How to Shop Online for RTA kitchen Cabinets?

Buying RTA (ready to assemble) cabinets or your kitchen or bathroom makes perfect sense as a cost-saving measure. When an RTA dealer or manufacturer sends you cabinets flat-packed in pieces, you don't pay for the company's labor to do the relatively easy work of assembling the cabinets. And because the flat-packed cabinets take up less volume than assembled cabinets, you also save money on the shipping. Provided you are up to the task of assembly—and it isn't a hard job—you can easily save 30 percent or more on the cost of cabinets.The ready to assemble cabinets business is a highly competitive market, with the potential for great savings for consumers. If you play the game right, you can benefit, too. Here are some things to know about the business.

Spend enough time looking at RTA cabinets online and it will start to feel like deja vu all over again: "Wait, didn't I see something called Sienna Rope 36A at the previous dealer?" Yes, you probably did. You will find different RTA dealers selling the same product, sometimes under the exact same name and product code. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. After all, you have the option of purchasing your Samsung Galaxy or Blue Diamond Almonds from multiple dealers. Why not RTA cabinets?

How do you know you're comparing the same product among different dealers? First, some dealers tend to use the same product names. Hampton and Sienna Rope are names you frequently see and may indicate that you're looking at the same exact product. Also, you might even be lucky enough to find the same product code used by different dealers. Shaker, on the other hand, is a generic style and might be a different product from dealer to dealer but still look much the same. Two shaker cabinets with exactly the same size but made by different manufacturers can be considered an apples-to-apples comparison.

How to Find the Best Deals for Online RTA Cabinets

Here is a four-step process to use when looking for the best deals for online Ready to Assemble Cabinets:

Seek prices based on a complete order. The only way to price out cabinets is to come up with the full kitchen or bathroom worth of needed cabinets and use that as the basis for pricing. Start with one of the bigger companies that have good user interfaces, such as the RTA Cabinet Store. Print out your shopping cart, but do not order.

Compare the costs of other companies. Using your initial shopping cart list, price out the same items at other RTA companies. You may not be able to find exact items, but unless you have exotic tastes, you can come quite close.

Add in shipping costs. As you go along, be sure to bring the order process far enough along so that you can get estimated shipping costs. This often is the deciding factor. You have made no commitment until you provide credit card information.

Request a price match if you like the dealer. By this point, you have a good feeling for which dealers seem good...or not. If you like a higher-cost dealer, take advantage of price-matching. Even if the company doesn't have a published policy, don't be afraid to contact the customer service department and ask. You'll be surprised at how often the company will match lower prices from competitors.