Benchmarx Vs Wickes Prices

premkit

BM knocked the 200 off.

I would go back to wickes and say you will buy if they can lower the price. Don't ask don't get.
Be prepared to walk out the door, they will make the sale.

keystone

abankerbutnotafatcat wrote: »

but the Wickes has been sourced by me and the BM by a potential kitchen installer so I feel terrible for him that he's not able to source it any cheaper than I have and has therefore lost his competetive position.

He's anything but lost his competitive position in reality. He supplies and fits it its ALL his problem if anything goes wrong. You supply and he fits and if there's bits missing, or wrongly supplied or whatever it will be you that has to do the running around and if you keep him idle as a result he would be within his rights to negotiate extra costs.

You'd be mad not to let him supply and fit for anything less than a very substantial price difference and I don't mean a couple of hundred quid either.

Cheers

abankerbutnotafatcat

keystone wrote: »

He's anything but lost his competitive position in reality. He supplies and fits it its ALL his problem if anything goes wrong. You supply and he fits and if there's bits missing, or wrongly supplied or whatever it will be you that has to do the running around and if you keep him idle as a result he would be within his rights to negotiate extra costs.

You'd be mad not to let him supply and fit for anything less than a very substantial price difference and I don't mean a couple of hundred quid either.

Cheers

This is a money saving forum. On supply he came out the same as Wickes, his labour costs were more although he was doing a couple of extra things that we can easily do ourselves such as painting walls.

I was already running around as I am sourcing the taps, sink, appliances, splash back and work surface myself. A bit extra I can cope with. You may consider that mad, I consider it a bit of extra work in order to make material cost savings. Those savings will pay for the quartz!!

My point is that if he can source BM for materially less than I can through Wickes he won't find it hard to beat their quote, if he can't it won't be that easy.

keystone

abankerbutnotafatcat wrote: »

This is a money saving forum. On supply he came out the same as Wickes, his labour costs were more although he was doing a couple of extra things that we can easily do ourselves such as painting walls.

I was already running around as I am sourcing the taps, sink, appliances, splash back and work surface myself. A bit extra I can cope with. You may consider that mad, I consider it a bit of extra work in order to make material cost savings. Those savings will pay for the quartz!!

My point is that if he can source BM for materially less than I can through Wickes he won't find it hard to beat their quote, if he can't it won't be that easy.

You've either missed my point or I've expressed myself badly. Of course this place is about money saving and that was the point of my post

Firstly you gave no indication previously that he was sourcing anything but the whole lot. If you'd said so before I might have taken a different viewpoint in my earlier post..

I said if the savings are substantial then its worth it to you and if its only a couple of hundred quid then it probably isn't. However the goalposts have shifted somewhat since I wrote that and it seems from what you've just said that the savings are substantial if they are of such a level that mean you can pay for quartz worktops (I presume thats what you mean) out of them.

So in fact what I said previously actually supports your POV.

The point in your last sentence is well made. It depends how much he is prepared to eat into his margin to make a material difference whatever that may be in your definition.

Cheers

evokit

to be honest abankernotafatcat
as you just said, its money saving expert... you should look at a few independents, you will end up with a better product in terms of carcass and door quality at the cost, drawers etc, all the things that count and also more choice of doors,unit sizes etc :j

Ive just looked at the wickes prices on there site with there 50% off hence my post

abankerbutnotafatcat

I didn't give the whole story before as initially I was just checking to see if others had experience of Wickes being pretty much the same prices as BM. I was still slightly in shock from discussing a break down of the kitchen guy's quote with him and discovering that he couldn't get the units any cheaper than I had which is what I had, until then, been assuming.

Yes, quartz worktops.

Thanks for your comments, your advice is appreciated.

We like the kitchen guy and have gone back to see if we can work something out, with us taking on more of the prep work to try and control costs.

keystone

Therein lies the problem. The stuff costs x to make. The retailer then has to make a margin. Then theres the difference between what retailer really wants for it and the retail price.

Benchmarx will give a trader a pretty good discount as a matter of course. That allows him to make his margin and still give you a comepetitive price. Its when the likes of Wickes start dumping products at 50% off that the wheel comes off. Don't think for one minute that Wickes are losing money at 50% off because they ain't. TP plc don't care - as long as their business units hit their minimum gross margin targets then if they compete against one another until the cows come home - it really doesn't matter.

The difficulty is not necessarily what is the cheapest deal but but what is the best deal for you all round. The best deal for you might not be squeezing the fitter until the pips squeak. Only you can make that decision.

Cheers

gazza0210

abankerbutnotafatcat,

You have a Pm

abankerbutnotafatcat

keystone wrote: »

Therein lies the problem. The stuff costs x to make. The retailer then has to make a margin. Then theres the difference between what retailer really wants for it and the retail price.

Benchmarx will give a trader a pretty good discount as a matter of course. That allows him to make his margin and still give you a comepetitive price. Its when the likes of Wickes start dumping products at 50% off that the wheel comes off. Don't think for one minute that Wickes are losing money at 50% off because they ain't. TP plc don't care - as long as their business units hit their minimum gross margin targets then if they compete against one another until the cows come home - it really doesn't matter.

The difficulty is not necessarily what is the cheapest deal but but what is the best deal for you all round. The best deal for you might not be squeezing the fitter until the pips squeak. Only you can make that decision.

Cheers

I know you probably didn't mean it to be but your last sentence is a bit harsh - I actually said that I was going to roll my sleeves up and do some of the graft myself in order to get the cost down now that I know he can't move on the price of the units!!

I think the whole tone of my comments has been from the perspective that it's difficult for the tradesman to make a profit if he can't source the stuff materially cheaper than retail but equally I have to make my own books balance (not being a fat cat!!) so I have to satisfy myself as to the costs.

Thanks again for all advice.

premkit

just to add, the neighbour i am quoting for stipulated the wickes range. i have as an independent, the same door better units with quartz for around the same price, with more flexibility in unit sizes.

i was surprised to find wickes could have beat BM prices as they have just dropped the extra 20% from the sale.

independent fitter with access to several suppliers is the better all-round way to save and get better quality.