I didn't even have to pay half! I would never do that.

Same answer as green designs.

The only way i would do that is at a big box store. With a small shop I would pay 40 percent up front, 50 percent when the cabinets are delivered and 10 percent on your satisfaction that all defects have been corrected. If he insists on 100 percent and you really want to use him I would only do it on a credit card with customer friendly chargeback policies such as AMEX in case the guy does not deliver or the product is not what you were promised.

I did with Barker, but it's on a credit card that I've had good experience with with chargeback just in case.

no. Then you have zero control on deliverables.

Only if they were being loaded immediately onto my truck!

I'm curious as to why some of you say yes if it's a big box store.

The cabinet shop I used for over 25 years operated as malba described; 40% on acceptance, 50% on delivery, and 10% on completion of installation.

A big Box such as lowes/hd etc will not stiff you, they will not go bankrupt and leave you with nothing and they are generally more willing to eat some profit to make things right within reason. Also hd/lowes have a lot of leverage with cabinet manufacturers so if something is not made up to standard it will get fixed much more quickly. Also the big box stores take credit cards for the entire purchase which offers the customer more security.

No. 100% upfront from a small cabinet maker indicates that he is likely unable to pay his bills and may well decide he needs additional funds along the way. I would run. The minute you pay him you have no leverage over what he is doing or when it's delivered. Depending upon the state agreeing to more than 30% upfront maybe illegal anyway.

We had to pay the final 50% before our cabinets would be delivered, and even that really annoyed me. I felt we had no leverage. Fortunately, the very few things that were wrong were remedied quickly.

I didn't think about it being illegal. I'll have to check that out. It's not a small shop at all. The owner says he builds for D.R. Horton. I'm waiting on his quote and when comparing bids, this will have a lot of extra points.

Big box stores are no guarantee. Any purchase can turn into a major hassle!

I wouldn't want to pay for cabinets upfront, unless it was with a credit card and I could contest the purchase if it was not delivered.

A credit card not controlled by same big box store.....

I wouldn't worry about whether the credit card was "controlled" by the store - that's really irrelevant as long as it's a Visa-MC-AmEx issued card.

Our cabinet bids were 10% up front, 80% at delivery/install and 10% final at closeout.

I would never pay 100% upfront, there's obviously financial issues there.

Maybe it is the cabinet maker's way of saying that he does not want your business. I'd take his hint and go elsewhere.

I had a strange experience with my cabinet maker. He takes no money upfront. We had no contract, just a drawing on a yellow pad and an email with a quote for a kitchen as discussed. He has been more attentive than I could ever have expected. He is extremely busy and I never felt he was too busy for me - follow-up was great after install. I GOT LUCKY!!!

Other bids in my area were 75% upfront - remainder after install. I wasn't comfy with 75% and would not pay 100% upfront for any project when there is service involved.

Most shops, showrooms are 50%, 40% , 10% or %50 on order and %50 upon delivery.

"Maybe it is the cabinet maker's way of saying that he does not want your business. I'd take his hint and go elsewhere."

I thought this too but he has it on his door when you go into the shop. His bid came in pretty reasonable but they are on the bottom of my list.