Over the years, I have had many people ask me for a detailed material list. I can understand where they’re coming from. They’re spending a lot of money with me and want to know in further detail what they are getting from me. They want to understand where their money is being spent and why. But the question remains – do they have the right to request one.

Do customers have the right to an itemized material list?

Question posed by Gayle on Facebook

Well, yes, they have the right to request one, but you have the right to decline.

Building Trust

Very early on in my career, I was asked this a few times and I complied. Potential clients were comparing my costs against big box stores whom freely handed over designs and itemized material lists. My costs were always considerably higher than my “competitors” so I felt compelled to do the same in order to build the trust that I thought that customer was obviously missing in me.

What a mistake. Non-kitchen designers do not understand the intricacies of kitchen design. It became an inquisition into how every penny was spent. “Why did you finish the bottom of this?”, “What is a wide bottom rail?”, “What does XYZ mean?!?” I didn’t have time to teach them the world of kitchen design. That was the whole reason they were hiring me!

After the first couple times customers pressured me to do this, I started requesting they send me the ones that big box stores provided to them. I noticed that trim moldings, touch up kits, finished ends, panels, and many other items were missing. So instead of building my own list, I started showing them how the ones they had received were incomplete and a poor representation of what they would need to complete their project.

Some backed off and others didn’t. For those who still persisted, I would use the analogy of a car dealership. Try walking into one and asking for a material list for every nut, bolt, and part to build a car. The difference between a car and a kitchen is that cars have a foundation. You pick a series and make minor modifications to it. With kitchens, each one is unique, requires completely different items based on client needs, cabinet construction, and material interactions.

Unfair Comparisons

Another potential hazard with sharing an itemized material list would be potential unfair comparisons. Manufacturer A may charge $1,000 for one item and Manufacturer B may charge $1,800 for that same item. Is one worth more than the other? Probably not. If they were really apples to apples competitors, then there are likely other items where the tables are turned and manufacturer B will be less. They each have different reasons for reaching their pricing on individual items whether it’s due to their manufacturing process, finishing process, or because they’ve had issues producing that item in the past and need to cover their potential warranty issues.

Order Creep

Custom quotes, manufacturer catalog errors, designer errors, and omissions will all affect the bottom line. Let’s say Designer Shawna priced her clients kitchen at $28,422.98 in Cabinetry which is based on her manufacturer’s cost and the margin she is required to price for her company’s overhead. There’s over 80 pieces in this quote and she’s made 11 design revisions and 8 pricing revisions over a 7 month period with this client.

If Shawna had done a itemized material list, she could have priced everything right the first and second time. And then the 4th revision, she missed a finish upgrade in the pricing. And the 8th, she forgot to reduce her molding quantities based on the design change.

  • If when placing the order, the pricing came in lower than the itemized quote, the client would feel that it is their right to the lower price.
  • If when placing the order, the pricing came in higher than the itemized quote, the client would feel that it is not their responsibility to pay because the designer made the error.

The client can’t have it both ways. Especially since in the vast majority of cases, when a designer or salesperson is placing an order, they are adding additional modifications, catching pricing mistakes, and making minor changes as they meticulously review the order before it goes into production.

The Consultant’s Final Thoughts

Don’t do it. And if you feel like you have to, politely make sure the customer signs an agreement that states whatever the final order costs are, they are responsible for it, no matter if the final pricing came in higher than the quote or not.