Direct Buy??

Didn't know where else to post this, but has anyone had any experience with this company? I saw an infomercial and checked out their website. They have lots of stuff for your home like furniture, appliances, bathroom stuff, tiles, kitchen fixtures, etc. Sounds interesting but it feels along the same lines as a timeshare sales "meeting". You can't visit their centre without registering and then reserving a specific time slot to visit their "open house"

Its not cheap to join for some its well worth it if you have extra cash.The new members fee is $2500 but they could be bumped very soon to $3500.

Originally Posted by mma

Didn't know where else to post this, but has anyone had any experience with this company? I saw an infomercial and checked out their website. They have lots of stuff for your home like furniture, appliances, bathroom stuff, tiles, kitchen fixtures, etc. Sounds interesting but it feels along the same lines as a timeshare sales "meeting". You can't visit their centre without registering and then reserving a specific time slot to visit their "open house"

Do a search of RFD. The term most commonly used to describe is SCAM!!! Why would they refuse to show you their prices only after you join and fork over the $2500? What are they hiding? They call me about once a year to come in for a presentation. I always accept and never show up.

ESC

Scam Alert. There is no way to know the savings upfront.

A friend of mine is a member. The fee for the first years is quite high, but it drops significantly after that. He saved something like $700 on a fridge that cost $2500 at Home Depot.

When you take into account the membership fee, it's not worth it. You can do better with gift cards from At Home (save 20%).

Not only that, but the selection is too limited with Direct Buy, especially if you are looking for anything high-end.

I would stay away.

Well, I am a Direct Buy member and I can honestly say that if you had joined like 7 years earlier, it was worth it. However, with the absurd entrance fee, it is definitely not worth it. Even if you save money on big ticket items, you'd have to buy a house load of stuff to make your entrance fee back (a big house at that). Having said that, I do buy quite a few things there and do end up saving more than I pay for my yearly fee. The initial purchases I made when I first joined had made up for my entrance fee. So in summary, I do save money. I saved a around $2000 in total with my recent purchases of baby furniture, stroller, decor, bedding etc... I compared the prices with retail outlets of the same manufacturer and Direct Buy was way cheaper.

However, if you do not buy alot, or don't intend to buy a lot of goods, Direct Buy is not for you. Also, you often save a lot of money on big ticket or higher end brands. So if you want to go in and save money on a cheaper item or lower end product, there may be minimal or no savings at all. In conclusion, Direct Buy is not for everyone. In fact, to most, it is a scam. But to some, dependant on what you buy and how much you buy, it's worth it.

big thread about this a couple of months ago.

consensus: SCAM

some exceptions though, but not the consensus.

I visit other forums on home improvement websites and the consensus is the same. And this is a home improvement forum - complete with intererior designers, builders, professionals in the industry.

I'm a member as well of Direct Buy or UCC as it is also called. Becoming a member only helps out people in cetain situations. For example when I became a member 4 years ago I had just got married and we were about to move into our newly built house so we had a need to buy alot of furniture, electronics, housewares. etc. So it was well worth the $2700 fee for the first year (and $200/yr for the next 9).

or example:

We wanted a certain bedroom set. We went to about 5 furniture stores and the cheapest price we got was $19,500 for the complete set. We then negotiated it down to about $16,800. When we priced it out at Direct Buy it cost us $11,400 with taxes and delivery included. Plus we only had to wait 3 weeks to get compared to the 8 weeks the furniture store wanted us to wait.
So we saved approx. $5400 plus tax

Mind you the greatest deals are on furniture, followed by home decorations ie, lighting, art etc. Electronics tend to be alot closer to the price you can negotiate at a store and you don't have to wait for it to be shipped.

PS. I am new to redflagdeals and all I have to say is that this site is amazing

19,500$

What kind of furniture were you looking at?

Why would they refuse to show you their prices only after you join and fork over the $2500? What are they hiding? They call me about once a year to come in for a presentation. I always accept and never show up.

You've never gone so why are you making claims that you have no firsthand knowledge of? Your behaviour indicates you're a jerk.

They showed me their prices, i just had to ask.

Mma, try SEARCHING this topic has been covered AD NASEUM.

Originally Posted by grant

Mma, try SEARCHING this topic has been covered AD NASEUM.

I tried searching before posting but I got 500 thread results. I guess I'm too lazy to search through them all. I used the key work "direct buy"
Can anyone post a link if possible?

Thanks

search topics only... in the off-topic forum.

We went to Direct buy to see if it was something we wanted to be involved with. We got there, and after they positioned us on the sofa so they could take our picture, they then moved us over to the sitting area and again positioned us a couple places to take our picture, then had us sit at the table, put their ipod recorder and started to tape our conversation. We were asked how much we wanted to spend and when we said that the first rule in negotiations was never to say how much you wanted to spend the guy got huffy. He told us we needed have quotes, know what we wanted to buy and to make a decision tonight. We did ... we got up and left ... wow high pressure or what ... btw ... as we waited to see someone ... a lady who was a member tried to buy blinds ... she got a bit of a run around and when she finally lost it ... she was told she had to make an appointment ...

Doesn't seem to be too much of a good deal to me. I've seen there commercials and they are like custom kitchen cabinets at a cheap price. How the hell could they sell you custom kithcen cabinents when they are not a kitchen store that designs and builds there own cabinents.

Anyways I could get a way better deal on a whole lot of things that they sell. Also I don't think that you are saving that much on products they sell since it cost so much to get membership. The only time I think its worth it is if your doing a huge renovation job like gutting your whole house adding an addition and then brining it up to date.

Originally Posted by IoannI

Doesn't seem to be too much of a good deal to me. I've seen there commercials and they are like custom kitchen cabinets at a cheap price. How the hell could they sell you custom kithcen cabinents when they are not a kitchen store that designs and builds there own cabinents.

Anyways I could get a way better deal on a whole lot of things that they sell. Also I don't think that you are saving that much on products they sell since it cost so much to get membership. The only time I think its worth it is if your doing a huge renovation job like gutting your whole house adding an addition and then brining it up to date.

I have a membership. It's not really cost effective unless you are buying a lot (like spending 20k plus). Anything less than that, you should just shop around.....