It really is a gamble. Many on the forum have had great experiences, others have had nothing but headache. Bottom line is that you can save $$ by going to NC or lexfurniture and if nothing bad happens, you've made out. It is a gamble though because if something does go wrong, you're out of luck and maybe even out of $$. I tried to buy a Lee Industries LR set locally but even after the local store gave me their "best" offer, it still was $1500 more than NC. I took the gamble b/c I needed to save $$ since I just finished a 2 story renovation and needed to save as much as I could. It paid off for me but I would rather buy locally next time just b/c I like to support the local dealers and b/c I was panicked that something would go wrong (luckily for me, everything was perfect). It sounds like you are in a situation where buying from NC is a better option than buying from SF to have them ship to SF and then have someone else ship to the Northeast. I would call around and check out some local places (I think Circle Furniture is in MA) to see if you can get a good price locally. If you feel that NC is your best bet, I would research and buy from a reputable place. I did hear that Boyles and LexFurniture are great for H&M. You can do a search on this forum to see how others have made out buying H&M from one of these places. Good Luck.

I actually did ask about an on site finish and apparently it will cost roughly the same as buying the wood already finished. That made perfect sense to me. I am leaning towards using the local flooring store even if it does cost more because I like having someone close by if things go wrong, but so many people have had good luck with on line purchasing, I just thought I'd ask. In any case, I would be using a local guy for the installation and finishing - it's just that the wood would come from a far off place (which it's coming from no matter which method I use).

I think Daltile and Emser let you purchase material anywhere with the option of picking up at a local "pick up" center. Several of the tile manufacturers have distributors that are classified as pick up centers. You can actually buy somehwere else and the pick up can be locally. This could have changed, but we have used this method quite a bit in the past. Of course tile is very heavy, so if you may want to have your installer or contractor pick the tile up for you.

When I first began the planning process for our remodel, I anticipated doing primarily online purchases plus the occasional local blowout sale for all my large items. I purchased my dbl wall ovens and microw first and got a great deal at a special sale at Sears along with deferred payment for a year. When I began shopping around for my Thermador induction cooktop and vent system I found that local distributors were very scarce and everyone was sticking to the MSRP. I was just about to pay full price at a local Expo when I was referred to a Kitchen/Bath and Lighting store locally which worked primarily with contractors and construction companies. They had a large showroom with full kitchen and bath displays, appliances, lighting, cabinet hardware etc. I did not expect to find any lower pricing but thought it was worth checking out. Since I was basically GC for my own remodel and trying to coordinate all aspects of the job, I was given small contractor pricing. They immediately saved me over $500 on my Thermador system. At that point, I started to do my internet research on models of sinks, faucets, undercabinet lighting etc. to find the best prices online and also to find a few local prices for specific model numbers. I would bring my list of model numbers and color selections into the Kitchen/Bath/Lighting store and in most cases they would match my lowest pricing or even go $10 lower. I did have one faucet that was on Ebay that they could not match price on, so I just purchased from the Ebay store. The bulk of my kitchen remodel, however, I purchased through this local distributor and have been extremely pleased with their service. Yes, I had to pay sales tax but I feel having the benefit of a local store where I can see potential purchases hands on, check color samples, get advice for options and selections I may not be aware of plus have the advantage of a local warranty repair service for the products purchased, was well worth the sales tax and small price differences. They definitely saved me $$$ over what it would have cost me at the local big name stores. I also got the added security of local service for dealing with order errors, returns and repair service which is not so easily done with online companies. There was never a shipping charge, most items were either delivered directly to me from the manufacturer or delivered to the Kitchen/Bath store's warehouse and then delivered to me by their own trucks on my schedule. They were willing to store my multiple sinks, faucets and cooktop at their warehouse for almost a month and then had them delivered to my home 2 days before the granite templating for my convenience. I feel I now have a good working relationship with the staff there and plan to continue to come to them for the rest of my whole house remodel. They have catalogs and work closely with vendors of almost any product you would need in a kitchen/bath remodel. They know that I will come prepared with pricing lists and am not afraid to go elsewhere if they cannot drop their price within reasonable range. Plus it makes keeping tabs on all my purchases very easy since I have full detailed printouts from them with all model numbers and pricing, delivery dates etc. I have found it to be a very nice "one stop shopping" experience and have no problems paying slightly above online pricing for the customer service and support. I would strongly recommend you check your local area for a similar distributor for construction contractors. Policies may differ between areas and stores, but if you can get a referral to such a distributor from your granite fabricator, tile shop etc. and are doing most the GC work yourself you may find you can save yourself many dollars, getting close to online pricing with the advantage of personal, hands on service.