Direct Buy Club
- Thread starter SkyRider
- Start date
Yes. There is a $5,000 membership fee. I have dealt with them before and it is not my thing.SkyRider said:
It's funny that you posted this because I just watched Marketplace and the last episode was on Direct Buy.
Here it is. Enjoy.
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2009/the_price_cut_promise/main.html
It pretty much sums up what I went through as my personal experience. Not impressed.
I have heard horror stories as well and frankly, some of those "savings" they advertise on their commercials are out to lunch. One saved x amount on their powder room reno which in my estimate, is the entire cost cost of the reno. Well, not if they used platinum fixtures and a solid gold toilet lol.
With that being said however I have another customer who swears by them. They hired me to install their new kitchen and according to them, they saved about $12K over buying the same kitchen direct from Kitchencraft.
The best way to do it is to compare the exact same things to what they are offerring. Then go and make your decision. Sometimes it is wiser to spend a little more hassle free than spend a little less and have headaches.
A wise man once said to me: a fool pays too much but an idiot pays too little.
With that being said however I have another customer who swears by them. They hired me to install their new kitchen and according to them, they saved about $12K over buying the same kitchen direct from Kitchencraft.
The best way to do it is to compare the exact same things to what they are offerring. Then go and make your decision. Sometimes it is wiser to spend a little more hassle free than spend a little less and have headaches.
A wise man once said to me: a fool pays too much but an idiot pays too little.
When we first moved into our new house, they approached us and I was considering it... Until I discovered the membership fee!
In "most" cases, you can get JUST AS GOOD A DEAL by shopping around and haggling for price etc.
Don't do it. Just my nickles worth.
In "most" cases, you can get JUST AS GOOD A DEAL by shopping around and haggling for price etc.
Don't do it. Just my nickles worth.
The bigger the item, the bigger the savings. In other words, if you're looking for a TV, yuo may save a few hundred dollars, but not enough to justify the cost of membership. However as most have mentioned, if you're renovating and you want to buy your own materials, fixtures, cabinets, etc. you can save a bundle. Most of their stuff is high end, so you end up getting high end stuff at a middle of the road price. You will probably often be able to beat the price, but not for comparable quality.
Same thing for furniture. You'll probably get cheaper at Leon's or similar, but you won't get the same quality.
Same thing for furniture. You'll probably get cheaper at Leon's or similar, but you won't get the same quality.
I will never forget the time we made an appointment with them. What a joke. They made us wait for a tour guide and sales rep. I think on purpose to show us just how busy they were. Everything sounded great till they asked us to pay it all right away. I told them they are crazy. I have alot of contacts and people I can go to for deals. When I said no they were like very cold to us. As someone stated above they said you cannot join now ever again. Take a look at the economy now. That is why they are spending alot on ads at this time. They will be shutting down some stores. They are a franchise if you are not aware of this.
I like the joint...sometimes delivery times are long but it's good overall....but like was said earlier...in most categories they only offer high end stuff....so don't join if you are looking to buy cheap stuff....however I renovated a kitchen and saved about half from what was quoted at Home Depot for nice cabinets....tile, hardwood and fireplaces I saved about 40 percent on retail....and I have got about 10 tvs for myself and friends.....if its 2100 at Future SHOP....its 1400 at directbuy....TV markups are about 50 percent.......when I joined 5 years ago membership was about half of what was stated earlier though (2750 I think!!)........and although you aren't allowed to buy for friends....I do it all the time!!
One of the things about "renovations". You'll only be able to purchase things like: bath fixtures, toilets, tubs, pre-made cabinets etc. You won't be able to get drywall, cement board and I don't think they sell tile so it's not like you'll be able to save on everything, just manufactured items.
Ok, just checked, they do sell tile.
Out of curiosity, what do they sell their hardwood psf? If their "discount" rate applies, you should be able to get it for $1.99 psf as you can find solid mid grade hardwood easily for $3.99 psf.
Ok, just checked, they do sell tile.
Out of curiosity, what do they sell their hardwood psf? If their "discount" rate applies, you should be able to get it for $1.99 psf as you can find solid mid grade hardwood easily for $3.99 psf.
They sell all floor coverings and are also very good for window shutters or fancy widow coverings!
From what I have seen there are only a few things that you can save much money on. The "posted prices" may save you a bit, but by the time you pay shipping and handling...you lose a lot of it. You might save the membership costs if you were doing a high end kitchen or something...say 20+ grand, but the deal is "only in comparison to the same brand, same model" and this is a comparison not easily made.
Putting out 4-5 grand with the idea of saving that much at some time in the future is not generally a good idea.
Putting out 4-5 grand with the idea of saving that much at some time in the future is not generally a good idea.
in the GTA there is incredible competition and available variety in this area. Direct Buy is overpriced scam.
Everybody comparison shops when spending big $ on appliances, cabinets and fixtures. Direct Buy doesn't want you to comparison shop. What they've done is found a method to eliminate the lookers, once you join you will buy buy buy to justify your membership.
With some looking around anyone can buy for less and get same brands or better quality. You may not have convenience of fingering your merchandise samples in a retail store beforehand, or in a pretty showroom.
It does take time to hunt out the deals: nondescript stores with excellent but brainless pricing, close outs, year end clearances, merchandise jobbers, and online retailers.
Everybody comparison shops when spending big $ on appliances, cabinets and fixtures. Direct Buy doesn't want you to comparison shop. What they've done is found a method to eliminate the lookers, once you join you will buy buy buy to justify your membership.
With some looking around anyone can buy for less and get same brands or better quality. You may not have convenience of fingering your merchandise samples in a retail store beforehand, or in a pretty showroom.
It does take time to hunt out the deals: nondescript stores with excellent but brainless pricing, close outs, year end clearances, merchandise jobbers, and online retailers.
OK, reading through this thread, I realize that most of us are smart enough to recognize a scam when we see one. What I wanna comment on now, is why people have an issue with shopping around for the best deal... It is REALLY QUITE SIMPLE. You may have heard of a relatively "new" reference source called the World Wide Web (which was NOT invented by Al Gore...BTW), and another tool for searching the billions of websites available to us at the click of a mouse... its called:
Simply search out the best price using Google, and either buy it on-line, or print off the advertisement and bring it with you to the retailer of your choice! Most retailers have a pricing policy and will match the price.
This has been my practice for several years now. Getting the best deal is really not all that difficult.
Simply search out the best price using Google, and either buy it on-line, or print off the advertisement and bring it with you to the retailer of your choice! Most retailers have a pricing policy and will match the price.
This has been my practice for several years now. Getting the best deal is really not all that difficult.
I wouldn't use the word "scam", you just have to do your homework and decide if the place is right for you, I have been a member for 10 years and I keep track of my return on investment. I paid off the in ital investment in the first year and a half and have thousands over the years. Sometimes it is not about the savings but about the upgrade, in other words last year I shop around for a bar-b-que, a nice one, found a nice one at Napoleon in Barrie. It was about $1700.00 ( I said a nice one), went to direct buy and found I could save about 15% but when I looked in the catalog found I could buy the next level up for the same as the retail so that what I did. It comes in the same box as retail, has the same warranty as retail, you just have to deal with the manufacture. My wife and I own a few business so we actually buy a lot for our businesses. It just take a little planning and I little bit of shopping around. Just last week I saved over $260.00 on Taylor made burner irons and that based on golf towns sale price.By the way I find you do better on smaller priced items then larger ones.
Just one point to be careful of: many retailers will not price match an online retailer's price. I know homo depot has this policy. They won't honor a webpage printout you have to have an actual flyer or handout showing the price.Cycleguy007 said:OK, reading through this thread, I realize that most of us are smart enough to recognize a scam when we see one. What I wanna comment on now, is why people have an issue with shopping around for the best deal... It is REALLY QUITE SIMPLE. You may have heard of a relatively "new" reference source called the World Wide Web (which was NOT invented by Al Gore...BTW), and another tool for searching the billions of websites available to us at the click of a mouse... its called:
Simply search out the best price using Google, and either buy it on-line, or print off the advertisement and bring it with you to the retailer of your choice! Most retailers have a pricing policy and will match the price.
This has been my practice for several years now. Getting the best deal is really not all that difficult.
Ok so i can write it a different way instead of saving $400 on a $1700 bar-b-gue I save $800 on a $2500 bar-b-que, is that ok.
As I said I keep track of what I spent and what I have saved.. To-date I have spent $3400 (10 years) on membership fees and I have saved over $15000.00 and I base my numbers not on their msrp but on the cheapest I could get the same product on sale retail or on the net.
I also include any fee they charge in the cost of the product in my comparison so my numbers are real.
I bought to do renovations(flips on houses) but stumbled into something else and never did the flips.
they use to sell movie passes and travel service but not now at the location I go to.
As I said I keep track of what I spent and what I have saved.. To-date I have spent $3400 (10 years) on membership fees and I have saved over $15000.00 and I base my numbers not on their msrp but on the cheapest I could get the same product on sale retail or on the net.
I also include any fee they charge in the cost of the product in my comparison so my numbers are real.
I bought to do renovations(flips on houses) but stumbled into something else and never did the flips.
they use to sell movie passes and travel service but not now at the location I go to.
which is how these companies stay in business....selling us stuff that we don't really need........Sukdeep said:
Just because you don't have the business savey and maturity to handle the pressure then I guess for you it is a scam.. I'd rank it right up there with pay day loans.Daddio said:
I have the sense to stay away. For those that don't, it's a scam.iprint said:Just because you don't have the business savey and maturity to handle the pressure then I guess for you it is a scam.. I'd rank it right up there with pay day loans.
