My mom has a DB membership and has ordered several items for our new construction from them as "gifts". We priced cabinets at several places, including a couple of custom cabinet makers, Lowes, Bartons, etc. The next cheapest estimate was $8000 more than the DB price even with handling and sales tax added. We have mostly used DB "local vendors" for DB purchases. I priced my Staron countertops retail and through a "local vendor" and the DB price was $4300 less than the retailer. For appliances, we got an extra DB discount from a "local vendor" off their already competitive prices. It wasn't huge, but altogether was about $500. I actually got our fridge and stovetop from that same store on clearance, which was even cheaper than the DB price would have been--just had to keep making trips until the stuff went on sale. We also got contractor pricing through a plumbing warehouse that our builder does not do business with (because it's in Little Rock, 100 miles away) thanks to my mom's DB membership. Their product selection and pricing were waaaay better than the businesses around here, even with our builder's contractor pricing. We also got our wood laminate flooring through DB at a significant savings ($4500). Other things, it was better to buy local through our builder's contacts, surplus stores, and the internet. I have spent hours upon hours bargain hunting and pricing stuff out in different venues. Where it paid to use DB we did. I managed to come in $6000 under our allowance budget, even though I went over on cabinets and countertops. :-) Would I have bought my own membership in DB? No freakin' way! LOL But since my (sometimes gullible) mom already had one, I didn't hesitate to take advantage of it where it paid to do so. She has been happy with Direct Buy...to each their own, I guess. V

Cabinets to Go for our kitchen. We're very happy with the quality and price point. All plywood (and our GC said it was the "good" plywood, was very pleased with the quality), super easy to assemble, dovetail drawers (not available on all designs), full extension soft close glides. They offer more products than you see on their website (spice pull outs, wider all-drawer base cabinets, etc). Here is a link that might be useful: Cabinets To Go

there is a thread on shiloh vs showplace that outlines showplace by an expert kd and it is new so look on page 1 my take is this: i looked at schuler and medallion silverline and showplace. the schuler was $9k,the medallion silverline was $8k and showplace was $12k. had i been able to i would have gone showplace. i went with medallion silverline as medallion makes schuler and i wanted to use a kd in a kitchen place vs lowes. schuler has low and high levels of styles that mock all the medallion lines. my impression is that showplace has more standard quality construction features so if the price is the same, showplace is probably a better bet. re cliq, have you ordered samples? i did and did not like the stain colors and the samples had scratches on the dark finish which i thought was a bad sign for futures. i wouldn't even consider them without seeing their samples. if you love the showplace, possibly you can pare down some moldings, light rails, etc to make it more cost effective.

I am a cabinet dealer in Raleigh, North Carolina. I mostly sell KCD (River Run and Carriage House are the same cabinets) and Fabuwood RTA cabinets. I have used both for about 5 years. I have been very pleased with both lines. The KCD line is less expensive than Fabuwood by quite a bit. The only real difference that I see in them are the pullouts (also a huge difference in price). Both lines are easy to assemble and both lines have a video to show you how to assemble them. I have never had a customer tell me that my quote was more expensive than any line of cabinets at big box stores. One thing that helps out a little on that though is that most of my customers can pick them up or have them delivered from the warehouse (located in Raleigh, NC). Shipping is fairly inexpensive as well (usually round $350). Of course that depends on how many cabinets, and where they are being shipped to. It is also more expensive to ship pantry and oven cabinets (requires a double pallet). Both lines are full overlay but, they do not have center styles so when you order a 42" cabinet, you get a 39" opening. KCD currently has 9 cabinets (two are furniture board) and will be adding more over the next few months. The next one to be added will be a white painted Shaker (very white....beautiful). It will be fully stocked by mid February.