base cabinets

dont pay any more than around £13-15 a thousand for 30/35/40mm x8mm dowels
they should be just over 1-1.5p each

Don't you ever buy lengths of dowel and cut them to size? I spotted lengths of 6mm but perhaps 8 and 10mm lengths are more difficult to buy so you have to buy them ready cut, more expensive?

dowels are compressed beech with ridges a 8mm dowel rod in an 8mm hole will not work very well as glue is a fluid so trying to push you will get hydraulic resistance so no glue spread and nearly impossible to close up the joining surfaces

Interesting, thanks for the info.

BARCUD said:

Don't you ever buy lengths of dowel and cut them to size? I spotted lengths of 6mm but perhaps 8 and 10mm lengths are more difficult to buy so you have to buy them ready cut, more expensive?

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What Big-All says above is essentially correct. Though nowadays with the manufactured ridged dowels you can glue and dowel with a snug fit and you won't go much wrong.
Whenever I need to use dowels I go the old fashioned way, just cut a piece off a length and plane a "V" shaped groove with a doweling plane(home made).
What I would suggest, if you want to go down the route of saving a bit of money is to buy a length of dowel and put a flat on it with a block plane, then cut off to length as you need it. The flat you've planed will allow excess glue to escape.