I mean at this point, why is anyone buying direct?

[mamaofsix]

We researched resale for years and ultimately went direct because:

*We wanted VGF. The price difference was minimal.
*Less headache as an international buyer. Quick and easy.
*Access to special perks like the Epcot lounge and Moonlight Magic events
*Discount on food and merch (this is a huge savings for large families like ours).
*Ability to stay at any future resorts

 

[SleeplessInTO]

Disney finally made me feel inadequate enough for long enough that I wanted a blue card. I had 300 points via resale already. At the end of the day, Disney sells happiness. Signing that direct contract brought me a lot of joy. Is it rational? No. Do I regret buying direct instead of resale? Not at all.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

Yes, we also are buying with the intention of passing to our kids, too. We'd like to have them split their Riviera and Poly 2.0 to have 2/3 parks covered with the tower layout we prefer.

 

[DebLovesPooh]

I didn’t want to finance, so I bought small contracts direct (25-50 points a contract) as I could pay cash for them. I paid more in closing costs, but I also see myself as having an easy out if I ever want to sell. The cost savings for those small contracts felt minimal compared to the benefit.

 

[TinkB278]

With how resale prices have increased over the past year, I don’t think the small savings of resale is worth having my points restricted.

 

[AstroBlasters]

With how resale prices have increased over the past year, I don’t think the small savings of resale is worth having my points restricted.

Which resale prices have increased over the past year?

 

[AstroBlasters]

Completely disagree. Direct at Riviera and VGF are good values that give you immediate access to points without broker headaches, and most critically give you access to ALL current and future resorts.
If you’re looking for long term, buying resale is a really questionable proposition with access to only half the resorts in 19 years.

Resale makes sense if:
-you’re only looking to own for 10-15 years..
-and/or you’re ok with what will become a very limited selection of resorts.

I saved over EIGHTY FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS by going resale this year. That is with after-tax money.

I disagree with your points if you are West Coast based and plan to spend the majority of your time at Disneyland (VGC?) and Aulani with the occasional trip to WDW.

A windowless lounge in Tomorrowland and a sparkly bracket with the occasional macaron and sushi at Aulani doesn’t give me FOMO either. Food discounts? I can use my Disney Visa.

Plus, I can always rent out my Aulani points that I purchased for 50 cents on the dollar and then rent DLH or RIV if I absolutely have to stay there.

 

[DVCsloth]

I saved over EIGHTY FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS by going resale this year. That is with after-tax money.

I disagree with your points if you are West Coast based and plan to spend the majority of your time at Disneyland (VGC?) and Aulani with the occasional trip to WDW.

A windowless lounge in Tomorrowland and a sparkly bracket with the occasional macaron and sushi at Aulani doesn’t give me FOMO either. Food discounts? I can use my Disney Visa.

Plus, I can always rent out my Aulani points that I purchased for 50 cents on the dollar and then rent DLH or RIV if I absolutely have to stay there.

What did you buy to save that much money?

 

[tom1944]

I am going to buy resale initially if we can ever make up our mind but I could definitely see making a direct purchase at Riviera or Poly2

 

[tjkraz]

We bought some VGF points when they first went on sale in March '22. The cost difference between resale for the number of points we wanted + resorts under consideration was fairly minimal. Plus we like Disneyland, but probably not enough to buy VDH. We expect to use our direct points to stay there every few years.

Since March direct prices have gone up and resale have come down. I'd have to really study the numbers again to determine if we would do things differently now.

But like others have said, the timeshare is a product that thrives on uninformed consumers. DVC sales have been sluggish lately, but selling less product at higher margins is a sound approach. And DVC can quite easily roll-out some extra incentives whenever they want to boost sales. We'll see how things play out in the coming months.

 

[AstroBlasters]

What did you buy to save that much money?

575 points at AUL at an avg of $96pp & 200 points at VGC for $225pp.

 

[havoc315]

I saved over EIGHTY FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS by going resale this year. That is with after-tax money.

That would suggest you’ve spent a six figures on over a thousand points. If those are Aulani points, good luck using them regularly at VGC. And won’t be able to use them at VDH.

I disagree with your points if you are West Coast based and plan to spend the majority of your time at Disneyland (VGC?) and Aulani with the occasional trip to WDW.

I think you just agreed with my points — that resale is fine if you’re ok with a very limited selection of resorts in the long term. Yes, buying VGC re-sale and using them almost solely at VGC and Aulani works fine.

Of course, that didn’t exactly save you money… as VGC resale is more than many direct points.

A windowless lounge in Tomorrowland and a sparkly bracket with the occasional macaron and sushi at Aulani doesn’t give me FOMO either. Food discounts? I can use my Disney Visa.

Plus, I can always rent out my Aulani points that I purchased for 50 cents on the dollar and then rent DLH or RIV if I absolutely have to stay there.

At a loss.

 

[havoc315]

575 points at AUL at an avg of $96pp & 200 points at VGC for $225pp.

So you spent $100k on 775 points…
You “saved” $50k compared to current VGF pricing.
For your $100k purchase, you’ll be locked out of VDH… (yes, you can rent out your points and then pay to rent VDH points… but you buy a beach house in Cape Cod, rent it out on AirBNB and stay in the Ritz in Manhattan.. it’s not using the points you purchased).
In 19 years, you’ll be locked out if every Epcot resort…

A very valuable savings if you intend to mostly use your home resorts and are happy with a very limited long term alternative selection.

 

[AstroBlasters]

That would suggest you’ve spent a half million on a couple thousand points. If those are Aulani points, good luck using them regularly at VGC. And won’t be able to use them at VDH.






I think you just agreed with my points — that resale is fine if you’re ok with a very limited selection of resorts in the long term. Yes, buying VGC re-sale and using them almost solely at VGC and Aulani works fine.

Of course, that didn’t exactly save you money… as VGC resale is more than many direct points.




At a loss.

Can you explain to me why you think I needed to spend half a million to save that money when I gave you the price per point that I paid.

AUL: $217 direct - $96 resale = $121pp
$121 * 575 points = $69,575.

VGC: $320 direct - $225 resale = $95pp
$95 * 200 points = $19,000

Total saved: $69,575 + $19,000 = $88,575

$96 * 575 = $55,200
$225 * 200 = $44,000

Total spent: $55,200 + $44,000 = $100,200

 

[Lunchbox66]

Its posts like these I start to write a reply and stop. If resale owners are jealous and want to try to trash direct owners to feel better that is on them.

 

[AstroBlasters]

That would suggest you’ve spent a six figures on over a thousand points. If those are Aulani points, good luck using them regularly at VGC. And won’t be able to use them at VDH.






I think you just agreed with my points — that resale is fine if you’re ok with a very limited selection of resorts in the long term. Yes, buying VGC re-sale and using them almost solely at VGC and Aulani works fine.

Of course, that didn’t exactly save you money… as VGC resale is more than many direct points.




At a loss.

I paid an average of 11.52 a point (with dues) for my AUL points.

If I rent at $18pp then I still made $6.47pp.

If I pay $20pp to rent RIV or DLH then I am losing a delta of $2pp vs renting my points. The direct buy in price delta would take 60 years (not including TVM) to make up.

How is that at a loss?

 

[AstroBlasters]

So you spent $100k on 775 points…
You “saved” $50k compared to current VGF pricing.
For your $100k purchase, you’ll be locked out of VDH… (yes, you can rent out your points and then pay to rent VDH points… but you buy a beach house in Cape Cod, rent it out on AirBNB and stay in the Ritz in Manhattan.. it’s not using the points you purchased).
In 19 years, you’ll be locked out if every Epcot resort…

A very valuable savings if you intend to mostly use your home resorts and are happy with a very limited long term alternative selection.

Direct VGF won’t get me into VGC, so that doesn’t matter. You have to compare apples to apples.

Also, I don’t feel “very limited” when we have the same 7-month window at 14 of 16 resorts for the next 19 years.

 

[Gr8scott]

One thing that I don’t see discussed a lot when comparing direct vs resale is the projected value should you decide to sell for whatever reason. Although I don’t know what the exact numbers are, I’ve read that the average length of ownership of a DVC contract is less than 10-years, with some reporting only 7-8 years.

I would be interested to know how accurate these numbers are, and what percentage of DVC buyers that plan to sell “early” rather than planning on keeping the full length of a contract at the time of purchase. Something to consider though as regardless of the perks associated with purchasing direct and their perceived value, the difference actual profit/loss at the time of sale could be significant. Perhaps there is an error in my thinking but will say that after 13-years of ownership of multiple contracts we are currently deliberating on selling ours now.

 

[davidhr]

Can you explain to me why you think I needed to spend half a million to save that money when I gave you the price per point that I paid.

AUL: $217 direct - $96 resale = $121pp
$121 * 575 points = $69,575.

VGC: $320 direct - $225 resale = $95pp
$95 * 200 points = $19,000

Total saved: $69,575 + $19,000 = $88,575

$96 * 575 = $55,200
$225 * 200 = $44,000

Total spent: $55,200 + $44,000 = $100,200

I agree that it’s a significant saving and I’d have gone resale, but you’re overstating your savings by not considering the incentives.

Aulani savings per point would have been over $40.

 

[DVCsloth]

Can you explain to me why you think I needed to spend half a million to save that money when I gave you the price per point that I paid.

AUL: $217 direct - $96 resale = $121pp
$121 * 575 points = $69,575.

VGC: $320 direct - $225 resale = $95pp
$95 * 200 points = $19,000

Total saved: $69,575 + $19,000 = $88,575

$96 * 575 = $55,200
$225 * 200 = $44,000

Total spent: $55,200 + $44,000 = $100,200

Aulani direct 575 points = $95,753 currently
VGC probably not available direct.