Post by 2 Blue 4 U on Nov 29, 2008 10:56:18 GMT -5
We joined Direct Buy when we first bought our house in 1996, back then the membership was $1000 and the yearly fee was only $49. It was a 10 year membership, after that you needed to re-up it, when we called they offered a new membership for half price, in 2006 and that was about $2400. We opted out, it was not worth if for us anymore, in the later years we only used the club for purchases a few times.
We definitely saved money, I bought a Stanley bedroom set, listed for $6200, called North Carolina Furniture to compare and buying from the club was cheaper by a grand and that included shipping from the warehouse and the tax savings if I bought it from N.C. We also got plumbing & lighting fixtures, weber grill, shoes, lane chests, some some appliances. The biggest savings is the furniture, plumbing & lighting fixture prices are some what comparable (you saved some) to Home Depot if it is stocked, in Home Depot non-stock orders cost more. A guy from work bought his flooring and kitchen cabinets thru the club, he saved some money there and got a better quality. He also bought his rugs thru them. So you can save money but with the cost of that membership these days you would really need to use that club often to offset that cost. Some of the manufacturer savings were not the best, especially in electronics, stores get bigger breaks for buying in bulk so you may get a better buy at a bigger store. Same for appliances. Oh yea, jewelry was another bargain at the club.
In the day of the internet you can get some bargains. As mentioned if you need a lot of furniture you can make a trip down to NC and veiw all the show rooms down there. Years ago some of the companies used to pay for your hotel stay, not sure if they still do. One thing about the club is you get to look thru all the manufacturers catalogs to view their product lines. It is better to have an idea of what you want otherwise you could spend hours going thru those books. On the plus side you rarely get to see a manufacturers full line, stores just can not possibly stock it all. But again, it can be seen on the internet.
We definitely saved money, I bought a Stanley bedroom set, listed for $6200, called North Carolina Furniture to compare and buying from the club was cheaper by a grand and that included shipping from the warehouse and the tax savings if I bought it from N.C. We also got plumbing & lighting fixtures, weber grill, shoes, lane chests, some some appliances. The biggest savings is the furniture, plumbing & lighting fixture prices are some what comparable (you saved some) to Home Depot if it is stocked, in Home Depot non-stock orders cost more. A guy from work bought his flooring and kitchen cabinets thru the club, he saved some money there and got a better quality. He also bought his rugs thru them. So you can save money but with the cost of that membership these days you would really need to use that club often to offset that cost. Some of the manufacturer savings were not the best, especially in electronics, stores get bigger breaks for buying in bulk so you may get a better buy at a bigger store. Same for appliances. Oh yea, jewelry was another bargain at the club.
In the day of the internet you can get some bargains. As mentioned if you need a lot of furniture you can make a trip down to NC and veiw all the show rooms down there. Years ago some of the companies used to pay for your hotel stay, not sure if they still do. One thing about the club is you get to look thru all the manufacturers catalogs to view their product lines. It is better to have an idea of what you want otherwise you could spend hours going thru those books. On the plus side you rarely get to see a manufacturers full line, stores just can not possibly stock it all. But again, it can be seen on the internet.