Buying House 'stuff' abroad - tiles, flooring, kitchens, etc. We're being ripped off!

Hi

I was reading with interest the thread about buying bathroom/ sanitary ware abroad.
Just wondering if anyone else has successfully purchased things for their house abroad that would like to share their experiences with us.
I am becoming increasingly disgruntled with being ripped off here in Ireland and I believe it's time to talk with our feet.

Re: Buying House 'stuff' abroad - tiles, flooring, kitchens, etc. We're being ripped

Yes we are being ripped off! I don't know if I would be as brave as to try to buy a whole kitchen abroad. However I have had a taster experience with some really nice bathroom cabinets. Duravit (German sanitary ware manufacturer) cabinets in the distributership in Kilkenny worked out at €1100 each and we wanted two! Decided i would look online and ended up conversing with a bilingual German from Iceprice and ended up getting two shipped at a total cost of €1100-Half the price! At the time we had just completed fitting out our bathrooms with all Duravit sanitaryware and we couldn't help but think how much we could have saved with a bit of organisation and somewhere to store it before you can get hold of a plumber. I suppose I could recommend Iceprice anyway for sanitaryware. Germany is also great value for audiovisual equipment and all can be ordered directly online and usually very cheap or even free shipping.

Re: Buying House 'stuff' abroad - tiles, flooring, kitchens, etc. We're being ripped

Yes, we are definitely being totally ripped off on the bathroom stuff.
See this thread:
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=76888&highlight=bathroom

I heard a story a few years ago about how someone brought over a crew of guys from Germany to deliver and install a Siematic kitchen and it was still half the price it would have been here. I don't know any more details but certainly if I was looking to buy a high-end kitchen I would look into it seriously.