Direct Buy vs. Resale - Is this just the first step?

[Dizny Dad]

News as of this morning:

Disney Vacation Club is set to unveil a Direct Purchase Benefit program in which some destinations will be withheld from those purchasing points on the secondary market.

Under the new program terms, only points purchased directly through Disney Vacation Club sales agents will be eligible for use toward the Disney Collection, Adventurer Collection and Concierge Collection. These ancillary programs feature destinations such as Disney Cruise Line, Adventures by Disney, the Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier in Anaheim, Disney's Polynesian and Grand Floridian resorts at Walt Disney World, international hotels at Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland and more.

In order for resale contract purchases to be eligible for all Member Getaways, the purchase closing must occur by March 20, 2011. As such, all prior resale purchases will also remain eligible for use toward the full slate of Disney Vacation Club destinations.

Resale point purchases which close after March 20 will be ineligible for use toward the Disney, Adventurer and Concierge Collections. Such resale contracts will be valid only for use at the 11 Disney Vacation Club resorts as well as the World Passport Collection which features trading opportunities through RCI and the Buena Vista Trading Company.

Point origination will be tracked down to the contract level. A DVC member with points acquired via a combination of direct and reseller purchases (acquired after 3/20/11) will only be able to use the direct purchase points toward the Disney, Adventurer and Concierge Collection destinations.

All owners will remain subject to the same booking guidelines for Disney Vacation Club resorts. Reservations can be secured 11 months from arrival at one's Home resort and 7 months from arrival at non-Home resorts regardless of whether the points were purchased directly or via a reseller.

We now have a difference in Direct Buy Points verses Resale Points. Oh, you have "those" points.

Where does this go from here?

 

[dianeschlicht]

I am thinking that might be why there was a moritorium on booking the cruise lately.

 

[JimMIA]

Seems like a negligible change to me.

Even if we weren't "grandfathered in," it wouldn't affect our family because we don't want the "benefits" they're taking away, and would certainly never pay one penny more to get them. We can get any of that stuff much less expensively by paying cash for our reservations.

I think this change will actually help prospective buyers, because it will hopefully force them to clarify what they really want from a DVC purchase.

If a prospective buyer wants DVC for DVC, they will get moderate to huge savings buying resale.

If a prospective buyer MUST finance and is looking for straws to grasp to justify a direct purchase, this plan gives them that straw.

But EVERYONE should remember that all of the benefits listed are only PERKS...which can be taken away from all of us at any time, simply with one swipe of the Mouse's pen.

 

[deerislemaine]

I agree that the changes will not effect our family. We bought DVC to stay at DVC resorts-- mainly SSR and OKW. However, I can see that if others want the options that they may buy direct. It's a very good sign that they have the "grandfather" clause as this move may indicate that Disney will do the same in the future.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

Well I have to say this change is negligible for me. Seems dumb.

 

[staceymay00]

I don't think they will make additional changes in the near future, but who knows what they will do in a few years. We bought our DVC contract to use at DVC resorts, so this would not have kept us from buying resale. I think it is a reasonable and fair change - not nearly as terrible as people predicted it might be.

 

[cseca]

This change is negligible for most owners until it's time to sell your points...
I'd hate to see resale value plunge even lower. One of the reasons why we keep adding on is because we see them retaining their values well.

So much for that... If I had known, I probably would've been a bit conservative when purchasing our points.

 

[quirty30]

It's negligible to me as long as I have my points. But should I ever decide I need to sell...not something I plan to do...it definitely devalues my resale.

 

[staceymay00]

Well I have to say this change is negligible for me. Seems dumb.

I think it accomplishes a couple of things without causing significant grief to existing members. First, DVC guides now have a specific progam they can refer to when people ask, "Why should I buy direct instead of resale?" I think some people do find the other non-DVC vacation options appealing and would pay a premium to have them. It also prevents people from scooping up large contracts at a deep discount to use for cruises, ABD, etc. I don't think this really hurts the resale market. Most people buying resale have done their homework and realize the money they save buying resale has more value than the trading options offered by a direct purchase. Maybe it hurts resale a little, but in my opinion I don't it will have a huge effect.

 

[rock_doctor]

If interested there is co-current thread in another section of the site. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2636666

 

[locodemickey]

We were thinking of selling a 100 and 170 pt contract (we currently have 920 pts.) Will this be not even worth it anymore? Should we just rent out the points instead? UGH

 

[cseca]

We were thinking of selling a 100 and 170 pt contract (we currently have 920 pts.) Will this be not even worth it anymore? Should we just rent out the points instead? UGH

Hi fellow Michigander!
I think they say as long as your points resale closes by March 20th the new owner should be fine.
So maybe this is the time. But who knows...

 

[chalee94]

I think it accomplishes a couple of things without causing significant grief to existing members.

depends on how much of a hit resale prices take due to this change. hard to say.

 

[Brian Noble]

Where do they go from here? It depends on whether or not this is enough "smoke and mirrors" to deflect the "but resale is so much less expensive" objection on the sales floor.

I think, quite possibly, it will be. Only time will tell though.

As to the effect on resale points. Honestly? I don't think it has any effect at all. The use of DVC points for Disney-internal reservations (DCL, D.Coll., and ABD) is almost *never* cost effective. Most resale purchasers are well-educated about the product (by definition, they know enough to know to look for a resale deed), know what it is good for, and know what it is not good for. They will see this as a non-event.

At the end of the day, my opinion is that DVC is doing future resale purchasers a favor by eliminating use options that are poor values.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Wow! This may penalize the very same people who made Disney huge sums of money, people with huge contracts who may want to downsize in the future may have a challenge selling those points.

As far as resale purchases, it wouldn't change my decision to purchase since my whole intent is to use them strictly at the Orlando DVC resorts. When I go to France I have no interest in staying at EURO Disney, nor do I find it cost effective to use my points for cruising. People will have to weigh the cost of buying direct against how they plan to use their points.

Interestingly though,it mentions 11 resorts, I wonder if it will also prohibit resale buyers, stays at the 12th, 13th resort when they come along?

 

[dsnycrzy76]

I have heard similar rumors for quite a while now. The last rumor said that the changes would happen by January 1, 2011. Nothing happened. From what I have seen happen in the past, no one really knows any news until the day after it is put into place by Disney. I would take everything you hear with a grain of salt and not take it as gospel.

 

[Donna M]

Most resale purchasers are well-educated about the product (by definition, they know enough to know to look for a resale deed), know what it is good for, and know what it is not good for. They will see this as a non-event.

But that might not be true of first time buyers. How many DVC owners were on the Disboards before buying? When we bought our 500 points, we knew nothing about resale. We had a friend who owned and loved it. I found out about resale here, years after buying. Lots of people see all the signs at WDW and take the plunge from there.
DVC will be able to use this new info to help with their sales.

 

[DenLo]

There are two threads going on this subject. The other is located in Operations. Since it is an operations subject shouldn't the two thread merge there?

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2636666

 

[JimMIA]

Hi fellow Michigander!
I think they say as long as your points resale closes by March 20th the new owner should be fine.
So maybe this is the time. But who knows...

If the "Collection" options have value to your family, I would say now is the time to buy resale -- and make closing prior to March 20 an absolute deal-breaker of the contract. Closing dates are just as negotiable as anything else in a contract, and if the parties involved (seller, broker, closing agent) can't make it happen, they don't get paid.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Seems like a negligible change to me.

Even if we weren't "grandfathered in," it wouldn't affect our family because we don't want the "benefits" they're taking away, and would certainly never pay one penny more to get them. We can get any of that stuff much less expensively by paying cash for our reservations.

I think this change will actually help prospective buyers, because it will hopefully force them to clarify what they really want from a DVC purchase.

If a prospective buyer wants DVC for DVC, they will get moderate to huge savings buying resale.

If a prospective buyer MUST finance and is looking for straws to grasp to justify a direct purchase, this plan gives them that straw.

But EVERYONE should remember that all of the benefits listed are only PERKS...which can be taken away from all of us at any time, simply with one swipe of the Mouse's pen.

I totally agree, Jim. The only thing this will change for me is that I probably wont add on anymore points, since I don't care to strap my adult kids with more maintenance fees. Since this means I probably couldn't easily sell a small add on contract later, I'll likely skip buying it.