How many people buy resale?

[karebear06]

How many people do you think own resale vs direct through disney? We are here now and wanted to see the model rooms to aulani. I thought the model rooms were open for members during certain times (at least they were in the past). Well instead we had someone take us to look at them. He was our new guide since our old guide had not contacted us since 2009. He was telling us everything about us as well as when we bought resale and for how much. He then said not to be embarrassed about buying resale. So that makes me wonder. How many people do you think buy resale vs direct? Do they always look you up to see if you bought direct? Are resale dvc members treated differently? Our new guide is super nice, and I really wanted to add on points, but I can't justify paying $40 more a point buying direct. We might wait and see what incentives they have through VGFR.

 

[davedmaine]

We bought resale and I can't really understand why anyone would buy directly from Disney. I bought at BWV for about half the price of Disney's original asking price. I know we can't apply our points to crusies, Adventures, etc., but everyone says to not use points on those anyway. I can't say we've ever been treated differently by Disney -- in fact any of the salesmen we've run across (in parks, resorts) have commented that we did the right thing.
We don't have a guide and honestly, I don't know what they're supposed to do for a member. Sell you more points? I basically do everything online and if I have any questions, I call MS.

 

[amypetecar]

Sometimes direct makes sense, but not usually.


I bought direct 2 1/2 years ago and heres why:
I wanted BLT and resale prices were only $15 or so below direct prices
BLT contracts had a 160 point minimum at first, but i wanted around 100. They lowered the minimum direct, but you couldnt find a 100 point blt resale
We made the decision to buy dvc after committing to a vacation, so we didnt have time to go through the resale process or else we would have dropped 3K on a hotel on that trip. We wanted that 3K to go towards our dvc principle.

In todays market though, unless you want to hold out for grand floridian, i would imagine resale would almost certainly be the way to go.

 

[chalee94]

How many people do you think own resale vs direct through disney?

probably most people are resale buyers. disney has to sell all the pts directly the first time. after that, they pick up inventory from ROFR and foreclosures to resell as direct pts...but aside from a handful of BCV owners who accepted a lowball offer from DVC a few years ago, most of the time when an owner decides to sell they do so through resale channels.

the only time i talked to a guide, they didn't realize i was a resale buyer (i guess they didn't track it at that point). i doubt they would treat you differently (except if you tried to book a cruise or disney collection hotel).

since disney decided to get more adversarial with owners with the new resale rules, i have a difficult time recommending buying direct...

 

[Chic]

I purchased my first DVC contract direct while taking a Disney Cruise. The remaining 4 contracts I purchased were all resale. Why did I purchase my first contract direct? Because I didn't know resales existed! I also bought all of my resales before Disney added the restrictions so I was Grandfathered in and have full benefits. How would I buy now? I would absolutely buy resale. The few restrictions in place now are not a good value for points anyway when you compare points versus maintenance fees costs for what you get. Simply stated, you would spend less in cash as opposed to the number of points required for the other vacation options. It's always a much better value to use your points to stay at a DVC Resort. That's okay with me because we bought so we could stay on property in Deluxe accommodations when visiting the Disney Parks.

 

[dvcterry]

Op, I think it is great that you have a nice guide. We do too. We have our contracts direct with the exception of one. Our biggest regret is not buying VGC direct when we had the opportunity. Now the direct waitlist is very long and there is a very big demand as well resale. And getting a reservation is very difficult.

 

[disneynutz]

IMO there are more direct buyers than resale. According to Disney sources, half of the direct buyers are new owners and the other half add-ons with the direct buyers buying the larger contracts of course. So far in 2012 Disney has sold more than 15,000 contracts.

Most people who buy are impulse buyers and they never visit the internet to even learn about resales and Disney Guides don't volunteer the information. They are ready with several reasons why buying direct is better than resale including the March restrictions, the delays in closing a resale contract, (now almost 70 days), and the discounts and marketing perks of buying direct. (note that Disney created all of the reasons against buying resale).

Bill

 

[ELMC]

Sometimes direct makes sense, but not usually.


I bought direct 2 1/2 years ago and heres why:
I wanted BLT and resale prices were only $15 or so below direct prices
BLT contracts had a 160 point minimum at first, but i wanted around 100. They lowered the minimum direct, but you couldnt find a 100 point blt resale
We made the decision to buy dvc after committing to a vacation, so we didnt have time to go through the resale process or else we would have dropped 3K on a hotel on that trip. We wanted that 3K to go towards our dvc principle.

In todays market though, unless you want to hold out for grand floridian, i would imagine resale would almost certainly be the way to go.

I think this post illustrates a great point that isn't talked about very much on here. Up until recently, the gap between direct and resale was not that large, thus making the resale/direct decision a lot more difficult. However, with the steady decline in resale prices and the enormous increases in direct prices, the decision (for many) has become a lot clearer. Buying direct a few years ago was not the same purchase as buying direct now. I think it is important to remember that and for the direct buyers of years past to consider this when people today talk about the reasons why they would not buy direct. Those discussions pertain to direct purchases in today's market, and not your direct purchase of 2+ years ago. Maybe considering this could spare some hurt feelings in the great debate.

 

[DougEMG]

I think this post illustrates a great point that isn't talked about very much on here. Up until recently, the gap between direct and resale was not that large, thus making the resale/direct decision a lot more difficult. However, with the steady decline in resale prices and the enormous increases in direct prices, the decision (for many) has become a lot clearer. Buying direct a few years ago was not the same purchase as buying direct now. I think it is important to remember that and for the direct buyers of years past to consider this when people today talk about the reasons why they would not buy direct. Those discussions pertain to direct purchases in today's market, and not your direct purchase of 2+ years ago. Maybe considering this could spare some hurt feelings in the great debate.

Good point. It's only been in the last couple of years that the spread between direct and resale costs has become so large.

 

[DannysMom]

Good point. It's only been in the last couple of years that the spread between direct and resale costs has become so large.

Indeed. When I first went to a DVC presentation, in 2007, I think, one of things they commented on was how well DVC had (up until that point) held it's value, that resale prices were not so very far from from direct pricing. Early buyers, often enough made money when they sold their DVC contracts. How times change, eh?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards App, please excuse any typos.

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

Indeed. When I first went to a DVC presentation, in 2007, I think, one of things they commented on was how well DVC had (up until that point) held it's value, that resale prices were not so very far from from direct pricing. Early buyers, often enough made money when they sold their DVC contracts. How times change, eh?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards App, please excuse any typos.

I still believe that Disney is shooting itself in the foot with resale restrictions.

It seems that more people bought direct before the resale restrictions came into play and lowered the value of resales. I believe that more people would prefer to buy from Disney if the price discrepancy were not so great. I know I would prefer to deal directly with Disney for a reasonable price difference. It would also be nice to know that my "investment" would not be worth half the minute I signed on the dotted line. It is nice to know that there is a reasonable after market for your contract. Right now, it is only reasonable if you buy resale!!!

 

[dvcterry]

I still believe that Disney is shooting itself in the foot with resale restrictions.

This.

We have ownerships with other timeshares and when there were restrictions placed many owners defaulted. mf went through the roof and letter was sent justifying that is was due to the number of increasing members defaulting. mf continue to go up and are now more than double what i paid originally. domino effect. moral of the story, restrictions hurt everyone. period.

 

[DannysMom]

...... It is nice to know that there is a reasonable after market for your contract. Right now, it is only reasonable if you buy resale!!!

This is the second biggest reason we bought resale. (The first, of course, was price.)

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[JaimeA]

I bought resale. I will never do a Disney cruise (hate boats) or the ABD so why buy at a high cost to get a perk i will never use? So i bought resale. Also if I have to sell tomorrow I will not lose as much as if I bought direct. That was the biggest seller to us.
And I agree that Disney is shooting themselves in the foot with the restrictions, they are only hurting future purchasers, both direct and resale.

 

[disneynutz]

I bought resale. I will never do a Disney cruise (hate boats) or the ABD so why buy at a high cost to get a perk i will never use? So i bought resale. Also if I have to sell tomorrow I will not lose as much as if I bought direct. That was the biggest seller to us.
And I agree that Disney is shooting themselves in the foot with the restrictions, they are only hurting future purchasers, both direct and resale.

If the resale restrictions are causing more educated owners to buy direct, I don't see how this hurts Disney?

Bill

 

[DougEMG]

If the resale restrictions are causing more educated owners to buy direct, I don't see how this hurts Disney?

Bill

Theoretically restrictions should cause a resale contract to have less value than a direct contract. Something that has less value should have a lower price. So anything that Disney does to restrict a resale owner has the effect of making it an even better deal to buy resale; provided you are happy staying at your home resort since they can't take that away.

So any informed buyer should be seriously looking at resale.

What would be interesting is to see how many add-ons were direct 5 years ago as compared to how many add-ons are direct now. I would bet it is less.

 

[disneynutz]

Theoretically restrictions should cause a resale contract to have less value than a direct contract. Something that has less value should have a lower price. So anything that Disney does to restrict a resale owner has the effect of making it an even better deal to buy resale; provided you are happy staying at your home resort since they can't take that away.

So any informed buyer should be seriously looking at resale.

What would be interesting is to see how many add-ons were direct 5 years ago as compared to how many add-ons are direct now. I would bet it is less.

Once the prices are forced low enough, wouldn't Disney exercise their ROFR and pick up some cheap contracts that they would morph into new contracts at a higher price?

Bill

 

[JaimeA]

If the resale restrictions are causing more educated owners to buy direct, I don't see how this hurts Disney?

Bill

My theory is an informed person wouldn't purchase direct knowing their contract has even less value if they need to sell and would then look to buy resale. Again I am talking about informed consumers.

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[ELMC]

I think that there are restrictions that could force buyers from resale to direct, but the latest round of restrictions did not accomplish that goal for many buyers. Instead what it accomplished is lowering the prices of resale contracts, making them more attractive to a subset of the buying population. Over time, DVD is sure to figure out what restrictions would push a critical mass of buyers from resale towards direct, so I would anticipate another round of restrictions at least.

For me personally, the only thing they could do that would force me into a direct purchase is to offer a longer booking window for direct vs. resale at the home resort. But I'm not entirely sure that they can legally impose this. So for me, at least, it's a moot point. Resale all the way.

 

[DougEMG]

I personally don't see any restriction that is going to make a person who wants to save the money buying resale instead buy direct.

My assumptions are:
(1) that all owners of a resort have to be treated the same for booking at their home resort and
(2) that non-home resort owners will not have any booking advantage over home resort owner.

Anything else is possible.

The value of owning DVC is staying at a DVC resort, which is something they can't take away, worst case you are restricted to staying at your home resort.

So lets take the case of someone looking to buy SSR at $55/point resale but being unable to stay at any other resort ever (not sure this could ever happen without effecting all SSR owners), are they instead going to pay $100+ to buy SSR direct or $170+ to buy BLT/GF? Maybe some small percentage of buyers would, but the majority are going to say "I'm happy staying anywhere" and save their money. After all that difference in price alone is going to pay for 10+ years of MF.

I would think that the key thing for Disney would be that they want/need to sell out a new resort fast enough that the resale prices for the new resort haven't dropped enough that it effects the direct sales of the new resort. That certainly seems to be what happened with BLT and I'm betting the same thing will happen with the GF.

So no more mega resorts like SSR. Smaller is better, limited supply equals high prices. Look at how well VGC resale prices have kept up (low supply and high demand), so if Disney added on to that resort it would still sell well with direct sales.