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Direct Buy

Beaupre1

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I am in process of remodeling two homes in Calgary in a high end fashion and was wondering if anyone has heard any good things about Direct Buy of Canada. I need to buy kitchen cabinets, appliances etc,and was wondering if this was a good way to do it. How much is it to join and is it worth it?

Thanks,

Scott
 

Anonymous

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Like anything, I would get a few quotes. I know a few people in Ontario who have used them and like anything, you get what you pay for. One person tried to cheap out and within 12 months, the kitchen was falling apart. I know another person and they said it`s great.

Good luck and please let us know it goes. Good luck.
 

jaass

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QUOTE (Beaupre1 @ Sep 25 2007, 12:21 AM) I am in process of remodeling two homes in Calgary in a high end fashion and was wondering if anyone has heard any good things about Direct Buy of Canada. I need to buy kitchen cabinets, appliances etc,and was wondering if this was a good way to do it. How much is it to join and is it worth it?

Thanks,

Scott
Hi Scott, I joined Direct Buy 5 years ago and the prices are amazing. I moved 5 years ago and have purchased everything for my home from Direct Buy.The only draw back for real estate investing is that you may have to wait anywhere between 2 - 4 weeks for your orders to arrive. The other challenge is once you have purchased you can`t return. The prices are amazing but they tend to carry mid to high end merchandise but the prices tend to be lower end prices for higher end merchandise. You are purchasing directly from the manufacturer hence if you purchase from a US manufacturer you will pay the duty, tarrifs etc. The selection is amazing, you order from catalogues and they also have recently added alot of the merchandise online.

I heard that the membership has increased since I joined and apparently they have different membership packages. I joined over 5 years ago paid $2,400 which covered me for 2 years and now I pay an annual renewal fee. I am very pleased with my membership and definitely want to make sure it never expires. However, to date I haven`t purchased anything for my property but I have just started to invest in real estate so I am not sure if I will purchase for investment properties in the future.

If you have any further questions give me a call 416-927-5824.

Sylvia
 

2HoundsHomeStaging

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I have a suggestion for something you might want to look into that doesn`t require a large membership to join like Direct Buy...which is somewhere around $5,000 in TO to join now. I`ve heard from a number of people that are not happy with Direct Buy but only a few who are happy. They don`t have all manufacturers so you are limited to the manufacturers they have.

If you are investing as a business and have a business number and pst exempt number you can go to Calgary`s Design District (From 10 Avenue to 12 Avenue SW, and 4 Street to 14 Street SW) and set up professional accounts (they cost nothing). With the accounts you are entitled to professional discounts. I`d check this out before committing thousands of dollars with Direct Buy.

With the design district, you get professionals working in the shops so you can have professional design help for tiling and kitchen/bath design. They also will have professional installers they can recommend. These are extremely valuable and don`t come with Direct Buy. As a decorator, I am not allowed in Direct Buy if a client is a member and wants my help...suspisious.
 

BMironov

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Once I saw TV commercial of Direct Buy saying that there is Mississauga store.
I called them to get directions and was surprised that they started to ask questions like my mailing address and phone number instead.
style_emoticons


Ok. I had a goal to get to the store in order to save on renovation of investment propertry. Few days later I received letter asking me to call another number. I called and lady on another side started to make "an appointment" with me and my wife. This was very suspicious. Seemed to be something like sale of time-share when sales people try. Another surprise was that I was not allowed to get into store without membership.

Initially I thought about some alternative to Home Show. But there you can enter the store and make a purchase. They will be happy to get you discount if you will sign for year of membership. Price of membership is lower than discount with makes it perfect for very next purchase.
 

nimzan

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Sep 10, 2007
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Hi Scott:

My wife and I have been members of Direct Buy for over 2 years. We could only justify the membership fees because based on the purchases (ie. appliances, furniture, blinds) combined the result in savings paid for the membership plus more.

There are some restrictions and limitations that you should be aware before you consider it. These include a limited selection of brands, handling fees, shipping cost, US Exchange, credit card fees (merchant fee you pay!), items that are classified as `obsolete` because they may not be available to Directbuy. Make sure you ask about them before you decide.

The one that bothered me the most was limited quantity of the same item. I believe it is 4 of the same item in a year. This can be a problem, for example, if you have more than 4 rental properties that all need new appliances.

Did I renew the membership? Yes, our renewal cost is $199 which is recoverable based what I plan to purchase from DirectBuy.

All I can say is Buyer Beware.... DirectBuy is not for everyone!
 

kabuku

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Sep 26, 2007
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QUOTE (Beaupre1 @ Sep 25 2007, 12:21 AM) I am in process of remodeling two homes in Calgary in a high end fashion and was wondering if anyone has heard any good things about Direct Buy of Canada. I need to buy kitchen cabinets, appliances etc,and was wondering if this was a good way to do it. How much is it to join and is it worth it?

Thanks,

ScottHi Scott,
I have been a member at Direct buy for about 3 years.
I paid $3200 to join but I hear it is about $4200 now. It keeps going up.
It may work for you and it may not.
I would sum it up like this
1)be prepared to wait a long time when you order things. Sometimes several months.
2)Be prepared to spend alot of time sifting through catalogues and trying to figure out what it is you need. You will develope a whole new appreciation for sales people.
3)Be prepared to get significant savings only on high end items.
4)I am a contractor myself in toronto and I find it easier to just buy stuff elsewere.
Conclusion: it hasn`t worked for me and alot of people I have talked to but if you are prepared to spend big it might work for you.
Note: They just started adding a handling charge on all orders, about 2% i think.
Hope this helps, Brian
 

jhclancy

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Sep 5, 2007
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Hi Scott,

I`ve been a Direct buy member for about 3 years now and yes the price to join is a little steep, but what I saved with my first reno was more then the amount I spent on my membership.

Cheers,

James
 

Kimberly

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Sep 5, 2007
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Scott:

I have been a Direct buy member for about 2 years and here is some further insight....Direct Buy `outlets` are independently owned franchised businesses, where each location is just a room or two filled with manufactures` ordering books/catalogues along with a few displays of particular items and staff to assist you. In relations to what REIN members would find interesting - they carry almost any item you can think of for a home/renovation other than lumber,drywall,heating ducts, plumbing. You can order items like laminate, hardwood, carpets, ceramics, window coverings (Shadeomatic, levelor, hunter douglas), lighting fixtures, faucets, tubs/showers, furniture, home decorating items(rugs, art work etc), firplaces, appliances (anywhere from Aga, Liebherr, LG, Northland, KitchenAid, Maytag, Jenn-Air, GE, Samsung, Heartland, Fridgidaire) kitchen cabinets and countertops, radiant floor systems, water purifiers, door handles/knobs, hot tubs, etc x 1000. The neat thing is you can get some mid to higher range items at mid to lower end pricing. For more personal use - they also offer jewellery, exercise equipment, cameras, any electronic item you can think of, mattresses...

My interest in joining was based on having had a home built for me and knowing what certain `upgrades` cost, I was impressed with the range/quality of suppliers I could access and the `discounts` available. As a member, you pay wholesale cost by removing the retailers markups. You have to have the time and interest to sort through and understand each suppliers catalogues, although there is staff there to help you. I find I gravitate to certain suppliers and then certain items so the search gets quicker. They had once charged a fee if you used your credit card to pay for the merchandise, now they`ve elminiated that and charge 2% for handling across all orders, on top of the shipping, taxes, excise etc that was mentioned in other postings. You do have to plan ahead depending on the item ordered, to account for shipping time from the manufacturer.

If you go to an invite to hear their offer, be prepared to sign up for a membership at that time, or they say you will not be able to again for x amount of time( refers back to another posting about time share presentations comment). If you know your prices, your manufacturers quality level you prefer and know what you could be purchasing over the next few years ,then you can make an informed decision if the cost of membership works for your business. They have an awesome members only website that lists many of their suppliers and links to their home websites as well. You can view many items as well as member pricing thru the website, but due to the depth and breath of each suppliers offerings it`s best to go to the outlet. Every quarter they publish a substantial sales catalogue of items across the board, where extra discounts are available.


Kimberly
 

fvrdoljak

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Aug 30, 2007
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I have heard great things in terms of prices. I know a couple of people who have saved a lot of money. However there are usually long waits (sometimes as long as 12 weeks) and you need to arrange for your own delivery once its delivered to the DB location/warehouse. I have heard cost is between $4,000 and $5,000 with an annual Direct buy membership fee of a few hundred dollars.
 

crispino

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Oct 10, 2007
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I have been a member of Direct Buy for about 5 years..and if you plan on making alot of purchases..it`s well worth it..It worked well for me because we had just purchased our home and we needed everything from appliances to furniture..etc etc...Direct Buy carries pretty much everything..all in catalogs..I would go to the stores get the model numbers and then go to direct buy and get a quote there and its always been substantially lower. I could see with being an investor it could have its benefits to be a member especially for renovations and stuff. I am not sure what it costs now.I guess around $4200 to $4500..I paid $2700 at the time and I am very pleased with it.

P.S the most savings is on big purchases.
 

askmer

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Oct 13, 2007
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QUOTE (crispino @ Oct 11 2007, 08:42 PM) I have been a member of Direct Buy for about 5 years..and if you plan on making alot of purchases..it`s well worth it..It worked well for me because we had just purchased our home and we needed everything from appliances to furniture..etc etc...Direct Buy carries pretty much everything..all in catalogs..I would go to the stores get the model numbers and then go to direct buy and get a quote there and its always been substantially lower. I could see with being an investor it could have its benefits to be a member especially for renovations and stuff. I am not sure what it costs now.I guess around $4200 to $4500..I paid $2700 at the time and I am very pleased with it.

P.S the most savings is on big purchases.

Why is Direct Buy such a hard sell ? I went to a presentation where at the end, they were very rude and asked me if i would like to join. I said could i think about it as it`s a lot of $. They said "well, in that case, there`s the door. You won`t be able to buy in the future, this is a 1x offer." .... Man, you would think they`d be a little nicer as you are giving them a large amt of $ !!

If it`s such a good deal, why can`t you go in and browse the catalogues ? If the savings is so great, im sure they`d have tons of pplz line up. Think Fitness World membership structure but more rude !!

I have done a lot of research on the web prior to going and there seemed to be more dissatisfied than satisfied pplz that signed up. It`s totally true what they say about having your own facilities to pick up and store the merchandise. If you leave it at the warehouse (after waiting 12 weeks for your order), they charge you a storage fee on top of the 2%. It seems to me, that they THINK they are doing their customers a favour rather than the customers providing them jobs !!

Once they get you, then you are stuck paying the $200 / month as you wouldn`t want to lose the big discount on any future projects....Direct Buy just made $ off your savings...you just don`t know it because it`s coming out a little at a time....
 

Choda

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Oct 17, 2007
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http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/175/RipOff0175914.htm

have a couple friends that were scammed into this. I managed to pick up the same mid range (kitchenaid, not subzero) appliances for a whole lot cheaper by going to sears liquidation centre and buying stuff that had a little scratch or dent on the unexposed surface.

the up front fees in TO are insane even from 2 yrs ago. I don`t believe they`re set up so you can pay the fee and milk them for multiples of the same product if you own alot of units.
 
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