I doubt that ordering through a designer is going to improve the economics in any significant way. Ann Sacks has beautiful tile, but I think it's pretty easy to find stuff that's similar for less money elsewhere.

I just noticed this post and thought I would comment. We purchased some Ann Sacks tile just last week through our builder, since he passes any trade discount on to us and doesn't uncharge. The tile we selected was from the Savoy line. He got us 20% off, which saved us quite a bit of money.

Many contractors around here do the same thing (pass their discounts on to customers).

Personally, I'm in love with Tabarka tile. Specifically, the grey patterned arabesque shaped tiles in the Metro line.

I'm going to bite the bullet and pay the price, though I will pair them with something else very basic and use the "fancy stuff" in very visible places.