re. Magnet kitchens

Leif

kmdesign wrote: »

Leif - when cabinets are discounted 70% plinths have to be marked by 1000% to rip off people.

Well yes evidently it is to make profit, but what I really meant was "given how basic they are, they cannot justify a high price".

Obviously the buyer must look at the total price, although the way that so many companies make pricing opaque is annoying. I went round the local Magnet showroom, and the kitchens looked nice, comparable to other brands, such as Cooke and Lewis. You mention German kitchens, well it seems to me that there are a few kitchens that are either not German, but with a German sounding name, or German, but no better than British makes, not that I am knocking the good German makes, which people who are much more knowledgeable than me rate highly.

I got my kitchen from a small independent maker and I cannot fault them, though I might be tempted to look at the makers of solid wood kitchens next time.

Meepster

Hmmm...which posts should I respond to?

I'm still waiting for more of the regular "Magnet-bashers" to come out of the woodwork...

Meepster

WhiteHorse wrote: »

I have seen horrendous Magnet kitchens. I would rather eat off a packing case for the rest of my life rather than let them in any house of mine.

Well, if you've seen horrendous examples, then they all must be rubbish then eh?

If I was to list all the kitchens I have seen "horrendous" examples of, I could be here all day...

Meepster

kmdesign wrote: »

Integrity and value for money offered by any retailer that offers 50-70% discounts has to be questioned. Why haven;t they offered their best prices first time?

The reason that ALL the multiple retailers have their "50% off sale" is because everyone else does, plain and simple. It's not there to mislead customers, it's just something that has been around for so long, customers come to expect it. Look at Wren; when they first got physical showrooms instead of just selling on ebuyer, they vowed to break the mould: No sales, just constant low prices throughout...That lasted for around 2 years before they realised they weren't doing as much business as they expected. Yet when they raised their RRPs and offered a "50% off sale" their intake nearly trebled. They have been caught in the "sale" philosophy ever since.

kmdesign wrote: »

I haven't been impressed by any of the Magnet kitchen designs or installations I have seen. Nor have I been impressed by the product quality. There is much better value to be had for similar money from independents offering a number of German products.

Maybe you need to see some more then? Or maybe you've just got a crappy designer at your local branch?

As for product quality, well, all depends what you're comparing it to I guess...

ryder72

Meepster - Agree with you about the comments regarding sale. Personally I don't know whether is integrity of retailer or stupidity of buyer. Maybe its the latter.

Regarding design - maybe its both. You probably know who works at the stores local to us and how they perform. All I will say is that the designs I have seen are pretty poor and that certainly cant be a reflection on all Magnet designers.

cddc

It is definitely the buyer that dictates the 50% off sale malarkey.

B&Q are trying to move away from this at the moment and by all accounts having a mare of a time saleswise right now. Expect them to go back to the old ways very soon. Meeps example of Wren is bang on. B&Q are finding the same. People seem to expect it from the multiples.

Leif

cddc wrote: »

It is definitely the buyer that dictates the 50% off sale malarkey.

B&Q are trying to move away from this at the moment and by all accounts having a mare of a time saleswise right now. Expect them to go back to the old ways very soon. Meeps example of Wren is bang on. B&Q are finding the same. People seem to expect it from the multiples.

I'm tempted to suggest that people - the unwashed masses - are thick. Just before Christmas I saw Homebase selling a Bosch drill for £180, despite the RRP being about £140. After Christmas it was on sale for £85, i.e. less than half price. And yet I bought mine at Homebase a few months earlier for £75 (which included a one day only 15% discount, so the true price then was about £90). I know Sainsburys do the same with wine.

I guess the problem is that it is so hard to find out solid information about kitchens. What makes the difference in quality given they are almost all chipboard carcasses? (I know some reasons, having read posts here from the knowledgeable posters, I bet the 'unwashed masses' don't.) I bought mine in a 'sale'. Hohum.

CKdesigner

cddc wrote: »

It is definitely the buyer that dictates the 50% off sale malarkey.

B&Q are trying to move away from this at the moment and by all accounts having a mare of a time saleswise right now. Expect them to go back to the old ways very soon. Meeps example of Wren is bang on. B&Q are finding the same. People seem to expect it from the multiples.

Glad I don't work in a multiple then!

CKdesigner

I think it is very much like restaurants. We have a very nice independent restaurant in Hertford who also have their other branch in St Albans, we visit either every couple of weeks or so. They are very reasonably priced, always make everything on the premises from quality selected ingredients. The other week we decided to have some lunch in a national restaurant chain, it was no cheaper than our usual place and the service was fine but the quality of the food, although probably acceptable to many people, we found to be quite poor.

Putting it very simply the national restaurant chain purchases in bulk the cheapest products they can get away with and sell them for the highest prices they can, whereas our local restaurant buys the best quality products they can and charges a fair price for them.

The trick is finding that quality independent!

CK

cddc

People are, sadly, often stupid. I have had customers ask me why I cannot offer an 80% discount when Howdens can, or why Homebase are having a 60% off sale when we are only having a 50% off one :mad:!

Multiple does not always mean bad just as independent does not always mean good though. Would agree that a really good independent should be better, but far from all of them are though.