[PURSUITWA]

My wife roped me into going to their sales pitch yesterday. I felt like I was being sold a time share or something similar. A painful process to be honest.

Anyway, I was able to put a deposit down on a membership without committing. Its a lot of money to spend upfront to save money later on. $4995 for 3 yrs then 190 per yr for the next 7 yrs. It comes out to about $6500 for 10 yrs . You apparently buy everything they carry at cost (and they carried a lot more than I expected). Most savings I observed were in the 30% area, some were as high as 70% ( kitchen cabinets)

We plan on redoing a kitchen and 3 bathrooms so it seems like a worthwile investment. What I'm looking for is the negatives.

Are their delivery problems?

Hidden costs?

Warranty issues?

If you buy kitchen cabinets, do contractors avoid installing them because you cut them out of the buying process?

Any feedback would be appreciated as I know my fellow Noreasters will give a unbiased opinion.

Thanks

This post edited by PURSUITWA 09:46 AM 03/23/2008

 

[Makoman16]

Yes, I've been a member for just over 2 years now and I love it. To date, we've saved over $15,000 furnishing 5 rooms and buying new stainless appliances. I only have another 6 rooms to go!

PWA wrote:
Are their delivery problems?They only deliver to the facility; you pick up your goods from there. 90% of my stuff arrived earlier than expected, so be prepared.

PWA wrote:
Hidden costs? Not really. You pay whatever the book states as the product price, plus shipping, plus 8% handling, plus sales tax. That's it. You make out the check.

PWA wrote:
Warranty issues?I haven't had to deal with any. I have recived an item that was damaged and they took care of it the next day.

Do your homework. If you need to make-over a kitchen, this decision is a no-brainer for you. Kitchen cabinets are the #1 mark-up in a house, followed by furniture.

May I suggest buying a single item you need to get used to filling out the purchase forms. I bought a dining room set and a bedroom set on my first attempt; 30 total pieces with different model numbers, etc. I wanted to strangle someone. After that though, piece of cake. Simply process. Honest.

 

[Slacker]

I signed up about 10 years ago when I purchased a waterfront fixer-upper and it has worked out for me. At the time I was faced with many purchases while renovating the house and saved plenty. It only cost about $1500 at that time.

What I learned was that there are certain types of purchases that you can save big on, others not so much. For example, furniture and lighting seem to have big retail mark-ups, big savings there. Consumer electronics are sold by stores like PC Richard on a low margin, you can't save much on those. Also saved on kitchen cabinets, Bathroom fixtures, carpet and floor tile, sporting goods... Our contractors installed the products that were delivered to our house, but you must order in advance so you have the stuff ready when the contractors start.

Another advantage is that you shop from the manufactures catalog, not from what a retailer happens to carry. Result is you can select from a wider range of products.

Disadvantage, it is very time consuming to research the purchase and go through the books. There can also be a delay waiting for products to be shipped by the manufacturer - I once waited six months for outdoor patio furniture. I haven't been there in a while, but I think there is a service charge of about six percent. Most products you must pick up yourself. You inspect it, if its damaged they send it back, otherwise you load it up and take it home. In Nassau they have a local guy with a truck for big stuff at reasonable cost.

The sales pitch they use is tough, it can easily scare you away. I think the bottom line is that if you know that you will be making substantial purchases in the near future, it can work out. You have to do your homework though.

This post edited by Slacker 11:04 AM 03/23/2008

 

[Flukinicehole]

I was a member for 10 years. I bought the membership for $1500 for the first 2 years and $99 for the next 8. They really went up in price but you will save a bunch of money if you use it. I put a 1400 sq. ft. addition on and bought all my flooring, kitchen cabinets, plumbing fixtures from them and saved thousands. Delivery was good and I had no complaints. I installed everything my self so I didnt have to deal with there contractors. I also bought other furniture from them and was very happy with everything. I even returned a piece of carpet and there was no problem. I have a 12x17 room and the carpet was only 11'10 and there is no way I could streatch it that much. They took it back and I had a new piece in 2 weeks. You have to use them to get the money out of them and make sure to try to go there during the week. They tend to get busy on the weekends.

 

[PURSUITWA]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[635611]

you have three bathrooms and your worried about saving money. this whole world is going crazy

 

[PURSUITWA]

bill123 wrote:
you have three bathrooms and your worried about saving money. this whole world is going crazy

Actually 2 1/2 baths. How does that make me crazy? It's a 60 yr old house that still has all the original fixtures. My kitchen looks like a set from the I love Lucy show.

 

[635611]

sorry, good luck with your renovations

 

[Scott1280]

PURSUITWA wrote:
bill123 wrote:
you have three bathrooms and your worried about saving money. this whole world is going crazy

Actually 2 1/2 baths. How does that make me crazy? It's a 60 yr old house that still has all the original fixtures. My kitchen looks like a set from the I love Lucy show.

You missed it: A guy with 2-1/2 bathrooms much be "Loaded" and therefore "money is no object". Couldn't be that you're careful with your spending and THAT is the reason you could afford such a nice home. It's all about the thought process.

 

[PURSUITWA]

Scott1280 wrote:
PURSUITWA wrote:
bill123 wrote:
you have three bathrooms and your worried about saving money. this whole world is going crazy

Actually 2 1/2 baths. How does that make me crazy? It's a 60 yr old house that still has all the original fixtures. My kitchen looks like a set from the I love Lucy show.

You missed it: A guy with 2-1/2 bathrooms much be "Loaded" and therefore "money is no object". Couldn't be that you're careful with your spending and THAT is the reason you could afford such a nice home. It's all about the thought process.

No, I got it Scott. I just didn't feel like defending my house that has 2 1/2 very old bathrooms and an equally old kitchen.

 

[STRIKERTHREE]

PURSUITWA wrote:
Scott1280 wrote:
PURSUITWA wrote:
bill123 wrote:
you have three bathrooms and your worried about saving money. this whole world is going crazy

Actually 2 1/2 baths. How does that make me crazy? It's a 60 yr old house that still has all the original fixtures. My kitchen looks like a set from the I love Lucy show.

You missed it: A guy with 2-1/2 bathrooms much be "Loaded" and therefore "money is no object". Couldn't be that you're careful with your spending and THAT is the reason you could afford such a nice home. It's all about the thought process.

No, I got it Scott. I just didn't feel like defending my house that has 2 1/2 very old bathrooms and an equally old kitchen.

Your gonna need that money saved to fix what you find behind those old walls

 

[unclegary47]

Warning

Don't know if you're going to do the work yourself or get a contractor but if you do get someone make **** sure "EVERYTHING" is written down in a contract. That's all.

Good Fishin
UNC

PS::: Even if it's your BROTHER !!!!!

 

[fish4me]

unclegary47 wrote:
Don't know if you're going to do the work yourself or get a contractor but if you do get someone make **** sure "EVERYTHING" is written down in a contract. That's all.


Good Fishin
UNC

PS::: Even if it's your BROTHER !!!!!

From experience, I would rather deal with a stranger than with family.

 

[Saltyu]

Direct Buy

I know how you feel after getting roped into that hard sell - the "if you don't commit now, you can never join" routine. Rest assured, if you will be making some larger purchases, it's worth it. I bought some major appliances for 50% of what Lowes was charging for identical items. Now I'm getting into furniture - some legwork involved, but I'm getting good deals on nice stuff.

One note - they will charge you a couple of extra points if you use a credit card - so go with a check (or cash). Also shipping charges vary great depending on the item - but size, weight and price, don't seem to be the determining factors - it depends on the efficiency of the manufacturer's distribution system ($10 shipping for a $600 range, and $30 shipping for a $100 barstool??). These are listed on the price sheets, so make sure you check them out.

I notice that they sell some nice Garmin GPS units, unfortunately, there isn't a huge retail markup on these, so the savings aren't that great.

 

[Makoman16]

Saltyu wrote:
One note - they will charge you a couple of extra points if you use a credit card - so go with a check (or cash).

I believe they changed that aspect within the past 12 months. They used to charge a flat 6% service charge and only accepted checks or cash. Too many customers had issues with not being able to buy on credit, so they changed the service charge to 8% (to cover the 1-2% that credit card companies charge) and now let you pay via credit card if you are interested in doing so. If not, so be it, but you still pay the 8%.

By the way, most shipping bills are "estimated", albeit very accurately. If they do overcharge you, you will be reimbursed for the price difference.

 

[Slacker]

Sometimes I don't think I save any money there at all, my wife just picks out the most expensive of whatever it was we were shopping for and we still spend the same amount of money we otherwise would have.

We seem to benefit more in terms of higher quality merchandise for middle of the road cost than actually spending less money.

 

[Makoman16]

Slacker wrote:
We seem to benefit more in terms of higher quality merchandise for middle of the road cost than actually spending less money.

That is exactly it. In fact, that is how they recommend you use the membership. You now have the ability to buy "expensive" goods for the same amount that you would have spent on "average" goods.

I love it.

 

[outrageous21]

I will give one example, looked at a bedroom furniture set and priced it in a bunch of stores, beautiful stuff and it averaged about $2500-$2800 without tax or delivery. I bought the same exact furniture set from direct buy for $1800 and that was after tax and delivery. They dont deliver themselves but they have companies they reccomend.

I can not believe how much they jacked up there price though. Seems like it would only be worth it now, if you had to do every single room in the house. I bet the contractors order from there and then mark it up for their customers and make money on it.

 

[outrageous21]

I just wanted to mention one more thing, I am not a direct buy member, a friend of mine has a mother who is though, and I went in there with her and bought my furniture, the people who worked there obviously knew what we were doing and did not seem to care. So if you really want to save money get a friend to sign up then ask him if you can come along.

And if they give you a problem just make this face