In November we lost our house to a fire, so we are rebuilding and are going to have to buy almost everything new. I have checked into their web site and you have to be a member www.directbuy.com I was just wondering if any of you have any experience with these people or know anybody who has.

Thanks to all

Bill

Edit i guess i could put in the link Direct buy

 

I've never used them, but did hear that if you are going to only buy a couple of things, it isn't worth it. But if you were buying a lot then it might be.

 

Virginija and I joined this some years ago, when it was called UCC (United Consumer's Club). They renamed themselves DirectBuy a couple years ago. It could pay off if you have an entire home to refurnish. Over the 6-7 years that we were members, I think we got good value from our membership fees. We bought a living room set, bed, new blinds, carpeting, some appliances, and some smaller electronics stuff.

The place where the big savings were to be had was in furniture. For electronics, there was always someplace on the internet that was getting rid of the stuff at below cost, so that was rarely worth the membership price. On our leather sofa set, though, I think we saved at least $1200 over local area stores. The club's marketing to us was correct: while I could certainly find a similar leather sofa set for the same amount of $$ locally, it would be of a cheaper quality than we ended up with. That's where the motivation should be, I think: buying better than you otherwise could afford. Beware the huge savings examples they give: though they exist, most products seem to be around 20-30% lower than most local stores (then add back 5% for shipping). Of course, they usually make it tough to compare until AFTER you're a member.

2 things we didn't realize when we signed up:

1) shipping can be expensive, especially for furniture. It's generally still well worth it, but the huge savings turn into only medium savings after shipping.

2) You have to pick up everything yourself from their warehouse. In the case of our sofa, I rented a truck from the nearby Home Depot for 1 hour to do the job. If you don't have easy access to a pickup truck, consider that as part of the extra hassle. Not to mention the 4-6 weeks (or more) you sometimes wait while it's shipped.

Finally, with the explosion of internet businesses, a club like that may no longer be the bargain it was even 5 years ago.

Lots of pluses & minuses. The fact that you're looking for so much stuff works in your favor.

Of course, this all assumes that the setup is the same as when we belonged, with similar rules and similar savings.

JonasM

 

Thanks Jonas, i really appreciate your input. This really helps us. The nearest one to us is like 150 miles away, so i would have to rent a Ryder truck. I will look into this deeper as we progress with the house.

 

If you need more info, just ask.

Good luck on the house!



JonasM

 

I have been building my own house and a friend is building his. We have compared windows, furniture, appliances- virtually everything you'd need in a new home in other words. I have been able to meet or beat his prices in every case and I didn't have to pay shipping, etc.

Working with the stores locally is also a lot more consumer friendly and warranty/return friendly.