Incentivizing direct purchase over resale

[broncofan]

As much as I don't like them, I think the resale restrictions are going to be really effective over time to incentivize direct purchases. I agree with many of the complaints about those restrictions, but the reality is that they are going to make the resale product much less attractive over time when compared to a direct contract. That makes it easier to sell direct DVC not on the cost vs resale, but basically as a completely different product. Already 3 (soon to be 4 one would guess) resorts are unavailable if you are a resale owner.

For me it's still been worth it to save $60-70 per point on our resale points (we're 250 direct AK, 200 resale SSR), but it complicates any plans to take a big trip to Riviera or stay in a 2 BR at VDH. Not quite enough to wish I had forked out an extra $12-14K for direct points, but enough to make it clear that even with a blue card already there was a significant tradeoff involved.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Oh sorry, I didn't mean any DCL benefits for DVC owners. I mean DVC giving benefits structured similarly to DVC members like DCL does all within it's own area of the Walt Disney Company.

Yeah it was me that mentioned it.

 

[heathpack]

Agree.

I would also say some of the perks they offer while they are nice can tend to make people not appreciate them and sometimes sad/angry. Like Welcome Home Weeks. These type of things where it makes so many members feel like they are missing out and never get the perks. I think budgeting for perks that have equal access for members would be better put to use. I understand MM capacity requirements etc so I am not talking about MM. Example, 2 times I have been at Aulani for welcome home weeks but didnt get to attend because you have to sign up in person and by the time we arrive the very limited amount of spots were gone. That for sure doesnt make it feel like a perk, feels like disappointment. So basically I think taking money spent on welcome home weeks type events and routing it elsewhere would be better.

Moonlight Magic feels like this for us. Its frustrating to me that they release limited details about the event in advance, so you can't really plan. This wasn't a huge issue for us when we lived in LA and were local to Disneyland. We'd just go, bring some friends, and whatever it was, it was.

But when we are at WDW with an AP, our time is limited and we could be at Moonlight Magic or we could be elsewhere. Should we be eating dinner prior because they'll be handing out Mickey Bars and popcorn vouchers, or will we be able to use snack vouchers at Epcot festival booths? If festival booths are an option, we need to arrive earlier than if we'd arrive for popcorn vouchers.

Don't get me wrong- MM is a really nice perk. Its just that they take a really nice thing and then undermine it by making it a little annoying. In the end I wind up thinking "I could live without this perk".

 

[Flash_Sloth]

Only those who don’t know resale exists.

Regarding the hypothetical if blue card perks didn't exist and there weren't resale restrictions, who would buy direct? Well, somebody has to buy direct first and then decide that they need to sell before there can be any resales available for a resort. For new resorts, it may take a while to find your UY and approximately how many points you want at an agreeable price.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

I understand DCL operates everything within its own portion of the Walt Disney Corporation, but something like Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Pearl tiers with dedicated phone numbers, earlier access to booking windows on trades (hinted at in DVC surveys), and even multiple MMs could be something internal.

This make sense to me— either early booking for trades or more MM would probably have me considering more direct—especially if they do crack down on spec renting (either as they appear to be doing by generally targeting large commercial renters or by specifically restricting name transfers on rooms booked at 11mo).

What about better direct pricing if you own more? Not the standard member pricing, but tiered based on what you own? Would that entice members?

“Honey, we’ve got to buy more direct now so we can save even more the next time we buy 200 points direct at BCV2” is not going to go over well with my other half.

Seriously though, thinking in my own case, our first 200 points to join would have been direct even without perks…but our subsequent purchases would be all resale (as opposed to predominately resale). Also, we probably would be more likely to dump our original direct AUL contract and if we ever wanted to own there again, we’d buy subsidized resale.

 

[Brian Noble]

how many would buy direct points at all?

Lots of people would. And that's because...

Only those who don’t know resale exists.

...most people on the sales floor have no idea what the resale ecosystem looks like.

But, for those that do know, this gives the Guides another arrow for the quiver.

 

[DVCsloth]

Disney set the minimum for benefits to 100 points on September 17, 2019. It raised it two more times since then.

One you have benefits there is no reason to keep buying direct which is why DVC keeps revisiting this.

I'm not totally clear on this and it may have been answered before. If you have the minimum for membership extras, but you want to attend Moonlight Magic and you book your stay on non-eligible resale points, are you still able to attend these since you already have the required minimum but staying on the non-eligible points?

 

[Brian Noble]

Any eligible Member can register during the general registraiton period. For early registration, I believe that (for now) it only has to be booked on an eligible Membership, either using points or the cash rate on a DVC room. It imght even be possible for an eligible Member to be booked using an ineligible Membership, but I'm not sure about that. And, all of this could change at anytime, and if it does change, it will not be more inclusive.

 

[Kingkonig]

Reading this, the big thing people are hoping for is better perks for direct and that if that happens, then people will “reward” Disney by buying direct instead of resale.

However overall, negative reinforcement (punishment) is much more effective than positive reinforcement - people will always find a way to act in their best financial interests. Since Disney isn’t going to lower the cost of direct in order to change the financial calculus, they will be more likely to reduce the value of resale. Plus if pricing gets low enough they can ROFR the contracts and sell them as cash bookings.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Build better new resorts. Stop taking short cuts on theming, materials, etc.

 

[bakerworld]

Personally, we've never liked the timeline or procedure of resale. Resale seems like handing hard earned cash to a complete stranger to hold on for a few weeks, without any progress communication, being sent docs to sign and in a few months membership access will appear. Buying direct seems very direct - for $ here's your membership, where do you want to stay next, and here is some swag. If adding on to existing membership, points are accessible within a hour, or less. So we've always bought direct because it seemed a safe, if more expensive, use of our $. I think there are many people who do not like the 'spin the wheel' nature of resale.

IMO, the biggest incentive direct purchase of a DVC membership could receive is to return the 'savings' back to 70%.

 

[DVCsloth]

Personally, we've never liked the timeline or procedure of resale. Resale seems like handing hard earned cash to a complete stranger to hold on for a few weeks, without any progress communication, being sent docs to sign and in a few months membership access will appear. Buying direct seems very direct - for $ here's your membership, where do you want to stay next, and here is some swag. If adding on to existing membership, points are accessible within a hour, or less. So we've always bought direct because it seemed a safe, if more expensive, use of our $. I think there are many people who do not like the 'spin the wheel' nature of resale.

IMO, the biggest incentive direct purchase of a DVC membership could receive is to return the 'savings' back to 70%.

The entire direct purchase procedure is a big perk IMO. Sometimes I'm tempted to add on at a sold-out resort, but the hassle and restrictions have pretty much kept me away.

 

[Moonspinner]

We have 600 direct points lol and I can agree that instant points are key. Almost half of our direct points are 50 point contracts that we purchased because we needed more points “that day” (that minute in one case. The guide was trying to hold a reservation for me as he put the points into our account lol). He was loving the rush and kept saying, “Did you get it?,” until I did. Good times. You can’t play like that with resale.

And then, we’ve just gotten to a point in our lives where we want flexibility. We like being able to redirect the points to a cruise when one of our kids gets a part in a play that forces us to cancel our vacation. Our lives have a lot of variables and we are willing to pay to not end up with points that restrict us. We have one post 2018 resale contract and we hate that contract. PITA to use.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

We have 600 direct points lol and I can agree that instant points are key. Almost half of our direct points are 50 point contracts that we purchased because we needed more points “that day” (that minute in one case. The guide was trying to hold a reservation for me as he put the points into our account lol). He was loving the rush and kept saying, “Did you get it?,” until I did. Good times. You can’t play like that with resale.

And then, we’ve just gotten to a point in our lives where we want flexibility. We like being able to redirect the points to a cruise when one of our kids gets a part in a play that forces us to cancel our vacation. Our lives have a lot of variables and we are willing to pay to not end up with points that restrict us. We have one post 2018 resale contract and we hate that contract. PITA to use.

This has me wondering…can holding points be traded for a cruise or sorcerers pass?

 

[airjay75]

This has me wondering…can holding points be traded for a cruise or sorcerers pass?

My understanding is yes (obviously, they have to be direct). Has made me think it’s a good idea if I book a trip late in my UY to prioritize my direct points. If you have to cancel, then worst case, trade them in for an AP or a cruise.

 

[Flash_Sloth]

I'm not totally clear on this and it may have been answered before. If you have the minimum for membership extras, but you want to attend Moonlight Magic and you book your stay on non-eligible resale points, are you still able to attend these since you already have the required minimum but staying on the non-eligible points?

Any eligible Member can register during the general registraiton period. For early registration, I believe that (for now) it only has to be booked on an eligible Membership, either using points or the cash rate on a DVC room. It imght even be possible for an eligible Member to be booked using an ineligible Membership, but I'm not sure about that. And, all of this could change at anytime, and if it does change, it will not be more inclusive.

I did MM early registration for a reservation on resale points in my direct benefits eligible membership.

A year or two ago, they changed the rules for a cash rate room to be eligible: you have to book it through DVC member services. If you directly book it online on WDW website, you aren't eligible for MM early registration. And it doesn't have to be at a DVC resort; the last MM I went to, the bus back to my resort stopped at Pop first.

I think that if you have a resale only membership that isn't eligible for direct benefits, and you book a reservation with that membership, then it isn't eligible for MM early registration even if you have another UY/membership that has direct benefits. I don't know what happens if you transfer points from a resale membership to a direct membership and book with those transferred points. It might work, but with only 1 transfer in or out per year allowed, it may not be worth it for a gamble at getting MM.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Through all the fluff, imo, the only time direct comes out significantly ahead is for a larger family that will buy AP’s on an annual basis and the black out dates of the Sorcerers is not a factor.
Doing the math, that family will indeed eventually come out on top with direct. Other benefits are just whipped cream on the sundae.

 

[AstroBlasters]

A lot of these posts are WDW focused. It’s interesting how the equation is very different for the west coast.

 

[VGCgroupie]

A lot of these posts are WDW focused. It’s interesting how the equation is very different for the west coast.

Id say direct is much more important to own on the west coast since 1/3 of the resorts on the west are restricted. 1/2 when non theme park resorts are taken out of the equation. I do think they need a better DVC AP for DLR.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Id say direct is much more important to own on the west coast since 1/3 of the resorts on the west are restricted. 1/2 when non theme park resorts are taken out of the equation. I do think they need a better DVC AP for DLR.

But it’s significantly more than half of the actual room inventory at Disneyland because of how small VGC is…. also… buying into DVC and living on the west coast without access to Aulani…..