A Very Bad Business
I have been asked my opinion on Direct Buy more than a few times now. I called them several months back to try to get the scoop. I got the brochure and a follow up call to set an appointment which was a total pushy sales ploy. I ended up declining.
I have since spoken to actual Direct Buy clients and read reviews and opinions on the web.
Direct Buy is a deceptive business. They won’t tell you about the contract or costs until after you’ve signed up for an in person presentation/ sales pitch meeting. They do seriously pressure you to join. There is no thinking it over, which you have the legal right to do. You have sign up while you’re there. They will not let the wife attend the meeting without the husband or visa versa. It costs $5900 to join and $200 a year for 10 years.
All of the above issues should make you think twice about Direct Buy. But the more info you have the better so here’s more:
Every Direct Buy location is a Franchise. At Direct Buy you are limited to their choices of vendors/ manufacturers. Though they have reasonable selection of vendors, if you have eclectic / artistic / designer tastes, you probably won’t find much through them and get your money’s worth from the membership.
The retail markup in home improvement and home furnishings varies widely from 15%-300%. The term “wholesale/ manufacturer direct” can be deceptive when you’re comparing pricing if you don’t know the companies actual cost. Direct Buy does some minimal marking up by charges additional handling fees and they also don’t guarantee the price quoted on a product, so you may end up paying more than the initial quote…and you’ll still have labor costs, delivery and taxes bringing the costs up so any actual savings disappear.
Southern California is home to 1000’s of importers, manufacturers, wholesalers, jobbers and discounters where you can buy directly and save a lot of money without joining a club.
But, because of their deceptive tactics, I don’t recommend them. Remember they are in business to make money and are running very expensive radio ad campaigns to generate income. If you Google Direct Buy you’ll find plenty of links to complaints.
Yes, smart shoppers can buy manufacturer direct without the middleman and without Direct Buy.
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liz said,
June 6, 2007 @ 2:01 pm
Hi,
In addition to the hidden cost with Direct Buy, they also don’t tell you, you have to put the furniture together and dispose of the packing material which with large furniture pieces it takes a long time to cut up for the recycle trash can. I’m a designer and had a client do his whole house with direct buy, we had our install date, we paid $30.00 a room to have the pieces in each room put together and placed, they don’t do that either when they deliever, they deliever it into your gargage at best or in you drive way usually. They also don’t install appliances, another expense. My client had wood and cardboard up to his eves on the house to dispose of. He had to rent a haul away to get rid of all the cardboard and wood that the furniture was packed in. Another thing about Direct Buy is you have to go find the furniture or chair, sit on it and then order it, and if you can’t find the exact piece and you order it it’s yours, like it or not. Also, they don’t let you bring in your designer in with you unless you make an appointment and then one of the sales persons need to sit with you and they take out the price list, before you can look in the catalogs, so the designer or non-member can’t see the prices, they quote the prices to the member only. It’s a joke, cause my client then just turns to me and ask if that is a good price, and I said yea or nah cause I did my research at the design center.They are such a rip off, I’m less expensive than they are even with my design fees!!!
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest, maybe if we can keep one person from doing the $5,000.00 plus mistake, it will be worth it. I’m really surprized that they have not been sued yet for the way they do business.
Liz