One of the things about operators like Direct Buy is service levels. They are designed as a clearing house for all categories of goods and are not specialized or knowledgeable about a product specifics as is a specialized dealer. If price is your only concern, then you can go for it, like buying from Amazon.com. But if you anticipate any service needs you're pretty much left out in the cold. And most customers are really mostly concerned about price. They forget about service levels until they need it.

Examples?

Let's say you get your new sofa and there are skipped stitches on a cushion seam that leaves a gap in the fabric between that and the welt seam of 1/4". If you buy from a reputable furniture store, it can get taken care of in minutes. They call the maker, arrange for the cover to get back to them (UPS, etc.) and know how to get an R/A done on a product along with which person to call at the manufacturer usually within a hour or two of your contact with the dealer. With operations like Direct Buy, you're not going to get that level of service, most likely you won't get a response at all and wind up sewing the seam up yourself.

Buy a leather sofa and there's a small scuff on it from the delivery company. Not bad enough to return it, or even contact a leather restoration expert. Just scuff. A dealer will get you a small bottle of touch-up at no charge mailed to you in a few days. Do you think an operation like Direct Buy would source that touch-up? Doubtful.

Or even at another level.... Your furniture arrives and you are HUGELY unhappy with it . Its not defective, you just don't like it for any number of reasons. With Direct Buy - you own it. Done. You get a manufacturer's warranty and that's it. In my experience 95% of all dissatisfaction issues are NOT warranty based. That's right...95%. Customers may have mis-calculated the scale, made a serious mistake in cover selection, have a perceived warranty issues that really isn't or a spouse goes ballistic over the cost and there is buyer's remorse...this happens. If you buy through a good dealer, they are going to work with you on a return/exchange in some manner. As of this writing, I currently have three customers (long-distance) that I am re-ordering product for because they were very unhappy with what they received. This doesn't mean its a no-cost transaction for the customer to do trade-outs (mostly delivery charges to and fro or some restock charges), but the point is a good dealer will try to make things right in some manner. Everyone shares the pain a little but at the end of the day the customer isn't stuck with something they don't want. As a dealer, I have an outlet for the returns and can put them on my sales floor. A franchise like Direct Buy does not. A dealer is not obligated to do that sort of thing, so it will vary from one to another, but those that try to do the right thing by their customers WILL work to find a solution to the dis-satisfaction that is palatable for all.

And that is why you find so many negatives about operations like Direct Buy. There is no service support with the sale and very little or no recourse if you don't like what you purchased.