Daily Scribble

Dream kitchen almost comes true

4 Comments

Technically speaking it is not my dream kitchen, it is Pat’s dream kitchen. Ok, a guy don’t have a dream kitchen, maybe a dream garage, but definitely not a dream kitchen.

For the past two days, I was losing sleep worrying about my $5000 Direct Buy membership fee. I was so worry that it is a scam like many people say online and I have to go through all the trouble to get my money back and worse feeling like an idiot got ripped off. Today after spending three hours meeting with the kitchen designer in Direct Buy, my worry is gone. He is one of the most professional and helpful kitchen designer I have met, much better than those at Home Depot or the Chinese cabinet contractors. Most important of all, their claim of 40% saving in kitchen cabinet is true. I will recoup my membership fee just from the kitchen alone. We don’t have the final quote yet, because we are still fine tuning kitchen design idea. Judging from the estimate, we are $2000 ahead in saving taking the the membership fee and 15% sales discount in Home Depot. The price is comparable to Chinese cabinet contractors but we are getting cabinets from Kitchen Craft.

I spent some time study their catalog, checking the price against retail stores. The price is ok in general. Some stuff is pretty good deal, some stuff are actually more expensive. It beats those boutique shop or designer shops charging clueless customers fat margin, but does not give save much pitching against big chain stores, especially when they are on sales. Big appliance has good deals, too bad that we don’t need to upgrading our appliances.

I have booked the second appointment with the kitchen designer to go over the details. So far I am happy with what I got from Direct Buy. Let’s see can they keep up with my expectation. I will keep readers posted with my Direct Buy adventure.

P.S. Direct Buy is a franchise and the membership fee and catalog selection is different from location to location. I read from Internet, some location is pretty bad. My location seems pretty good so far. Always get opinions from existing members in your location before making your decision.

Daily Scribble

Direct Buy, scam or big saving?

4 Comments

Can you believe I just pay $5000 for a membership at Direct Buy, hoping to recoup my membership fee from the saving I will get from the deep discounted catalog items through Direct Buy? At first, it sounds like a scam, I thought so too. CBC news even made a report on this company trying to uncover the scam. Internet forum has very mixed review. Someone call it out right fraud but someone think it is a good deal.

The idea of the Direct Buy is quite simple. You pay the heft membership fee, in return you buy product at manufacturer price plus 8% handling fee and freight fee. Retail shop make their profit from the mark up on the goods they are selling. Direct Buy basically makes money from membership fee. It has minimal customer service. You don’t get any sales who try to sell you stuff or answer your questions. You won’t even see the product you are buying. All you got is a room full of manufacturer catalog and a price. You have to look up all the specification, figure out the part number. You may have to go to retail shop to see the item for real. The staff there only do one thing, help you submit your order form. Then you have to wait for the shipment to come, anywhere from 2-4 weeks. Once you pick up the product, you are on your own to deal with the manufacturer with any warranty problem. You don’t get convenient refund or exchange policy from the retail store.

One thing people complain most is that Direct Buy use the typical high pressure selling tactics. They invite you to an open house, force feed you a video, so testimony form “happy” customers and make you sign the contract right away. The catch is you have to sign up on the spot or they will turn you down. Their claim is to protect their manufacturer price is confidential information, they don’t want shopper use it to leverage against retail shops. At first they refuse to show me the the produce catalog and the price. The sales only willing to quote a few items for me. That does not make sense to me. How can I make decision to spend $5000 without knowing how much I can save?

To keep the long story short, at the end we spent 3 hours in the place. The sales pretty up just gave up persuading me and let me wander the place on my own. I have access to all the catalog and able to check out the price as I like. The catalogs are from known manufacturers, not no name brands. Since I am shopping for furniture and house hold items a lot these days, I recognize many brands from the list. The selection is good, it probably beats any one retail store but can’t beat all retail stores combined. The price is actually pretty good. They are really selling at the cost or very close to the cost. For example, we just bought a Simmons mattress from the Bay on sales, the price of the same mattress at Direct Buy is $780 + 8% handling but not shipping = $842. We pay $715 at the Bay, but that’s on the 2 weeks only the Bay super mattress sales and the Bay somehow made an error in subtracting the box frame from the order to our favor. It should be about $810. The not on sales price at of the mattress is $2000 at the Bay, which is ridiculous. The market price I found when I shop around for the mattress is around $1200.

I check many other things and I am convinced they are real savings. It is probably in the order 20-25% rather than the 40-60% they claim. If I can spend $20000, then I could make my $5000 membership fee worth while. The bottom line is Direct Buy’s price beats non-sales price at retail shop, but probably can’t beat the sales price of big chain stores. You actually get access to many more products than you can find in retail shop but at the same time it limits your choice to their catalogs. The bang of the buck would be on big ticket items the retail store getting a fat margin like furniture, vanities, light fixtures, cabinet, fringe, etc. You won’t save much on small appliance as the chain stores probably get a better deal on sales. Since we are remodeling our kitchen and the cabinet is really cheaper than Home Depot. I decide to give it a try. Although the membership contract says absolutely no refund, by law BC has 10 days cool down period and I know there are court precedence winning against Direct Buy to get your money back within the first 10 days. If after doing more calculation, I could save close to $5000, I will keep my membership otherwise I will cancel it.

Stay tune on my price hunting adventure with Direct Buy. I will keep everyone posted. See whether I turn out to be an idiot got scam $5000 or a smart shopper who saves a lot.

News Clips

Unleashing the Counter-Reformation

2 Comments

I am looking forward to the day when the Catholic Church lift the celibacy requirement of priests. Maybe I could become a priest as my second career when I am bored working as an engineer.

Continue reading Unleashing the Counter-Reformation →

書評

The Logic of Life – Tim Harford

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87147

說起經濟學很多人會聯想起報章上沉悶的經濟數字﹐又或者認為經濟學只是炒股票賺錢的學問。若科普讀物將科學普及化﹐那經普讀物便是將經濟學普及化﹐用一般人也看得懂的文字﹐介紹經濟學的理論和新研究﹐讓讀者醒察經濟學與日常生活息息相關。Tim Harford的前作「臥底經濟學家」﹐是簡易經濟學入門的第一課﹐新作「生命的邏輯」繼續深入淺出地為讀者解釋何謂經濟學和其功用。

經濟學的基本並不數字或方程式﹐甚至亦與金錢沒有直接關係。經濟學是解釋人類行為的學問﹐假定人類大體上按理性思考﹐並懂得計算衡量得失和成本﹐從而推論出人類作出的選擇和其原因。作者在書中每一章也提出不同的生活現像﹐抽絲剝繭地用經濟學的方法﹐讓讀者明白表面看似毫無道理的事情﹐原來背後也是跟隨經濟學的定律運行。

愛滋病橫行導至青少年口交上升。經濟學博士用博奕理論﹐奪取世界樸克冠軍。公司總裁無甚作為卻收取天價薪酬。租屋樓宇地區比自置物業地區﹐治安和社會設施較差。民主制度被小數利益團體騎劫政策。甚至連種族歧視和殖民統治這些不公義的社會現。在經濟學下原來也有合理的解釋。要改變現狀先要明白成因才能對病下藥。若果不理解清楚因果關係﹐胡亂出於好意亂投藥石﹐恐怕只會帶來始料不及的更壞情況。

例如種族歧視源於微小無意識的個人偏好﹐因為經濟定律的關係被放大而陷入惡性循環。研究指出只需在起源處作微小的改變﹐便會得出完全不同的結果。書中最實用是博奕理論玩樸克的例子﹐以前我玩樸克輸多贏少﹐不過學懂利用納殊平衡來下注﹐不受對手的心理策略影響﹐減低在牌局中犯錯的機會﹐不求一舖大勝而把每局機會率優勢的積少成多﹐慢慢逐少逐少地贏錢。

作者是個說故事的能手﹐不知不覺間便輕輕鬆鬆讀完整本書。看著作者解決書中的經濟問題趣味橫溢﹐不過其中的經濟學解釋過份簡化﹐只說明研究的結果略去全部數據。閱讀時看似言之成理﹐但細想下來那些經濟學推論﹐有點太過一廂情願想當然矣。不過這類經普讀物要照顧讀者程度和可讀性﹐不能夠詳細例出數據和推論﹐幸好書後例出所有參考資料﹐讓有興趣的讀者去自行引證。

若果我們在討論社會問題時﹐能夠用運書中的經濟學方法﹐尋找客觀可信的解釋﹐相信可以讓社會變得更美好。可是不論經濟學解釋如何充份﹐還不能夠說服立場先於道理的對手。如果宗教人士認定青少年口交上升是因為道德腐敗﹐平權人士認定種族歧視是因為白人沙文主義﹐儘管經濟學提供解釋之餘也有改變的方法﹐他們也不一定能夠虛心接受。這讓我想起香港爭取最低工資的支持者﹐他們有沒有遵守理性的指引﹐先從經濟學的角度去理解他們想要解決的問題呢。

兩週一聚

兩週一聚﹕冬甩

5 Comments

前言﹕這是一個叫「兩周一聚」的活動。是網友米雪兒發起。每月十五日﹑三十日﹐一班住在世界不同角落的香港人都會一起寫同一個題目。今天是第二十四次相聚，由maggiejoella 出題﹐主題定為「冬甩」。

香港人對冬甩(Donut)一般不太熟識﹐城中唯一的冬甩店Crispy Cream也做不住。不過對於曾經或現正在北美生活的香港人﹐冬甩的我們的集體回憶和生活文化。雖然人老了害怕膽固醇﹐不敢多吃油膩的冬甩﹐偶然吃一個依然很滋味。

已經不記得何時第一次吃冬甩﹐是小時候隨家人來加拿大旅行﹐還是移民過來讀書的事。當年在小鎮讀寄宿學校﹐夜上沒有什麼地方可以去﹐唯獨冬甩店二十四小時開門。半夜幾個同學偷走出去吃冬甩﹐在冬甩店喝咖啡聊天﹐是為貪玩多於為醫肚。天寒地凍兼逢肚餓﹐在房中煮公仔麵其實比較舒服。

大學有一段時間我天天吃冬甩當早餐﹐校園冬甩店剛好在我早上第一課的課室旁。一件冬甩一杯齋啡經濟便宜﹐邊上堂邊抄筆記邊吃﹐連吃早餐的時間也省掉。後來蹺課蹺得厲害﹐晚上通宵玩電腦或做實驗﹐早上不願起床索性蹺掉全部早課﹐起床已是吃午飯的時間。不吃冬甩當早餐便改行吃冬甩當宵夜﹐晚上與同學在實驗室奮鬥到凌晨兩三點肚餓﹐派人出去冬甩店賣外賣﹐補充能量打醒精神

出來做事後﹐除了駕長途車停服務站外﹐很少自己買冬甩吃。當科網泡沫還未爆破時﹐當公司還是加拿大第三最大股票資產的企業時﹐每個星期早上的例會﹐公司供應免費冬甩﹐大伙兒邊開會邊吃過不亦樂乎。很來高科技行業經濟轉壞﹐在後來的大幅裁員前﹐最把這項員工福利裁掉了。不過吃冬甩的傳統還保留著﹐每當高層要舉行重要的特別會議﹐還是會帶盒冬甩進來勞軍。

冬甩有很多味道﹐以前我喜歡吃Vanallia Gaze或Double Chocolate﹐不過現在我的最愛是Honey Cruller。有些同事非Boston Cream不吃﹐不過我則認為這個太甜。至於其他古靈精怪的生果草苺味﹐我更是寧可吃純味也不吃﹐冬甩始終要傳統的味道才好吃。

齊吃冬甩者包括：
Maggiejoella,  Haricot,  Kempton, Nankin, Vince, hevangle, Sam, 浪子m, 五點, 老子, 木棉, 周游, 凡鳥雛 , Mugen C, …

若果想參加兩周一聚的朋友﹐可以參看這個網頁。