Can you let me know how your kitchen quotes compared?

[SunnyUpNorth]

I’ve read lots of kitchen threads but it would be good to just have some basic info on how people’s quotes compare different between different retailers.

Just had our first quote from ikea and will go to some of the other usual suspects for a price but would be interesting to know if one or two in particular tend to be at the dearer or cheaper end.

I am keen to get a quote from DIY as people on here seem to love them so much and have said the quotes are reasonable. But my joiner said he’s had some poor experiences with them so that’s put me off a bit.

It’s a minefield!

We're having:
5 base units, one is a corner unit
1 deep pan drawer unit with 2 drawers and a pull out insert
A pull out larder with wooden shelves
A 100 Cm black extractor hood

Worktop (magnet black shiny, can't remember what it's called!)

In cream gloss handleless (Luna from magnet).
No eye level units

£2800 including the plinths, end panels, in their top spec units ID3, they come ready built.

Then builder is charging 1200 Aprox to strip out and dispose, fit, plaster, make the existing tiles fit properly, generally finish and seal etc.

We're not having appliances, cooker or floor done, but he is doing lighting and electrics.

It seems that the whole kitchen buying process is an absolute show really, the catalogues don't relate to any actual prices and it's all down To who you know and what they can get money off. It's mind boggling! In the end we were cheaper going through magnet with our builders 'contacts' than to go to ikea/b&q.

This is the spec we were given

If you are just talking about the cost of the kitchen, with fitting then we are paying £11k - I had top spec kitchens planned with Magnet and Wren and both came in at similar costs - but a local kitchen designer actually got the work as I'd heard too many bad things about the other two.
The kitchen is being installed in our new extension. Price includes fitting and the following:
800mm double upright larder, shelved.
2x 900mm wall double cupboards
1x 600mm wall cupboard
2x 900mm base double cupboards
1x corner base unit
1000mm double sink unit
1x 500mm single base unit
1x 1000mm 3 cutlery/pan drawers
5x counter lights which are sunken into the underside of the wall cupboards
70/30 Neff Fridge freezer
Neff double oven
Neff dishwasher
Neff 5 ring gas hob / & extractor.
Stainless steel 1&1/2 sink
2m / 1m Island:
1x 1000mm 3 drawer pan drawers
2x 500mm single cupboards
Worktops are a walnut slimline laminate.

The thing is it's so hard to compare like for like- even different branches of the same store will do different prices, plus the more you buy the more leverage you get to negotiate, plus your builder might have some leverage (eg ours does 20+ magnet kitchens a year so gets a hefty discount). It's very complicated. If you look at what Paz is getting for 11k compared to what we're getting for 4K ours seems like a bad deal, but compared to other prices elsewhere like for like ours was the best price for the quality.

Is yours done now Paz? Are you pleased with it? Ours is going in 15/4 and i can't wait!

THanks all. It was less about how much you’re getting for your price as everyone will have different specs, counter tops etc more how your like for like quotes compared. But yes fair point that some fitters can negotiate a lot.

Interestingly my FIL and uncle-in law are both in the trade and do quite high end projects and they swear by howden’s and fitted them in their own houses.

My mum and sister have both just fitted Wren kitchens and are really happy with them but I think Wren work better with a more modern look and I want something more traditional.

Howdens are good but DIY Kitchens probably just beat them on quality although not significant. The only advantage with Howdens is that if the order is wrong they get the bits quicker

Wren kitchens are a nightmare. Try getting them to commit to a price. It is all well if you out a deposit down today we will do for X price but tomorrow it will be Y price. I told them to go forth as what I wanted was a set consistent price to compare with. In any event they were far more expensive that DIY Kitchens. Also the appliances at DIY were rock bottom prices. I struggled to get much lower on the Internet

My prices were very similar across Wren, Magnet and our local kitchen designer/supplier/fitter. And this was after a number of rounds of negotiations with all three - Wren and Magnet came in at nearly £15k each to begin with - without fitting. I got them both down to close to £8.5-£9k, without fitting (our builders would have fitted for £1.5k)
@thenewaveragebear1983 it's mid way through as some aspects of the overall build are holding up total completion - I'll be glad when it's all finished though!

Wow that’s good negotiating PazRaz10, I’m hopeless at negotiating. That fitting cost sounds good too.

The fitting cost was because we're having a £100k extension, so it was in addition to the overall joiners cost!!
I love negotiating!

You cant necessarily compare like for like as well as the different companies do different ranges. We got quotes from Wrens, Howdens and from an independent supplier through our fitter. In the end we will have paid about the same as the Howdens quote but got a much better quality kitchen going through an independent supplier.
Sorry that's not very helpful.
I personally found both Wrens and Howdens difficult to deal with but in opposite ways - Wrens very sales driven and pushy, Howdens basically couldn't care less! I felt both were also pretty misleading about their prices.