Tactics when buying a kitchen / how to negotiate properly?

We visited three kitchen studios. We are still waiting for the offer from one of them.

In the first kitchen studio, they took a very long time, and the consultant was exactly that -> a consultant and not just a salesperson. He was very committed and creative in implementing all our wishes and ideas. He didn’t try to sell us anything we didn’t want and didn’t exert any pressure to buy. We have already spent 2 hours and once 5 hours with him without him earning a single cent from us or being sure that he will ever do so.

In the second one, it was quick, quick; whenever we expressed uncertainty, like "we don’t know whether A or B," he responded with something like "yes, both have advantages and disadvantages -> YOU have to say what you want"... in the end, a similar price came out, but there was zero sympathy. So that studio was out for us.

With the consultant from studio three, we somehow also communicated past each other during about half of the conversation. However, we are still waiting for the price. If it is not significantly lower than the first, the matter is decided for us.

Aside from the fact that you can still go to your favorite studio with an external offer and say: We want to buy HERE, but how close can you get to their price? Of course, this only works if the kitchen is also equivalent.

We continue to always ask for the price of the kitchen without any appliances. Because with the appliances, we see the most potential for savings or decisions. We don’t want one cabinet less or just an L instead of a U. But whether it ends up being the Siemens or Neff dishwasher, we can still talk about that when we calculate the kitchen or overall budget. However, if you don’t know what all the cabinets you want fundamentally cost, you can’t make this decision. Or for example, we tend to cassette fronts but also asked for their surcharge for simple fronts. Then we can see whether it’s worth it to us or not without fundamentally changing the kitchen.

To keep it comparable, you can also always go back to a previous kitchen studio and adjust your plan. It’s not unusual to think after the appointment and maybe have an additional idea.

We want to reward patience, creativity, and individualized attention to us/customer friendliness! In the end, that is more important to us than maybe saving €1,000. Of course, if it’s several thousand, then you have to negotiate again or present the other offer...

We have visited three kitchen studios. We are still waiting for the offer from one of them.

In the first kitchen studio, they took forever and the consultant was exactly that -> a consultant and not just a salesperson. He was very committed and creative in implementing all our wishes and ideas. He didn’t push anything on us and exerted no pressure to buy. We have already spent 2 hours once and 5 hours once with him without him earning a cent from us or being sure he will do so.

At the second one, it was quick, quick; whenever we expressed uncertainty like "we don’t know whether A or B," he responded with something like "yes, both have pros and cons -> YOU have to say what you want"... In the end, a similar price came out, but there was zero sympathy. That studio was out for us.

With the consultant from the third studio, we also somehow talked past each other for about half of the conversation. But we are still waiting for the price. However, if it is not significantly lower than the first one, the matter is settled for us.

Aside from the fact that you can always go to your favorite with a competing offer and say: We want to buy HERE, but how close can you get to their price? Of course, that only works if the kitchen is equivalent.

We continue to always ask for the price of the kitchen without any appliances. Because with the appliances, we see the greatest potential for saving and decision-making for us. We don’t want one cabinet less or an L instead of a U. But whether it is the Siemens or Neff dishwasher, we think we can talk about that once we have calculated the kitchen or total budget. However, if you don’t know fundamentally what all the cabinets you want cost, you can’t make that decision. Or, for example, we tend towards cassette fronts but also got their surcharge compared to plain fronts.
Then we can see whether it is worth it to us or not without fundamentally changing the kitchen.

To have it comparable, you can always go back to a previous kitchen studio and adjust your planning. Thinking after the appointment and maybe having an additional idea is not unusual.

We want to reward patience, creativity, and individual attention to us/customer friendliness!
That is ultimately more important to us than maybe saving €1,000. Of course, if it is several thousands, then you have to negotiate again or present the other offer...

Completely aligns with our experience.
The CEO of the first kitchen studio also once bluntly said about our ideas: "That’s crap."
That is extremely valuable.
Although, to be fair, whether it’s Neff or Siemens (or Bosch) doesn’t matter. Exactly identical.

Book recommendation from a former furniture salesman:

"Cleverly buying kitchens: Perfect planning, recognizing and comparing quality, getting the best price" by: Günther, Heinz

Buy + read exactly that book. After that, at least you will have some idea of what happens when someone comes to you with block billing etc.
In a large furniture store, for example, I was supposed to first state my budget; without that, they didn't want to start, my planning sketch was not enough for them.
At the kitchen studio, I was well advanced, and we wanted to finalize everything the next day when the "boss" came in and told us that we could still get this price tonight, but not tomorrow anymore, so we should sign now... whereupon we got up and left. The other studio afterwards suddenly didn't want to sell us just the furniture without appliances anymore... in the end, we ended up at Ikea and have felt comfortable there ever since, although I rarely buy other furniture there.
But there I immediately see what a tall cabinet costs, and everything is a plus/minus calculation AND all prices are individually transparent, which we like about it.
We choose appliances, sinks etc. elsewhere according to our wishes.

I just don’t know how much my kitchen is actually worth. At what point does negotiating, for example, become outrageous?

Well, it’s obvious when you add up the appliance values and for the furniture you get just about €50 per cabinet, and then you start bargaining...

I want - tall cabinet row with 6 tall cabinets each 60cm wide, boxed in drywall, 2 of them pantry cabinets with pull-out shelves, in the other 4 tall cabinets there will be appliances - kitchen peninsula should be 1.2m wide and about 3.10m long and have drawers only on both sides.

sides. - I want rather expensive appliances Bosch Series 8 black Carbon Accent line, probably from the range oven with microwave, combi steam oven and fully automatic coffee machine.

Full caliber... reads to me like over 20,000, rather 25,000, if you count the countertop etc.

I don’t want to spend more than necessary. But I know that I probably won’t get it for €15,000.

When you wrote that figure, you weren’t drunk, were you?

Almost everyone plans me a Nobilia kitchen and it comes to about €20,000, or even more expensive, if you plan the kitchen now according to the latest wishes.

Yes, that’s how it is. You don’t get a fully equipped SUV for the price of a bare-bones Polo either. Try to think realistically. A full equipment simply costs. I can’t say anything about the customs in the industry. Here in northern Germany we have a provider who doesn’t do this nonsense.

My problem is the lack of transparency in the industry. Desired price would be 20k, limit 25k. Nobilia is also okay. I only mention 15k because I don't know how much profit they make with me and you always read that you shouldn't give your real budget, otherwise it will be fully exploited. I'm afraid of being unable to negotiate properly. I want to finish this with a good feeling.

You will not get a 5K € discount. Trust your gut. If you feel someone has understood what you want, it is easily worth investing a few euros more.