Who knows anything about "Direct Buy"?

I always see these ads on TV and my builder/designer for my new house was telling me about a lady he's building for right now that has several of these types of "connections" or memberships across the country and is saving loads of money by buying stuff from them, even with shipping a custom door from Washington to Wisconsin she's coming out a couple thousand dollars ahead. He was also telling me that you can tour these showrooms but you're given the choice then to join or not, and that is your only chance EVER to join, and a membership may cost thousands, up to $5000. He's not a member of Direct Buy (builders are prohibited from being able to be members) so this information is not first hand nor guaranteed accurate. It sounds like a great deal for someone like me who is the process of building a new home but I wonder about what kind of quality brands they carry, do they have lots of inventory or are a lot of things ordered and delivered later, will they ship items to me (I live 2&1/2 hours from the showroom)? Anyone know anything about them or know anyone personally that has and experience? Thanks.

Don't know personally what they offer but my neighbor went to check it out and the 5000.00 membership fee is right on. It may be worth it if your building a complete house but other than that??????????

I don't know anything about them other than that we've received flyers in the mail for them. The whole one chance to join thing throws up a huge red flag in my mind. If it is so great, then letting people see it, go out and compare, and then come back should work in their favor.

You might want to do some reading here: http://www.infomercialscams.com/scams/direct_buy_scams

Might be possible to "save money" with someone like them if you bought a complete house full of stuff or a high end kitchen. But the whole spend a bunch to save a bunch seems funny to me...
If they are a stand up company, might be worth trying to split the membership fee with someone in a similar situation?
I see the commercials on early am tv on weekends and always thought there had to be a catch, and I'm thinking its a $5K catch.
For $5K I can build a bunch of vanities, kitchen cabinets etc etc etc, but I'm the quintessential example of "I am not buying that, I can make one", but maybe not cheaper nor faster....

Greg

LOL! Thanks for posting that link, Matt. I'm amazed how people get sucked into these things. You know, if it is too good to be true, 99.999% of the time it is "too good to be true". The claims made on the TV ad just made zero sense: a $10k bathroom renovation for $3k?! On what planet can you get that deal...certainly not Earth.

The savings advertised are from MSRP which is normally not anywhere near selling price. The few exceptions that have set pricing wouldn't normally be sold in a place as such.

I have been to one as a guest.

I think the prices are OK but not exceptional. They are however, all in one place and if you don't like to shop around it may be a good deal. You would have to do a lot of shopping to pay off the membership.

Joe

Scott,
I have had no experience with Direct Buy other than seeing their commercials on TV. The items that they show on TV and the amount of money that they saved on the items does not sound realistic. I have had some experience with other outfits offering similar deals and have found that the items they sell do not have a brand name that you can use to get an honest price comparison.
I did not know about the high membership fee. Paying $5000 up front for a membership is enough to set off alarm bells in my head. I would pass on Direct Buy. An average individual that spends some time researching things prior to purchasing can probably beat Direct Buy's prices by quite a bit.
When I was working in TV news there were many scams involving companies that charged high membership fees, collected a bunch of money up front then closed and left with the money. A short time later the companies would open up in in another area under a different name. Most of these companies were membership gyms.

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Originally Posted by Chris Padilla

LOL! Thanks for posting that link, Matt. I'm amazed how people get sucked into these things. You know, if it is too good to be true, 99.999% of the time it is "too good to be true". The claims made on the TV ad just made zero sense: a $10k bathroom renovation for $3k?! On what planet can you get that deal...certainly not Earth.

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Sure you can Chris !

I checked them out at a Home Show booth. I was completely stone walled when I asked for information. I had to go to one of their showroom presentations and sign up before they would answer any meaningful questions.

I discovered a friend who almost jointed, but his mother (an interior decorator) talked him out of it. He had the same experience I had... no information until you lay down the cash.

Matt thanks for that website. Very helpful and informative, seems like it's even worse than I imagined.

Unfortunately, my wife joined (before we got married) and she was thrilled to have many manufacturers to choose from until the hard truth set in that alot of the "bargains" they show you are not real world...

For instance she bought Levelor woven wooden blinds, (they look like thin sticks woven together, very "high end" stuff) for her new house and saved about 10% over the best price she could find anywhere else. BUT, she had to do all the measurements and do all the leg work to make triple sure she ordered the correct sizes, and the proper hardware kits for each window.

They basically have a showroom with a couple hundred catalogs you look at and order from. They then ship the item to the showroom sometime before you die, (6 weeks to get a washer and dryer that was in stock at every other big box retailer in town, and we had to pay for shipping to the store, and then they wanted $165 to deliver it - not installed, mind you, just put in the garage). All that to save about $300 before shipping and delivery. I rented a moving truck for $35 and delivered and installed them for her. They charge for shipping to the showroom, which I can understand. But they also charge for delivery to your home per 10 items. If it issomething like kitchen cabinets and hardware and misc fixtures etc, it is $165 PER TEN ITEMS!!! On top of that, God forbid you measure anything wrong...

As was mentioned in other posts, unless you are doing a complete remodel or a new build or have a few rental properties, you will not save any money at all. In fact you WILL go in the hole big time.

But for your $5000 you do get to look at alot of nice catalogs...:mad:

Anytime there's a situation where you only get one chance to "join", I'd stay away. If it was so good, they'd welcome the opportunity to have you talk to other people and compare other places.

Back in 2001, when the technology field collapsed, there was an insurance company calling laid off technology people (who had put their resumes on Monster). They wouldn't give any information over the phone but invited people to come to their presentation, where the people were told glowing things about how much money they could make as an insurance agent (not an employee, mind you, but as an independent agent). You had to pay to "join" their company.

Of course, most of the people never sold any insurance. The only people who made any money were the people collecting the membership fees. BIG scam.

This sounds like the same thing.

Mike

Boy oh boy, what a rip off! My sister joined several years ago - totally ignoring my family and his family. They have made some very nice remodeling choices and claim to have saved so much money. I pointed out the differences in building our house with a marble fireplace hearth and facing, hardwood floors, custom cabinets, Marvin windows and stylish bathrooms and main floor laundry and their new hardwood floors and some furniture. We spent $100,000 on our custom home 10 years ago. She spent $40,000 (includes Direct Buy membership) on hardwood floors and some furniture and she and her hubby had to install the flooring! Each of our homes have similar square footage. I don't see the savings. And after looking at some of the catalogs that I pinched from her, the savings don't seem that great. And many times the customer has to wait until a "bulk order is completed" for their choice to be shipped! Don't join this club unless you have a lot of time to wait for your shipment and a lot of money to play with.

My nephew recently got a sale position with them in Michigan after working for them in Florida. He was happy to come home. I asked about the dealings there and as was said earlier, the initial membership is $5000 then something like $ 300 a year dues. He went to say that it's really a great deal if you are a contractor and have a lot of work because you can actually get prices for the same brand name stuff even cheaper than if you bought them at a "contractors-only" type warehouse. It would be up to the individual to determine if the savings are there. If you are only doing something like a small bathroom remodel ,then it might not be such a deal, but if your doing a whole house the savings would add up.

google direct buy scam, all you need to know.