a colleague of my wife raved about it but she was outfitting a whole house
from that recommendation I inquired & we now have an introductory tour coming up – was surprised when she asked what I did & I said I was a small time builder she said they were for homeowners only (?)
I gather you pay some upfront fee to join – forgot to ask but from what my wife gleaned it could be above $ 1000
Who knows about them?
Replies
My wife and I bought in, and in the 18 months we were building our house, we did in fact get our full membership fee back in savings compared to purchasing the same item not through them. We were able to spend less money while buying far superior items than what I could get via local supply channels.
Some times ordering can be a PITA, but if you pay attention to details, watch item numbers etc. I'm convinced there's money to be saved...IF there's sufficient volume. Knowing now what I know, I think one would be hard pressed to recoup the fees if you didn't have volume.
One other thing...when you go to the "open house", "introductory tour" hang on for some of the most high pressure sales tactics known to man kind. If you don't buy on the day or your tour, supposedly your out of luck for good. When they show you the amount of any given item to illustrate savings...make sure you add in tax, shipping and the local handling fees. Some items aren't a very good buy, others are.
Edited 1/29/2008 1:04 pm by RippySkippy
I've got a DirectBuy about 20 minutes from my house and always wondered what the upfront fees were. Is there a yearly membership fee or is it a one-time only kinda deal? Can you give us a few examples of the types of pricing you got through them compared to other suppliers or big boxes? Thanks.
google direct buy scam
Wow
before your post I did google the company & was amazed at how limited a site it was
put in SCAM and the lesson has begun
If they can't be unfront with you, watch out. I went to a home and garden show or the like and Direct Buy was there. I asked about the membership fee, and the one salesperson (obviously new) asked a second. The second gave some song and dance. When asked again, she got angry.
I say SCAM or as near as you can get to one. I would bet most can't make it work for them. THey say "we don't have the overhead". Well, what do you call high paid, high commissioned, high presure sales people? Overhead! Most likely lose money, which makes up for the handful which do save and do give testimonials.
Look at the discussion we had not to long ago.http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=99077.1Martin
I don't have the exact numbers but I believe the membership fees were around $2500 per year.Samples of item boughts:
Kitchen Aid architect II (DW, Slide in range, MW, Fridge). Net savings $1200
Whirlpool WD with bases net savings $400
Hickory Hardware best prices on pulls $4.46, I paid $2.05 net savings $200 in the house.
Anderson Pacific white oak 3/4" x2.25" prefinished $4.35 per sqft. 1300 SqFt. If I figure conservatively $1 per sqft savings, that's $1300
Hunter Douglas blinds, net savings $1850 on 2" wood blinds.
Kohler fixtures in the house through out...saved over $900 (bubble tub, stools, faucets etc.
Blanco Kitchen sink - net savings $180
Full suite of Million Dollar baby furniture, over $600 savings. (The prices we paid for the top of the line baby items were like what you'd pay for rack items @ any discount store.)By the way...all fees were disclosed at the "open house" and the savings are NET. I'm guessing either they had a lousy sales person, or weren't paying attention.The DB membership isn't for everyone. I'm guessing most whiners are those that have never put the pencil to their savings and expected expenditures. They are however the ones that think DB is like Sams Club and spend the membership fee to purchase a ping pong table, then complain that they got ripped off. If they were feeling SO pressured into the membership...why didn't thy exercise their 3 day right of refusal? I went to the open house with 8 items that I price shopped before going, compared the EXACT items @ our open house and immediately had half of the membership fee covered. Again, it's not for everyone...I'm the first to admit that. I will never be a poster child for them nor will I ever be in an infomercial. I will however fully enjoy the quality of items we have put into the house as long as I'm alive.
What was your savings compared to?
List price or perhaps what I as a remodeling contractor can get from local suppliers?
Curious.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
years ago we went to a sales pitch.
of the prices they'd show ... I could match or got better already.
figured they were just showing the best discounts too.
wasn't planning on joining to begin with ... figured we'd listen to what they had to say ... but walked quickly when the pitch was "decide now"!
good offers don't have to resort to "now or never" sales.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
"good offers don't have to resort to "now or never" sales."
You are so right. YOU JUST KNOW SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT!
It would be interesting to hear what DBuy would say as to why they require this BS pitch? Well, sir we know that if you think about this deal more than another five minutes or so you will know that this #### that we have been spinning and . . ."
The latest deal now is not time shares and not vacation points, but travel clubs. Well, for $10,000 you can have access to there list of "really cheap four and five star" resorts with no maintenance fees". WOW, but you have to sign right now. So you think about it for five minutes and you sum it up this way , "you mean I give you $10,000 and I OWN absolutely nothing right? ANd you promise that for the rest of my life I will get cheap vacation lodging, not including airfare, cars, meals and entertainment. And you promise that I will save money". Right.
Can you leave the joint fast enough?
in another life I sold carpet cleaning, then cars, then alarm systems.
I still consider half my GC career as sales.
and after all those years of being the salesguy ...
I still walk immediately when given the "nor or never" pitch.
great deals are open ended and sell themselves!
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I NEVER compare savings to full list like many do...honestly who pays full list? I can't compare to discounted sale items...since seldom do you find a house full of everything you need. Don't get me wrong, I shop for bargains like the next man...and will continue to do so.The numbers I gave were the best I could find for where I can purchase whatever I need. For example we have a decent appliance place, I got my best price on the grouping, and that's what I compare against...the same with pulls for cabinets...there I used the best internet search price I could find, and compare to that.I don't know what you have available to you as far as pricing is concerned...but I know what I had and clearly I did my best on MOST items through DB.Some things are a bust...for example a vanity mirror. It ended up being identical to what a local place had it for...the killer for me was special UPS shipping on a single item....but that was just one item...so we live and learn.
Membership varies around the country. Our closest DB (in SLC) wanted $4,600 one time for a membership.We took the bait (knowing we had three days to change our mind) and spend the next day in the store digging through their catalogs. After that marathon session researching for the items we wanted we left and compared their prices to things we could find on the web. We were too far along in our project to save any money so we canceled our membership and got our money back.I think if we had started earlier we could have saved some money, but not as much as they want you to believe. (Add to that the fact that our closest DB was an hour away and it just didn't make sense for us.)We also didn't get as much help as we wanted in looking for some of the items we wanted. Catalogs weren't on the shelves where they were supposed to be or were "checked out" so they weren't even in the store. The staff didn't know how to find some items so we used similar items for comparison.In my opinion, DB can save some money, but you have to be a serious shopper willing to sink in considerable time and use them exclusively to save a little money.
Whhhhattt you wanted customer service in a place that makes NO money on sales, and hires two dozen sales people to hook the next 5 grand from future marks? What is in it for them to give you another look? LOL.
I said I was a small time builder she said they were for homeowners only (?)
They're probably concerned that you'd use their service to resell to your clients. That would be contrary to their aim of getting more people to join up and pay the membership fee.
google them and you will find mostly bad things. On the spot sales pressure (to join), hidden fees, poor service, and that you don't really save buy purchasing through them. I would stay away