Can someone explain renting/trading points to me?

[Deb in IA]

OK, we've owned our DVC since 2001, and I have finally gotten the hang of banking and borrowing, and I have SOME idea about Holding Accounts.


Sort of.


But I am still baffled about renting and trading. There is nothing about this in the Member Guidebook. So is this something that you do through Member Services? Is it outside of Disney? How or why would you rent or trade? And what reassurances would you have that the transaction will work?

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

It is done outside of Disney. An owner simply makes a reservation in the name of the person who is renting his/her points and the renter goes to WDW at a really great price.

I have rented and will probably rent again. My family and I are going on an Eastern Disney Cruise next year. To use our points for the crusie would be like throwing them away. Based on the point schedule, it came out that they were wroth about $6.00 per point. I rented them for $10.00 per point to pay for the cruise. I'm still going on a Disney vacation by using my points but in a different way.

Assurances are difficult. I do a contract with people I deal with so that what is expected of both parties is in writing. I have met quite a few very nice people through renting points.

BTW, I have also traded with an owner at HHI resort for my BCV resort and we each made reservations for each other. That went very well too.

HBC

 

[PamOKW]

This is a purely personal transaction beteween individuals. If you look at the Rent/Trade Board here you can get some guidelines. There is a lot of trust on both sides and there are no assurances that something won't go wrong. The majority of trades work out well for everyone but there are the occassional problems.

You will not find anything in Member Handbook about it because DVC does not encourage the practice.

Sometimes members "buy" points from another member and just add the points to their account. (I think you can only sell/transfer points this way once per Use Year.) I'd like to get clarification on that myself.

Sometimes a person, member or not, will post that they would like certain dates and then you can try to make the reservation for them. Or, you can book certain dates and then try to find someone who is interested in purchasing the reservation from you. When you have a renter, you have Member Services put their name on the reservation. The confirmation will come to you and then you'll have to forward it on to the renter.

That's just the rough basics.

 

[Deb in IA]

So, the renter pays the owner a pre-determined price per point?

 

[PamOKW]

You can set it up any way you like. The majority of people work out the price on a "per point" basis and $10 per point seems to be the going rate. (Although recent discussion seems to think that price might be too low.) However, you can do it any way you like depending upon the circumstances. I recently had some points that were expiring and I rented a weekend night. I didn't charge "per point" per se, I just set a price point for the reservation that I felt comfortable with. You are also free to set your own payment schedule, cancellation policy, etc. It is a purely personal transaction. Some people even take their reservations to E-Bay and sell them there. (I'm not familiar with E-Bay so I can't begin to tell you how that works.)

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

Is there any liability to the DVC owner if their renter damages something at the resort? I am thinking not as the reservation is under the renters name and not the owners but just wanted to ask.

 

[disneyberry]

Originally posted by Disney Hot Mama
Is there any liability to the DVC owner if their renter damages something at the resort? I am thinking not as the reservation is under the renters name and not the owners but just wanted to ask.

<font face="times" size="+0">yes. this is the big risk taken by the DVC owner who rents out. if the renter trashes the room, the DVC owner is technically liable for the damage. this is something that i think is can be easily overlooked, but is very important to keep in mind for owners who rent out to others.</font>

 

[PamOKW]

In the eyes of Disney, your renter is also your guest. You are responsible for their behavior. You should also make it clear to anyone who rents that they must leave a credit card if they wish to charge to the room and that they are responsible for settling the bill.