The Direct Buy for St. Louis is now located far, far west in Chesterfield Valley, near the airport. With the Hwy 40 closure, it will make that long trip become impractical. Great opportunity to opan a Direct Buy in the city.
It would need some warehouse space, a front office, adequate parking, and a situation in a populous and resonably prosperous demographic. I don't know if the Chesterfield location holds an exclusive territory. There is a Direct Buy on the east side.
I did a google search for "direct buy" and the third hit is from infommercial.com with 345 complaints. I hear they utilize high-pressure tactics and require $4000 in an upfront membership fee just to buy from their catalog.
I'm not saying anything bad about them. Just do some due diligence and look out for yourself.
kujay wrote:I see their infomercials all the time. Seems like a good idea if you are a rehabber or maybe completely furnishing a new house.
Sort of like an expensive Sam's Club for home furnishings, right?
From what I've read, it's hard to compare prices anyway, as they typically carry the very top of the line, and only compare to MSRP. So you get a lot of "why pay $9,000 for this sofa at other retailers when we have it for only $7,300!??".
Most reviews -- eve discounting ones from people who didn't sign up -- are horrendous. Many members say that finding prices online is impossible, forcing a visit to the sales-pressure atmosphere of the "showroom" which is primarily a repository for catalogs. This, in turn, means that merchandise must be shipped, at pretty high cost, and takes weeks to get there, and then you must go pick it up.
Also, you can't get prices there and compare to others. If you don't sign up before you walk out, you can't join (ostensibly) for four years. There is nothing about their practices, from what I can tell, that speaks to a legitimate business model.
From their website, it looks like it's like Amway, except without the benefit of a warm meal at the home of the "friend" who makes the sales pitch to you.
I picked up items at Direct Buy today from their dock; it's a bit of an errand to drive from the City to the other side of Chesterfield Commons (I got stuck in a Jam on Olive the day before). Today I took Page to 270 to 40.
Back when I joined, it was United Consumers Club, closer in, near Page and Warson or Lindbergh, or so. But they grew and had to upgrade to bigger facilities more centered in the affluent areas, apparently.
The UCC/Direct Buy is not an impluse-event like visiting a store. It's rather a library with tables, and catalogs on shelves, and the use of their delivery and loading dock. Any products in any of the catalogs you have a right to purchase and have shipped to their dock. Then it's your responsibility to inspect and transport the merchandise from there, in your van, in your truck, whatever. For example, they have the Hon office furniture catalogs, for files and desks etc, and those are phone-book sized. Direct Buy is a good option for large orders. And you should know what you intend to buy.
There's not much salesmanship. Aside that the staff will help you to locate the relevant catalogs or categories. And they will look over your itemized-list to check it against the catalog's requirements, for correctness.
Must pay MO sales tax (no tax numbers).
No resale.
Handling fee on my order today was 8 percent pretax.
Shipping this time was 15 days. (It's taken longer on other buys. It depends.)
My annual fee is $145 or so.
Yes, I paid a significant fee when I joined.
You are supposed to pick up shipments in 3 days or pay $5 per day, but that's not really an issue.
It's a drag having to travel way out to Chesterfield. Would be great to have one at a City warehouse. I don't think it would compete directly with most of the City businesses. Probably bring county people downtown.
