Quick answer
A made-to-measure kitchen in New Zealand commonly runs a 40-50% deposit on order, with the balance due at delivery or completion; some firms split it three ways across deposit, delivery and completion. Before paying, get an itemised written quote and GST invoice, run a free Companies Office check, and visit the workshop if you can.
Key points
- Made-to-measure kitchens in NZ commonly carry a 40-50% deposit on order, balance at delivery or completion; some firms split the balance between delivery and completion, making three payments in all.
- Deposits run high because your kitchen is cut to your walls and has no other buyer; the deposit largely covers board, benchtop and hardware committed in your name.
- A deposit should buy you a written order confirmation, a locked spec with drawings, and a manufacturing slot, not a place in a queue you cannot prove.
- Before paying: itemised quote, GST invoice, a free Companies Office search, a workshop you can physically visit, and a reference from a recent job.
- If a company folds holding your deposit, you are usually an unsecured creditor, so keep every payment matched to something you can see.
The quote you accepted reads $13,800 including GST for an L-shape kitchen, supply and install. Behind it comes a deposit invoice asking for $6,900 before a single sheet of board is cut. You have read the stories about deposits disappearing into liquidations, and now you are staring at a $6,900 transfer to a company you first spoke to three weeks ago.
That deposit is normal. It is also worth an afternoon of checking before you pay it, because the structure of your payments decides who carries the risk at every stage of the job. This article covers the payment shapes common for made-to-measure kitchens in New Zealand, why the deposits run higher than in most trades, what to check before money moves, and what happens in the worst case. It is general information rather than legal advice; Consumer Protection and Citizens Advice both publish plain-language guidance if you want your rights confirmed.
How much deposit is normal for a kitchen in NZ?
For made-to-measure joinery, a deposit of 40 to 50 per cent on order is common, with the balance due at delivery or at completion. Some firms split the balance instead, part at delivery and the rest once installation is finished and checked, so the job ends as three payments. Off-the-shelf flat-pack is different, usually paid in full at the counter, because a stock cabinet can simply go back on the shelf if you walk away.
The percentages matter less than what each payment is attached to. A schedule where every dollar is tied to something you can see, an order confirmation, cabinets on your floor, a finished install, protects both sides. One where the money runs ahead of the work protects only the seller.
Common payment structures for made-to-measure kitchens: the money follows milestones you can verify.
| Structure | On order | At delivery | After install |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 / 50 | 50% | 50% (or at completion) | included in balance |
| Three-way split | 40-50% | part of balance | remainder on completion |
| Supply-only 50 / 50 | 50% | 50% before or at delivery | you install |
| Multi-unit / commercial | varies | monthly progress claims | retentions to close-out |
Why kitchen deposits run higher than other trades
A painter's materials are a small share of the job, and most of them go back on the shelf if the work stops. Your kitchen is the opposite. Once the order is confirmed, the manufacturer commits to board, benchtop material, hinges and runners, sometimes a stainless bench, and then cuts all of it to your site measure. An end panel scribed to your wall has exactly one buyer, and you are it.
That is the honest reason deposits sit at 40 to 50 per cent rather than the small holding deposit other trades take. The deposit is materials money, spent in your name within days: board, benchtop blank and hardware, committed the week the order lands. When we start a run of carcasses in East Tāmaki, those panels fit one house in Auckland and no other. If the customer vanishes, the panels are landfill, which is why nobody in this trade starts cutting on a handshake.
What your deposit should buy you
Paying a deposit should trigger paperwork, not silence. Before or with the payment you should hold a written order confirmation carrying the locked spec: drawings with every dimension in millimetres, decor codes for fronts and benchtop, the hardware, and the appliance models the joinery is built around. You should also get a manufacturing slot and a reference number, so the job is traceable in their system rather than a note on someone's phone.
- An itemised quote including GST, with the payment schedule printed on it.
- Drawings or a spec sheet with dimensions in millimetres, matching what you approved.
- A stated lead time and a target delivery week, not 'we'll be in touch'.
- A site measure booked or completed, because final dimensions come from your walls, not the plan.
- A named contact and a job or quote reference number for every conversation after this one.
If the quote itself is one line and a number, stop there first. How to read a kitchen quote covers the breakdown to insist on, and where the money goes in a kitchen quote shows what each slice of that deposit is actually buying.
The checks before you pay
None of these take longer than an hour in total, and together they remove most of the ways a deposit goes wrong.
- Companies Office search: free, about five minutes online. Check the company exists, how long it has been registered, and that it is not in liquidation or striking off.
- A physical workshop you can visit. Manufacturers have machinery, board stock and jobs in progress; ask to see yours in the schedule. Traders with no premises are reselling someone else's work.
- A reference from a recent job, ideally inside the last three months, and actually ring it.
- A GST invoice for the deposit and for every payment after it.
- The payment schedule in writing on the quote, so the final payment trigger is agreed before any money moves.
The longer version of this list, including what a straight answer sounds like on the phone, is in how to vet a kitchen company in NZ.
The flags that should stop you
- 100 per cent up front on made-to-measure work. Not standard, and it removes every lever you have.
- A discount for paying cash, or GST that quietly disappears from the conversation.
- No premises you can visit, and reluctance when you ask.
- A payment schedule that runs ahead of the work at every stage, so the company is never carrying its own job.
- Pressure to pay a holding deposit before the quote is itemised.
- The payment terms exist only in a text message.
None of these flags proves a company is dishonest. Plenty of good small operators are simply informal. But informality is exactly what you cannot afford at this size of spend, so let the paperwork standard do the filtering for you.
If the company folds, where your deposit sits
Said straight, because you deserve it straight: if a kitchen company goes into liquidation holding your deposit, you usually rank as an unsecured creditor, near the back of the queue, and a deposit is not protected money sitting in a trust account. Expect little of it back. That is uncomfortable, and it is the single best reason to keep payments matched to progress rather than paid ahead of it.
The practical defences are simple. Keep the deposit inside the common 40 to 50 per cent band rather than above it. Pay the balance at delivery or completion, never earlier. If you pay by credit card, ask your bank whether a chargeback would apply if the goods were never delivered. And if you ever are caught in a liquidation, Citizens Advice can walk you through the process for free, and the liquidator's first report will tell you what is actually left. For faults on a kitchen that did arrive, the Consumer Guarantees Act and kitchen problems covers the remedies that still work.
Progress payments on bigger jobs
Once a job runs past a single kitchen, the two-payment shape stops fitting. A whole-house renovation, a duplex, or a run of units moves to progress payments: staged amounts tied to milestones, or on commercial work, monthly claims against work actually done, with retentions held until defects are closed out. The machinery gets formal, but the principle is the same one that protects a homeowner.
For a single kitchen, the version worth remembering is short. Order confirmed, delivered to site, installed and checked: three events anyone can verify standing in the room, and never let the money get more than one visible step ahead of the kitchen.
Before you pay anything this week
Put the quote in front of you and check three things: it is itemised, GST is shown, and the payment schedule is printed on it. Run the Companies Office search while the kettle boils. Ask to see the workshop, and ask what paperwork follows the deposit; the right answer is an order confirmation with locked drawings and a reference number. Agree what event the final payment hangs off before the deposit is paid, not on install day.
That is the whole defence, and it takes less time than choosing handles. Our own process runs on the same rails: a quote back within 24 hours with a reference number, a site measure that locks dimensions before anything is cut, and the payment schedule on the quote where you can read it. If you have just sent off an enquiry and want to know what good looks like from here, what happens after a kitchen quote request walks through the first week.
Frequently asked questions
How much deposit should I pay for a kitchen in NZ?
For made-to-measure kitchens, 40 to 50 per cent on order is common, with the balance at delivery or completion. Some firms split the balance between delivery and completion, which turns the job into three payments. Deposits run higher than most trades because the materials are cut to your home and cannot be resold. Anything asking 100 per cent up front is outside normal practice; Consumer Protection and Citizens Advice can confirm your rights before you commit.
Is a 50 per cent kitchen deposit normal?
Yes, for made-to-measure joinery it sits at the top of the normal band. What matters more is what it buys: a written order confirmation, drawings with dimensions locked in millimetres, a manufacturing slot and a reference number. A 50 per cent deposit into a company you have checked, with the balance due at completion, is routine. The same deposit on a one-line quote with no paperwork is a gamble.
What happens to my deposit if the kitchen company goes into liquidation?
You usually become an unsecured creditor, near the back of the queue, and a deposit is not protected money held in trust, so expect little back. Reduce the exposure before it happens: keep the deposit at or under 50 per cent, tie later payments to delivery and completion, and ask your bank whether a credit card chargeback would apply. Citizens Advice can guide you through a liquidation for free, and the liquidator's first report shows what is left.
Should the final payment be before or after installation?
After the agreed work is complete is the position to aim for. Even a 10 to 20 per cent tail held until installation is finished keeps snag items moving, because the incentive to return for a sticking drawer is attached to real money. Agree the trigger in writing on the quote before paying the deposit. Springing new terms on install day is unfair in the other direction.
Can I negotiate the deposit percentage?
Sometimes, but expect limited movement on made-to-measure work because the deposit roughly covers materials the manufacturer commits on day one. You will usually get further negotiating the shape than the size: holding part of the balance back until completion, for instance, rather than paying everything by delivery. Repeat and volume customers get more flexibility because the relationship carries some of the risk.
Why do kitchen companies ask for such big deposits?
Because the product has no other buyer. Once the order is confirmed, board, benchtop material and hardware are bought and cut to your site measure, down to filler panels scribed to your walls. If the customer walks away, the parts are unsellable. The deposit covers that committed cost, which is why it is materially higher than trades whose materials can be returned or reused.
Do progress payments apply to home kitchens or just big projects?
Mostly bigger jobs. A single kitchen commonly runs two or three payments tied to order, delivery and completion. Whole-house renovations, duplexes and multi-unit work move to staged progress payments or monthly claims against completed work, often with retentions held until defects are closed. The underlying rule is identical at every scale: payments track visible progress, never run ahead of it.