How much below 'asking' is "lowballing"?

[Cfabar1]

The TOT to me really skews the whole game.... I think that issue is going to continue to be a problem...

To me, a lowball offer is an offer that has no basis in financial reality for the point system and the resort. Offering $50/pp for VGC would be a waste of everyone's time. Offering $50/pp for Vero Beach is probably a bad financial decision on the part of the buyer, who might want to consider offering lower than that (if offering at all).

 

[disneylandtour]

A few VDH made their way into the resale market. Some asking $180 to $215pp. $150 might seem lowball yet I can’t imagine anyone offering more other than some random unicorn buyer/masochist.

The west coast is a different ballgame but still, VDH restrictions are harder to swallow than RIV. Locked into to one resort and that resort has a fairly significant ToT cost. On average per night they add: $50 Duo, $70 Studio, $125 1BR, $190 2BR, $400 GV. That’s an albatross. No lucking into VGC or occasional jaunts to WDW that avoid and offset those ToT expenses.

I’d say 10% under asking is totally fair game. Even 15% fair game if your intuition thinks a specific resort or type of contract is trending down. For VDH 20% does not seem lowball.

With the TOT, VDH needs to come down to the low $100s to make me interested. Give it three years, and I think it will be there. The restrictions are huge. The TOT is high. The tower is tiny. And it would be super easy to have periods where you could find little to no availability in weeks that interested you and those points simply expire.

 

[Genie+]

The TOT to me really skews the whole game.... I think that issue is going to continue to be a problem...

To me, a lowball offer is an offer that has no basis in financial reality for the point system and the resort. Offering $50/pp for VGC would be a waste of everyone's time. Offering $50/pp for Vero Beach is probably a bad financial decision on the part of the buyer, who might want to consider offering lower than that.

It would hurt less if the dues at VDH weren’t on the high side at near $10pp.

It all adds up quick!

 

[Middle of Main Street]

I always offered what I wanted to pay. When I found things that fit, I offered..sometimes it was well below and other times it was not.

Last year, I decided that if I could get RIV for $100x I’d buy it! No one took it. Which was fine because it worked out that I really didn’t need them!!!

I completely agree. We made a lowball offer on a 2042 resort last summer, not expecting to get it. It was what we were willing pay, and what we felt we could use ourselves at our favorite resort. We have spent a lot of money at this resort already before becoming members, so this purchase made sense for us, at the price we paid.

 

[Girlstar30]

Just ask lower than what you actually want to pay and see what happens. I offered $80 on a $95 SSR contract this month. They countered $85 and I countered back $82 and they accepted.

If it gets ROFR'd I'm going to try for even less if it's stripped (this one wasnt)

What do you have to lose unless you're in a hurry and even then you can easily counter back and forth in minutes if seller is proactive.

 

[Disneydad14]

Long time follower, first time poster.

I'm interested in a small-point contract that has its points stripped in 2025. As I've bought and sold a few contracts, if I really want the contract, I try to make a fair offer.

Let's say this contract is $145/pp (asking) and I offer $135/pp to the seller. The $145/pp is the average 'ask' for what I've seen available lately, for a contract of this nature. I don't view it as 'inflated' or greedy. It's not excessive, in my opinion.

You might compare it to a 50-point contract at VGF going in the low $170's/pp.

I'm offering a little under a 7% discount from the list (price) at $135/pp. Would you consider that a "lowball" offer?

I'm thinking it's a stripped contract in an unstable economy, a buyer's market.

Now, in my book, I definitly think there's a level below "lowball", something along the lines of "outrageous". Say I offered the seller, on the $145/pp contract, oh, $115/pp. And again, I'm looking the sellers $145/pp as standard fare for the contract in question. I would think $115/pp would be in the "outrageous" realm, but that's me.

I know some people have the idea of "throw it at the wall, see if anything sticks", and on occasion, it does.

I guess what I'm asking, in a roundabout way, is, how do you qualify a "lowball" offer?

I try to get a good price and move on with my day . I just bought a BLT and I got it for 120 a point . I could have probably got it a little cheaper but a point or two wouldn’t have made much of a difference and I feel I got a fair value. I just don’t like the back and forth and I pretty much do this for all purchases in my life

 

[atthebeachclub]

Just ask lower than what you actually want to pay and see what happens. I offered $80 on a $95 SSR contract this month. They countered $85 and I countered back $82 and they accepted.

If it gets ROFR'd I'm going to try for even less if it's stripped (this one wasnt)

What do you have to lose unless you're in a hurry and even then you can easily counter back and forth in minutes if seller is proactive.

I haven't heard of SSR being ROFRd in years, no matter the price, so I think you have nothing to worry about!

 

[Girlstar30]

I haven't heard of SSR being ROFRd in years, no matter the price, so I think you have nothing to worry about!

I sure hope so, Aulani is depending on it

 

[atthebeachclub]

I don't even think any offers count as "lowball". An offer is neutral, not positive or negative. "Lowball" is in the eyes of the seller, and it's a judgment, not a fact. So offer what you feel the contract is worth to YOU. And if they don't take it, there are plenty of other contracts out there.

 

[CastAStone]

Your offer is 100% about what you’re willing to pay and shouldn’t be impacted by the listing price.

That’s how they posted the listing - they posted what they wanted to get, not what you were willing to pay.

So lowballing is a myth. It doesn’t exist. Because their dream price is absolutely irrelevant.

 

[CraigInPA]

I had a funny situation just the past weekend. There's a house in the neighborhood that was owned by an elderly man who went into a nursing home. He refused to sell it. It deteriorated. A relative inherited it and did some minor cosmetic stuff, like painting everything grey. He also filled in the in-ground pool (idiot). He obviously got in over his head. There's very expensive stuff remaining to be done (hvac, flooring, kitchen, baths, all of which are torn out). He's now listed it for sale. I went over, looked at the mess he's made, and decided his asking price was "nearly all the money" for the house if it was in good condition, which it isn't. I informally (he was standing there during my viewing of the house) offered him half, since the cost to bring the house up to a good level was going to be a lot and there were still unknowns. He is obviously on another planet than I am, since he accused me of attempting to "lowball" him. Outside, the realtor told me to watch the listing so that I'll be notified when the guy returns to his senses and lowers the price. She said if it was her house, she would have immediately accepted my offer. So, back on topic, "lowball" is relative to each person's perception of value. He thought I was trying to "lowball" him, while I thought I was making a fair offer.

 

[Sandisw]

I haven't heard of SSR being ROFRd in years, no matter the price, so I think you have nothing to worry about!

It was in full force in 2022…mine got taken st $125.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

You're never going to catch the big fish if you don't cast your line out in deep waters...just know that you may come home with nothing to eat more often than not!

The best is when you know you don't need a contract but just want another one which makes the lowballing easy to do. Like anything in life the more desperate you are for it the more you're willing to pay for it immediately.

 

[Girlstar30]

I don't understand the people that list for unreasonably high and it sits there for months on end, what is the point?

 

[disneylandtour]

I don't understand the people that list for unreasonably high and it sits there for months on end, what is the point?

It happens on eBay all the time. Same principle - people believe something is worth more than what the market will bear...often by a lot.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I don't understand the people that list for unreasonably high and it sits there for months on end, what is the point?

Some just dont understand what the going rate is. Some need to get that amount and hope someone else who doesnt know what the going rate is will pay. Some get listed and then forgotten about and sit at an old price point. Either way offer what you want and they may take it!

 

[disneylandtour]

Also, for context here - this thread started by someone asking what was generally acceptable in terms of offers. There was some good general advice. But then came a lot of outlier stories. For someone making a first purchase, I'm not sure the outlier stories are the place to start. It's probably best not to start with wildly overpriced listings. And in general taking 10% to maybe 20% off for a reasonably priced listing is OK. You should also study the ROFR thread to see what things are actually selling for. In the last year, I've been trying to beef up my point holdings by a little. And as I already have a chunk of points, I'm in no rush. I can easily wait three or six months to find a contract that i feel is a good value (and matches one of my already existing UYs). That is simply a very different mindset than finding a first contract--probably for travel within a year. Also, if it's your first contract, you might think about UY from two perspectives--when you want to travel and also the most/least popular use years. Again, someone correct me if they have more info--but as i recall Dec/Feb have the most contracts which makes them easier to expand within the same UY later. I think Sep/Mar/Apr have the least.

 

[Brian Noble]

That could also be the "make me sell it to you" price. If they get it, fine. If they don't also fine. No harm leaving the hook in the water.

 

[Girlstar30]

That could also be the "make me sell it to you" price. If they get it, fine. If they don't also fine. No harm leaving the hook in the water.

Makes sense, i don't have to sell but I'll let it go if you pay this much, got it