Just wondering if anyone have experience with Direct Buy

[cloud7]

Have heard a lot of goods and bads about Direct Buy from people, but I would like to gauge the experience locally about Direct Buy in Calgary. Anything that I should be careful about before buying membership?

[tictactoe2004]

Originally posted by cloud7
Have heard a lot of goods and bads about Direct Buy from people, but I would like to gauge the experience locally about Direct Buy in Calgary. Anything that I should be careful about before buying membership?

I have also been wondered the same thing... any feedback?

[cloud7]

plus if anyone knows what the current membership fee is, that would be great... I know it is a decide now or you can't come back thing at the tour.

[QuasarCav]

Originally posted by cloud7
plus if anyone knows what the current membership fee is, that would be great... I know it is a decide now or you can't come back thing at the tour.


I've heard it's a few thousand dollars. They only way you could really use this service is if you plan on spending about 50K on renovations or other home improvments. It does seem a little on the shady side and I'm sure that if you spent enough time researching and finding bargains you could have the same result.

[cloud7]

I expect it to be in the $3000 range... my basement needs to get developed and then furnished... so this may not be a bad deal if their prices are indeed cheaper than retail.

[legendboy]

its 5k now, use to be only 2500

[cloud7]

Originally posted by legendboy
its 5k now, use to be only 2500

holy crap, more than I had expected... do you know this for a fact? I better think long and hard to see if this is worth it now

[legendboy]

yes i know someone who is building a new house, they are in it atm.

my parents bought in about 6 years ago, for 2500

only worth it if your renovating your whole house, or build new imo

[Kritafo]

Direct Buy, used to be United Consumers Club. There are several boards from former workers and buyers. BBB has many complaints. Yes it costs thousands to get a membership, I think if you were building a house from the ground up it still may be a good deal, but just a basement. I am not sure.

We went to the Invite, we promtly left. It has scam written all over it. You can only ever get one invite if you turn it down you will never get in again. It's like a cult! haha!

You can't even take their catalogue out of the store. They also escort you through their store. It's very very strange. Like Scientology strange!

[Xtrema]

Not worth it. Their delivery is a joke. Keep losing stuff and late. Prices sometimes is same as retail Home Depot.

Large electronics is ok. Basically you get dealer prices but won't beat any boxing day deals.

[Crymson]

My mother and her husband got an "invite" to this last year, and my first impression was "scam" written all over it, and shady, like timeshare shady.

found this little blog (http://www.martinsquest.com/personal/UCC_Totalhome_Directbuy.htm) and it was pretty clear.

[maximus5502]

the membership fee is $3000.00 or was a few years back. I had an ex GF that worked there and was sales person for the product. I also have a friend who purchased a membership a while back. It is a waste of money.

I can get better deals around town with better service a better prices then they offer!!!!!

[88CRXGUY]

My friends parents went through direct buy when they bought their house(last year), and they saved some money(The membership fee was 2500 bucks for 3 years, thats crazy). I ain't sure how much they saved, but when it comes to their warrenties if something fucks up you need to go through manufactor not Direct Buy(even if its within 30 days). I wanted to order things and go to the store but since that I am not a member I can't go into the store and get things with them. The shipping of items can take 4-6 weeks(I can't remember the exact time), and I think thats just ludacris. I'll lose the couple of bucks and go to the store and get it myself instead of waiting 6 weeks to come from China on a boat.

Yeah you could *possibly* save alot of money, but with all the secretcie and all the control they have makes me take my money elsewhere. Can you say SHADY.

[rockym20]

I did one of the invite things when I moved to Calgary. It is a total rip off. We had them look up some things that might interest us:

Hardwood flooring - more expensive than if you buy it at a local dealer like Totem or Home Hardware

Electronics - more expensive than in a local store

Furniture - not cheap by any means. And who would buy a $5,000 sofa without getting to see it, feel the quality of the fabrics, and see if it is comfortable?

If this was a Costco type thing, with a huge warehouse that you could check out everything, then I would consider it. But there is no way I would spend that kind of money just to order stuff from a catalogue.

[Fish n Chips]

Am a member to DB since last April.

Things are sold thru catalogs inside the store located at Unit 17, 3900 - 106th Avenue SE.

I think I paid approx $4000 for a 3 yr membership and thereafter, I will need to pay $199 to renew per year.

I find a lot of items there are quite exquisite. Calgary is still a small city and some non-mass market product manufacturers or brands find it not justifiable to have a showroom presence here. DirectBuy carries things like that, eg. nice lightings, furniture, appliances and so on.

You need to be well planned for the coming 3 yrs in order to justify the initial cost. If you are building a new home and plan to get some new appliances, unique cabinet systems, window covering and some faucet/basin sink upgrades, I think you will better than break even in the first year. In their catalogs, they give members a general guideline about the level of saving they can expect from different categories of products. For example, computer related products have low markup/profit margin at retail level so this category give less saving to members. Whereas furniture, lightings, window coverings are the opposite. Appliances are of medium saving scale.

One thing I find undisputable is their price. Saving is quite massive. One of the better example is a stainless steel KitchenAid gas stove I have recently bought for $1495 including free door to door delivery. The same unit is sold a Txxxx Appliance for $22xx (at MSRP). That is a 31% off. I think that model is going to be phased out and it seems DB members are informed earlier by DB than the general public by the retailers.

Before you go there for the intro session, make a detailed list of things you will buy in the coming few months. Details like brand, colour, model #, finish, the lowest price you found so far and who is carrying that should be on your list. At the intro session, you are asked to make a decision whether to join or not during this visit. So use your list during the visit, total the saving you get from buying thru DB. The result then should lead you to a well thought through decision.