How to Price a Kitchen for a Flip and Still Win the Bid

Every flipper has felt the squeeze: price the kitchen too high and you lose the deal; price it too low and you eat the difference at resale. With flip margins tighter than they've been in years — national reports put average gross flip profit under 15% on a median home — the kitchen is where discipline pays off.

Cabinets typically run 30 to 40% of a kitchen remodel budget, so that's the lever. Here's a framework that protects your number.

1. Start from the resale, not the receipt

Decide what the finished kitchen needs to look like to hit your ARV, then work backward. A clean shaker in the right color reads as "renovated" to a buyer just as well as something twice the price. You don't need custom to sell a flip — you need consistent, current, and on time.

2. Use the RTA-vs-custom spread

This is where the margin lives. Industry cost guides put wholesale RTA cabinets 30–50% below pre-assembled and 50–75% below custom for the same footprint. A standard 10×10 kitchen in wholesale RTA lands in the low thousands; the same kitchen in custom can run well into five figures. Spec the finish level the resale actually needs — not more.

3. Buy wholesale, to the trade

Retail markups are pure margin leakage on a flip. Buying wholesale to the trade — with no minimum order — means the savings show up whether you're doing one kitchen or ten.

4. Protect the timeline

Holding costs are a silent killer. Cabinets that ship in days, not weeks keep the project moving. And ordering assembled means your crew installs instead of building boxes — labor you're not paying for twice.

5. Quote it before you commit

Send your layout and get a free 3D design and a line-item wholesale quote in 24–48 hours. Knowing the real cabinet number before you buy the house is how you bid with confidence instead of hope.

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