Its the kitchen design store thats pulling your leg, mostly. Kitchen cabinet companies have MSRP prices that *no one *ever pays because *every retailer sells the cabinet at XX% of the full retail price. So, the kitchen design store may be having a 20% sale and charging only 30% of MSRP vs. 50%

I still don't get that. Sorry. Maybe it's the way you phrased it? Could I get that in actual dollar amounts? I'm a bit math challenged.

Something like this.

The Suggested Retail List Price of a cabinet is $1000.00
The price at the local dealer is normally 50% of list or $500. It is always something like this every day.

So they have a 20% off their price sale, for example so the cabinet would be $500 x .20 = $100 off: $500-100= $400

So they are having a sale that is 60% off the suggested retail price of $1000,--or $400.

However they Never charge Anyone Full List Price. An MSRP that is high compared to what people actually pay is common in the furniture, fabric, fixture and cabinetry industry

Thanks very much, now I understand completely. Seeing it in dollar amounts is exactly what I needed.

Cabinets for a 11' x 12' kitchen, solid wood fronts, plywood sides and back, no particle board. Dovetail drawers, full extension. Cherry shaker full overlay doors, a few "extras" but not many. $11,000.
purchased direct from Armstrong.

The catch is that they don't do any design work or hand holding. Pick your cabinets out of the catalog and order what you want. The quality of there "all-wood" line is better than kraftmaid (or at least better than what Home depot has on display). They do have some specialty pieces, but not near the variety that kraftsmaid has.
Maple, birch or oak would be a lot cheaper than the cherry.

There are a few (very few) kitchen design shops that handle armstrong cabinets, but of course they will mark up the price considerably.

so instead of the normal price of 500.00 you pay 20% more off the LIST price =400.00

or 20% off of what they normally sell them at...

it's not 70% off of the normal 500.00.

just sounds like SUCH a better deal to customers. it's a better deal just not 70% better.

get a few quotes from local cabinet makers.

I believe your post title says it all. Sounds like a come-on.

Did you check the big box stores to see their price for kraftmaid? I believe Lowes is still having a sale on their kitchen cabinets right now.

Do you have a Bradco Supply anywhere near you? I went custom, but their prices on Kraftmaid were thousands below the big box stores. My friend got her Kraftmaid there and was happy.

Here is a link that might be useful: bradco supply

lowes sells kraftmaid - but we didn't get a price on them just the shuler $14,000 for 8' x 11' with a 6' island then $10,000 for their shenandoah line/same thing.

I have a Bradco, but they do not open on weekends. How stupid is that? I actually had a conversation several months back with their manager about this saying to him what about those of us who work full time jobs, no less commute into other states to do so? I mean, I live in NJ, and commute into NYC. I don't get home until nearly 7:30 pm every night, and my job does not allow me to easily take off enough to go back and forth to deal with this whole kitchen thing. Weekend availability is absolutely crucial to me.

In fact, if I didn't have a partner out of work right now and recovering from surgery (we knew the timing of it as we went into this and knew he would be available to oversee things for several months), most likely I would not have purchase this particular home. Unfortunately the one thing he can't do is deal with the kitchen particulars - he's clueless on that account :p

I digress. As for Ikea, if my house were modern I would have been there in a heartbeat. However, it's a 1915 arts and crafts home and I'm trying to keep it as close to what it's original state was. Ikea, just isn't going to cut it in this case, although I do love their style.

Kraftmaid - out of all of the semi-custom makers was my preference as I'd used it before and was extremely happy with it the way it stood up over time for 10 years. I got so many compliments on my old kitchen. I certainly couldn't afford anything custom, and I looked at other brands in the same price range and was not as happy with them (or they were not easily found where I live - again having to take ease of availability into mind). Certainly was not going to go with thermafoil for this home although it crossed my mind for a moment - but a glaring white kitchen amongst all the dark wood of the house felt wrong.

So I'm off to the KD today to see how I can whittle away the price. Like I said, either it's using the other brand which was ok and comparable other than where it was manufactured and, not as many choices of colors or, taking out some cabinetry and waiting until next year to finish it off (which, would be ok by me - I did this in my old kitchen too).

So many considerations to make. All I know is that I can't allow myself to spend more than my budget, or at least not THAT much more!

Are you going with inset doors? I wasn't sure if kitchen aid made inset or not? If not, try to take another look at ikea.. the Adel cabinets are basic shaker.. they are frameless, but it has very clean simple lines like Arts and Crafts. The website has them paired with ultra modern hardware, and everything else - but if you can imagine the cabinets with what you have in mind for countertop, hardware etc.. I think it could look very nice. Like old meets new.

The kitchen industry has always priced like this, just not KraftMaid! They all have over-inflated list prices.

Advertising 70% off list is the way a lot of dealers advertise...but it's annoying to me (even as a kitchen dealer owner myself). Advertising in that way tells the consumer nothing. It's 70% off what? 70% off a million dollars is still expensive. I tell my customers not to focus on percentage off...price a layout apples-for-apples is the only way to know the price vs value. Cabinet "A" might be 70% off and still cost MORE than Cabinet "B" with a 65% off discount. It depends on how inflated the list price is.

But anyway, if they are 70% off list. They take the list price and multiply by .30

A cabinet with a list price of 850 would cost the consumer $255.

I've come to use a "cost per lineal foot" for pricing comparisons. Of course, every project is different I get it but this a good measuring stick.

The formula goes like this: Measure the actual cabinet face width of total lower cabinets up to 36" above finished floor. Include cabinets only not appliances. Write that number down. Then measure actual cabinet face width of all the upper cabinets. Write that number down. Then measure actual cabinet face width of any cabinetry in the middle, between the uppers and the lowers. Write that number down and add all three for a TOTAL LINEAL FEET OF CABINETRY. Divide all your bids by this lineal foot number and you end up with "cost per lineal foot" unit to compare all cabinets.

For an eight foot tall pantry closet three feet wide, it's 3+3+3 (lower, middle, upper) or 9 lineal feet. Where I live it's hard to find good cabinetry below $400 per lineal foot, so that pantry should be budgeted at $3600. It's always assumed there will be a few bells and whistles. With the right cabinet maker, it's better to go custom for that kind of money. Local cabinet makers can be a real value when you know what you want.

Don't forget installation, anywhere from $70-100 per cabinet where I live. Counter tops are another story entirely.