DirectBuy - Tucson

We have been Direct Buy members for 3 years. In November 2012 we bought a top of the line HVAC system with air purification, humidification, and new ducting. Their contractor was great. We highly recommend purchasing a membership as we saved over $4000 in discounts purchasing through Them. The savings more than justify the membership costs and their contractors are top notch

The basic idea of Direct Buy is simple - you pay a membership fee, and you then are able to purchase a vast array of products at manufacturer's prices - i.e. with NO retail markup at all (warehouse clubs, in contrast, do have retail markup on the stuff they sell - their markup is just lower than regular retailers). When we joined (late 2011), we knew that because Direct Buy membership costs about $3K, it might take a while to get to the and quot;break-even point.and quot; (the point when your savings from making purchases through them cancels out the paid cost of membership). But, because we were fixing up a new home, we were able to and quot;break-evenand quot; pretty quickly, and have been doing nothing but saving since. So far we have bought through Direct Buy: a refrigerator, a clothes dryer, a washing machine, new carpet, a dresser, a bed, and silverware at manufacturer pricing. They also have relationships with other services/retailers around town that offer a discount on their services/products to DB members; we got a new HVAC system through Intelligent Design HVAC with a DB discount, and also bought tons of Dunn-Edwards paint with a discount. As far as cost-effectiveness, Direct Buy was definitely a good decision for us, and would be a really good investment for anyone planning on doing any remodeling (new floors, cabinets, countertops,etc), refurnishing, redecorating, and/or getting new appliances/electronics. I only have two and quot;complaintsand quot; about Direct Buy. (1) They have limited weekend hours (no Sunday at all), which makes it difficult for those with regular work obligations to get down to the showroom. It would be so nice if they were open all day on Sat and Sun - we have so many projects to do there, but cannot go during the week, and Sat is not great either, unfortunately. (2) The website is a little slow and many products aren't online (showroom only). Because we have a hard time getting down to the showroom, we would love to see the website expanded and sped up (it has improved quite a bit lately though).

I am really having problems with them. You have to pay $3000 up front to them. Then you are supposed to be able to buy things at the manufacture price. The thing is they add their 8% handling fee, delivery charge, fuel charge and tax for buying on the internet. The trying to get through to them is very difficult. It took my six months to get my kitchen cabinets ordered. They are supposed to be top of the line though. I still think buying cabinets is not easy with the Direct Buy. My pantry cabinet door warped at the one corner recently. I was able to get a replacement door free and easily corrected the problem. That was a big plus for the Tucson Direct Buy (Sandra).