Kitchen Discount Oddity Uncovered re Masterclass, Howdens & Magnet

(Newswire.net — October 8, 2014) Eastbourne, East Sussex — When is the discounted kitchen price not the discounted kitchen price? When something, is rarely, if ever, sold at the full price. So if a company is genuine with its pricing it can affect their sales if they don’t play the same game of ‘crazy discounting’.

So what if a company was honest with its pricing, supplied above average quality product and it could be installed in less time, would they sell as much as the company that played the “unreal” discount sale price game?

Perhaps the question we have to ask ourselves is have we become so obsessed about the price we pay, that we don’t actually look at the value of what we buy in terms of serviceability, life expectancy and quality. And then, what about the extras that weren’t part of the huge discount, which actually, you can’t do without? 
The figures at the end of this article will surprise you.

Would anyone pay full price?

We all know that price reductions will help sell, but are we really getting value and quality for this discounted price and have the kitchens ever sold at their full price?
Let’s say a kitchen is put up for sale at £6000 for a period, knowing it will unlikely sell at that price and after a period it is then offered at a sale price – Reduced from £6000 to £3000, was it every really worth £6000 if no one or very few would pay full price for it?

Russ Deacon Home Improvements, based in Eastbourne, who sell the British made Masterclass kitchens alongside European brands Schüller and Schmidt, decided to take a look at the pricing of a couple of the larger companies and were surprised at what they found. Howdens and Magnet kitchens offer large discounts to their respective publics, virtually all the time, but if they are offering discounts all the time, are the discounts real?

 

You don’t buy kitchens every day.

Kitchens are a large expense that we don’t buy on a regular basis, so when we do, it’s important that choices are made for the right reason.
When we think ‘kitchen’, as a consumer, we think of a room with all the base and wall units installed the tiling finished (both wall and floor tiling), sink unit, hob, oven, washing machine and clever draw systems all in place ready to use.
The kitchen supplier thinks in terms of a ‘kitchen units’ and then adds extras, to give you that dream kitchen you thought of when you first embarked on the journey.

 

Were our rooms designed for the fitted kitchen?

In theory there should be little problem fitting a kitchen into a rectangular room, but in reality most rooms don’t have perfectly square walls, so a factor that probably has more impact on the finished room than any other is “who’s fitting your kitchen”.

 

Main cost to a new Kitchen.

Installation of your new kitchen is the major part of the cost and as such the more time that can be saved in installation the more the cost of your kitchen can be reduced. Master Class is a British made kitchen, with above average standards in terms of quality, that help give you an exceptional kitchen at a price that starts at the same price as the very heavily discounted prices of Howdens and Magnet kitchens. They also provide the units ready built as part of the price, which helps reduce installation costs.

 

So how much time is saved in installation?

Russ Deacon Home Improvements did a test which they videoed showing the difference between a simple 300mm floor unit from Howdens and Masterclass. The Masterclass kitchen unit was ready to install in less than a ¼ of the time and this time is likely to be even greater on large units. When you start to add this up across all the units the saving is significant and it also means whilst you are still paying for someone to put the units together from the major suppliers such as B&Q, Wickes, Howdens, Magnet etc., the Masterclass units will already be fitted.

 

How much discount

The numbers Russ Deacon Home Improvements used were based on a std 300mm base kitchen unit. Each of the 2 companies looked at had to make staggering reductions just to match the standard price of the Masterclass 300mm unit.

Howdens had to start with a 57% reduction

Magnet  had to start with a 62% reduction

Russ Deacon stated “by the time you consider the far superior hinges and runners and overall quality of the Masterclass kitchen, the saved installation time, the fact that the prices are about the same, without any weird price reductions, it becomes a simple decision regarding which kitchen to buy. You end up with a higher quality kitchen which lasts longer for the same price – the trouble is people just don’t know this”.

 

How to choose your next kitchen?

Although it’s difficult, try not to get blinded by the large discounts offered, look at quality of hinges, runners, doors and overall finish. Sometimes it’s these details which can let the kitchen down. In no time at all the doors have dropped, the runners stiffen and your new kitchen looks and feels like it’s been in for years not months. Also what’s the quality of the insides of the draws, can they take the weight and finally what about the overall total fitted cost.

Your kitchen will be with you for years to come so choose wisely.