Serious question, is matching grain worth the extra board feet?

I was at a shop in Portland last Tuesday and heard two guys arguing at the lumber rack, one said clients only notice face frames and the other insisted drawer fronts need bookmatched veneer or the whole job looks cheap. I've been burning through 20% more plywood and hours of layout time to chase continuous grain, and honestly I can't tell if customers see it or just feel it in the price. Has anyone done a side by side quote, one with matched grain and one without, and actually asked the homeowner which they'd pick blind?

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riverwhite3d ago

My cousin did this exact test on two kitchens he built last spring. Same layout, same wood, one with bookmatched drawer fronts and one without, he just charged the same price so the owners wouldn't factor cost in. Both families said the kitchen felt high end, neither one could point out which had the matching grain when he showed them photos side by side later. Sometimes I think we care more about the small stuff than the people who actually live with it, same way nobody notices baseboard heights until they trip over one.