means I also buy it online!)

And what does "as long as the customer accepts it" mean... since (except for few exceptions) all manufacturers run the same system, you practically have no other choice but to accept the system. You have to find one of the very few good kitchen studios that act fairly. Fair for both sides.

It is possible, it worked for us too, but it involves work,... time that in our digital age is actually quite wasted and I would have liked to use it for meaningful things.

Usury is a legal transaction through which someone, by exploiting the distress, inexperience, lack of judgment, or significant weakness of will of another, has promised or granted to themselves or a third party financial advantages for a service that are in a strikingly disproportionate relationship to the service provided.

So that definitely does not apply here.

I would say that exactly applies here.
The average customer is inexperienced and sky-high prices serve exclusively to enrich oneself without providing an appropriate additional service for the extra cost. But we are drifting off...

The saleswoman hacked into the computer without involving us (she had my plan), and the result was a price of over €13,000 WITHOUT electronic appliances, which would be added later (it was close to closing time). If I imagine that if she had taken the high-quality Nolte, at maybe around €17,000 without electronic appliances, I could also puke***
We didn’t go back there either!

A good example. And so far, I *felt* like I only had experience with your second kitchen studio. That’s why this thread. Because I wanted to find a dealer where there are no sky-high prices.

Studio costs €10,000, the next one €30,000, u

I strongly doubt this difference, then it is not exactly the same kitchen. There are already differences such as kitchen manufacturer, side panels only in plastic (standard, even if lacquer fronts are chosen) versus side panels in lacquer finish. Slightly different cabinet heights, different materials, etc. As a rare kitchen buyer, you don't see these differences at first at all. Only when you deal with the subject do you realize that.

An optimally planned kitchen is simply not a one-size-fits-all product. Optimal also means that pull-outs and cabinet fronts, especially in tall cabinets, are adjusted in such a way that there are nice height lines, but the oven is installed in a different position for the 150 cm tall person than for the 190 cm tall person. And such things cannot be planned by a kitchen salesperson with basic training, but rather require trained professionals who are familiar with the possibilities of their usually 3 to 4 offered manufacturers.

That's right! I want to pay a fair price and in order to even find out what that is, you have to get quotes for the same kitchen from several stores. This is very time-consuming and in the end, you still don't know whether the price is reasonable or if you just aren't good at negotiating. I have read that some people have negotiated their kitchen down from 15,000 to 6-7,000 euros. It's not fair that the person who is less skilled at negotiating has to pay twice as much. Why can't you just ask for an honest price from the start?

Regards
Sabine

The answer is, I think, clear: post or discussion gets out of hand = off topic