Buying a kitchen: 13 tough tips for saving money

Whether after moving to a new apartment or moving into your own house: you have to buy a kitchen. The prices range from a few hundred to many thousands of euros.

Buying a kitchen: some considerations in advance

Those who have never had to buy a kitchen will be shocked by the prices: a small kitchen block for 12,500 euros, corner kitchens for 15,000 euros. The country-style kitchen with the chic pilasters on the cupboards? 22,700 euros. But before you think about financing and buying a kitchen for which you can also buy a car, you should do some preliminary considerations.

For one thing, it’s important to know what you want.

• Modern kitchen furniture in high-gloss style?
• Electrical devices should come from well-known manufacturers and be included immediately?
• Do you take over assembly and collection yourself or do you need the kitchen fitter and a delivery?

Various factors influence the price, whereby the planning has to be added to the kitchen price.

A tip in advance: Many kitchen sellers (consultants) organize a real spectacle and proudly present you a sum that supposedly contains many discounts and is only so cheap for you. The boss also agreed, although he was not enthusiastic: you shouldn’t buy a kitchen here!

The sellers are trained to pretend that you are a very special customer who gets the best at what is supposed to be the lowest price. Prepare for such a conversation and skilfully counter it. In addition, these 13 tips help you not to buy kitchen furniture too expensive: If you want to buy a kitchen, take your time.

13 tips: save money when buying a kitchen

Don’t buy under time pressure

If you want to buy a kitchen, take your time. Compare the prices of kitchens from different manufacturers with the same look, look for special offers and special discounts.

There are always sales where you can buy a fitted kitchen for 50 to 70 percent less. What is interesting about the remaining amount is that the seller still earns from the kitchen. Good advice: If you buy too quickly, you buy expensive!

Invest in important things

Separate unimportant from important things. For every fitted kitchen there are certainly great things, technical gadgets and design details that distinguish high-quality kitchen furniture. But if you need funding that will take you several years to complete, there are a few things you should do away with. It is important to have items of equipment that are of high quality and will be kept for a long time, to prevent them from being bought again soon.

What is important is a design that you will still like tomorrow and equipment that will still prove practical in ten years. Things that make life easier and items that cannot be easily replaced are also important.

Have you fallen in love with the beautiful worktop made of real wood, but this is beyond your scope?

Find alternatives

Have you fallen in love with the beautiful worktop made of real wood, but this is beyond your scope? You can either find an alternative or save elsewhere. The latter is possible if you replace the expensive tile mirror with a wooden plate or use a glass or metal plate instead.

Take a look around in different kitchen studios and discover popular design options in different price ranges. This also applies to small details: even other handles on the kitchen unit can make a thousand Euros!

Don’t rebuild too much

If you buy a new kitchen and want to replace the old one with it, you shouldn’t turn everything upside down. Cost-effective is to keep lines in place and to change no walls because you dislike corner kitchens well.

If money is not important, all dreams can be realized, otherwise it is a matter of finding a good compromise. Certainly there are always new ideas where you can leave the previous layout of the kitchen as it is and you still think later: great, that’s exactly what I wanted!

Before you buy a new kitchen, take a close look at the old kitchen furniture. High-quality kitchens in particular can be wonderfully refurbished.

Refurbish old kitchens

Before you buy a new kitchen, take a close look at the old kitchen furniture. Especially high-quality kitchens can be wonderfully refurbished. A new worktop can work wonders! Even new fronts are still cheaper than if you buy a completely new kitchen equipment. Get ideas in kitchen studios and furniture stores and collect ideas there.

You can do a lot of things yourself and if you are completely unskilled, you can get professional help. By the way: if you deduct the craftsman from the tax, you can at least save on labor. You have to pay for the material anyway.

Don’t save in the wrong place

Understandable if you want to save when you buy a kitchen. But ask the respective price offer exactly! Invest in electrical appliances that will still work in five years and generally pay attention to quality in the entire kitchen equipment.

If you have to replace the worktop in just a few years or are constantly annoyed that the doors cannot be aligned, you have saved nothing. This also applies to craftsmen: Better to rely on the professional than on the one who offers an amazingly low price. How should he be able to afford that if he supposedly delivers professional quality?

If you buy a new kitchen, you have every chance to switch to “green”. Reduce your electricity bill with electrical appliances that use as little electricity as possible.

Pay attention to thrift

If you buy a new kitchen, you have every chance to switch to “green”. Reduce your electricity bill with electrical appliances that use as little electricity as possible. Put on water-saving fittings and make sure when planning the kitchen that no energy guzzlers are installed. Somewhat more expensive electrical appliances, which use very little energy, pay for themselves after a short time.

Negotiate the price

A certain margin is always included in a kitchen price. This means that the seller offers the kitchen block or the corner kitchens at a certain price, but you can get them for much less money. And the seller still makes a profit! Set a limit that you want to spend at most and get comparison offers for your dream kitchen.

Offer the seller a price that is well below your limit and bet that he will use his acting talent. He will make you a good offer! This is especially true if you can boast that you’ve seen this kitchenette cheaper elsewhere.

Many kitchen studios and furniture stores advertise discounts. However, they often keep silent about the fact that there are more ways to lower the price.

Plan ahead

There are enough offers on the Internet for kitchen planners to use free of charge. Measure the room and work out your own plans with the kitchen planner. You do not have to decide on a model yet, but you can already explore dimensions and different installation options. Choose between the simple kitchen unit and the elaborate country-style kitchen, look at popular model variants and slide the individual parts of the kitchen blocks back and forth.

Your dream kitchen will soon be ready. With this planning, you go to the kitchen studio, which now has significantly less work and also has an idea of what you like. The part of planning is no longer so high in terms of costs, and you are now an expert and know what is going on and what you do not like.

Ask about discounts

Many kitchen studios and furniture stores advertise discounts. However, they often keep silent about the fact that there are more ways to lower the price. You can get top kitchen counters particularly cheap if, for example, you ask about kitchens from last year or opt for an exhibition kitchen. Maybe the competition has a discount and your kitchen planner could go with you?

If nothing can be done about the price of the kitchen, you can still save money by requesting free delivery and installation. You should prepare the kitchen purchase well so that you can start a small discount battle yourself.

Whether after moving to a new apartment or moving into your own house: you have to buy a kitchen. The prices range from a few hundred to many thousands of euros.

Search in classified ads

This is certainly not a new tip, but it is really helpful. Individuals who want to sell their kitchens advertise on eBay classifieds, Quoka or the Facebook Marketplace. They often set the price very low because they want quick sales success. A lot of money can also be saved with advertised household resolutions, because the advertisers want to move out or vacate an apartment from an inheritance.

Some of the real treasures are found here, which after a little refurbishment result in high-quality kitchens and, for example, not only recreate the country house style, but really come from the time when such kitchens were modern.

The only disadvantage: The kitchen furniture must of course be picked up here, delivery is not included in the price. It is therefore important to make a precise comparison, especially since a van may have to be rented.

Go abroad

No, you don’t have to move abroad yourself to buy a cheap kitchen. However, you have an advantage if you live in an area near the border. IKEA has the same range in all countries, but prices abroad are often cheaper than in Germany. This also applies to other kitchen manufacturers based in Poland.

Many manufacturers are based in the country and sell their kitchens more expensive to Germany. Why not buy in Poland right away? The savings are around 30 percent compared to the German list price and this does not even include special discounts. If you live close to the border, you can also save on delivery costs.

This is certainly not a new tip, but it is really helpful. Individuals who want to sell their kitchens advertise on eBay classifieds, Quoka or the Facebook Marketplace.

Use DIY

On the one hand, you can save the money for kitchen assembly if you yourself are reasonably skilled in the art and build up the kitchen furniture. If necessary, help from a second person is necessary, especially when attaching the wall units to the wall. An electrician may also have to connect the electrical devices if you yourself have no idea. But otherwise there is nothing that a passionate handyman cannot do himself!

It goes all the way to building individual parts of the kitchen: screwing on the splash guard, which is used as a wooden plate instead of the tile mirror, and building a single shelf are examples of things that a handyman can do himself. It may also be worth asking for help from friends, maybe there is even a craftsman who helps a little for little money and helps to convert the room into a dream kitchen at low cost?