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Post by the light works on May 13, 2016 14:04:57 GMT
the idea of direct sales of merchandise came about during my childhood, where instead of going to a tradesman who would determine what it was you needed and deliver it to you, you would buy whatever it was directly from the producer, thus "eliminating the middleman" and his markup.
so the question about it is, to what degree does this give a financial advantage, and to what degree does this simply rearrange the same costs?
what brings this up is that today's customer purchased a hot tub directly from the manufacturer instead of through the local dealer. when the tub arrived, the dealer (who was still doing the setup) found that the tub had been built without regard for the limits of the location. in short, he has been spending the last couple days rebuilding the tub so that I can get to the wiring compartment to hook it up. had the tub been ordered through him, he would have made certain it came from the factory in the proper configuration, which would have saved the time consuming rebuild.
anyone else have evidence where eliminating the middleman might not be such a good idea?
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Post by GTCGreg on May 13, 2016 22:44:36 GMT
the idea of direct sales of merchandise came about during my childhood, where instead of going to a tradesman who would determine what it was you needed and deliver it to you, you would buy whatever it was directly from the producer, thus "eliminating the middleman" and his markup. so the question about it is, to what degree does this give a financial advantage, and to what degree does this simply rearrange the same costs? what brings this up is that today's customer purchased a hot tub directly from the manufacturer instead of through the local dealer. when the tub arrived, the dealer (who was still doing the setup) found that the tub had been built without regard for the limits of the location. in short, he has been spending the last couple days rebuilding the tub so that I can get to the wiring compartment to hook it up. had the tub been ordered through him, he would have made certain it came from the factory in the proper configuration, which would have saved the time consuming rebuild. anyone else have evidence where eliminating the middleman might not be such a good idea? I'm sure it depends on the industry and the distribution arrangements the manufacture has with his distributors. I have a couple of pro-audio products that I make and sell through distributors. I also sell directly to end users. The two products have a recommended list price of $49.95 and a distributor price of $28.90. While a distributor can sell the product for any price they wish, I will not undercut my distributors and sell direct for anything less than list ($49.95) I know this varies from manufacture to manufacture but I believe it's only fair to take care of your distributors. |
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Post by the light works on May 14, 2016 1:02:37 GMT
the idea of direct sales of merchandise came about during my childhood, where instead of going to a tradesman who would determine what it was you needed and deliver it to you, you would buy whatever it was directly from the producer, thus "eliminating the middleman" and his markup. so the question about it is, to what degree does this give a financial advantage, and to what degree does this simply rearrange the same costs? what brings this up is that today's customer purchased a hot tub directly from the manufacturer instead of through the local dealer. when the tub arrived, the dealer (who was still doing the setup) found that the tub had been built without regard for the limits of the location. in short, he has been spending the last couple days rebuilding the tub so that I can get to the wiring compartment to hook it up. had the tub been ordered through him, he would have made certain it came from the factory in the proper configuration, which would have saved the time consuming rebuild. anyone else have evidence where eliminating the middleman might not be such a good idea? I'm sure it depends on the industry and the distribution arrangements the manufacture has with his distributors. I have a couple of pro-audio products that I make and sell through distributors. I also sell directly to end users. The two products have a recommended list price of $49.95 and a distributor price of $28.90. While a distributor can sell the product for any price they wish, I will not undercut my distributors and sell direct for anything less than list ($49.95) I know this varies from manufacture to manufacture but I believe it's only fair to take care of your distributors. I charge my contractors a reduced rate so they can put a markup on without the customers being tempted to sidestep them. |
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Post by silverdragon on May 14, 2016 7:53:33 GMT
When in charge of the Pub, I always tried to buy beer straight from the makers.
The savings were enough to make sure I made profit.
The brewery hated me for doing that, in that I knew the law, and when they tried to "Tie me in" for the Guinness and Cider, I refused point blank as that is illegal.....
Illegal unless of course you know enough to not let that happen.
Instead of that I got Guinness to come to my pub and put a new head, lines, and sort out a double-loop through the chiller to ensure I got the product chilled down to 4degC, the proper temp for Guinness porter.
It started out-selling the brewery beer.
I always had a guest beer or two on, hand pump.
I sourced as many local suppliers as possible, what they now call "Micro breweries".
At that time I had a firm from Stockport coming out to do my wet and dry sales, they did the bottles of fruit juice...
And this is where it got interesting.
I introduced my Micro-Breweries to my Non Brewery supplier, and suggested a collaboration to help them distribute.
I got my barrels delivered by the non-brewery supplier, at the same cost of buying direct from the micro-brewery, and "First dibbs" on the new batch every time, as that was my payment for doing the introductions, and making it well worth it, as the sales of those micro breweries went up because of that new delivery network...
We all made good.
Me because I got a good supplier of good beer, the Micro brewery because they made sales through other than their own counter sales, and the delivery firm saw sales of other stuff go up because "whilst your delivering can you throw in a couple of boxes of" type sales, and the fact that on their regular delivery rounds, the drivers pass the micro-brewery and can pop in and collect barrels of the new batch anyway, so its not out of their way to do that collection...
Sometimes its not just who you know, its what you know about who you know.
Sometimes it depends what you are buying direct from the manufacturers.
If the product you want is "as is" and your ok with that, go ahead.
If its a grill order that needs specialist handling, specialist tailoring, get the middle-man in to sort all that lot out?...I know some that earn their cut.
The brewery that owned the building I was running hated the fact that I played them at their own game...
The rent they charged me depended on barrelage, the more I sold, the more the rent went up...
So I improved businesses.
I sold more barrels.
Just not the ones I bought from them.
When they tried to infringe on my guest beers, I stated that if I did buy guest beers from them it must NOT count as the barrelage count from them?...
But thats not how it works.
OK, so I buy my guest beers elsewhere.
Then when they started cheating on me, I threw them out.
I still paid rent, I just didnt order from them until they paid me what was due.
This was all over a certain discount you are supposed to earn for each barrel you buy, refunded quarterly, and because I ordered a couple of 36's now and again, they counted them as 22's, so not as many gallons, but it all adds up to the discount.
To add insult to injury, they had an "Emergency order line"
Now and again you get a run on the pumps, say a BIG football match.
I had one or two HUGE darts matches in my Pub, quarter finals even of the national level, the team was that good, we had quite a few of national level players.
So I ran out of beer.... you never can gauge how well it will be attended, I had ordered a 36 just for that night, they drank the bloody lot and started on my 22's I had ordered for the rest of the week?... if I dont get more, I will have dry pumps.
I order up. "We cant do anything above an 11" so I order three.... "oh, we only usually do one barrel.." this is the emergency line?.. I need that much to last until your next delivery?... I am 36 gallons down on my weekly dray, how else I supposed to do this?.
The next week I get a "surprise" visit from the home team just to do a council of the game plan for the next national level match..
They drank a 22 dry again....
So I order up..."oh, you cant do that, you can only use the emergency line once a month".
This is my brewery here?... the ones that WANT to sell me beer?...
What a way to run a business.... keep the customer SHORT?...
Then I find I am supposed to change my delivery schedule to a MINIMUM order each month to ensure they have room on the dray....
So I order up from another emergency supplier.
That was technically breaking the law, as the beer I was buying was one of the "Tied in" products from the brewery...
Thankfully, the good lads at the emergency supplier have painted a big red cross on the ones they deliver so I know which ones NOT to return to the brewery....
yeah, the bloody brewery are checking returns to see if I am ordering from elsewhere?...
They trust me not THAT much?...
So maybe I am the middleman, maybe I am the one between manufacturer and end customer, and have to deal with the recyclable waste as well.. and no I aint taking the [pizza] here, although literally I am through the drainage system, I am the one dealing with empty bottles and deciding what is returnable or not.
But the middle man often earns a meagre crust dealing with what the manufacturer supplies and what the customer actually wants.
I note certain cider suppliers have started supplying bottles of "Blackcurrant" Cider... Cider-and-black has been a regular order at the bar for many decades, (Even a century or so?.) so why has it taken so long?..
New product! Stop the press, new front page headlines from the brewery!!!!!!
Pear Cider.....
Erm... what the hell do you think the word "Perry" comes from?... which is centuries old as well?...
Zyder, cyder, cider, all the same word just different spellings, all valid, but.
Show me where it says it MUST be apples.
cyder, like cheddar, is a process, its not a description of the end product.
You can cyder any hard flesh and skinned fruit.
[btw, the 'cidre' spelling that phrench firm likes to say is valid, is just a spelling mistake...they use it to sort of say they are distinct, they aint.]
Also true cyder is SUPPOSED to be cloudy.
You just strain out the big bits, thats all.
Traditional, you mash the apples, press the juice out into a barrel, throw in a side of pork to start off the process (Which is marinated there for a week and then cooked for lunch) and then you wait.
Nothing is wasted, the apple remains go to the pig for food.
The pig waste slurry is thrown on the fields to furtilyzer them.
Traditional, the work gangs that did all the harvest work would arrive at the farm and be met with a flagon of cyder.
If the 'zyder was good, they they done stay.
So it was a matter of pride, and a matter of good business, to make it "proper".
Because the work gangs knew from the standard of zyder how good the rest of the stay would be.
I had better sign off before this becomes a history lesson eh?...
Oh.....
Too late.
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Post by GTCGreg on May 14, 2016 13:31:31 GMT
Sounds like another case of "my customer is my worst enemy" mentality. They teach in marketing classes that a new customer is something like seven times harder to get than keeping an old customer. So why do so many companies treat their customers like dirt?
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Post by the light works on May 14, 2016 14:24:31 GMT
Sounds like another case of "my customer is my worst enemy" mentality. They teach in marketing classes that a new customer is something like seven times harder to get than keeping an old customer. So why do so many companies treat their customers like dirt? Usually, because they have control of the market and they know it. there's a certain arrogance that comes of knowing your customer can't take his business somewhere else. |
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Post by GTCGreg on May 14, 2016 15:14:44 GMT
Sounds like another case of "my customer is my worst enemy" mentality. They teach in marketing classes that a new customer is something like seven times harder to get than keeping an old customer. So why do so many companies treat their customers like dirt? Usually, because they have control of the market and they know it. there's a certain arrogance that comes of knowing your customer can't take his business somewhere else. In some cases that's certainly true. But I've seen case after case where there was competition yet a distributor's attitude was "screw you." In my own business, I've switched a number of suppliers strictly because of the way I was being treated. And it wasn't because I expected to be treated special in any way. If you give someone $40K in business a year, they should at least act like they appreciate it. (aka Mouser Electronics) |
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Post by the light works on May 14, 2016 15:32:04 GMT
Usually, because they have control of the market and they know it. there's a certain arrogance that comes of knowing your customer can't take his business somewhere else. In some cases that's certainly true. But I've seen case after case where there was competition yet a distributor's attitude was "screw you." In my own business, I've switched a number of suppliers strictly because of the way I was being treated. And it wasn't because I expected to be treated special in any way. If you give someone $40K in business a year, they should at least act like they appreciate it. (aka Mouser Electronics) sometimes they are a bit slow on the uptake. edit: also, for a large distributor, 40K in gross revenues isn't really all that much. |
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Post by GTCGreg on May 14, 2016 16:03:48 GMT
sometimes they are a bit slow on the uptake. edit: also, for a large distributor, 40K in gross revenues isn't really all that much. It is when the items you are buying typically go for under way under $1 each. In the case of the distributor mentioned, I had been doing business with them for over 30 years. At first, I would issue blanket purchase orders with scheduled deliveries in order to get decent price breaks. It was a pain in the rear but it gave me decent pricing. Then one day, one of their marketing people called and said to save both me and them the hassle, because of the overall volume of business, they would just always give me the thousand piece price even if I was only ordering 100 of an item. That worked great for about 10 years until about a year ago. That's when another MBA hot shot, who happened to just get the job, called me and said that under their new "business model", they could no longer do that. I explained that I didn't have a fancy MBA, but under my "business model" I was going to buy from the distributor that gave me the best price and that from now on, I would ask for a quote form a number of distributors and buy from the one that offered the best price. I said that I would also give them the opportunity to bid for my business. Well, as it turned out, they actually did me a big favor by forcing me to go out for bid. I found a number of distributors that offered far better pricing in smaller quantities than they did even when giving me the thousand column price. Now that I've set up accounts with the other distributors, I'm saving over $10K a year in what I was paying them. And being the owner of my business, that's $10K in my pocket. |
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Post by the light works on May 14, 2016 20:12:47 GMT
sometimes they are a bit slow on the uptake. edit: also, for a large distributor, 40K in gross revenues isn't really all that much. It is when the items you are buying typically go for under way under $1 each. In the case of the distributor mentioned, I had been doing business with them for over 30 years. At first, I would issue blanket purchase orders with scheduled deliveries in order to get decent price breaks. It was a pain in the rear but it gave me decent pricing. Then one day, one of their marketing people called and said to save both me and them the hassle, because of the overall volume of business, they would just always give me the thousand piece price even if I was only ordering 100 of an item. That worked great for about 10 years until about a year ago. That's when another MBA hot shot, who happened to just get the job, called me and said that under their new "business model", they could no longer do that. I explained that I didn't have a fancy MBA, but under my "business model" I was going to buy from the distributor that gave me the best price and that from now on, I would ask for a quote form a number of distributors and buy from the one that offered the best price. I said that I would also give them the opportunity to bid for my business. Well, as it turned out, they actually did me a big favor by forcing me to go out for bid. I found a number of distributors that offered far better pricing in smaller quantities than they did even when giving me the thousand column price. Now that I've set up accounts with the other distributors, I'm saving over $10K a year in what I was paying them. And being the owner of my business, that's $10K in my pocket. well, there you go. you save money and they don't have to stop counting before they reach 1000. it's a win-win. |
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Post by silverdragon on May 15, 2016 5:59:03 GMT
Sounds like another case of "my customer is my worst enemy" mentality. They teach in marketing classes that a new customer is something like seven times harder to get than keeping an old customer. So why do so many companies treat their customers like dirt? In my own case of the landlord against the Breweries.... I have studied the market for too long now. I know the problem... Pubs. 27 a WEEK are closing in the UK. The large pub companies have now gone on a hunt for anyone who looks daft enough to be tempted by the idea of "Running your own pub" to stop these places closing, so, they tempt them in with cheap "deals" to keep the pub open. This starts with a cheap "all in" rent of half the usual rent and no other bills, gas water electric all paid for. Then as you get settled, and business starts improving, your "Beginners offer" expires, and you start to find out the true cost of running a pub. And then you find out why the last landlord left. He wasnt making anything... Cheep Supermarket beer, the ability to sit at home and drink that, and not having to go stand outside in a cold wet draughty winters night to have a smoke.... Pubs have been taxed to death, if a pint cost £3, about a third of that goes to the gobmint purely for the luxury of having any to sell, 93pence on your average pint, and thats on the lower 4.3abv, so more for higher strength beers. Then you have wages for bar staff to make, and the other "Overheads", so effectively, if your paying the Brewery around £1 a gallon for your beer, and its costing you after the tax about £90 pence to serve that pint, with rent wages and other overheads, what are you making?... In some cases, nothing at all. You rely on Dry sales like snacks and stuff to make profit, because no tax, and bulk buying, means you can put an up-jar of 50% on them and still be reasonably priced to compete with other places. Or soft drinks... a glass NRB of coke can be bought at 75p per unit and sold at 1.50 or more, where the syrup for the mixer tap comes in at £1-£2 per gallon and is sold at 70pence per pint.... So when you dont make much, what support do the Brewery give you?. Well they have another 10 people waiting for a chance, so none at all, because you are replaceable. When everyone in UK has had a chance to be a landlord, then maybe they will change their minds. |
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Post by the light works on May 15, 2016 13:36:41 GMT
Sounds like another case of "my customer is my worst enemy" mentality. They teach in marketing classes that a new customer is something like seven times harder to get than keeping an old customer. So why do so many companies treat their customers like dirt? In my own case of the landlord against the Breweries.... I have studied the market for too long now. I know the problem... Pubs. 27 a WEEK are closing in the UK. The large pub companies have now gone on a hunt for anyone who looks daft enough to be tempted by the idea of "Running your own pub" to stop these places closing, so, they tempt them in with cheap "deals" to keep the pub open. This starts with a cheap "all in" rent of half the usual rent and no other bills, gas water electric all paid for. Then as you get settled, and business starts improving, your "Beginners offer" expires, and you start to find out the true cost of running a pub. And then you find out why the last landlord left. He wasnt making anything... Cheep Supermarket beer, the ability to sit at home and drink that, and not having to go stand outside in a cold wet draughty winters night to have a smoke.... Pubs have been taxed to death, if a pint cost £3, about a third of that goes to the gobmint purely for the luxury of having any to sell, 93pence on your average pint, and thats on the lower 4.3abv, so more for higher strength beers. Then you have wages for bar staff to make, and the other "Overheads", so effectively, if your paying the Brewery around £1 a gallon for your beer, and its costing you after the tax about £90 pence to serve that pint, with rent wages and other overheads, what are you making?... In some cases, nothing at all. You rely on Dry sales like snacks and stuff to make profit, because no tax, and bulk buying, means you can put an up-jar of 50% on them and still be reasonably priced to compete with other places. Or soft drinks... a glass NRB of coke can be bought at 75p per unit and sold at 1.50 or more, where the syrup for the mixer tap comes in at £1-£2 per gallon and is sold at 70pence per pint.... So when you dont make much, what support do the Brewery give you?. Well they have another 10 people waiting for a chance, so none at all, because you are replaceable. When everyone in UK has had a chance to be a landlord, then maybe they will change their minds. and there you have it - easy replaceability. same reason bottom tier employers treat their employees like dirt. - coupled with a sense of entitlement. "I own this building, I'm entitled to put a thousand dollars a week in my pocket because I own it." My parents have a little store next door to them. it has changed owners several times in the time they have been there, and they have noticed there are two distinct patterns between the various owners. some of the owners will run the store themselves, work long hours, and sell at low margins. others will have the store run entirely by hirelings, and try to make up for it by running high margins. the latter owners usually don't last all that long. they also tend to not sell the store for what they bought it for, because the store goes downhill in a big hurry. some people have the attitude that they ought to be able to make as much money off an hour of an employee's labor as they make off an hour of their own, and it just doesn't work that way. |
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Post by Cybermortis on May 19, 2016 15:45:27 GMT
Back to the idea....
This is an interesting question in itself, since it might not always be cheaper in regards both money and time to buy straight from the source. For example while you could buy all the materials and equipment needed for a fitted kitchen for less than it would cost from a high street store. The cost and time needed to either build it yourself or hire someone else to do so might actually result in it costing you a lot more, or at least not making as much of a saving as you thought it might.
However.
This isn't something that could realistically be tested on TV. Companies would outright refuse to take part in such a show, or allow any footage that was taken to be used. Artificial testing would be, well artificial and therefore meaningless.
That said there is potential there if looked at in a broader sense. Maybe something along the lines of if cutting out one stage in a process results in greater efficiency, which is the same thing but without the money aspect. This would go very well with another saying; "Many hands make light work". Basically an investigation as to how large and small groups of people can be for different types of tasks before overall efficiency starts to suffer. That might well make for an interesting episode involving fans.
(Note; The above is written on the assumption that Mythbusters will eventually return on the science channel with the same general format as the original show)
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Post by the light works on May 19, 2016 15:58:05 GMT
Back to the idea.... This is an interesting question in itself, since it might not always be cheaper in regards both money and time to buy straight from the source. For example while you could buy all the materials and equipment needed for a fitted kitchen for less than it would cost from a high street store. The cost and time needed to either build it yourself or hire someone else to do so might actually result in it costing you a lot more, or at least not making as much of a saving as you thought it might. However. This isn't something that could realistically be tested on TV. Companies would outright refuse to take part in such a show, or allow any footage that was taken to be used. Artificial testing would be, well artificial and therefore meaningless. That said there is potential there if looked at in a broader sense. Maybe something along the lines of if cutting out one stage in a process results in greater efficiency, which is the same thing but without the money aspect. This would go very well with another saying; "Many hands make light work". Basically an investigation as to how large and small groups of people can be for different types of tasks before overall efficiency starts to suffer. That might well make for an interesting episode involving fans. (Note; The above is written on the assumption that Mythbusters will eventually return on the science channel with the same general format as the original show) the concept is essentially untestable, because it does come pretty close to direct analysis of market forces and product placement. it is also not universally true nor universally false. |
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Post by GTCGreg on May 19, 2016 16:10:44 GMT
Back to the idea.... This is an interesting question in itself, since it might not always be cheaper in regards both money and time to buy straight from the source. For example while you could buy all the materials and equipment needed for a fitted kitchen for less than it would cost from a high street store. The cost and time needed to either build it yourself or hire someone else to do so might actually result in it costing you a lot more, or at least not making as much of a saving as you thought it might. However. This isn't something that could realistically be tested on TV. Companies would outright refuse to take part in such a show, or allow any footage that was taken to be used. Artificial testing would be, well artificial and therefore meaningless. That said there is potential there if looked at in a broader sense. Maybe something along the lines of if cutting out one stage in a process results in greater efficiency, which is the same thing but without the money aspect. This would go very well with another saying; "Many hands make light work". Basically an investigation as to how large and small groups of people can be for different types of tasks before overall efficiency starts to suffer. That might well make for an interesting episode involving fans. (Note; The above is written on the assumption that Mythbusters will eventually return on the science channel with the same general format as the original show) Much depends on the nature of the product being sold. You mentioned kitchens. Every kitchen is different. There is much customization required. Yes, you can buy some "standard" size cabinets directly from some manufactures, but even then, there is usually a lot of carpentry involved in fitting them in and mounting them. If you have that skill, great, but most people don't. Even something more standard like a washer or dryer doesn't really lend itself to direct manufacture distribution. The manufacture would have to set up local show rooms and warehouses. They would need a delivery system. It's much easier to sign a deal with an appliance store or home center to handle that part of distribution. And it really doesn't cost the end user that much. The profit margin on home appliances is really quite low and the consumer has the advantage of seeing multiple choices and fast delivery. And what does the manufacture gain? They aren't going to sell any more washers. When you need to buy a washer, you buy it. They will get the sale one way or the other. |
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Post by Cybermortis on May 19, 2016 20:22:23 GMT
As said, testing the literal meaning of the phrase isn't practical. However twisting things slightly and joining it up with another saying does give a viable show idea with the potential for different types if tests.
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Post by silverdragon on May 21, 2016 5:29:50 GMT
In my tools is a "Kit" that is a plate and various fixings, used once, to act as a template for a Router, to join two lengths of worktop at an angle.
It allows you to route out a space under the worktop to place in the fixings that bolt through holes to draw together the gap to the next piece.
One person doing it as they go along learning on the job?... trust me, if you measure "many times" and cut once, its still an all day job, because once you make that cut, its cut....
For a kitchen supply and fixing company who install it, they do so many, its about an hour, then walk away and do something else whilst the glue sets up.
You HAVE to glue and bolt the thing with a strong glue to make it waterproof to prevent the top "blowing" at the join if it gets wet?...
And if you use a hard top with the same sort of fixings, you still have to make it waterproof to prevent leeks to the cupboards underneath.
The kitchen we inherited from the last idiots to own the house....
They had gone with an "industrial" look with wooden doors and metal diamond cut tread plate panels in the doors.
They failed.
The carcases were sound, so I just got new doors and re-skinned the carcases.
They also had under-counter fridges...
We prefer the stand-alone full height fridge.
So two new carcases slotted in the gap, putting them together and securing them in the space, again, a full day getting it right...
I can do woodwork, just not that fast, because I want it right first time here, and kitchens are new to me?.
So the worktop and two new cupboards, and all the doors, ok, so I wasnt rushing, but that was a whole weekend. (Amongst other bits at the same time)
The "Middleman" installers could have done the whole kitchen in that time?.
Ok, so they turn up "Mob handed", you get half a dozen of them involved, delivering, building the carcases up and fitting.
But, you also get a measurement service, and everything arrives the right size and in its place it goes, and also if there is a mistake, they fix it on the fly?... they dont have to rush out for parts, as they often have them on the wagon spare just in case.
Which is cheaper?... and then who does a better job?.
If you cant do chippie work, they do a better job.
Thus cheaper.
If you are buying "As is" then get direct from source.
If it needs to be tailor made and you cant do it yourself, dont.
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Post by the light works on May 21, 2016 6:31:39 GMT
In my tools is a "Kit" that is a plate and various fixings, used once, to act as a template for a Router, to join two lengths of worktop at an angle. It allows you to route out a space under the worktop to place in the fixings that bolt through holes to draw together the gap to the next piece. One person doing it as they go along learning on the job?... trust me, if you measure "many times" and cut once, its still an all day job, because once you make that cut, its cut.... For a kitchen supply and fixing company who install it, they do so many, its about an hour, then walk away and do something else whilst the glue sets up. You HAVE to glue and bolt the thing with a strong glue to make it waterproof to prevent the top "blowing" at the join if it gets wet?... And if you use a hard top with the same sort of fixings, you still have to make it waterproof to prevent leeks to the cupboards underneath. The kitchen we inherited from the last idiots to own the house.... They had gone with an "industrial" look with wooden doors and metal diamond cut tread plate panels in the doors. They failed. The carcases were sound, so I just got new doors and re-skinned the carcases. They also had under-counter fridges... We prefer the stand-alone full height fridge. So two new carcases slotted in the gap, putting them together and securing them in the space, again, a full day getting it right... I can do woodwork, just not that fast, because I want it right first time here, and kitchens are new to me?. So the worktop and two new cupboards, and all the doors, ok, so I wasnt rushing, but that was a whole weekend. (Amongst other bits at the same time) The "Middleman" installers could have done the whole kitchen in that time?. Ok, so they turn up "Mob handed", you get half a dozen of them involved, delivering, building the carcases up and fitting. But, you also get a measurement service, and everything arrives the right size and in its place it goes, and also if there is a mistake, they fix it on the fly?... they dont have to rush out for parts, as they often have them on the wagon spare just in case. Which is cheaper?... and then who does a better job?. If you cant do chippie work, they do a better job. Thus cheaper. If you are buying "As is" then get direct from source. If it needs to be tailor made and you cant do it yourself, dont. I went midway on mine. bought them from the middleman, but installed them myself. of course, I've seen it done, before. |
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Post by silverdragon on May 21, 2016 6:41:53 GMT
I Installed myself to get away from "Fitted" standards.
My worktops are higher because we are a tall family, and its easy enough to jack the cupboards up to fit underneath with wooden blocks.
You also get enough space under there for another draw with extra low level storage... we use it for cans of dog food etc, instead of a kick plate below the cupboard doors. (The draws have to be slightly tailored to fit as they are narrower because of the support blocks...)
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Post by the light works on May 21, 2016 6:54:01 GMT
I Installed myself to get away from "Fitted" standards. My worktops are higher because we are a tall family, and its easy enough to jack the cupboards up to fit underneath with wooden blocks. You also get enough space under there for another draw with extra low level storage... we use it for cans of dog food etc, instead of a kick plate below the cupboard doors. (The draws have to be slightly tailored to fit as they are narrower because of the support blocks...) I could have ordered extra tall, if I wanted them. that was what the middleman part got us. everything built to order, instead of buying boxes at Home Depot or Ikea. |
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