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This is exactly what we thought they kept saying you save 50% by buying from them but 50% of what the list price or a price that you shopped around for. When we went a bought our appliances we didn't pay list for them because we bought all of them at one time. Any place that works under a cloud os secrets has something to hide. The price to join is way to much you would have to buy so much to get your money out of it. Shop around and you will get just as good deals without the membership.
Once people are members how much comparison shopping do they do? A few items, maybe. Not to knock them; I don't look at other prices after I've purchased an item either. What's the point?
If you don't have a lot of time, DB may be the source for you. The only couple I know that used it were working incredibley long hours. Honestly I don't know them that well but they don't strike me as the type to look at the price.
It could be an age thing too maybe, the older people seemed unhappy but the satisfied people were younger so maybe older people would make do with lesser quality things and find it harder to justify spending lots of money initially, I don't know, just a theory. I tend to think Baby Boomers are a little more willing to do with less and wait until they can afford something whereas the generations after seem the most appealed by instant gratification.
I don't think your theory holds with most of the people I know who are boomers (and I'm one too). To me it has more to do with experience regardless of what quality etc. people are looking for. they are going to show more younger people in their ads etc. knowing full well it's easier to suck them in just because they are inexperienced. Truth is the boomers are the ones with the disposable income and homes and kids they are willing to s pend for, so if it was pure spending they were after and they were on the up and up, chances are they would be marketing to them.
I know for my SIL and I, when we went to their presentation the instant they said 'no refunds on anything' we walked. After discovering what kind of problems furniture and fixtures can have since we've been through it now or seen others go through it, that is just not an option we'd consider having hanging over a major purchase usually. We also have done enough shopping to know prices can vary a lot and when an organization won't even let you look at the catalogues before you join (at least they didn't when we went) there is no way we'd hand over the membership money they wanted with just blind faith. We aren't about to believe them just because they say so in other words because we've now been around long enough to see rip offs do happen , companies go out of business, taking a store's word for things is sometimes a bad idea especially when they offer no out clauses, won't let you see before you buy a membership, and use high pressure tactics. Experience tells you those are all warning signs of potential problems.
For instance just because we both have some interest, we asked about their jewelry prices and were told they were always at least half the appraised value. Well anyone who is into jewelry knows that is no deal at all and there is no such thing as paying the appraised value or even half for that matter in good jewelry stores unless you are a rooky. So that is experience not age, although experience often comes with age.
meanwhile I think if you were into a major reno and knew your stuff you might be able to make their system work for you but heaven help you if something was defective or not right in some way because that could be costly. Meanwhile they are asking people to fork over $5000 just to see what they are like. It would be different I think if they did like Costco and said, come in, see our products, check our prices and if you like it join. Should you find you are not happy, your membership will be refunded.
I would be lying if I said we were 100% happy with DB... the customer service has been lacking on more than one occasion, and have had some confusion on handling fees, surprise shipping charges, etc. when dealing with some DB staff who didn't seem to know what they were doing.
However, having purchased 7 appliances including washer and dryer, Levelor blinds for every window in the house, light fixtures for half the house, sectional for the family room and complete dining room set, we have saved nearly our entire membership fee - and we are only 2 years into our membership.
I would like to think that we are neither fools nor suckers... purchasing the DB membership made sense for us at this point in our lives, when we had so many major purchases to make. My parents also looked at the membership... it made absolutely no sense for their lifestyle and would have been a huge waste of money for them.
Not all items have equal savings - items with large retail mark-up such as furniture and blinds will have huge (60-66%) savings. Electronics have low mark-ups - better to wait for a sale at Future Shop.
Again, I am definitely not promoting DB... DH and I have had our moments of wishing we'd never heard of them.. but it has been a worthwhile investment for us.
Thank you so much for posting your experience! Now, that is what I had expected when I watched the Marketplace segment. More specific information on savings and why DB is right for some people. Your assessment is valuable for someone else who may be considering DB -- so you've done a lot of people a favor, IMO. :)
Hali55, thanks so much for responding. I always like to hear the other side.
I am curious though, did you know right away you would save money or did it just work out that way? I got the feeling from the people on the Marketplace program that they thought they were going to save lots of money but when they discovered they didn't that's when they become disenchanted with the whole thing. You also mention a 10 year membership, they only discussed a 3 year membership for $5,000. If that same $5,000 was spread out over 10 years then it would totally be worth it.
It could be an age thing too maybe, the older people seemed unhappy but the satisfied people were younger so maybe older people would make do with lesser quality things and find it harder to justify spending lots of money initially, I don't know, just a theory. I tend to think Baby Boomers are a little more willing to do with less and wait until they can afford something whereas the generations after seem the most appealed by instant gratification.
DH and I purchased a DB membership when we purchased our first home 2 years ago. We were (a) newlyweds with no appliances and very little furniture, and (b) the house was a new build with zero window coverings and we intended to upgrade many builder-grade items such as light fixtures. We also considered that the membership is for 10 years and we intend live here for about 5 years then purchase a larger home, likely an older home that will require some renos.
I would be lying if I said we were 100% happy with DB... the customer service has been lacking on more than one occasion, and have had some confusion on handling fees, surprise shipping charges, etc. when dealing with some DB staff who didn't seem to know what they were doing.
However, having purchased 7 appliances including washer and dryer, Levelor blinds for every window in the house, light fixtures for half the house, sectional for the family room and complete dining room set, we have saved nearly our entire membership fee - and we are only 2 years into our membership.
I would like to think that we are neither fools nor suckers... purchasing the DB membership made sense for us at this point in our lives, when we had so many major purchases to make. My parents also looked at the membership... it made absolutely no sense for their lifestyle and would have been a huge waste of money for them.
Not all items have equal savings - items with large retail mark-up such as furniture and blinds will have huge (60-66%) savings. Electronics have low mark-ups - better to wait for a sale at Future Shop.
Again, I am definitely not promoting DB... DH and I have had our moments of wishing we'd never heard of them.. but it has been a worthwhile investment for us.
Arizona - Those are logical reasons for the delay. Makes sense now.
If it's government legistlation for the cooling off period they usually allow a certain amount of time for business's to adjust. If it's Direct Buy themselves deciding this it might have something to do with their franchise agreements or other legal stuff that would take time to amend.
Recorded it & finally got to see it. I wish it had been the full time period too. I wouldn't even bother with going in for the demonstration. I have to see an item. The hassle of extra fees, problems are dealt with by the manufacturer, etc. None of worth it to me. With careful shopping around you can probably meet or beat their prices.
On CBC radio when they were discussing it coming on TV, they said that the 3 day cooling off period will take place in about a year. Expect that Marketplace has the pencilled in their calendar to see if it really happens. Why would it take them a year to implement this?
Like they day there is a sucker born every minute. That is what they count on places like that shouldn't be allowed but as long as people keep joining they will stay in business.
We watched the show last night too. I kind of wished it was on for the whole show, not just for 15 mins. I will not be going to Direct Buy, when I buy something I have to touch it and look at it, feel it, I'm a touchy kind of person, I just couldn't order from a book. I couldn't believe the membership fee for 3 years, wow, that's $1666.66 a year.
They've been in business for a long time though so they must fool a lot of people.
I can tell you the time we went we felt very pressured and they were not happy at us leaving. They asked not to talk to anyone about being there and not to share any info about the place. It made us very uncomfortable and we have told everyone that says anything about the place that it is a scam and to stay away. Anything that costs that much is not something I want o get involved in. The other thing that I didn't like is they didn't have a showroom it was a room with a bunch of catalogues that you ordered from and they had a few people flipping thru them it was so set up and badly set up.
I figure that unless you have a very thorough idea of what you want exactly, how much it costs elsewhere, and a lot of work/renovation/decor to get done, perhaps $5000 for a membership is worth it? I don't know...but it seems way over the top to me.
The one thing that bothered me about the Marketplace segment is that it didn't really dwell into exactly WHY each of the six people were disgruntled, and why the two featured couples were happy. I'd like to know more of the story besides the not being able to have your membership refunded if unhappy. I'd also like to know if indeed the 3 day cooling off period is now in effect in Canada, too. I wish the segment ran for the whole Marketplace timeslot so more information could be given. Like I said to my husband last night -- I'm curious to know how the company is still in business. Someone is shopping there! :p
I guess it depends on your shopping habits about whether a Costco membership is worth it, I figured it would be a break even proposition here. I generally prefer to wait for sales elsewhere and forgo the Costco membership.
But yes, you'd have to buy a lot of sets of pots and pans to break even on $5,000 :laugh: What is that saying about fools and their money? ;)
As for those pots and pans don't they go half price a few times a year at Sears and The Bay? So the savings isn't that good at all IMO if you are willing to wait for a sale. Maybe this is for people who can't wait for sales.
I think those happy people are either just dumb and haven't figured it out yet or are plain lying. I suspect most of the disgruntled people feel that way when they find out the hidden costs of shipping and the no returns policy, probably the hard way too and no-one likes unexpected surprises that involve their wallets after all.
I know Direct Buy ups its memberships all the time because it was about half that amount about 9 years ago. Makes me wonder when they will just be too expensive for anyone to join. They are a franchise operation and from what I understand the strong arm tactics differ from location to location.
My husband and I watched it last night, too. We're both of the ilk that we balked at the Costco membership idea, so the membership at DirectBuy just made us laugh.
I figure that unless you have a very thorough idea of what you want exactly, how much it costs elsewhere, and a lot of work/renovation/decor to get done, perhaps $5000 for a membership is worth it? I don't know...but it seems way over the top to me.
The one thing that bothered me about the Marketplace segment is that it didn't really dwell into exactly WHY each of the six people were disgruntled, and why the two featured couples were happy. I'd like to know more of the story besides the not being able to have your membership refunded if unhappy. I'd also like to know if indeed the 3 day cooling off period is now in effect in Canada, too. I wish the segment ran for the whole Marketplace timeslot so more information could be given. Like I said to my husband last night -- I'm curious to know how the company is still in business. Someone is shopping there! :p
We also went to one of their showrooms when we were building our first house and DH nearly died when they said what the cost was. I didn't like the idea fo the pressure and that it was so secret and you had to sign up now and if you didn't you had to leave and never to come back. They had another couple there going thru the same meeting as us and they couldn't wait to sign up and pay it was such a phoney setup to try to get us to think it was a good deal.
That's why I didn't want to post any Spoilers and ruin it. :)
I haven't seen it yet - PDT here. Have it set to record.
Their membership fee is craziness! Whoever can even afford that on a 4 year membership obviously doesn't need to be saving money IMO.
I won't be buying those Omega eggs anymore either :rolleyes:
Oh this will be interesting. When you see web comments very few are positive although flippers and such say they have saved money. I wasn't impressed when I went to one of their 'invitations'. never again. It reminded me of an Amway meeting with the secretiveness and pressure.
Jan, thanks so much for letting us know, I'll be watching too!
I just thought they were a big scam when I looked into it. I have heard since that if you are looking to buy high end products they do save you money but I rarely ever buy high end anything.
Hi Jan, thanks for posting this, I like watching Market Place. This should be an interesting show.:)
It's been a few years since I have come in contact with them but if IRC the fee to join was then $1,900 and you would then be able to buy things much cheaper.
At the time I was looking for garage door openers and they were almost twice as much as Sears. In all fairness though that would have been Sears on sale which they do fairly often, even today.
I didn't see the value. Maybe others do.