Selling or donating kitchen: does it work? How? (Pic included)

[Sandrine1982]

Hi wise mumsnetters.

We bought a house and we don't like the kitchen. However it's completely new so we'd like to sell it (cheap) or at least donate it somewhere. How does it work?? I've seen a website where people sell kitchens. Who takes it apart once it's sold? Or can we donate it? Are there any charities who can come pick it all up?

(I'm talking about the units and cooker- pic attached).

Cheers

I sold my 20 year old generic builders kitchen via Facebook Marketplace.
Take loads of photos and measurements before dismantling AND label each cabinet and its matching door (bitter voice of experience...)
Either you or buyer can dismantle but do you want strangers with crowbars taking stuff off your walls?
Get a feel for pricing by checking which kitchens are still for sale 48 hours later - they are overpriced.
Put it up for sale on a day when you have plenty of time to field enquiries (the majority of which will be time wasters)
Make it clear in advert that you WON'T deliver.

If the appliances are OK either keep them or sell separately

There are a few kitchen fitting companies that sell used kitchens (at rather high prices)

Mostly they go to the tip.

If you are a homeowner or fitter, you can't be bothered to dismantle it carefully.

If you are a buyer you probably haven't got a van, and don't want to go to the effort of dismantling and carefully handling a used kitchen.

I think I am an exception, when I wanted a couple of 900m wall units to match a recently discontinued hardwood kitchen, I bought them on ebay for a few £hundred .

The vendor gave me the entire kitchen, including a dishwasher which I took for a friend. I could have had other appliances, and the granite worktops, if I'd wanted them (I didn't). It took me and a carpenter most of a day to dismantle and load it.

If I hadn't bought it, it would have gone in the skip, and he would have had the effort of breaking it up.

without being rude, a white gloss kitchen can be bought anywhere at a low price, so will attract little attention.

When I sold an old freezer and fridge, I got a fiver for the fridge (someone wanted it for their office) and the freezer went for nothing. I think I got about £15 for a really nice cooker, it went to a shared student house. Most people can't lift, carry and transport appliances.

What's wrong with it?

if you have a utility room, a garage, or a shed, you might get more value out of it than anyone will pay.

Pan drawes, if you have them, are incredibly useful (and expensive) and can also be used in a wardrobe.

I sold mine on eBay for £500 and they came and dismantled it ! You should get a fair whack for a new one !

Also is it thr colour because You could just change the doors , save some money ! You pay a premium for a new house so it's a shame to lose that giving it away ! Get some money for it !

I sold mine on my local Facebook for £800. Saved me the cost of two skips too. My builders knew it had been sold so took it apart for me carefully instead of smashing it out and the buyers collected in a horse box on the day it was dismantled (I had given about 6 weeks notice in the advert)

My dad helped me take mine 90% apart and I have it away on freecycle. The last bits the builder had to take apart as boiler / cooker were fitted in them and the people came to get those bits as well.

Dishwasher went to charity electrical place and I sold washing machine. Cooker and hood went with the scrap fairies.

Meant I managed to do without a skip saving few hundred. All I really had was the laminate which I took to dump myself in a few trips.

So wven if you give it away free think of it as a cost saving!

MrsMoastyToasty - I'm so fed up with grey. It looks really cold and sad. I want white or black units.

Gunnersgold, so if I find out where these were bought, can i just change the doors but also the side bits? Basically any bits that are grey?

Basically the left side would all have to go, because we have a dishwasher and a larger cooker to fit in there, plus a larger sink. And we want wooden shelves instead of the top units.

I'm not quite sure how to go about it..

Side bits are called decor panels

Thanks :)

Hi
You don't need to get the exact manufacturer to change the kitchen doors.

Lots of people buy from IKEA, which has very specific sizes. One thing to check is the base cabinet size. Compare it to the base cabinet size at IKEA and at B&Q. The IKEA ones are deeper back to front.
Once you have determined if it is IKEA size or standard then carefully measure all of the doors and side (decor) panels. If you wanted to keep the top cabinets, then you will also need to measure the plinths under and cornices above the wall cabinets so that you can replace them. However, fitting open shelving will be easier if that's your preference.
You should then be able to buy all of the parts from IKEA/B&Q/online from kitchen door replacement shops.
There's no point in getting new cupboards since these carcasses are fairly standard, and you'd be taking one out, probably to just put the same one in again.

OP I listed the old kitchen from this house 'free but you must remove and take everything' on Gumtree and got heaps of replies, however I'm not in the UK but did get about a dozen replies and made sure to keep their contact details in case the first person didn't proceed.

Kitchen installers for my new kitchen had quoted heaps to remove and dispose of the old cabinets, so by giving it free I was saving $$$'s. One man who was the first to inspect wanted it for a renovation he was doing, which meant he would dismantle it carefully and that's exactly what happened. It took him around 6-7 hrs, he was extremely pleasant and even swept the floor when finished...even though I didn't expect him to pick up the broom.

He didn't want the appliances so I removed them before he arrived, then I listed them separately on Gumtree for a low price, so they were gone the day after the cabinets.

Really the whole thing went smoothly and I wouldn't hesitate to do it the same if there is a next time.

Good luck ;-)

@Sandrine1982

MrsMoastyToasty - I'm so fed up with grey. It looks really cold and sad. I want white or black units.

Gunnersgold, so if I find out where these were bought, can i just change the doors but also the side bits? Basically any bits that are grey?

Basically the left side would all have to go, because we have a dishwasher and a larger cooker to fit in there, plus a larger sink. And we want wooden shelves instead of the top units.

I'm not quite sure how to go about it..

It’s quite easy to change all the grey to white.

As PP said, you don’t need to find the exact company and they will be standard sizes as it’s a new / ish kitchen. Probably Howdens or magnet.

Just speak to a joiner who fits kitchens and he / she will make a list of what you need.

If you can keep the same layout it will be cheaper as you can keep the work top and splashback and won’t need to change electrics and plumbing.

But even if you don’t you can still use the carcasses. They can be put together in a different configuration .

Great, thanks! That's very reassuring :)

Glad to know that it can be done as we want minimal disruption.

Yes Imogen, we plan to keep the layout, but we do want to change the worktop (for solid wood) and the appliances on the left side.
So that side will need a bit more work... but the tiles are OK so we'd keep them. I can live with a bit of grey :)

You'd be mad to rip it all out if you are keeping the layout. The doors and end panels can be easily swapped out.
If they are 20/40/80 wide probably IKEA. Otherwise unless you have a really unusual size cupboard you'll get at Howdens, b and q, Wickes etc.
Will mean you can afford better quality doors and save all the mess and hassle

Great stuff, I can't wait! :)