Kitchen Cabinet Dealer
Hi,
I was wondering, what outstanding features investors seek in a cabinet dealer. The three main qualifications that make a cabinet distributor excel is Price, Service, and Quality. Though pricing is extremely important, in that every extra dollar spent on cabinets, is one less dollar in the pocket of the investor or contractor, what is the breakdown of the three above qualities that investors are looking for? And though every kitchen dealer swears that they have the best service around, how can one really determine how to get the most bang for the buck?
Thanks,
Ben
I speak only from my experience, but I used a kitchen company that I knew one of the owners for my first two flips. I used to design cabinets, so I simply sent them all of my pieces and parts and they ordered. Since then I have gone RTA, due 100% to cost. My $5000 cabinets turned into $3000-3500 cabinets doing this.
With that said, offer the best pricing you can is extremely important.
-Offer design assistance above and beyond the usual.
-Offer to visit job sites and help design with the investor/owner.
-Give them advice on what's popular in your area (meaning stay on top of what's hot).
-If/when there are issues go out of your way to fix. Even if you lose money on the issue/deal, hopefully the investor makes note and uses you again.
-Keep a handy list of good contractors. Lots of investors who are new are looking for installers. Knowing the right guys to recommend helps you, the installer and the investor.
That's the list I would look for in a good kitchen cabinet company. The one I used had all of these, I'm just the type that will build and install my own cabinets (I enjoy it) and the $1500 savings of doing so is too tempting...
@Benjamin Hirsch For me its availability and price. If your not stocking the cabinets and accessories (like trim pieces and panels), then I am at the mercy of ordering and shipping (that means delays). I will be willing to pay a bit more to know that I can get another piece of filler stock without waiting weeks.
But since I dont live in the houses I built and rent, I am looking for the most value. Now a days, that is RTA cabinets. Hard to beat the prices. The cabinet shop I use also provides assembly and installation. They offer that for cheaper than I can get them done, so I let them assemble and install them on my jobs.
I personally do my own design, so no need for design assistance for me personally.
As for quality, that goes with price. As an investor, I am looking for the best value, not the best quality. For me the RTA cabinets coming flat packed out of Asia are perfect. No need to worry about crappy particle or press board problems, as they are plywood construction.
