This article explores the concept of market embeddedness and its impact on pur- chasing behavior in a consumer market. Embeddedness exists when consumers derive utility from two sources simultaneously: from attributes of the product and from social capital found in preexisting ties between buyers and sellers. This frame- work is applied to the home party method of direct sales. We find that the degree of social capital present, as measured by the strength of the buyer-seller tie and buyer indebtedness to the seller, significantly affects the likelihood of purchase.