Howden's kitchens: builder's discount

[womaninblue]

Started thinking about a new kitchen three years ago and had it priced up by three companies including Sigma-3 and Howdens, the latter because the neighbours were so pleased with their Howdens kitchen. We were surprised at how expensive the Howdens kitchen was. We'd expected it to be significantly cheaper than the others and it wasn't.

In the end we decided to put it off and extend the kitchen. Work on the extension starts next month and the builder is adamant that we should get a Howdens kitchen and that he'll order it for us. He's fitted loads, he likes them. Blah, blah, blah.

I'm not that keen on the ranges and as they seem to be pretty much the same price as other suppliers I don't feel like compromising. Now someone's explained me that the builder will probably get a big discount if he puts in the order for us. Is he likely to offer us a cut of that or is he pressuring me to buy a kitchen I don't really want so that he can pocket an extra few grand?

I'm not trying to be tight. He's charging us for fitting a kitchen so unless we're getting a decent bargain with the Howdens one I might as well spend a bit more and get something I prefer.

Oh and the extractor hood died with a couple of years!

Howdens discount varies depending on the Tradesman, and their account factors. Some will get considerable 75% discount off list price, whilst others will get 25-30%. There pricing strategy has never made sense.

I’ve specified and seen fitted a lot of Howdens, and DIY kitchens over the years. Both seem reasonable quality, and durable. I would just ask your Contractor to get you a price from Howdens, for your preferred design and see how that compares.

Tradesmen get bigger discounts depending upon how many Howdens kitchens they fit each year. Yes, they do pocket the hefty discount rather than let the customer use their trade discount. They do this in lots of places, not just Howdens. But they like using Howdens more because many of the units are pre-built so it's less work for them.

It doesn't matter if you pay the builder or howdens direct, the builder will have a different price list to the one you see, example if you buy a 9 grand kitchen the builder will be paying a lot less for it, so if he pays 6 grand that's a 3 grand profit to builder, if you pay howdens directly they will take the 6 grand and put the 3 grand into builders account so either way the builder wins, howdens will not disclose this to you

I do understand the mark-up system and that the builder is acting as Howden's salesman. I also appreciate good tradespeople and think they should be able to earn a decent income. But the thought of him making £6,000 for selling me something I don't really want really gets my goat. My husband and I aren't high earners and £6,000 is a lot to us.

It looks to me as if we could get a DIY kitchen or similar for a third of the price Howden's quoted three years ago.

Look at DIY kitchens- that's what a kitchen ACTUALLY costs- they're all much of a muchness- they're all made of melamine faced chipboard, they're all fit together with the same type of fittings and they all use Blum hinges. There are a variety of different drawer closers, but again, much of a muchness.

Howdens, magnet, wren etc all use a hidden pricing model because they can all fleece you more or less. DIY kitchens is supermarket shopping- the price is listed, there's no 'trade discounts' it is what it is.

You watch- none will pricematch DIY either. They all say they will, and then they don't.

Howdens matched and beat our like for like DIY kitchens quote. My H has a trade account as he's in the construction industry and we were able haggle direct. DIY is a long way from us so seeing it was an issue, whereas we have a Howdens in town and could look, and also pick up any extras along the way.

Howdens kitchen units come already built which is one of the reasons they are more expensive, otherwise you have to either build them from flat pack yourself or may your builder to which adds to the labour costs.

My dad is a builder and uses them, used them in my kitchen and it was great and stood the test of time. My dad has used Howdens for his, my brothers and a few of my friends. Not had an issue at all.

We had a Magnet kitchen at our previous house. We were very happy with it, great quality and our builder got a good discount. The company I work for is in the plumbing trade and often works with this builder so he passed a good proportion of the discount onto us.

I renovate properties and I've always used Howdens. I go and choose the design and they mock up a design. Then my fitter orders it as they supposedly only deal with trade. But I've got the discount negotiated and have the invoices down to the last bracket and handle. I pay Howdens and the fitter directly and separately. All the fitter does is use his trade number. Discount is around 60% (more on some bits, less on others).
Key is to have a good installer- a bad one can ruin a kitchen.

Hi drop me an inbox I have come across this a lot I will try and help

We had a new kitchen a few years ago, Howdens and magnet were a similar price. Our fitter only charged us the cost price.

@womaninblue curious to know what you ended up doing in the end? I've had Howdens price match on a DIY kitchen design I wanted. They're probably the same quality (timber frames, painted, 20mm) and I've seen both up close (DIY via a door sample and Howdens I visited). Initially Howdens had quoted me circa £7k for their Chilcomb range (which is the one I wanted, it's new and one of their highest quality) for units only and wouldn't really budge - this was pre-covid back in Feb. They've since price matched, albeit on a different design layout, but similar number of units, and the price has come down to £4k. My fitter, who is also a family friend, would prefer I use Howdens because it's easier for them to remedy an issue since they have a no of stores in London, and lots of stock. I'm on a tight time-frame, so can't really waste time waiting around for replacements to arrive etc. Whilst Howdens won't actually speak to you until they have the trade account details of your fitter, all of the comms/negotiations has been through me (my fitter hasn't even spoken to them).
My heart is saying DIY but my head is telling me howdens. I really do like their Chilcomb range, it's very similar to the Norton - grained shaker, solid timber.

I currently have a Howdens kitchen installed by the vendors. I don't love it and the quality is pretty average. I had a Wickes kitchen fitted by independent builders in my last property and was very pleased with it.

@WitsEnding Can I ask why kitchen you went for please?

The one biggest complaint about Howdens is their pricing model. They say one thing, do another and give the tradesmen various prices to use with the end client. I'm reluctant to have the builder throw any business their way as I always feel ripped off even if I'm not and the item is covered by the quote in any event.
I also don;t really like their product lines!

I think the whole pricing thing does depend on whether you approach them direct or your builder does. I approached Howdens direct. Whilst I did have to provide my builder's trade account details in order to start the process, I dealt with Howdens direct, - I would hate to have to do everything via a middleman. The staff in their Syndenham store were good and accommodating. I've had several estimates sent to me by them which included the discounts (again, when I mentioned this to builder, he said he hadn't seen any - and that's because howdens dealt with me directly). I haven't had any issues on the price. The quote that I received for their newest model was dear, however, they've since price matched against my DIY quote. Jo, my builder, has a Howdens kitchen when he installed last year, and he seems to speak highly of them.He told me to avoid Wren, but the other reason he recommended Howdens was because of the pricing - he said we'd be able haggle them down, and we seem to have done this.

@Smallgoon your builder will get a credit to his account, which he will probably not tell you about. It's a money making scheme for builders to rip people off.

I was thinking literally a couple of days ago that I wish I hadn't let our builders railroad me into going with Howden's. The kitchen's fine but the service was completely appalling, and I DETEST my stupid Lamona dishwasher, I can't wait for it to break so I can get one that actually fucking works.

@321youreback I'm glad you have such a high opinion of people.

Most tradespeople will generally add a 10-20% mark up to the price they quote as it covers them having to come back for faulty products or people who think something is wrong, when in actual fact they just aren't happy with what you chose. Obviously, some may overcharge, but when I deal with someone with a poor attitude, I will quote a ridiculous price because I don't want to do the job and if they then decide to accept it, that is down to them. I will always try and get things cheaper for my customers, as will most other tradespeople. But if I can't, I will let them know and I'm always happy to let them source it themselves. I obviously won't then guarantee the supplied product, which is the peace of mind most prefer.
Howdens do have a weird pricing structure though which generally goes as a stupid price for customers, then between a 20-60% discount for trade. It's very rare that anyone, apart from big companies with a high turnover, will get a 60% discount mind. You would have to be installing a minimum of 3 kitchens a month for something like that. They are useful on there kitchen design though

@321youreback Hi, the builder in question is a family friend, who is charging me very little to fit the thing. I know it's common not to trust builders but I really do trust him (he's practically family).

@Muchlywrong I'm amazed you'd overcharge because of a person's 'poor attitude'. Define poor attitude? You do realise that clients are parting with a heck of a lot of money which in itself causes angst - one person's 'poor attitude' as asserted by you, may in fact just be nervousness about the job. I'm afraid comments like yours are the reason people are reluctant to trust those in the trade.

I don't overcharge anyone. If you had read my post properly, what I was saying was that I will do a wildly unrealistic quote for people I don't want to do a job for. If they accept, I will then try and put them off by saying that I can't start a job for at least 8-9 months. We've had previous conversations on other posts where I have tried to give you helpful pointers, so if you think that I would be unreasonable, then fair enough. I probably didn't word what I meant properly, but when you have someone who is saying that all tradespeople are rip offs, it gets my back up.

I will quote a ridiculous price because I don't want to do the job and if they then decide to accept it, that is down to them

@Muchlywrong The above is what you wrote, which does read as though you're happy to con people if they piss you off. I'm only telling you how it came across (to me).

I can see why you get pissed off when people make those assertions about traders - I don't generally agree with them. But the comments like yours above don't help. Have a good day.

Oh did I hit a nerve? Sounds to me like I was spot on!

I have a second nature kitchen ordered through an independent. Only recently installed but happy with it at the moment!