Kitchen landed on the Gold Coast

The kitchen we priced

About 8 lineal metres plus an island, 2-pac doors, moisture-resistant carcasses, Blum hinges and runners, flat-packed over 1 metre.

Landed on the Gold Coast, line by line

Every line from the factory gate to your site. Low, middle and high use the low, middle and high of every published rate at once. Estimate: no delivered Elje job sits behind this figure yet.

Against Gold Coast prices

Supply only is the fair comparison with a landed price; installed prices include labour, which you pay either way.

No Gold Coast per-lm source. WTD index puts the Gold Coast about 2% under Brisbane.

The local supply-only figure is worked out from published per-metre cabinetry rates, not a single quote, so treat it as a guide.

Is it worth it?

Yes, on the numbers we have. About $17,808 landed against $20,000 to $33,000 for local joinery, supply only, so roughly $2,192 to $15,192 less, before you add the benchtops, tapware and anything else that rides in the same shipment for far less than it would on its own. Estimate.

The Gold Coast market

The Gold Coast tracks Brisbane, about 2 percent under it on the same cost index: kitchens $11,750 to $44,100 installed, bathrooms $9,800 to $34,300. Rider Levett Bucknall expects the same 7 percent a year escalation as Brisbane from 2027. The Tile Collective prices its Gold Coast store the same as Brisbane, and plumbers charge about $78 to $195 an hour.

How it gets to the Gold Coast

Foshan factory to Nansha or Shekou, a South China service to the Port of Brisbane, then about 95 km by road down the M1 to Southport, Burleigh or Palm Beach.

The Gold Coast has no container port. Everything lands at Fisherman Islands in Brisbane and comes down the M1.

Most Gold Coast deliveries are tautliner loads from a Brisbane depot rather than a container at the kerb, because of apartment access and the extra distance.

What moves the number

• Door finish. 2-pac and timber veneer cost more than a decorative board, at the factory and here.
• Volume. Pieces over 1 metre come flat-packed, which can halve the shipped volume. Freight is charged on cubic metres.
• What it travels with. A kitchen on its own pays a whole set of port, broker and delivery charges. In a whole-house container it shares them.
• Hardware. Name the hinge and runner brand on the quote (Blum or Hettich). Unnamed hardware is where a cheap quote gets cheap.
• Benchtops are a separate line. See stone benchtops.

What it has to comply with

• Board: E0 or E1 formaldehyde emission, with the test report for the batch.
• Timber products: as the importer you run illegal logging due diligence and answer the community protection question on the import declaration.
• Tariff 9403.40.00, general duty 5 percent, Free from China with a ChAFTA certificate of origin.

Notes for the Gold Coast

Coastal and subtropical, with salt air within a few kilometres of the beach. Specify PVD or 316 stainless on tapware and hardware, and marine-grade powder coat on anything outside.

• The landed price is the Brisbane price plus a longer truck run. The ocean leg is identical.
• High-rise apartments need a booked loading dock, lift and body corporate approval. Containers are unpacked at a depot and the goods come in by truck and trolley.
• Many Gold Coast renovations are apartments and townhouses, where the order is a kitchen and two bathrooms, not a whole house. That usually means a shared container, not your own.

Questions