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Show Check "Buying Clubs" before Joining FTC survey revealed that only two of those contacted had been in business over eight years and during the survey 192 clubs went out of business. - Remember the smart consumer investigates before he invests. FTC survey revealed that actual income from the sale of merchandise was less than $3.5 million,' whereas income from the ' sale - of memberships was $21.4 million. Consumers can no doubt find values in some buying clubs, but you must evaluate the clubs savings claims before you join. Do the claimed savings justify your going into debt to save money? Are the saving claims off "suggested retail" or "manufacturer's list price"? Will it require you to shop at different stores than you normally patronize? Do you always need the item right now, or could you wait and watch for the item to come on sale? Buying clubs sometimes employ high-pressure or hard sale techniques. If you must buy now or lose the chance to join.. .if they'll give you a discount today but not tomorrow.. .or if they need to qualify you for membership look out! These techniques don't have to be used by a club offering legitimate bargains. One of the major buying club draw backs historically has been their instability as business organizations. The "Fight inflation, join a buying club. Combine your purchasing power with other consumers and enjoy lower prices." The claims are appealing but beware. "Buying Clubs" may not save you money and in factcan be more expensive ex-pensive than shopping the local retail stores. "Buying Clubs" sell memberships by representing that its members will get brand name merchandise at prices lower than those found in retail stores. - When you join a buying club you most likely will be required to pay a large . membership fee up front. A survey conducted by - the Federal Trade Commission revealed that 80 percent charged $200 or more to join and that membership fees from $400 to $600 were not unusual. Elementary mathematics reveal that your membership mem-bership fee puts you in the red. If you paid $500 to join and saved 25 percent on everything you bought, you would still have to spend $2,000 before you broke even, and even more if you borrowedthe $500. Income statistics from the |