Direct Buy?

Its like a costco for furniture- I hear about it on the radio all the time.

We want to buy a new bedroom set and living room furniture, and I thought maybe it would be worth looking into.

They offer a free guest pass for an open house, so I'm going, but you have to make your decision then and there whether or not you want to join- and they don't mention the membership fees on the website.

www.directbuy.com

Anyone have any info?

it's only good for you if you're doing serious remodeling. the membership is a one time fee (I think paid over a couple years or so) and is in the THOUSANDS. BUT, then you can get most building materials and furniture at wholesale cost, for the rest of your life. Of course, you're limited to their vendors.... but you can save a lot if you're redoing a 40k kitchen, or roofing / siding / windows.....

do NOT show up if you're not in the remodeling situation. save the one time free pass for when you are......

I don't recommend it at all. The membership fee is for 5 years, and it cost something like $7,000 for 5 yrs, then for each additional 5 yrs its only $500 a year.

THe way I look at it is - the amt your spending on a membership fee will cost you the same if you go to a regular store .. and when you buy stuff - you are the STORE - so if anything goes wrong (the order, the merchandise, etc - its YOUR problem to correct it.

Thanks ladies- I just found some reviews online that said the only way you make your money back is if you are planning to purchase cabinets or do a major renovation.

I also ready that they add an 8% handling fee and some things take 6-8 weeks to come in!!

It sounds fishy to me....I think I'll stick with the Columbus day weekend sales

We're members of Direct Buy. We moved into our house in January and joined. Yes, the membership dues are a PITA but they have a payment plan so it's not too bad. Really, everything you buy is at the manufacturer's COST so you're still getting everything at a lower price than those 'Columbus Day sales'.

We got a bed for my step-daughter including the mattress and paid half of what we would have if we'd gone to a regular furniture store. It's worth it for us but might not be the best choice for everyone if you don't need it.

nothing's really fishy about it.... it's just you need to make a lot of purchases in order to benefit. A good friend of mine renovated his coop with direct buy. he gutted the place to the studs and redid it. he said he couldn't afford the marble bathroom if it wasn't for that arrangement.... you can even buy lecreuset and china through them, so it does balance out over time....

Personally, though, I'm such a design whore that I would feel limited by purchasing all the furniture / china through their specific vendors... so it wouldn't work for me unless I was gutting a house...