Granite prices: Why do some granite worktops cost more than others?
Customers are sometimes amazed by the variation in granite prices – the range of quotes they can get for the same kitchen worktops made in different natural stones. Commercial granite certainly does command a range of prices, depending on a whole raft of factors. Broadly, you could say that it all comes down to “market forces”. Here are some of them, as they affect granite worktops:
Taj Mahal Granite – a stunning quartzite with a gentle green, gold and cream pattern
- How sought-after is the colour?
A stone which is unattractive or represents an unfashionable colour is going to be less expensive. Highly sought-after colour tones and attractive patterns command high prices.
- How common is the colour-type around the world?
A colour which is popular but also easily available in stones from many different quarries around the world will be relatively cheap. This applies to many of the black stones – our own Black Pearl (India), Angola Black (Africa) and Ubatuba (Brazil) all do similar jobs. Although occasionally one customer will greatly prefer one over another, they all between them serve to keep the prices of “mottled blacks” down. Conversely the sparkle in Black Galaxy is unique to a small area in India, while Blue Pearl and Emerald Pearl are only found in Norway, so these stones remain at a premium price.
Black Pearl Granite worktops – classy and affordable
Aran White Granite: Stunning, but with all the structural cohesion of an over-done fruitcake
- How difficult is it to extract usable blocks?
Some materials are extremely fragile. Extracting blocks to make slabs of a usable size can be difficult, and this pushes the price up. This affects us at the manufacturing and fitting stage too – if fragile to extract they are even more so for cutting and polishing. There are many spectacular stones which fall into this category, like the Aran White granite pictured here:
- Stock or Bespoke?
The last, but by no means the least important, factor in our own granite worktop quotations is Stock versus Bespoke material. If we stock any material, even if quite expensive on the general wholesale market, we are able to pass on to our customers the benefits of buying in bulk, often direct from the quarries in the country of production. Thus Black Galaxy is not an especially cheap stone, but our turnover of it is large enough that we are able to give very competitive prices. Other similarly priced stones which are bought-in on a job by job basis may work out more expensive for the customer. Granite prices are complicated! (For more on stock v bespoke pricing, see here.)
Rosso Luana – exquisitely beautiful and a real rarity – think pricey!
What is the difference between the price bands on your website?
Obviously there is a continuous range of prices on granite in the wholesale market, driven by the factors listed above. I guess we could try to quote for each stone on the basis of its own wholesale price, but for simplicity’s sake it is far easier to work on the basis of price bands. This allows us to quote more quickly and more simply when customers request a number of different materials for their granite worktops.
Steel Grey Granite – a well-proven stone in our stock granite worktop range
Final inspection of a Black Pearl granite slab before it is cut on the bridge saw
Our granite price bands have nothing to do with the “quality” or “grade” of the stone – whether Standard, Superior or Premium or anything else, all our material is inspected on arrival and is rejected if not of first quality.
Other questions about granite prices
Much more can be said about granite prices. Our sales team are specialists in quoting for granite worktop quotations. Here are a few useful links:
Further thoughts on how to get a worktop quotation
Guide to our granite worktop prices
How to measure a room for worktop quotation
And, if you are interested in quartz worktops:
Why do quartz prices vary so much?
Cosmic White granite in a Redhill kitchen
