Toilet from €27.90 to €500 - objective information on the price difference?

Well, then it’s "luckily" not just me...

Matte, our first idea was to take the standard and replace it shortly. But we were both only half happy with that. The second idea was to only have the connection installed and at least completely remove the washbasins.

That is exactly what it’s coming down to for me now. I had the appointment with the plumber this morning. He wasn’t really enthusiastic, but with an effective saving of over €15,000 I simply can’t do otherwise.

We are now only having the following done:

[*]Bathtub (because it has to be installed into the screed and tiled)
[*]Floor drains for the shower cabins
[*]Wall connections for toilets and washbasins

For €15,000 I’ll stand in the bathroom myself for a long time and install this stuff.

Keramag Icon washbasin 120cm wide with 2 tap holes costs €340 at Reuter, with the bathroom supplier €1091.

Exactly the same nonsense as with us... Grohe Rainshower faucet on Amazon €730, through the specialist dealer/installer €2,140

One wonders whether they just give shitty quotes or if they are just cheating the customers.

I believe both, otherwise the bathroom showrooms would actually publish prices once in a while.

So the rip-off is systematic.

We are building with an architect and individual contracts. Self-procurement is theoretically possible. I just need someone to install it then. Maybe the architect has someone, otherwise it will be a case for MyHammer, if no one is found.
How do you solve this? Janitorial service has already been mentioned, but do they do it properly down to the last detail?

The prices in specialized stores are always significantly more expensive than on the internet. We recently looked at [Fertigparkett]... in the specialty store over 90 euros per sqm, on the internet only 54 euros. That makes a big price difference when you need many sqm of parquet, and it is hard to buy something in the specialty store.

Best regards
Sabine

One wonders whether they just buy cheap or if they’re just cheating the customers. I think both, because otherwise the bathroom showrooms would actually publish prices.

They definitely don’t buy cheap. As a registered dealer in the standard classification, you get between 25 and 35% discount on the net list price from the bathroom wholesaler. On top of that, there are project price discounts sometimes in double digits. I have an offer for my bathroom equipment from the wholesaler that was addressed to the installer. It was shown to me with the note “Take a look at how much this costs us.” There *has* to be some kind of kickback or something like that going on behind the scenes. Why? The prices stated in the wholesaler’s offer were sometimes HIGHER than the RRP.

And anyway, it is like this: If the sanitary installer really had to pay so much more at the wholesaler – why would he do it? Amazon offers excellent prices, fair treatment in the event of warranty claims, and free delivery. Nobody stops the installer from buying on Amazon. And if he then charges 330€ for the 60€ faucet, his liability risk is practically zero because the faucet would have to break a whole FIVE times within the first 6 months before he makes a loss with the part.

We’re building with an architect and separate contracting. Self-procurement is therefore theoretically possible. I just need someone to install it then. Maybe the architect has someone on hand, otherwise it’ll be a case for MyHammer if nobody can be found. How do you solve this? Janitor service has already been mentioned, but do they do it properly down to the details?

I’ve watched many YouTube videos on this by now. If you’re not completely unskilled in craftsmanship, installing a faucet or a toilet should be no problem. What I would personally avoid is installing floor drains and anything that takes place INSIDE the wall. We leave that to professionals because the risk is too great for me.

Prices in specialized stores are always significantly more expensive than on the Internet. We recently looked at prefinished parquet... in the specialty store over 90 euros per square meter, on the Internet only 54 euros. That makes a big price difference when you need many square meters of parquet, and it makes it hard to buy something in the specialty store.

Best regards
Sabine

But the example cannot simply be transferred to the problem.

90€ vs. 54€ means a surcharge of 36€ or 66%.

But when I look at the washbasins, price differences of 300% are not uncommon.

After we have been to the bathroom supplier, the offer is still pending, but we already have a rough idea of what to expect, we have now decided to buy the stuff ourselves.

If the installer is up for it and installs it for us, great.
If he has a problem with it, I will screw the porcelain to the wall myself. Thanks to individual contracting.

I dare say that I am not unskilled in craftsmanship and after a short research, all of this is nothing but no rocket science.
The delivery boundary is clearly separated; everything behind/under the tiles should be done by the installer.
I will now sit down nicely with my wife with a glass of wine and choose what we will install ourselves, the installer should do the rough installation accordingly.

I really hate this bunch, unbelievable.

Just with the Grohe Euphoria Cube XXL shower system, we save around 1400€. Even if it takes me 3 days to slap the part on the wall, it would still be worth it.