I am a licensed general contractor specializing in residential remodeling projects. With 20 years of commercial experience and over 10 years of residential experience, I have a very good insight in project costs and markups.
My wife and I recently attended an introductory meeting at a local Directbuy showroom. I had no intention of joining a club or warehouse discount store. As the presenter was giving his speil, I commented to my wife that we were NOT paying any membership dues. I expected the fee to be around $1000.00 per year. At the end of the presentation, the presenter stated the membership dues were $5960.00 for 2 years and $198.00 per year from years 3 - 10. I laughed out loud (and embarrassed my wife). As I was getting ready to leave my wife said let's look at some of the merchandise they offer.
We recently had a house fire and lost all our clothes, 3 bedroom sets, tv's, alarm clocks, etc. And the contents of 3 bathrooms. We recently paid over $13,000 for the 3 bedroom sets alone at a big box wholesale house. We still had mattresses, bedding, curtains, rugs, tile, bathtubs, lighting, vanities and all the fixtures.
We looked at the manufacturer catalogs for the 3 recently purchased bathrrom sets and found the exact items and their listed retail price. We were relieved to see the price we paid at the big box store was about 25% less than suggested retail.
However, when we saw the price offered to Directbuy members was 40% of suggested retail for the exact items, we calculated our member price to be less than $6,100.00 including shipping & tax. Right there and then our savings amounted to over $6,900.00 just for the bedroom furniture alone. We still had so much more that we needed to replace. But the initial savings for our bedroom furniture would more than cover the first 2-year membership dues.
We signed up right then and there and have not looked back since.
I believe the Directbuy program is NOT suited for everyone nor is it intended to be. The consumer preparing for many major purchases either for a new home, remodeled home or one that needs to be restored stand to benefit the most. The consumer with a small or limited remodeling project could probably do better overall shopping around for bargains or try working with your contractor.
RichEl Dorado Hills, California
U.S.A.
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