DVC Resale or from Disney?

[Pjadisney2014]

We recently purchased into the DVC with AKL as our home resort. We have been looking into the resale market and see that we might be able to get more bang for our buck there.

We have 10 days to cancel our contract with Disney so I'm looking for advice from anyone who has gone the resale route. We were briefly told about the restrictions of resale points; no use of concierge collection and disney collection. Are there other restrictions that I should be aware of when considering this option?

I have a call into our DVC rep but I would like information from someone who has experience with actually using resale. Thanks!

 

[CarolMN]

These are the differences between a resale and purchasing direct:

Direct will be faster - you will be able to make reservations with your points as soon as Disney has your deposit. Resale takes an average of 90 days to complete after you have found a contract and agreed to terms.

Direct will allow you to use points for non-DVC options in the Disney Collection (includes cruising on the DCL), the Adventurer's Collection and the Concierge Collection. Resale points purchased after March of 2011 cannot be used to pay for those options. Many do not believe these options are a good value. See this thread for more info on that:
Using Points for the DVC Collections

Direct will allow you to make a reservation for the (what has lately been annual), Members' Cruise. You still pay and these cruises are more expensive than comparable cruises on DCL.

Direct is MUCH more expensive than resale.

If you must have the Poly for your home resort, direct is the only viable option at this time. Other sold out resorts may be available for direct purchase - some resorts have waitlists for this. At this time, it appears that VGF is not available for direct purchase. Disney has stopped adding people to the VGF points waitlist, so your only option is resale.

Only you can decide if the differences are worth the extra money. All members, no matter how they purchased, use the same booking & contract management rules and enjoy the same discounts /perks. Some members have only direct points, some only resale and many have a combination of the two.

Good luck with your decision.

P.S. Personally, I would not buy AKV direct. IMO, Resale is a better value for that resort.

 

[Pjadisney2014]

These are the differences between a resale and purchasing direct:

Thanks for the info! The discounts/perks and booking were my primary concern. We were actually looking at points at Boardwalk and Bay Lake Tower but were cautious because we couldn't remember if we would still be able to book 11 months out with resale points.

 

[disneynutz]

We recently purchased into the DVC with AKL as our home resort. We have been looking into the resale market and see that we might be able to get more bang for our buck there.

We have 10 days to cancel our contract with Disney so I'm looking for advice from anyone who has gone the resale route. We were briefly told about the restrictions of resale points; no use of concierge collection and disney collection. Are there other restrictions that I should be aware of when considering this option?

I have a call into our DVC rep but I would like information from someone who has experience with actually using resale. Thanks!

Calling your Guide to discuss resale is a slap in the face so I wouldn't bother. Take a couple of days to read the threads here on the DIS, decide if there is any reason to buy direct and rescind your purchase prior to your 10 day limit.

For us the most difficult issue was finding which resort did we really love so we could buy there for the 11 month booking advantage.

Bill

 

[disneynutz]

Thanks for the info! The discounts/perks and booking were my primary concern. We were actually looking at points at Boardwalk and Bay Lake Tower but were cautious because we couldn't remember if we would still be able to book 11 months out with resale points.

Don't buy based on discounts and perks. They are not guaranteed and they do change.

Bill

 

[CarolMN]

Just wanted to add that I did not mention expiration dates since the expiration date will be the same no matter how you purchase.

That said, if you are considering the older resorts, expiration dates should be considered. BWV ends in 2042 and I can't recall off the top of my head when BLT or AKV expire, but they do have at least 10 more years than BWV, BCV or VWL. The end date may or may not concern you. Some think longer is better, but I am happy that my contract expires in 2042. I do not want to pass on an annual obligation to my heirs. YMMV.

 

[Pjadisney2014]

Just wanted to add that I did not mention expiration dates since the expiration date will be the same no matter how you purchase.

That said, if you are considering the older resorts, expiration dates should be considered. BWV ends in 2042 and I can't recall off the top of my head when BLT or AKV expire, but they do have at least 10 more years than BWV, BCV or VWL. The end date may or may not concern you. Some think longer is better, but I am happy that my contract expires in 2042. I do not want to pass on an annual obligation to my heirs. YMMV.

This is something that we had already considered and we agree about passing the obligation to an heir. Is Aulani still available to book with resale? I've gotten conflicting information about this one and this is definitely a resort we want to be able to visit.

 

[JimMIA]

You'll get a lot of answers about the "benefits" of purchasing direct, but I only really see two -- neither one of which I would even consider in a purchase decision.

The first is that you can easily finance a direct purchase. Lots of folks come up with all sorts of justifications for buying direct, but I suspect this is the real reason a very large number of people buy direct. You can finance easily, at very high interest rates, something most would say you shouldn't finance in the first place.

The second justification is that early in the life of a particular DVC resort (Poly currently) direct is the only way you can purchase that resort. OMG! We can't have it RIGHT NOW??? Sure you can. Or you could wait a couple of years, or buy something else much cheaper and use those points to stay at Poly.

Also, Carol's point above about the "perks" not being guaranteed is a critical point and cannot be over-emphasized. Perks are fairly regularly changed, and what you see today may go away and be replaced by something better, worse, or nothing at all. You don't want to pay extra to get a benefit which may evaporate next week.

 

[JimMIA]

Is Aulani still available to book with resale? I've gotten conflicting information about this one and this is definitely a resort we want to be able to visit.

Resale points can be used at ANY DVC resort, and there is almost no way Disney could change that. The only way they could change it would be to take that resort out of the "Club," and if they did that the owners at that resort would not be able to use their points at other DVC resorts.

 

[suebeelin]

AKV resale is averaging about $70-80pp. You will save 50% off direct points. You still have the 11mo advantage. You can trade into any dvc resort subject to availability at the 7 month mark.

The only direct points I would buy would be poly, if I wanted that resort. Otherwise, there is really no concrete advantage to buying direct for the other resorts (I'm not cruising, doing adventures or non dvc hotels with my points).

Someone posted that to trade into those three "restrictions", Disney is "valuing" each point at appx $6pp. So it is basically a wash... Given that the rental market will pay you $11.75-13pp depending on resort, it isn't the most cost effective option. Thus, these restrictions are meaningless to many people.

Good luck!

 

[CarolMN]

You'll get a lot of answers about the "benefits" of purchasing direct, but I only really see two -- neither one of which I would even consider in a purchase decision.

The first is that you can easily finance a direct purchase. Lots of folks come up with all sorts of justifications for buying direct, but I suspect this is the real reason a very large number of people buy direct. You can finance easily, at very high interest rates, something most would say you shouldn't finance in the first place.

The second justification is that early in the life of a particular DVC resort (Poly currently) direct is the only way you can purchase that resort. OMG! We can't have it RIGHT NOW??? Sure you can. Or you could wait a couple of years, or buy something else much cheaper and use those points to stay at Poly.

Also, Carol's point above about the "perks" not being guaranteed is a critical point and cannot be over-emphasized. Perks are fairly regularly changed, and what you see today may go away and be replaced by something better, worse, or nothing at all. You don't want to pay extra to get a benefit which may evaporate next week.

I totally agree with you about financing and that's why I probably forgot to mention that.

Also, it was actually Bill (disneynutz) that pointed out that it isn't a good idea to base any part of your buying decision on the perks / discounts and I totally agree with that, too! But I think the OP was really wondering if there was a difference in the perks and discounts depending on how you purchased. And of course, there isn't - at least right now.

 

[DVC Doctor]

Calling your Guide to discuss resale is a slap in the face so I wouldn't bother. Take a couple of days to read the threads here on the DIS, decide if there is any reason to buy direct and rescind your purchase prior to your 10 day limit.

For us the most difficult issue was finding which resort did we really love so we could buy there for the 11 month booking advantage.

Bill

You have to wonder that in the past resales were not such a big deal or discount vs buying direct. But now there is a huge savings by buying resale, I wonder how much that affects the sales agents in terms of their attitude vs resales.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

You might think about going ahead and canceling that contract and then taking more time to research the resale options. You've gotten the information on the differences between resale and direct contract usage of which there really is nothing of any great value with direct - just a few very expensive trade options. If after more consideration you did decide that direct was the way you want to purchase you can always call and get the paperwork done again.

Just in case it wasn't clear Aulani is a DVC resort and you can use resale points to stay there just as you can at any DVC resort. You get the same booking windows with resale (11 months home resort and 7 months at non home resorts) and the same discounts and perks. The savings between resale and direct on a AKV is large. The savings would pay for several years worth of annual dues. Usually it's recommended to rent out your points to do things such as a cruise but you could even consider that any savings you had with resale would pay for one or more cruises.

 

[disneynutz]

You have to wonder that in the past resales were not such a big deal or discount vs buying direct. But not there is a huge savings by buying resale, I wonder how much that affects the sales agents in terms of their attitude vs resales.

The guides only job is direct sales, they aren't your friend, they don't get paid if you buy resale, most do not like resale buyers and I can't blame them. Over half of the direct sales are new buyers, existing owners do buy direct but mostly at new resorts so Disney has to keep building new resorts. Add-ons are a smaller percentage of new sales, sales to existing owners are much easier and costs Disney far less than a new buyer. I was told that a new buyer costs Disney 3 times as much to make the sale in time and money.

Bill

 

[DVC Doctor]

The guides only job is direct sales, they aren't your friend, they don't get paid if you buy resale, most do not like resale buyers and I can't blame them. Over half of the direct sales are new buyers, existing owners do buy direct but mostly at new resorts so Disney has to keep building new resorts. Add-ons are a smaller percentage of new sales, sales to existing owners are much easier and costs Disney far less than a new buyer. I was told that a new buyer costs Disney 3 times as much to make the sale in time and money.

Bill

I have heard similar stats, but in reality, that is their problem running an inefficient business. If they improved the business model and were more efficient, then perhaps the price could be lower, oh I mean their profit would be more.

I have bought several DVC contracts from Disney BUT lately I am only looking at resales and it has been a while since I bought direct from Disney.

Currently there are very few scenarios where I would want to buy direct (perhaps a fixed week at VGF if it was available) but there is no way to compete when SSR and other resales are in the $70 range and BLT is at $100 or so.

Thus, I was a good customer, but not so good for them now.

I would GUESS that in the future they will offer some PERK to developer sales or some additional RESTRICTION on resales, but so far, the changes have been minimal.

 

[JimMIA]

The guides only job is direct sales, they aren't your friend, they don't get paid if you buy resale, most do not like resale buyers and I can't blame them.

They are timeshare salesmen; not your friends. They were not placed on Earth to "guide" poor little you to a better place. They were put here to sell you a timeshare.

That doesn't make them bad people; in fact, some of them are great people. And DVC's sales model is reasonably professional, with a minimal amount of outright lying.

But they're here to sell you a timeshare.

 

[Dean]

These are the differences between a resale and purchasing direct:

Direct will be faster - you will be able to make reservations with your points as soon as Disney has your deposit. Resale takes an average of 90 days to complete after you have found a contract and agreed to terms.

Direct will allow you to use points for non-DVC options in the Disney Collection (includes cruising on the DCL), the Adventurer's Collection and the Concierge Collection. Resale points purchased after March of 2011 cannot be used to pay for those options. Many do not believe these options are a good value. See this thread for more info on that:
Using Points for the DVC Collections

Direct will allow you to make a reservation for the (what has lately been annual), Members' Cruise. You still pay and these cruises are more expensive than comparable cruises on DCL.

Direct is MUCH more expensive than resale.

If you must have the Poly for your home resort, direct is the only viable option at this time. Other sold out resorts may be available for direct purchase - some resorts have waitlists for this. At this time, it appears that VGF is not available for direct purchase. Disney has stopped adding people to the VGF points waitlist, so your only option is resale.

Only you can decide if the differences are worth the extra money. All members, no matter how they purchased, use the same booking & contract management rules and enjoy the same discounts /perks. Some members have only direct points, some only resale and many have a combination of the two.

Good luck with your decision.

P.S. Personally, I would not buy AKV direct. IMO, Resale is a better value for that resort.

Cancel and get educated then you can buy what fits best for you. This will likely be resale but at least you'll be better informed an have the potential to make better decisions at that time or maybe you decide DVC isn't a good option for you, we've seen that happen i your situation as well.

 

[Pjadisney2014]

Thanks for the help all

 

[Deb & Bill]

The way annual member fees keep going up exponentially, I wouldn't consider the ability to pass your ownership on to your kids in the distant future. They might not be able to afford it.

 

[disBOBney]

I have purchased four contracts so far, and every one of them has been direct. I don't have anything against resale, however I want what I want when I want it, and am willing to pay to get it. I prefer smaller contracts and they can be difficult to find resale, particularly one that has the same uy as my other ones. every one of my contracts save me a great deal over retail stays at WDW. As far as saddling heirs with my resorts and dues, please remember they do not have to accept the contracts that you bequeath to them, however even if the only thing they choose to do with them is to sell them, they can be a nice inheritance.