Beache,

If you do a search on this site (maybe not this particular forum -- I haven't looked), there are several threads about them. Most of them say it is a HUGEEEE ripoff. After reading most of them, I am staying far far far away from DirectBuy.

I joined Direct Buy a year ago. I'd have to say I'm sorry I did, but think that it would be better for people who really have a lot money to spend. The best deals seem to be on the most expensive items, and it's impossible to get something such as simple light fixtures for cheaper than you could at Walmart or Home Depot. If you're into high end lighting, then Direct Buy may be the place for you. I got a great futon from there that I really did get a good deal on, but although you pay the manufacturer's price, there's other fees on top, which can really add up. (eg. shipping)

When you go to talk to them they show you and a group of people the infomercial, they tell you a little about their catalogue system, answer a few questions, give some examples of prices, then tell you that you have to decide whether to join then and there. You can't leave and come back another day and say "now I wanna join"
That should have been enough for me to know it was a scam, but we had just moved, and had to buy tons of flooring, furniture, lighting, window coverings, windows, the list goes on and on, and I thought we could save a lot of money because of this.
It doesn't help that we have to drive out of town to get there, so find it inconvenient that way too.
Also, for Canadians, although there are literally hundreds of catalogues to go through, and thousands of products to choose from, the majority of the products come from the U.S. so you have to pay a lot of extra fees so it ends up not being worth it at all.
The first year is VERY expensive, we paid around 3,000 (Cdn.) a year ago, I think it's gone up since then. After that it's much cheaper to keep your membership, so I feel like if I don't go for at least another year I'll have wasted my money even more than I did the first year.
It was one of those things I KNEW in my gut wasn't a smart plan, but some temptation inside me made me go for it, the timing was perfect for them to take advantage of me I guess, with our big move and all.

Purple,

Don't feel too bad. I was very very tempted by their ads and sales techniques. DH has been too. It was only from reading some of the threads on garden web that made me suspicious. It sounds like you made out better than most do. I was very suprised at what all I read here.

We used something that sounded like them. We refer to them as the thousand dollar people. I didnt' particular get any warm fuzzies about them, but DH was sold and any attempt I made to approach it logically, like ensuring they that they actually get something we actually want to buy, like a couch. The sales person actively tried to sway me from looking at couches, claiming they had a guarantee, if after spending $3000, we didn't not save $1000, we would get our $1000 back. In the meantime, DH was enthralled by their power tool catalogs. Forget that high priced power tools were not on the budget for the coming year.

In the end, we did buy a couch, not through them, because what couches they could get that we liked, cost twice as much as we could get locally.

Oh, yes, and the one thing we actually bought from the, a keyboard, was cheaper then we could get locally, but after adding the shipping cost, it came out even.

The only upside to this is that I am free and clear to throw away $1000 on anything I want because if DH complains, I can always remind of the thousand dollar people. Not as satisfying as you would think, though. :)

MySpace is for individuals, not for companies! This link is for a 35 year old woman. What gives? Do I smell SPAM?

Maybe that's where you can directly buy a 35 year old woman? Someone said it's the "best alternative" to the conventional way...

Is this one of those MLM pyramid scams? Right?

DH and I are members, we joined a few years ago, it cost $2000 (CDN) and after the first five years (or is it 3?) you pay $200/year to keep it.

I'm not 100% sure that it was worth it, but we have gotten our wedding invitations for a great price, as well as other assorted wedding things. For that I really appreciated that they had catalogues from something like 10 manufacturers and we could choose from any one. Most places you shop only have a couple or push their own.

We have also purchased an upright freezer and dishwasher, both at great prices that beat even the discount retailers by a chunk. We got a full Royal Doulton set for my MIL that we *never* would have been able to afford at retail! Earlier this year we finally replaced our little 19" TV with a 42" plasma and entertainment system.

We've just purchased our first house and are planning a remodel of a few things - definitely the kitchen, then flooring, and later on both bathrooms (not at the same time! LOL). We had a consultation last weekend for Kitchen Craft cabinets and our information was sent to the company for a quote and design drawings - I still have to see how the quote compares once I see it though.

So I think that we've saved money overall, and definitely will if we get all our kitchen stuff from them (they carry everything from flooring to faucets, etc.). One of the complaints I have is that there is almost too much selection - I hate shopping though. ;) It is not a pyramid scheme though, rather you pay your membership fee, which is like the "overhead" that stores have to pay for the building and employees, etc. But retail stores build this cost into the price of products, where here you pay it separately (and thus pay less for the actual products).

I read alot of negative comments on this page about Direct Buy. Beware !

Here is a link that might be useful: Direct buy ratings

After seeing their commercial, my husband phoned DirectBuy. All they wanted was his credit card number, he ended up hanging up on them. I happened to drive by their showroom a few weeks ago. Didn't look very big, but there were a few cars outside. I didn't go in, because I'm not a member.

Everyone I know who has used it and been happy has been a person with a lot of money who was building or remodeling a house. They got their flooring, cabinets, fixtures, etc. cheaper, so they were able to get better stuff. Other than that, it's a ripoff.

I read somewhere above that you can get a 35 year old woman here.
This sounds a bit shady and suspect.
However, can we also get maybe a 34 or 33 year old, too ???

Avoid DB like the plague!!!!
YES ..it is more trouble than its worth. We did better on every purchase "including Kitchen cabinets and install> carefully shopping other places.
The local DB store had little help for us on every purchase.
There are multiple delivery charges.
Each part for my washer had to be ordered separately and if you order the wrong part you bought it (Discounted was the reason).
No one could guarantee that the ordering book numbers I was to use would guarantee the correct items.
For example which electric cord for the washer /dryer I wanted. What was the correct base for the washer/dryer?
We are good shoppers and when we tried to use the libreary of ordering books some were often "checked out" or "temporarily missed placed" and this was supposedly a GOOD DB store.

I am suspicious of any establishment that makes you pay just to be allowed to walk in the door. The more $$$ it costs, the more suspicious I am. What better way to get money out of people without actually selling them anything? That way you don't have to care whether they ever buy anything.

There are lots of ways to get good deals on building materials. All the local hardware stores have sales (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.) We only have a Lowe's local to us. We have to drive 50 miles to get to a Home Depot. But, when we were looking for tile for our rental house, we drove the 50 miles and found a discount tile business. Bought enough tile to do the kitchen and the bathroom for about half the price we'd seen anywhere else.

We've bought so much at Lowe's they've taken to giving us a discount automatically at the register. That's funny because about a year ago I asked one of the employees if we could arrange for a builder's discount and they said in order to get one we had to prove we were a contractor.

I don't believe that couple that is on DirectBuy's commercial. The price they paid for their table and chairs sounded still awfully high for what it was. Lots of people don't have an eye for quality and so they're easy prey for places like this, who can buy something cheaply made but that looks like a more expensive product and then say that it's the same quality. There are not very many places that sell REAL quality furniture. Quality furniture does not contain pressboard or fiber board or whatever they call that fake particle board that's covered in "water resistant" paper with "wood finish". It makes the piece incredibly heavy, and falls apart easily. If it gets wet it turns to mush. They're even using the stuff to make kitchen cabinets out of and it is the worst possible material to use where there is water. If you want a quality piece of furniture for a good price, your best bet is to pay someone to make it for you -- or learn to make it yourself -- or go to antique stores, flea markets and estate sales where your chances are better at finding furniture that is made of real wood.

We were interested in this, too, when we were building our house. THANK GOD we did not fall for it. I did some research and found out it is a big fat scam!

Here is a link that might be useful: INFOMERCIAL SCAMS - DIRECT BUY

FYI, I do think since I found the link above, Direct Buy has had some of their 'people' come in and post some more positive things so they do not look as bad. There have been quite a few more entries since I looked at it last and they look at lot more positive than when I first found the site.

A grocery store chain around here started out as a "warehouse" store 30some years ago and they required you to be a member and pay a fee. They dropped it a few years later. Then came scam's club and crustco. Charge people to stand in line and give you money, then make them stand in line again to get permission to leave. Say what you want about Sam Walton, he was brilliant. He figured out that if you give people the illusion of saving money, they'll pay any price. DirectBuy seems to just be taking it to an AIG level! LOL

Oh, I just put this post in the Warehouse thread:
Note to be beware of Direct Buy. W5, Marketplace or a similar news show just did an expose on this company. Super sleazy & complete rip-off. They advertise voraciously here in Canada at least. There's probably something similar in the States. You buy a membership $5000 for 3 years to get what they claim is highly discounted furniture and home fixtures. There is rarely any savings after their handling and other spurious fees; many items were even found cheaper (and before the extra charges) at regular stores.

GOSH!! Direct Buy is nothing but a HUGH rip off. They fooled my brother and his friend who had just bought their new houses . Little did they knew! but whatever they wanted (mostly avg. priced items) costed nearly twice or even thrice when you added all the costs. NEVER NEVER get FOOLED my people asking for big commitments from you then claim to provide great services. USE BRAIN and patience, don't jump into anything. Don't pay attention to anything positive about DirectBuy its mainly only the rich who have nothing better to do with their money.

I just went to a DirectBuy guest orientation. To tell you the truth, their speech/presentation sounded like a pitch for a timeshare. Their membership is $4990 for 3 years, no you can't just get 1 year, it's a 3-year deal. Every year after that is only $200. They say they get straight from the manufacturer at their cost. Well, the membership price made me sceptical, but I thought, ok I will see what they can offer on a washer/Dryer/Refrigerator that I just purchased. When I purchased those items, I went to a couple of the big stores and found all their prices then haggled with one to price beat. Here was the run down that DirectBuy gave me and the outcome:

Samsung washer WF448AAP - their price $1000+ my price from BestBuy 951.20
Samsung dryer DV448AEP - their price $1000+ my price from BestBuy 886.41
Samsung refrigerator RFG297AARS - their price $2000+ my price from BestBuy 1969.99

When I told him that, he said that he didn't understand how a store would be below the manufacturer's price (not MSRP), how can they do that. He acted like I was lying, when I wanted him to compare my TV price...he pretty much said goodbye it was nice talking to me and tried to get me out as fast as possible. It pissed me off a bit, but I guess when they don't really offer a deal...it's not good for them. When I told him that maybe I'll talk it over with my fiance for her to check it out, he said that even if she became a member and I married her, I wouldn't be allowed to be in the club, pretty much I'm not welcome there.

So they aren't what they say they are. Too fishy, beware. Take your time and a little research, you can save the money without forking up $5k then justifying it, because they saved a few 100$ on items you bought. It seems that it's a club that makes it seem like you are getting a deal, but if you end up researching and looking around, I guarantee you'll be disappointed you joined them.

As for the prices above....Lowe's had the lowest price, but I liked BestBuy and they said they would match (when they put the w/d in their system....I got an additional amount off since it was bought as a bundle...that was a mistake they tried to fix, but I talked them into not changing it.)

I'm on the search for good furniture resources...We are getting a house built and I need to get some new stuff....does anyone know of any good resources that give good deals?

I wish I would have looked into the forums before I went, I wouldn't have wasted 2 hours of my day.