How much do you charge?
For most projects we only charge a one-off success fee, meaning that you only pay us from any saving we help you make, easy! For more complex projects, such as helping you to find and buy a property, we often ask for a retainer to help cover the cost of our time (which is fully refundable against the final success fee). Just contact us to let us know more detail about what exactly you would like us to help you buy, so we can agree a success fee for your project that you are happy with.
When and how do I pay you?
That depends on the project you have given us. For most transactions you only pay us after your purchase has been made, and you simply pay us straight from the savings we have made for you as agreed, easy! For some more complex projects, such as helping you to find a property, we may ask for an upfront retainer before we begin our extensive research on your behalf, which then gets deducted from the final success fee you pay us when we find the right property for you. You can pay electronically or by cash – whichever you prefer.
Is there anything you can’t help us buy?
No! Whatever you ask for that’s what we help you source and buy, easy! Generally though we do aim to help only with transactions where we can save you a decent amount of money, so maybe you can generally think of a purchase of say a purchase for $5,000+ as a starting point...
What if you can't save us any money?
If we can’t save you money we won’t charge you a cent, unless we have agreed on a retainer (for a more complex project). Generally though, for all purchases other than buying a property or a business, we only ask for payment by a success fee if we save you money.. so no success means no cost to you, easy!
Do you make the purchase or do we?
You make the final purchase in your own name. Our role is to help to negotiate the best possible price for you, then we hand over to you, still facilitating and closely overseeing the process of you signing contracts with the vendor. We draw in our team of professionals as needed, such as lawyers to oversee the drafting of complex contracts, to ensure that you end up with the best possible deal, precisely matching your needs.
How long does it take?
That depends on what you are after and also when you need it by. If it is a straightforward purchase, say of a new car, we generally hope to conclude your purchase within say a week. Naturally for more complex purchases, such as say helping you to find an investment property, that could take weeks letalone months to find you the perfect property, remembering too that in negotiation time can be our friend or our enemy.
How do you get things cheaper?
That's what we are expert at, and the simple answer is it has taken many many years to get to where we are now! Specialist skills in procurement, negotiation and the like are only half the battle. We also have developed a massive database and network of vendors across a vast array of purchases, which just keeps growing by the day!
And frankly it’s all about being persistent, not taking no for an answer, and keeping knocking on the right doors until we get the answer we need to save you money! That’s what we love doing, partly because we know how much most people hate it! We get a kick out of seeing the smile on your face when we tell you we have saved you money, and all you needed to do was sit back and let us do all the work!
Why should I trust you with my purchase?
We are a team of highly experienced purchasing and negotiation specialists, with many years of hands-on experience in sourcing the best product at the best price, with literally tens of thousands of transactions under our belt. This is all we do and we love it!
Our experience is backed up by high level tertiary qualifications, and all relevant licensing (ie we are fully accredited real estate agents), in addition to attending countless specialist courses and workshops facilitated by the best people from around the globe, to help keep us at the cutting edge of best practise, as things keep changing fast!
And remember it’s not just your money we invest! We also have many years of experience investing our own hard earned dollars in real estate and other areas too, so we do know what you are looking for.
Just look at the Testimonials section to see what some of our recent clients have had to say about the service we have offered them... we’d love to help you too!
Do you operate nationally?
Yes we do, absolutely. We service clients across the country, and most importantly, no matter where you happen to be based, we source your purchase wherever in the globe we can find it most cost-effectively for you.
That is one of the biggest advantages we offer you, simply by widening the scope of your search. Whereas you might be looking mainly locally, our job is simply to find, talk to and negotiate with the best possible vendors across Australia or the globe wherever they may be – and that’s what we do best!
Who is your team?
Mike Chalmers is our founder and Chief Buyologist. He and the team are then supported by a host of specialists and professionals across different industries, whose expertise we draw on as required to help facilitate the best possible outcome for you, our valued client. We make it all happen ‘magically’ behind the scenes, working across our vast networks and with the benefit of all our accumulated ‘tricks of the trade’.. but all you see is when we come back to you with the great news that we have saved you money!
Are you qualified and licensed?
Absolutely. Our team hold high level tertiary qualifications across key areas such as Procurement, Investment and Negotiation. This is backed up by ongoing specialist training, to ensure we keep at the cutting edge of global best practise, drawing on the skills and training of specialist practitioners right around the globe.
We are also licensed to purchase real estate on your behalf, having undergone the required Training and being duly registered.
Do you offer a guarantee?
We offer an unconditional 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you are not fully satisfied with our service, and we haven’t yet helped you make your final purchase, then we will agree to release you from our contract, no questions asked.
We also offer a simple guarantee that if we can’t save you money you pay us nothing (other than for more complex purchases such as property, where we may request an upfront retainer given the amount of time we will be spending).
Are you a Member of the Real Estate Institute?
Yes we are members of the Real Estate Institute, the peak real estate industry association, ensuring best practice and ethical conduct in our industry.
Are you available weekends and after hours should I need to contact you?
Absolutely. We understand how important this transaction is to you and how emotional it can be, so we make ourselves available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, no questions asked! Just call 0418 6666 22, we will answer ok!
How long has Buyologists been offering their services?
We have been sourcing, procuring and negotiating pricing across a huge range of items over many many years now, more than we would like to remember in fact! Before we first established Buyologists, so as to help people like you get a better deal on your major purchases, we had some twenty odd years of our own direct hands–on experience, helping our clients to source a vast array of products from suppliers right around the globe, and ultimately supplying to a huge range of clients right across the country.
What happens if I find a better price?
For most purchases, we agree with you at the outset the ‘benchmark’ price we need to beat for you, in order to save you money – ie. the best price you have managed to find yourself so far . Once we have agreed this benchmark price in writing, even if you do happen to find a better price after that, our agreement will still stand based on the original benchmark we agreed. As soon as we both agree on that benchmark, on our end we then proceed right away to spend significant time and effort, in order to help you secure the best possible price, which you have asked us to do.
So it would obviously be unfair on us to then change the terms of our agreement following that point. Can you imagine going to the shop and saying, “listen I bought this item at this price a little while ago, but now I’ve found a better price.. so will you give me some of my money back now please !” We are no different..
Do you ever receive kickbacks or commissions?
No not ever, as we are simply paid by you straight out of the money we have helped you save, easy!
How will you communicate with us?
We will keep in touch with you regularly, as we are great believers in the benefit of effective communication. Initially we will sit down with you and ask you a host of questions, listening carefully to your answers, to ensure that between us we then come up with the right brief to help you find what you need at the best possible price.
Then, as we embark on your project, we will keep you informed as to our progress and of course come back to you to clarify things where we are needing more detail re your preferences etc.
How did Buyologists start?
Chief Buyologist, Mike Chalmers started ‘wheeling and dealing’ from a very young age. Buying and selling at garage sales and markets, working in antique shops and the like, it was very clear from the outset that this was in his blood!
So naturally, when he went off to University to make his way in the world, his main areas of interest were still very much entrepreneurial - thus his studies encompassed areas such as Commerce/Finance/Procurement and Negotiation/Game Theory.
From there he joined a major multinational where he quickly progressed through to Management ranks, before soon realising that the bureaucracy and machinations of the corporate world really wasn’t the life for him - too many meetings and not enough action and results!
So he proceeded to leave the corporate world and duly establish his own hugely successful, nationally based global merchandising business. There he and his team sourced a vast array of products from across the globe, to meet the needs of business clients around the country and also abroad.
It was here that he really honed and sharpened his procurement and negotiation skills, always getting the best possible deals for his clients, whether the supplier was in China, Vietnam, India, the US.. or maybe just down the road!
And along the way he took every opportunity to attend specialist Training and Workshops in mission-critical areas such as Negotiation and Procurement, drawing on the best and most experienced minds from right around the globe, in his quest to sharpen his own skills and keep abreast of best practise in a fast changing world.
As that business grew rapidly. Mike saw early on the potential opportunity to broaden the gamut of what they were doing there, to help anyone source literally anything - as this was just a natural extension of what they were already doing!
So some years later he did just that! He successfully sold that business and quickly embarked on establishing his new business, Buyologists.. and here we are today!
