Price Vs. Value
There’s an adage bandied around by the likes of Warren Buffet which I think is particularly appropriate in the realm of luxury countertops. As simple as it is, the phrase appears to be strangely difficult to understand for many people.
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
The 26 cents saved on discount ground beef will be forgotten long before your E. Coli-induced gastrointestinal issues (was it really worth it?). Yet like some sort of a magnetic force, humans are consistently attracted to what we perceive to be ‘a deal.’
Many stores and fabricators will offer what seems like a great bargain- “Stone starting at $35/square foot in 5 select colors”! When you dig a little deeper, you find that what sounded too good to be true is…wait for it… too good to be true. By the time you’ve a la carte added in the cost of the minor details (like measuring the stone, cutting the stone, installing the stone, polishing the stone…etc), your final price is up somewhere in the neighborhood of $65/square foot and you had to compromise on the color. Not cool. (As an aside: that’s why at Zimmer we offer you a final price to get the job done well- no nickel and diming when you’ve got your checkbook out).
You’ll also find that in the race-to-the-bottom for luxury countertop pricing, you lose the luxury. Corners are cut to save time and tooling, with the ultimate effect being that seams go in un-evenly, edges show some raw spots, the overhangs definitely haven’t been polished, and neither the front office nor the stone guys seem to care if you’re not perfectly satisfied with the job—after all, what did you expect at $35/square foot?
We’ve been in the business more than 40 years, and we’ll be here long after the sale- which is why we aren’t interested in participating in the downward spiral of price and quality which are seen in various market segments these days. We stand behind our work and believe that we offer a high level of craftsmanship at a fair price. Sometimes we aren’t the cheapest guy on the block—but did you really want him to handle that investment for you anyways?
