In a market of highly competitive, it is crucial to every cabinet company that make your cabinet line unique. Distinguish what you sell from others. Selling cabinets that every others are selling don't make money. And more Chinese cabinet manufacturers support OEM, which means you can come up with your design and specs and get it realized by the Chinese cabinet factory. But how to create your cabinet line that reflect your unique features? That require a rethink on every part of the kitchen cabinet.

1 Face frame : This part is commonly standard : 3/4" thick and 1 1/2" wide, kiln-dried hardwood assembled under pressure with glue and dowel. So you only need to decide whether it will be face framed or frameless on this part.
2 Cabinet door: This is the most import part you need to consider.
Cabinet door joint type: 

Cabinet door style : Shaker door, raised panel, or flat panel

Cabinet door panel : Solid wood or veneered
Cabinet door overlay : Full overlay or standard overlay 
3 Drawer : Is drawer front Slab or five-piece structure? Is the drawer box solid wood or plywood? Dovetailed construction? 
4 End panel : Most regular is 1/2" plywood cabinet box on a face framed cabinet. You can choose to use 5/8" plywood too.  For a frameless cabinet you can choose to use either 5/8" or better 3/4" plywood.
5 Drawer glides : You have various options for your drawer glides:

Full extension under mount drawer glide

Side mount epoxy drawer glide

Full extension side mount ball bearing drawer glide

6 Cabinet box assembly way : Use a KD fitting or not? Cam-lock or metal-clip? 
Metal clip & Cam-lock: The common merit of the two jointer is either of them provide a easy way to assemble the RTA cabinets fast with mere simple tools, so both suit for DIY customers and professional customers. A drawback of metal clip is it may make your cabinet line seems cheap sometimes, so someone see this kind of low end and prefer cam-lock. Cam-lock may seems nicer, yet its own drawback is the assembly of this construction is a little more complex than metal clip, as metal clip only need a screwdriver and cam-lock need to be install into slot of panels with a hammer, then use screwdriver to fasten. Paul Cabinet Sourcing's suggest is metal clip as it is a stronger accessory.

Dado & Glue without KD fitting : There are groove on all panels, people would glue, and staple to assemble. Its merit is it looks much better as there is no any redundancy inside box, give people a clean and tidy look like the custom built one. Yet it need professional tools & material like staple gun and assemble glue. So it won't suit for DIY customers.

To people who are new to import business, importing kitchen cabinets may seems complicated. But actually it is pretty simple process, especially when Paul Cabinet Sourcing are here to help. You place an order to our kitchen cabinet factory, and the cabinet factory ship the container to you. What after that? Generally, following things will happen after the container leave China: 

a - After vessel depart China, the carrier release Bill of Lading to the shipper - cabinet factory.
b - Cabinet factory will provide a copy of B/L to you, Your company pay balance of this shipment to factory and They release the original B/L to you. Be sure to pay balance to factory before the container arrive your port, so as to avoid any delay on custom clearance or additional cost generated. You don't have to handle B/L yourself, but ask appointed agent or forwarder to do it. And usually we don't have to mail the paper work B/L to you, but through Email to complete the process of release which we call it "telex-release".
c -  Voyage From China to US takes 15~30 days.
d -  When the container is arriving, your agent will notify you and ask necessary shipping documents from you for customer clearance. Normally most important is B/L, invoice, and packing list. The invoice and packing list will be provided by factory, and Paul Cabinet Sourcing can help coordinating this.
e -  When custom clearance finished, your agent can arrange truck to pick up your container from port and send to assigned address. 
f  -  Checking your received cabinets. Any defects or missed items determined, our cabinet factory will provide free replacement or credit in next shipment.
g  -  Paul Cabinet Sourcing is here to assure you a problem- free and seamless kitchen cabinet purchasing experience.

Paul Cabinet Sourcing can help finding a good Chinese forwarder to ship your containers as well as your custom clearance and all other jobs. You can also choose to find a forwarder yourself. You can use same company do custom clearance and inland transportation, or use different company to do these things for you.  

When exploring possible supplying sources in China, a new (even seasoned) kitchen cabinet importer is often puzzled with seemingly discrepant prices from different Chinese cabinet factory. So it's crucial to know every factor that may influence your cabinet price and therefore make sensible decision. Herein, Paul Cabinet Sourcing will help our viewer reveal factors that decide the actual price of your cabinet line.

Factor#1 - Cabinet Door
1.1 Door stile and rail : From 2"~3", a wider door stile and rail cost more. Because as it become wider, it's harder to get qualified raw wood material. That's why cabinet factory will always need to know your door stile and rail width when you inquire with them. Also, for a builder grade or elementary grade line, the door stile and rail are often thin one, 2" or 2 1/4".
1.2 Door center panel : MDF or plywood door panel cost less than solid wood door panel; flat panel cost less than raised panel; raised solid wood panel with glaze line will cost further more.
1.3 Door style : Miter door usually cost more than cope & stick door. More complicated door style means more cost. For example, a miter door style with raised panel and glaze and decorative molding on it definitely cost more than a simple shaker door.


Factor#2 - Cabinet carcass panel
Particle board panel is the most cost efficient option. While plywood panel is the most popular material in North America market. You can build your cabinet with 1/2", 5/8" or 3/4" plywood. 1/2" is the most usual choice. For a frameless cabinet, the side panel need to be at least 5/8" thickness. Wood veneer on plywood panel is commonly either poplar or birch veneer. Birch veneer plywood cost more than poplar veneer one.


Factor#3 - Drawer box material and construction of your cabinet
While 5/8" Solid wood dovetail drawer box seems most cabinet distributor and importer are appealing, you can choose to use a plywood drawer box if you're planning a less expensive line, and you can choose to build the drawer box with simple screw joint without a dovetail feature. Some one looking for a plywood dovetail drawer box, but it's a difficult problem to some cabinet factories, as it require better plywood as well as higher processing technic. So it's not always easy to find a factory to make dovetail on plywood.


Factor#4 - Kitchen cabinet hardware : Drawer glides and hinges
Price of Full extension Soft close under mount drawer glides is $4.5 / pair higher than full extension side mount ball bearing drawer glide, and $6 / pair higher than simple epoxy glides. Price of soft close hinge is $0.7 / PC higher than common six way adjustable conceal hinge.


Factor#5 - Finish of kitchen cabinet
Some cabinet factory may tell you cabinet of white paint cost more than a cabinet of stain color. That's untrue. They are either not good at white paint finish, or trying to overprice their product. It is true, though White paint itself cost more than a stain color as a paint color require one or two more times of finishing work, but will save on wood material, since factory can use lower grade wood for white paint cabinet than stain color one. Cost of PU finish and AC finish are almost same, or PU finish a little more. The interior carcass natural color cost less than a matching color, since cabinet factory need not to mix the color to match.


There are many other factors that will influence your cabinet price : cabinet construction, wood species, your quality standard ... So a price is always a result of combined action of various factors. Be sure to inspect every aspect that may play a part, then you will be able to get a better idea on your price strategy during cabinet purchasing. Feel free to contact Paul Cabinet Sourcing if you have any question about the price you received from a Chinese cabinet manufacturer.