Cabinets: why sourcing direct from the manufacturer saves 30 to 40 percent

The cabinet category carries one of the highest distributor margins in residential and commercial construction. A box of RTA cabinets that leaves a factory in Vietnam for $85 landed Miami commonly retails at a building supply chain for $180 to $220. The difference is not logistics. It is margin stacked on margin through a distribution chain that has four or five hands between the factory and your project.

For contractors and developers moving real volume, this is the most accessible cost reduction available in the materials budget. Before you decide, compare with your current domestic quote to see how much the direct path actually saves on your spec.

Where the margin goes

The typical US cabinet distribution chain looks like this: factory sells to importer, importer sells to regional distributor, distributor sells to dealer or kitchen design center, dealer sells to contractor. Each step adds 20 to 40 percent. By the time the box reaches a contractor's quote, it has been marked up three or four times over factory cost.

Even when a contractor buys from a "wholesale" supplier, they are typically buying at the dealer level: one or two steps removed from the factory, not directly from it.

Sourcing direct from a verified factory eliminates the importer, regional distributor, and dealer margins. What remains is factory cost, plus the actual logistics to get the product to Miami.

The source countries and what changed after 2018

Before 2018, the majority of RTA and semi-custom cabinets entering the US came from China. China still has the widest product range and the deepest manufacturing infrastructure for cabinet production. But the Section 301 tariffs imposed in 2018: 25 percent on HTS 9403 wood furniture: changed the landed cost equation substantially. To estimate your China duty exposure on a cabinet container, plug the FOB value and the 25 percent Section 301 rate into the calculator.

Vietnam is now the primary source for mid to upper-mid quality RTA and semi-custom cabinets for US buyers who want to avoid the Section 301 tariff. The Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong production zones have scaled significantly since 2019 and now have factories capable of handling multi-container orders for large residential projects.

What to specify when sourcing cabinets direct

The biggest quality variation in the RTA cabinet market comes from box construction and hardware selection. Two cabinets that look identical in a showroom can have a 10-year durability difference based on what is inside.

Non-negotiable specifications for US market cabinets:

• CARB Phase 2 compliance: limits formaldehyde emissions from composite wood. Required for California projects, strongly recommended everywhere else. Request the certificate, not just a claim.
• Dovetail or dowel drawer box construction: not stapled. Stapled drawer boxes fail within 2 to 3 years under regular use.
• Soft-close concealed hinges: specify brand (Blum, Hettich, or equivalent). Generic hinges vary widely in quality.
• Full-extension soft-close drawer slides: Blum Tandem, Hettich, or equivalent. Specify "not equivalent" in the PO if you want the named brand.
• Finishing details: interior box finish (white melamine standard), shelf edge banding, adjustable shelf holes at 32mm spacing.

Landed cost example: 20-unit kitchen project

One 40-foot container of RTA kitchen cabinets (upper and lower, standard shaker door, white) from a verified factory in Vietnam, for a 20-unit residential project:

The certifications that protect you on cabinet imports

Two certifications are non-negotiable for cabinets imported into the US, and one is strongly recommended:

CARB Phase 2 (California Air Resources Board). Limits formaldehyde emissions from composite wood panels used in cabinet construction. Applies directly to California projects and is increasingly required by general contractors in other states as a standard spec. Request the current certificate from the factory: not a claim that they are compliant. The certificate has an issuing body and an expiration date.

KCMA (Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association) certification. Tests for structural integrity, finish durability, and operational performance. Not all imported cabinets carry it, but major Vietnamese and Chinese factories producing for the US market often maintain KCMA certification because large US buyers require it.

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification. Required on some green-building or LEED-certified projects. If your project has sustainability requirements, confirm the factory's FSC status before placing the order.

Source direct through Nexo

Nexo sources RTA and semi-custom kitchen and bathroom cabinets from verified factories in Vietnam and Mexico. Every order includes CARB Phase 2 verification, pre-shipment inspection, and a landed Miami quote before you commit.

For projects of 10 kitchens or more, we will run a comparison across two or three factories and show you the landed cost difference against your current supplier pricing. If your project is multifamily, benchmark your per-door FF&E budget by Class A/B/C tier to see where cabinets fit in the total per-door spend.

Submit your project details here.