Howdens Kitchens

[DerbyBorn]

I recently had a kitchen planned by Howdens and as they only supply
to the trade, I ended up giving my kitchen fitter/ builder a checque for
Howdens. The cheque was for the price quoted by Howdens when we had the
plans drawn up.

Would the kitchen fitter get some sort of commission or rebate?

[Lobster]

Couldn't say for sure, but it seems highly plausible. But normally,
you'd pay the fitter direct (using a Howden's pricelist) and he'd buy
the stuff from Howden's himself. How come you did it this way - was it
at your instigation? Or maybe as a way of the fitter keeping his
turnover below the VAT threshold?

When I blagged myself a Howden's account a few years back, I was given a
copy of their catalogue and pricelist, together with another
'discounted' pricelist which I was supposed to show the punter, and that
was the price the punter paid (naively thinking they were getting the
trade discount). However the reality was that actually the tradesman
received a very substantial discount on the so-called 'discounted'
pricelist.

It wouldn't stretch the imagination too far to suggest that having
accepted your cheque for full-price gear, Howden's could offer your
fitter an extra-large discount rate on his next, direct purchase of
stuff. All supposition, of course.

--
David

[Frank Erskine]

Who knows? That's a commercial decision between fitter and supplier.
Your contract is presumably with the fitter, unless you have the goods
supplied direct and pay the fitter for install only. In such a case
the fitter could charge a fee for collecting the bits.

--
Frank Erskine

[polygonum]

Many years ago I was involved with a house extension/repair which was
managed by a pukka surveyor. The contract for that had very precise
margins the contractors were allowed to make on supplying things.

But it is so very difficult to be sure that the person didn't get a
second boiler for free, or a month-end bonus for the total amount they
put through. All that can realistically be used to check against is the
invoice to the supplier - which in that case might have been shown to
the surveyor/client and might have shown the expected amount - i.e. more
or less 'trade price'.

--
Rod

[DerbyBorn]

e
> margins the contractors were allowed to make on supplying things.
>
> But it is so very difficult to be sure that the person didn't get a
> second boiler for free, or a month-end bonus for the total amount they
> put through. All that can realistically be used to check against is
> the invoice to the supplier - which in that case might have been shown
> to the surveyor/client and might have shown the expected amount - i.e.
> more or less 'trade price'.
>

We chose the units at the branch and were given a price (showing inflated
prices with large discounts to make us think we were getting a bargain).
The builder was sent the plans and itemised list to quote us on fitting. To
reduce VAT liability we paid Howdens directly. Just wondering if the
Builder got anything from the deal. Sounds likely that his next order may
get a bigger discount.

[polygonum]

Sounds like you did what you realistically could to minimise cost. If
you are happy with kitchen, that is not the main thing.

--
Rod

[Roland Perry]

In message <XnsA1E9D9AC6BFF8jo...@81.171.92.236>, at
20:23:52 on Mon, 24 Jun 2013, DerbyBorn <train....@ntlworld.com>
remarked:

I've seen plausible claims that Howdens offer anything from 50%-70% off
to the trade.

Large discounts are commonplace in the building supplies industry, and
even "crossover" sheds like Wickes have huge discounts[1] during regular
sales, which shows what their margins must be at the 'list price'.

How these discounts filter through to the consumer is a matter between
them and the kitchen fitter. Some of the sheds seem to a different
marketing model where they price the units lower, but then virtually
insist you use their own highly-priced fitters.

The most transparent pricing is Ikea, but kitchen fitters don't like
their units anyway, because many of their units don't have voids at the
back for fitting pipes and electrics.

[1] Currently a 50% off, plus another 10% off that, "Summer Sale". (So I
suppose that's 55% off).
--
Roland Perry

[Mark]

On Tue, 25 Jun 2013 10:27:12 +0100, Roland Perry <rol...@perry.co.uk>
wrote:

>In message <XnsA1E9D9AC6BFF8jo...@81.171.92.236>, at
>20:23:52 on Mon, 24 Jun 2013, DerbyBorn <train....@ntlworld.com>
>remarked:
>> I recently had a kitchen planned by Howdens and as they only supply
>>to the trade, I ended up giving my kitchen fitter/ builder a checque for
>>Howdens. The cheque was for the price quoted by Howdens when we had the
>>plans drawn up.
>>
>>Would the kitchen fitter get some sort of commission or rebate?
>
>I've seen plausible claims that Howdens offer anything from 50%-70% off
>to the trade.
>
>Large discounts are commonplace in the building supplies industry, and
>even "crossover" sheds like Wickes have huge discounts[1] during regular
>sales, which shows what their margins must be at the 'list price'.

I hate these 'fake' sales. I just wish they publish a price and stick
to it. I have been in the position on more than one occasion that the
items were not on sale at the time I wanted to purchase. Either I
wait or the retailer loses the sale.

>How these discounts filter through to the consumer is a matter between
>them and the kitchen fitter. Some of the sheds seem to a different
>marketing model where they price the units lower, but then virtually
>insist you use their own highly-priced fitters.

Another annoyance, although I can't recall any retailer trying this
one on me.

>The most transparent pricing is Ikea, but kitchen fitters don't like
>their units anyway, because many of their units don't have voids at the
>back for fitting pipes and electrics.

And they are often non-standard[1] sizes.

>[1] Currently a 50% off, plus another 10% off that, "Summer Sale". (So I
>suppose that's 55% off).

[1] Whatever that means ;-)
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) If a man stands in a forest and no woman is around
(")_(") is he still wrong?

[F]

On 26/06/2013 10:05 Mark wrote:

> On Tue, 25 Jun 2013 10:27:12 +0100, Roland Perry <rol...@perry.co.uk>
> wrote:

>> The most transparent pricing is Ikea, but kitchen fitters don't like
>> their units anyway, because many of their units don't have voids at the
>> back for fitting pipes and electrics.
>
> And they are often non-standard[1] sizes.
>

> [1] Whatever that means ;-)

I've fitted three Ikea kitchens. The sizing and lack of a void at the
back haven't caused any problems even when installing other
manufacturers' laundry and cooking equipment alongside.

--
F

[Roland Perry]

In message <ijbls89bgccqvoao1...@4ax.com>, at 10:05:55 on
Wed, 26 Jun 2013, Mark <i...@dontgetlotsofspamanymore.invalid> remarked:

>>The most transparent pricing is Ikea, but kitchen fitters don't like
>>their units anyway, because many of their units don't have voids at the
>>back for fitting pipes and electrics.
>
>And they are often non-standard[1] sizes.

I've not noticed that, unless they mean the position of the hinges (and
their holes). The widths and depth[3] seem in perfectly normal
increments.

[3] Mindful of the 'no void' issue, so if you mount base units
not-against-the-wall (because of existing pipework) they'll stick into
the room further.

--
Roland Perry

[Roland Perry]

In message <timstreater-7120...@news.individual.net>, at
10:28:39 on Wed, 26 Jun 2013, Tim Streater <timst...@greenbee.net>
remarked:
>Couple of years ago we had the utility room redone. Our builder ordered
>all the stuff from Howdens after we'd been down there, picked up a
>catalogue, and specced it. By him ordering, taking delivery, and
>installing it, it was his responsibility until the job was complete. He
>charged us 15% over the Howdens price to him, which seemed reasonable
>to us.

Sounds like a sensible scheme. But you got the units way below the
Howdens "list price" in that case.
--
Roland Perry

[RJH]

I had a Howdens estimate recently, via a fitter - hugely discounted to
the point that the original figures were meaningless. The fitter has had
several calls from them, each beating the previous price. Apparently
they have targets, and phone round people who haven't confirmed an order.

I'd expect the fitter to take a cut, although I'm not sure how it would
work - I have an itemised quote from Howdens.

That said, I was impressed with the kitchen design, and the price didn't
look too bad. About double a roughly by eye equivalent Wickes kitchen.

Rob

[John Rumm]

On 25/06/2013 09:03, DerbyBorn wrote:

If he placed the actual order, then he would have got it for his price
rather than yours - the fact he cheque came from elsewhere hardly
matters - it may just mean that his account with them was in credit.


--
Cheers,

John.

/=================================================================\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
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[Muddymike]

We have Howdens kitchen units, purchased via a friend in the trade with an
account. He asked me to pay them directly against his invoice and gave me
the statement (mine was his only transaction that month) so I could use the
payment advise slip. The invoice showed a discount of 25% from Howdens
original quote and the statement the same net figure.

Mike