DirectBuy

omg no!!! stay away

they make you pay before you leave or you can never come back. I'm not joking. Last time I checked it was $3000 upfront plus an annual fee.

OP here. Yes, I heard about the hard sell and the member fee (I think its $4000 now?). But I also heard members pay as little as 32% of retail for things like cabinets. Since I have a lot of renovations to do, it could end up being worth it. But only if their prices really ARE significantly lower than regular retail outlets... and if their stock is of decent equal and acceptable quality.

So has anyone actually signed up and purchased from them? Or at least gone to their showroom thing? Comments?

Thanks

It has to be a scam. They are going for such a hard sell on tv. Never give $3000 upfront.

Use them ONLY if you know exactly what you want and have already shopped around. Otherwise it's a scam.

I checked them out after answering an ad in a local paper. You have to make an appt to go there and sit through their schpeal about how much $$ you'll save, and at the very end they tell you how much it costs.

And here's the kicker - you have to decide RIGHT THEN & THERE if you're going to sign up, otherwise they don't let you back. Of course they don't mention this in their ads.

I didn't realize it and told the guy I needed a couple of days and he was very nasty & condescending about it, accused me of being a 'secret shopper' for a retailer.

I was so turned off I left immediately. Then went home to find home decorating blogs so I can blast them but found that this had already been done. Turns out they've been under investigation in other states for some shady busienss practices (surprise!).

The business model prob worked better in the days before the internet; if you shop around you could prob find comparable deals. Esp in an area like NYC.

There was another post about Direct Buy from a few months ago on this site....fyi

Direct Buy used to operate under another name and was under federal investigation. Do research before getting involved.

Hmmm... I want to save some money, but my scam alert antenna is starting to perk up.