Do you think DVC would ever do this (like Marriott)?

[shellbelle1971]

DH and I have recently been considering a Marriott t/s. One thing they do to try to entice people to buy directly from them (and not resale) is they don't let purchasers of resales convert their week into Marriott rewards points. That's a perk you only get if you buy directly from them.

Do you think DVC would ever do any nefarious arm-twisting like that? For instance, not allow you to use points purchased via resale for Concierge Collection or Disney Cruises, or something like that? I don't think they ever would (too much outrage, etc.) but I'm just wondering if it's even a possibility.

But as I think about it, I realize that they functionally already do something similar to all of us, in that they "overprice" the non-DVC options, making it a better deal to rent out your points and pay cash for those choices anyway.

 

[Dean]

DH and I have recently been considering a Marriott t/s. One thing they do to try to entice people to buy directly from them (and not resale) is they don't let purchasers of resales convert their week into Marriott rewards points. That's a perk you only get if you buy directly from them.

Do you think DVC would ever do any nefarious arm-twisting like that? For instance, not allow you to use points purchased via resale for Concierge Collection or Disney Cruises, or something like that? I don't think they ever would (too much outrage, etc.) but I'm just wondering if it's even a possibility.

But as I think about it, I realize that they functionally already do something similar to all of us, in that they "overprice" the non-DVC options, making it a better deal to rent out your points and pay cash for those choices anyway.

The ROFR serves a similar purpose, which Marriott does for some of their newer properties as well. I can't see it happening but you never know.

 

[spiceycat]

if you buy resale from Marriott (which you can) - then you get a little price break and still get the points - but the deal is not as good as if you buy a new one (pointwise).

and you can get a much deal with other resalers for the resale just no points.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

Thats exactly what starwood did with us, they wanted like 30K, we said no thanks, bought for 4K on e-bay, then paid either 1K or 2K to convert to points, when all was said and done, we sold, the common charges became outrageous, we owned 2 weeks even and odd, but because they weren't one contract, had to pay maintenance which was like 650, plus either 100 or 125 per week to belong to II per year, so 875 to have the option, and then you had to pay if you convert, when If I wanted to use it in orlando (vistana), i could have rented a unit for under the 650 on tug or e-bay! So we sold and got out when we could, and bought DVC, decided the only place we would want to stay if visiting Orlando was Disney, and we also have 2 weeks of fixed time in the Caribbean, so we got out.

It is a good program though if you don't own other timeshares and really use it, not just for Orlando!

 

[Rence]

Making two classes of owners, those who purchase direct and those who buy resale, only helps to push resale prices down. I think that in the long run this ultimately hurts the timeshare companies that do this.

One of the selling points of a timeshare, is that you own it and that you can sell it if you ever want to get rid of it. But for the vast vast majority of timeshares you can only sell it for a small fraction of what you buy it for.

What happens is that you buy a product direct and then go to resell it later, but because of the restrictions on those that purchase resale, you aren't really selling what you bought, you are selling a second-class timeshare that is not as good as someone who buys direct. This helps push resale prices down. Those that do their homework before buying will see that the idea that you can sell your timeshare at a later time really isn't worth all that much because you will end up selling it at a huge loss.

DVC seems to understand that there is value in keeping the resale prices up. This helps the sales process, folks realize that if they buy now and have to sell later, they won't lose much (if anything) on the resale. That they will have something of value. I think that this is one reason DVC holds its value.

 

[Dean]

Making two classes of owners, those who purchase direct and those who buy resale, only helps to push resale prices down. I think that in the long run this ultimately hurts the timeshare companies that do this.

One of the selling points of a timeshare, is that you own it and that you can sell it if you ever want to get rid of it. But for the vast vast majority of timeshares you can only sell it for a small fraction of what you buy it for.

What happens is that you buy a product direct and then go to resell it later, but because of the restrictions on those that purchase resale, you aren't really selling what you bought, you are selling a second-class timeshare that is not as good as someone who buys direct. This helps push resale prices down. Those that do their homework before buying will see that the idea that you can sell your timeshare at a later time really isn't worth all that much because you will end up selling it at a huge loss.

DVC seems to understand that there is value in keeping the resale prices up. This helps the sales process, folks realize that if they buy now and have to sell later, they won't lose much (if anything) on the resale. That they will have something of value. I think that this is one reason DVC holds its value.

I don't expect two separate DVC systems. But I would disagree with the idea that DVD cares what we sell for per se. What they care about is herding buyers to buy retail, which ROFR currently does in large part. It is not a reputation thing however, else they would have not made them RTU. Their goal is to make money. And while they do have a reputation to uphold, I don't think for one second that the value of what one can sell for retail has any impact on that.