MrsT
Enjoying wedded bliss.....
Member since 4/06 1323 total posts
Name:
Katrina
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Re: Is anyone a member of Direct Buy?
I belong to another forum....the horror and found this info about Direct Buy.
Direct Buy research
I have pasted it here too.
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RE: 'Direct Buy' for building supplies clip this post email this post what is this?
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Posted by tony20009 (My Page) on Tue, Jul 10, 07 at 6:12
DirectBuy can be a good thing for some people and the wrong thing for others. In short, if you have a Wal-Mart budget and Macy's taste, DB may be a good value for you, especially if you have to fix-up and furnish your whole house. For all other folks, you need DirctBuy about as much as you need a case of anthrax. That said, below in detail are some observations from my experience in dealing with DB.
Before you even contact DB, do your homework as follows, and I'm going to lay this out in a step-by-step fashion...
1 - Do your research on the web and via the telephone to figure out just what appliances, cabinetry, floors/flooring, counter tops, faucets, sinks, small appliances, furniture, fixtures, appointments and so on that you want to get. Be sure to have model numbers, brand names and manufacturer names (which may not be the same as the brand name in some cases) and prices. Also collect this information for your second and third choice options because if you are like me, at the right price, even the third choice option will be just fine. (If you are buying cabinets, be sure to really know the construction methods that are used and what your desired cabinets will and won't have in that regard -- materials -- what's the thickness of the wood/stone/metal, what wood is used, is it solid or veneer, assembly methods, reinforcing techniques, etc.)
2 - Determine your cost for delivery, installation and whatever else it'll take to get the stuff installed and operating.
3 - Call DirectBuy and make an appointment for the earliest session they offer on any given day. You'll want this early slot so you'll have time to perform step 5 below.
4 - Go to the session and sit through the dog-and-pony show. Take your notes and figures with you. Hopefully you have this stuff arranged in a printed spreadsheet.
5 - After the "spiel," go to the catalogs there and compare the prices they offer with those you found. Write it down on your spreadsheet, add it all up and see what you will save.
6 - Add in the cost of DirectBuy's handling fee and any other fees and surcharges they may have. (8% on most items but not on major appliances)
7 - Join if you'll save more than you'll pay. Don't join if you won't. For those who don't know, the membership at DirectBuy is currently $6,200 (June 2007 in Washington, DC area).
I did this to check whether I'd save anything on my kitchen appliances, counters, and cabinets. In my case, I found that Blue Star is not available through Direct Buy. Wolf, Gaggenau, Thermador and several other nice brands are available through them and the pricing is shown in the catalog, but you have to ask for the catalog that covers the high-end appliances. Because I'm doing upper end cabinets, however, DirectBuy was not a good deal for me in the end. That is in large part because I want cabinets, flooring, and appliances and accessories that all are what might be called high-end. At DirectBuy, I could only get the appliances (not including the range) and the accessories that I wanted. (I'd have gone with Wolf rather than Blue Star were I to have joined DirectBuy.)
The cabinet lines they offered don't have the construction features I wanted and they weren't quite as high style (SieMatic/Poggenpohl) as I prefer, but were the construction quality there, I could have modified my choices a bit and even done something Mission or Shaker styled if necessary, those styles being my alternative choices IF THE PRICE IS RIGHT ENOUGH. (If I could find all wood cabinetry with high quality construction in a say Shaker style for half the price of the SieMatics, I'd have gone that way.)
Notwithstanding that most of stuff they have is geared toward the lower end to mid-range, they nonetheless have very decent prices on some desirable stuff: GE Monogram, Kohler and Franke, their own line of granite countertops (I didn't check the thickness of the granite as by that point I was fairly certain I wasn't going to join) and some others. Also, I found that were I to have bought the applicances through DirectBuy, I'd have definitely saved a meaningful sum ($1,500 for range, faucets and sinks and $20 per sq. ft for counters) by doing so, but the appliances alone won't justify the membership fee unless you have a lot of kitchens and baths to outfit.
I helped a friend do the research for his kitchen and when he went, it turned out that even after paying the membership fee and the handling fees and the sales taxes, he was still saving over $12,000. Then again, he'd dropped the bulk of his funds into buying the home (a fixer upper in a very chic location), so he was just looking for functional stuff to replace the barely working crap that came with the house rather than top of the line stuff. Also, he has to redo floors, ceilings, walls, light fixtures, just about everything...the only thing good about the building really was the actual structure itself.
Broadly speaking, if you are already able to afford, and already do buy high-end stuff, you probably won't want to bother with DirectBuy as the variety of things they have that you want (unless you just really shop a hell of a lot for more basic things) is somewhat limited once you start looking at flooring and cabinetry options. Since that's where the majority of a remodel's cost sits, there's little point.
I live in D.C. and when I went to DirectBuy, they spiel they gave used a sample family having a household income of $80,000. I assume therefore that that is about the income of their target customers in my area. Well, let me tell you, any family living in the D.C. area and having kids is just getting buy on and $80,000 household income. They aren't starving and have enough to begin some home improvement projects, but they aren't in any position to be lavish. I just offer this to provide a gauge of who may have some potential benefit from this approach to saving on their projects were they to go with DirectBuy.
I've seen some folks complain about some of the sales methods at DB, such as both spouses having to be in attendance. Well, there is a reason for that. Given the household income of DB's target customers, no single spouse is likely going to commit to spending $6,200 for the privilege of buying things. So DB is just trying to eliminate the "I have to discuss it with my spouse" as an issue that can prevent them from closing the sale. And truthfully, I can't say I blame them for doing what they can to improve their chances of making the sale...it's their business after all and they are trying. I don't fault them for trying. We buyers mustn't forget that it's our responsibility to assess the merits of an offering.
DirectBuy also states a policy of not allowing you to return to join at a later date. I'd guess the reason for that is because everyone would, after attending the first sales session, come back a second time fully armed with prices and specs for the stuff they want and be able to make an informed decision about whether to join. When I was there, I noticed that I was the only person who came with a pad and detailed specifications and notes about the things I wanted. The other attendees seemed to be there and checked just one or two things' prices. I spent 90 minutes checking everything on every item I wanted, in one case even, finding and pointing out to the DB folks that their catalog was out of date as the model number had changed on one item.
After I checked for the stuff I was planning to buy in the next few weeks, I then checked for stuff I'd already bought and knew about. So though I wasn't in the market for furniture when I went there, I did look for some furniture brands I'd bought in the past couple years: Baker, Henredon and Bernhardt. I could not find any of those three lines in their catalogs, and as I have mostly Baker furniture in my home, I certainly wasn't interested in Pennsylvania House, which they did have. I looked for Rolex and Audemar's watches as those are the brands I and my family members have and didn't find them either. I didn't find any Patek Phillipe, Cartier or Breitling either. I looked for clothing lines I was familiar with and found none of the ones I like to buy. I looked too for Frette bed linens with no luck again.
When I kept coming up empty on so many things, I asked about it. It was then that they confided to me that they really don't carry high-end stuff because, they claim, there isn't much markup on such items. I think that's not really the case outside the appliances and electronics industries. I think it's more a factor that folks buying that sort of stuff aren't going to put up with driving to some inconvenient location to sift through catalogs in order to save $200 (after the handling and delivery charges are added back in). say, on an $800 bed sheet. Indeed, when I spoke with the DB representative on the phone, I told her I wasn't keen on travelling to the other side of town to go to their showroom as I hadn't a single other reason to go to that area aside from the fact that it's on the way to my beach house. That said, were I able to save $3,000 or $4,000 on a new armoire and a similar proportion on sofas, end tables, and other furnishings, I'd consider it a good value and probably go there periodically. The fact that one must go to the DB facility to take delivery of most things isn't that big a problem -- call a local moving company (ideally a couple college kids trying to make some cash for the summer) and have them meet you there pick it up.
One thing I did find odd is DB's policy regarding how you place orders through them. It made me wonder whether the order is actually placed in your name as a "partner" in DB. If that is the case, and I don't know that it is or isn't, you should be able to contact the manufacturer and arrange for delivery to your own location. Moreover, if that is the case, the sales tax that DirectBuy claims to charge you is in fact just profit in their pockets. If anyone here has actually joined DB, could you please share what names appear on your bill of lading and invoice? Are you permitted to see the purchase order issued to the supplier and if so, who is shown as the buyer? I wonder too whether the agreement one signs with DB states your status in the organization: member, partner, etc.
If you use the approach I outlined above before going there, you won't need both spouses because you will have an objective basis for determining whether the value proposition is there for you. When I went there, they saw a wedding band on my finger and asked me if I'm married. I just told them no.
Anyone should recognize that selling methodologies that prohibit disclosure of the selling price at the point of initial contact/inquiry several things:
- The target audience for the product is low to middle income families
- The primary products offered will appeal to the target audience, but there may be some, but far fewer, things that other market segments will appreciate
- The price is "high" for the target audience
- You are going to encounter the typical "strong-arm" closing tactics/questions, which DB plainly writes on a piece of paper for you.
- You should not enter into the sales arena with the seller without empirical measures that will allow you to assess the relative merit of the seller's offering(s)
Other products that use exactly the same marketing methodology as DB: products sold door-to-door such as encyclopedias and vacuums, automobiles, houses marketed to first time buyers.
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