Disney Files Article-Minimum Points?

[hhisc16]

After reading the Disney Files article on the minimum points, I have a few inquiries to discuss:
1. What and when were the lowest minimum point ever to buy into DVC?
2. Does having the high point minimum buy into DVC push people towards resale?
3. What are the issues DVC talked about with having a small point purchases?

I am an example of a family that spoke to DVC first about buying a small contract this year, DVC said not less than 125 at the time. I bought resale on the same day. (We own 75 points now at HHI.)

 

[JETSDAD]

For new members buying direct it has changed a bunch of times over the years. It was 230 points, 160, 150, etc depending on the resort and date. Back then there was no difference between resale and direct with regards to member benefits....so instead of buying 230 direct someone could find a 50 point resale contract and have all the same benefits as the direct owner. The 150 minimum will push some to resale but DVC had no problems selling out resorts when the minimums were in place as well. People will just finance whatever they are told the minimum is. One problem with the small point sales was that a lot of people would only buy 50 points and then be competing for studios without having a backup option. If you have 150+ points and can't get a studio then you can still 'afford' a 1 bedroom, even if it isn't your ideal situation. CCV had a lot of small contracts and not a lot of studios.....people often have troubles getting into CCV studios at all and would essentially be blocked out of their home resort as a result.

 

[The Jackal]

For new members buying direct it has changed a bunch of times over the years. It was 230 points, 160, 150, etc depending on the resort and date. Back then there was no difference between resale and direct with regards to member benefits....so instead of buying 230 direct someone could find a 50 point resale contract and have all the same benefits as the direct owner. The 150 minimum will push some to resale but DVC had no problems selling out resorts when the minimums were in place as well. People will just finance whatever they are told the minimum is. One problem with the small point sales was that a lot of people would only buy 50 points and then be competing for studios without having a backup option. If you have 150+ points and can't get a studio then you can still 'afford' a 1 bedroom, even if it isn't your ideal situation. CCV had a lot of small contracts and not a lot of studios.....people often have troubles getting into CCV studios at all and would essentially be blocked out of their home resort as a result.

While CCV has a lot of small contracts and not a lot of studios. The biggest problem are all the points sold for the Cascade Cabins. Those are millions of points that few members can afford. It’s all those millions of points competing with the millions sold for the studios, 1,2 and 3 bedroom units. So it PVB has this issue with the bungalows. But it has 300 studios to offset the issue, but lacks 1,2 and 3 bedroom units. So if your looking for those rooms you need to get a reservation at another resort. At CCV 50 points isn’t getting you a week in a studio. The cheapest time of year is over 100 points for 7 nights. That is over 2 years worth of points. If you just used your 50 points during the cheapest time you could stay for 3.5 nights. So stays would be short. 150 points isn’t getting you a 1 bedroom for a week in the cheapest season either. It’s 199 points for 7 nights and 167-172 points for 6 nights. It gives you another option, but still requires borrowing. CCV’s booking issue is caused by all the small contracts sold with all the points for the Cabins. I feel bad for owners there who don’t book at 11 months and want a studio.

 

[bwvBound]

1. What and when were the lowest minimum point ever to buy into DVC?

Should we seek to clarify your question? There are, perhaps, multiple ways to view/frame the question?

a) What is the smallest DVC contract sold?
From what I recall, DVC sold contracts as low as 10-points for a short period following Bay Lake Tower's reallocation. These contracts were sold exclusively to existing owners and may, eventually, make it out to the resale market.

25-point contracts are sold to existing DVC members as a cash sale (not financed through DVC).

b) What is the lowest number offered to "1st time buyers" (new member vs existing member)
50-point contracts were the smallest contracts offered to "new buyers" -- but again, I think this was a short window of time during economic downturn.

Agreeing with @JETSDAD, the minimum buy-in from DVC for new members has varied over the years. I believe it was 240 when we first toured DVC in '96 but down to 150 when we purchased in '04. The initial purchase is often broken into a group of smaller contracts (150 as 50+50+50) which can later be sold off through resale.

 

[chalee94]

After reading the Disney Files article on the minimum points, I have a few inquiries to discuss:
2. Does having the high point minimum buy into DVC push people towards resale?
3. What are the issues DVC talked about with having a small point purchases?

2. Yes. I was willing to commit $4,000 or $5,000 to test out DVC back in 2006 but wasn't willing to to make a 5 figure commitment. I'm sure that's not completely unusual.
3. DVC still has to administrate the membership for tiny contract owners. When OKW was extended, they gave everyone a small dues refund of $30.00 to facilitate the hassle of notarizing the paperwork: $30.00 if you had 25 pts and $30.00 if you had 500 pts. A 25 pt owner gets a subscription to Disney Files, the same as the 500 pt owner. That's the real issue, IMO. When a small owner calls MS to book a short stay in a studio, they might take as much time as a large owner booking a week in a Grand Villa...

But the article focuses more on the difficulty in booking studios with small contracts. It's not an issue if you book at 11 months out IMO but can be a hassle for many, so I'm sure they get frustrated feedback from those owners who can't find studios available for consecutive nights in the same resort when they finally attempt to book...The system does work better when a larger percentage of owners purchases DVC intending to stay in 1BR villas - that is true.

It is definitely a problem with a points based timeshare when 60% of the buyers buy in for studios during November and December - a lot of owners will wind up disappointed - so the system only really stays in balance when different owners want to stay in different periods of the year and in different villa sizes (and adjusting the point charts is a mechanism for helping to accomplish this kind of balance).

 

[yitbos96bb]

After reading the Disney Files article on the minimum points, I have a few inquiries to discuss:
1. What and when were the lowest minimum point ever to buy into DVC?
2. Does having the high point minimum buy into DVC push people towards resale?
3. What are the issues DVC talked about with having a small point purchases?

I am an example of a family that spoke to DVC first about buying a small contract this year, DVC said not less than 125 at the time. I bought resale on the same day. (We own 75 points now at HHI.)

I think it used to push toward resell but now that they've taken away stuff from resale, I'm guessing the minimum just drives more money intothe coffers.

 

[yitbos96bb]

While CCV has a lot of small contracts and not a lot of studios. The biggest problem are all the points sold for the Cascade Cabins. Those are millions of points that few members can afford. It’s all those millions of points competing with the millions sold for the studios, 1,2 and 3 bedroom units. So it PVB has this issue with the bungalows. But it has 300 studios to offset the issue, but lacks 1,2 and 3 bedroom units. So if your looking for those rooms you need to get a reservation at another resort. At CCV 50 points isn’t getting you a week in a studio. The cheapest time of year is over 100 points for 7 nights. That is over 2 years worth of points. If you just used your 50 points during the cheapest time you could stay for 3.5 nights. So stays would be short. 150 points isn’t getting you a 1 bedroom for a week in the cheapest season either. It’s 199 points for 7 nights and 167-172 points for 6 nights. It gives you another option, but still requires borrowing. CCV’s booking issue is caused by all the small contracts sold with all the points for the Cabins. I feel bad for owners there who don’t book at 11 months and want a studio.

I passed on Grand Floridian and Contemporary to wait for Poly... and then the lack of 1 bedrooms and 2 bedrooms made me pass on buying poly. Regret to this day not buying either Contemporary or VGF (We bought in at SSR).

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

At one point, the minimum to buy is was 100 points for new members, but I think that was just at AKV when they first starting selling it. That was the selling point for me. I didn't want 160 points. But then I went to HHI the next year and immediately added on 100 more points there.

 

[JETSDAD]

At one point, the minimum to buy is was 100 points for new members, but I think that was just at AKV when they first starting selling it. That was the selling point for me. I didn't want 160 points. But then I went to HHI the next year and immediately added on 100 more points there.

AKV started at 160 which is why there are so many 160 pt AKV contracts....I'm not sure at what point they switched to 100 though.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

AKV started at 160 which is why there are so many 160 pt AKV contracts....I'm not sure at what point they switched to 100 though.

We bought in June 2008, so it was before then.

 

[DebbieB]

I bought in 1999, the minimum for new owners was 150.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We bought in 1997 and I think the minimum was 160 (we bought 175).

 

[The Jackal]

a) What is the smallest DVC contract sold?
From what I recall, DVC sold contracts as low as 10-points for a short period following Bay Lake Tower's reallocation. These contracts were sold exclusively to existing owners and may, eventually, make it out to the resale market.

25-point contracts are sold to existing DVC members as a cash sale (not financed through DVC).

I have seen at least one single digit contract on the resale market and it wasn’t BLT. Plus with the buy in minimum was previously 125 and now 150. When you buy a guaranteed week, the rest of the points needed to reach minimum points are a second contract and some are pretty small.

 

[dclpluto]

2. Disney has never had a high point minimum buying direct.

 

[chalee94]

2. Disney has never had a high point minimum buying direct.

The minimum was originally 230 pts - that is pretty high...

The minimum direct contract for new members now is still higher than it was a few years ago.

The DVC Resource Center - Updated December, 2020 | The DIS Disney Discussion Forums - DISboards.com

 

[dclpluto]

The minimum was originally 230 pts - that is pretty high...

The minimum direct contract for new members now is still higher than it was a few years ago.

The DVC Resource Center - Updated December, 2020 | The DIS Disney Discussion Forums - DISboards.com

my mistake that was before my time I didn’t get in until 2000. I should of said dvc hasn’t had a high point minimum in a long time. When most people that don’t buy direct is because of the high cost per point cheaper resale, not because of the minimum amount of points to buy.

 

[Mickey of the Villages]

While CCV has a lot of small contracts and not a lot of studios. The biggest problem are all the points sold for the Cascade Cabins. Those are millions of points that few members can afford. It’s all those millions of points competing with the millions sold for the studios, 1,2 and 3 bedroom units. So it PVB has this issue with the bungalows. But it has 300 studios to offset the issue, but lacks 1,2 and 3 bedroom units. So if your looking for those rooms you need to get a reservation at another resort. At CCV 50 points isn’t getting you a week in a studio. The cheapest time of year is over 100 points for 7 nights. That is over 2 years worth of points. If you just used your 50 points during the cheapest time you could stay for 3.5 nights. So stays would be short. 150 points isn’t getting you a 1 bedroom for a week in the cheapest season either. It’s 199 points for 7 nights and 167-172 points for 6 nights. It gives you another option, but still requires borrowing. CCV’s booking issue is caused by all the small contracts sold with all the points for the Cabins. I feel bad for owners there who don’t book at 11 months and want a studio.

We own direct points at CCV and resale points at SSR. I understand "The Jackal's" point that the cabins have an antidilutive or concentrating affect. That is, they make more points available for users of a smaller number of overall rooms. Maybe folks did not understand this when they bought at CCV but it seems clear that it may impact some CCV studios . . . except that there are many other resorts CCV points can be used at. So far we have only stayed at CCV once with our points (out of 4 or more stays since we bought them). And on our next stay at CCV we plan on staying in a cabin for 5 nights - it just works out with banking and borrowing we have the points for this. All I'm saying is that there may be problems at CCV with the cabins or maybe there are aren't. It depends.