The way I see it is that Direct Buy is very much like an expensive Costco membership to buy a wholesale prices. So to save a lot of money you have to spend a lot of money. Based on my estimates, you would have to spend over $20,000 to make back the $5000 membership fee to save on discounts. Direct Buy pitches the fact that furniture stores and appliance stores have 200% markups. And that is not always true. If you took that membership money and translated it into some good shopping comparison time you will be able to get mark ups that are almost 10% to 20% above costs at some retailers. There is so much competition among stores and the internet, that prices are very close to cost nowadays, where business owners are just making enough to cover overhead and make money off of higher volumes.
Direct buy does charge a markup over the cost of the merchandise it sells, just lower than what the retail stores charge. But that is what you paid for by paying that $5000 membership fee. I am pretty sure they don’t offer financing, so you better have all the cash to make those purchases within 2 years, or else you risk paying more membership fees. Because I am aware of new homeowners or remodelers that take over 3-5 years to completely furnish their home. So I guess if you have $5000 lying around and about $30,000 to spend to save a few thousand dollars net, then Direct Buy is for you. Otherwise, take your time and be a bargain hunter, you’ll be able to save just as much and not have to lock yourself into a membership that will force you to spend money in order to save it (what a paradoxical statement).
Not everything you would expect compared to shopping a regular discount furniture store:
Buying direct from the wholesaler may not be everything you expected. You still have to pay sales tax and delivery fees. And you have the long wait times, because wholesalers allocate inventory for their bigger customers who are the retail stores, not the person that is trying to buy the single unit sofa. So compared to all the other customers, a Direct Buy customer probably is not viewed with high respect by the wholesalers. Items you purchase cannot be returned to the manufacturer if you decide it didn’t work out, unlike buying from the furniture store. And there are numerous comments that it is hard to get a hold of Direct Buy after joining or purchasing an item. So what about the customer service? You really need to know what you are doing if you join the membership. Because no one is going to let you into a club with the secrets of buying and saving direct for free, they charge you a fee and that is pretty much all you are going to get: access to buying direct from manufacturers. And you give up all the service and value of buying from a furniture store that values your business (because once you’ve joined, Direct Buy already made their money, they have no incentive to continue to sell you anything and provide you continued service – you’re already a member that can’t quit without giving up the initial membership fee).
If it feels like a scam and you’re asking what’s the catch? Then there probably is a catch. You just need to decide if you can live with that catch. If so, you’ve found what you need. I don’t believe in having to spend more money to save money. What I have said here are only opinions and all of you are free to comment, but I just thought that before you spend time calling and going to the seminars you should know what you are getting yourself into. The flexibility and freedom to spend when and where you want at your own leisure may be better than joining a club that costs you a lot upfront to know the secrets of saving money. If you decided you wanted to spend $30,000 in furniture for your home maybe you can try visiting my furniture store at visiondecor.com and contacting us through email or phone, I’ll be glad to have my customer service reps take care of you and give you a worthy discount. But I’m really not trying to sell you anything, I’m just trying to bring some light into something I saw as kind of “shady”.
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