A different kind of resale vs. direct purchase question

[goneviral]

There are benefits to purchasing directly from Disney involving the DVC Concierge Collection, Disney cruises and whatnot that resale purchasers no longer possess.

Assuming I would like to have those, my question involves multiple purchases.

If I buy through DVC initially, do I have the ability to use these services on all future points purchases? If I buy a resale first but purchase directly later, would I get the abilities down the road or are they always unavailable to me?

I believe there are five reasonable scenarios here:

1) Buy points directly. Buy resale later. Have all Disney Points Exchange ability.

2) Buy points directly. Buy resale later. Only have Disney Points Exchange ability for initial purchase points and any future ones purchased directly.

3) Buy Resale first. Buy points directly later. Never have Disney Points Exchange ability.

4) Buy Resale first. Buy points directly later. Only have Disney Points Exchange for Direct purchase points.

5) Buy Resale first. Buy points directly late. Have full Disney Points Exchange ability for all DVC points.

Which is correct? Is there anything I should know about this sort combined approach for points acquisition?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dbs1228]

It does not matter how or what combination you buy your points. Direct purchases through DVC have all exchange abilities. All resale purchases are limited. So 2 and 4 are correct.

 

[JimMIA]

Assuming I would like to have those...

Be careful -- you know what happens when we assume, right?

Before you make that assumption, check the points requirements for those options.

And then, understand that they are just "perks," they are not guaranteed for direct purchasers. They could be changed or discontinued at any time with one stroke of the Mouse's pen...just like they were for resale points.

Now, having said that, the answer is quite simple:

Right now, any points you purchase direct will have those "benefits." Any points you buy resale will not.

That could change in any number of ways somewhere down the road.

 

[Dean]

There are benefits to purchasing directly from Disney involving the DVC Concierge Collection, Disney cruises and whatnot that resale purchasers no longer possess.

Assuming I would like to have those, my question involves multiple purchases.

If I buy through DVC initially, do I have the ability to use these services on all future points purchases? If I buy a resale first but purchase directly later, would I get the abilities down the road or are they always unavailable to me?

I believe there are five reasonable scenarios here:

1) Buy points directly. Buy resale later. Have all Disney Points Exchange ability.

2) Buy points directly. Buy resale later. Only have Disney Points Exchange ability for initial purchase points and any future ones purchased directly.

3) Buy Resale first. Buy points directly later. Never have Disney Points Exchange ability.

4) Buy Resale first. Buy points directly later. Only have Disney Points Exchange for Direct purchase points.

5) Buy Resale first. Buy points directly late. Have full Disney Points Exchange ability for all DVC points.

Which is correct? Is there anything I should know about this sort combined approach for points acquisition?

Thanks in advance.

As noted, 2 & 4 currently. I think Jim's info is critical, none of these are contractual. They may vanish or change in such a way to be even worse in the future. Now it's possible DVC may elect to give one the chance to cross the isle in the future but at a cost of some sort, likely a steep one. Realize all of these programs have already changed. Cruise points are worse now than they generally were in the past. The CC collection has changed such that few of the items there early on are still around. The other Disney hotels that allow one to use points generally now require the $95 non refundable fee. GF and Poly will drop out of that program and likely some or all of the DL resorts as well. II was the exchange company when most current members bought, RCI is now and most consider II a superior product for the purpose of exchanging DVC. Why pay a dramatic amount more for something that would be cheaper if you simply bought less points and paid cash and for the right of assuming the risks that you might not even have these options in the future anyway. If one is in a position where buying retail makes sense like VGC or VGF, it's good to have options, but to pay thousands simply for options of little or no true value seems silly to me.

 

[JimMIA]

II was the exchange company when most current members bought, RCI is now and most consider II a superior product for the purpose of exchanging DVC.

Just a little clarification here. BOTH direct and resale points are eligible for use in RCI exchanges.

And, although it's difficult to predict the future, I think it is unlikely that resale points would be excluded from exchanges. The reason is that in order for there to be exchanges DVC owners must be able to exchange OUT -- nobody exchanging out, no availability for RCI members to exchange IN.

The ability of ALL DVC owners to exchange would be adversely affected if DVC allowed only direct points to be used for exchanges. So much so, in fact, that DVC would not be as attractive a partner for the exchange companies.

 

[Dean]

Just a little clarification here. BOTH direct and resale points are eligible for use in RCI exchanges.

And, although it's difficult to predict the future, I think it is unlikely that resale points would be excluded from exchanges. The reason is that in order for there to be exchanges DVC owners must be able to exchange OUT -- nobody exchanging out, no availability for RCI members to exchange IN.

The ability of ALL DVC owners to exchange would be adversely affected if DVC allowed only direct points to be used for exchanges. So much so, in fact, that DVC would not be as attractive a partner for the exchange companies.

Yes Jim, my point though was that things change. Buying in thinking they won't, or the changes won't get you, is a poor though process.

 

[goneviral]

Thank you for the detailed answers.

 

[brmillsy]

On another note, as was pointed out, actually using your points for a cruise or one of the adventure collections etc. is really a bad idea from a value standpoint. Scan through some of these posts on this board and aside from some subtle interpretations the conclusions are all the same.

If you want to go to Sedona or something like that then just find a good deal and do it. Rent your points that year to raise some cash if you have to or a hundred other ways to do it will be a better use of your resources.

So in the end it makes no sense to me anyway as to why anyone would buy direct for the sole reason of getting the privilege to waste your money

Now there might be other reasons you want to buy direct like getting the points now at a new resort for example.

Actually I always thought it was a pretty clever idea that Disney came up with to limit the use of resale points in this way. Disney does not really want to kill the resale market, in fact they artificially prop it up and they use this hard in the sales process. Anyone who really thinks about this "limitation" for very long is not going to see it as anything that would prevent them from going resale and their direct sales team gets some ammunition to use with the average buyer when this comes up.

 

[Sandisw]

I do think it is so important for those considering direct purchases to know that using those other options can be changed at anytime and that, IMO, should not really be part of the decision to pay more to buy through Disney.

While there could be reasons to do so, beyond financial, knowing what you are buying and what you are guaranteed is important.

If you choose to buy direct because there are certain options available, knowing full well those could go away tomorrow and are okay with spending extra for the time they are there, great. I just would hate to see someone spend more, only to find out later that those options can be eliminated, even for direct purchased points.