Before I drink the kool aid...

[Nana2Callie]

We love WDW and have been 5 trips in the last 4 years and certainly plan an annual trip for several years going forward. We stay Value and Moderate, but last trip did the DVC tour and a lot of it made sense to us. Now, my question is buying resale or direct. Of course, the salesmen said "direct is better deal because of perks such as cruise discounts" but I'm not sure if that is accurate or more of a pitch. Can someone tell me the real difference in buying direct or resale? Thanks so much! Also, where do I look to find info on resale contracts and prices?

 

[JimMIA]

Now, my question is buying resale or direct. Of course, the salesmen said "direct is better deal because of perks such as cruise discounts" but I'm not sure if that is accurate or more of a pitch.

It's a sales pitch with a grain of truth. You can't use resale points for cruises, or ABD, or non-DVC Disney resorts and a few other things.

But to fully evaluate those "perks," you have to look carefully at their cost. Not just the added cost of buying direct, but more importantly the points costs of those options. If you look at the points costs, I think you'll quickly decide you don't want those "perks."

Those restrictions however, do NOT include RCI. Regardless of how points are purchased, they can be used for exchanges outside of DVC via RCI.

The other thing to keep in mind about any and all "perks" is that they are NOT guaranteed. They can and do change, sometimes with little or no notice.

Can someone tell me the real difference in buying direct or resale?

The buy-in price is the difference.

Some will talk about the quickness, sureness, and ease of financing purchasing direct. My personal opinion is that anyone who is focused on those things is missing the forest for the trees. Don't be distracted by fleeting benefits; keep your eye on the main pros and cons...not the little stuff.

The other benefit you will hear is that you can't buy brand new resorts resale because there are none for sale yet. Currently, that's VGF and soon, Poly. That is true; the question is whether the huge price premium is worth the benefit to your family. It's not to my family, but YMMV.

Also, where do I look to find info on resale contracts and prices?

The banner ad at the top of the page is for the Timeshare Store, the leading resale broker and longtime sponsor of the DIS DVC boards. I've bought and sold through them with great results both ways every time. Unlike one or two other brokers, TTS has a great deal of experience and market knowledge and they have always delivered great customer service in all of my dealings with them.

You can also Google dvc resales and find other brokers.

One thing to know about resale is that the brokers are closely regulated by Florida's very tight real estate industry regulators. The resale brokers have to meet exactly the same standards as Disney itself.

 

[com_op_2000]

Here is the Disboards threads of resales that have past or been ROFRed:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3297614

Checkout this boards sponse TimeShareStore.com for resale listings. Remeber all part of the resale contract are negotiable, just like any resale house listing.

Difference between direct and resale:
Direct has locations outside the DVC resorts and RCI that you can exchange too including DVC Concierge Collection, WDW Resort Hotels, DCL, and others.

Remember to do a lot of reading if you are just now learning about DVC. read the stickies at the top of this section, read a lot of the threads on this board, and know the following terms before buying:
ROFR
UY
MF

Then do some more reading.

 

[ngchiro]

My experience was maybe similar. Our family grew to 6 and we needed larger rooms in addition. That meant DVC. The upgrade was also to Deluxe. I was skeptical that rates would rise like they predicted to the point you save 50-70% on future vacations but that seems to have occurred despite my unbelief. With the cost of ongoing annual dues/fees, you do increase also, but not as much as rack rates. Also you can't take advantage of specials like 30-40% off and Free Dining promotions. It has been good, but we never use our points on Disney collection or the other options to trade as I don't feel the value is as good. I think its a rare person that wants to continue Disney many years down the road. Also it is almost necessary to book BCV 7-11 months out or you end up with SSR. It's crazy how points differ so much from hotels for cash. For me buying less and banking/borrowing to make a trip might have been better than buying enough to go every year. It has left me renting some points every other year or so and it's just a nuisance. But the Disney quality is hard to compete with and if you want to sell out, the market is pretty good to get a better value than a lot of other vacation ownerships. I think we will trade to RCI sometime soon, but I haven't done so yet, so no experience. I would do it again if I knew today what I know now, but maybe a little less points.

 

[JimMIA]

I would do it again if I knew today what I know now, but maybe a little less points.

A lot of seasoned DVC owners will tell you to not OVERbuy on your first purchase, and I think that is good advice. If you find yourself a few points short, you have a number of options -- arranging a transfer of points from another owner, renting one-time points direct from DVC, banking, borrowing, etc.

And if none of that works, you can add on in small increments direct from DVC. You'll pay the normal high price, but if you're only adding 25 points at a time (the minimum purchase), the premium is not too bad. (A tiny add-on, in fact, is the only situation where I would purchase direct at today's prices.)

 

[cedricandsophie]

For us it is a much more emotional buy than practical or financial. We have over 1400 points in a combo of direct and resale. And 7 resorts...wilderness, animal kingdom, aulani, boardwalk, old key west, vero beach, bay lake. We go to aulani once a year and use about 500 points there for a one bedroom ocean view. At over 1000 a night that's a good value to us and we love aulani. We had animal kingdom but don't like Kidani but I love the Jambo club level so we bought more there so we could once a year and get reservations 11 months out. We like vero beach and my husband uses it once a year for spring baseball. Plus we do a lot of Disney cruises and go there a couple of days before.

We have never used for anything except Disney and probably wouldn't. If we can't use we roll over and give points away to family and friends.

I guess the point is to determine why you want to buy. If you think it is z better deal financially than make sure you understand the numbers. If it's just because you love disney (and we go for the resorts, rarely the parks) then be ok with the cost , both the initial outlay and the annual maintenance,and don't go into debt. We have alwAys paid cash. And we feel like we get our money's worth every year.

 

[Dean]

We love WDW and have been 5 trips in the last 4 years and certainly plan an annual trip for several years going forward. We stay Value and Moderate, but last trip did the DVC tour and a lot of it made sense to us. Now, my question is buying resale or direct. Of course, the salesmen said "direct is better deal because of perks such as cruise discounts" but I'm not sure if that is accurate or more of a pitch. Can someone tell me the real difference in buying direct or resale? Thanks so much! Also, where do I look to find info on resale contracts and prices?

You lose nothing of value resale, you actually gain because it forces you to consider what and how you'd use the points for and keeps you for overbuying to use for things that actually lose money namely ALL of the cash type exchanges like DCL, ABD, Concierge and Disney Collection. Unless one is going to stay at VGF or the Poly most of the time or buy VERY small, it doesn't make sense to buy retail. Just spend enough time learning the system so you can decipher this for yourself. I'd suggest you rent once or twice and spend maybe 6 months min of active investigation.