I am sure this has been debated before but since we just returned tonight and will need to phone our agent Tuesday, I need to get as much info as possible in a short time. So, do we consider the new sales from Disney or find a resale from the TSS? What are the pros and cons of each?
TIA!!
How long have you been looking at
DVC? Whether to go resale vs. direct from Disney isn't necessarily a clear cut answer. The analysis might be different whether you are purchasing OKW vs AKV vs. SSR vs. BWV, etc.
The reason I asked how long you'd been looking at DVC for is b/c there is a lot of info on this DVC Board if you dig through the threads and it's not necessarily a decision I would rush. (Did they tell you the incentive is only good until Tuesday? I would be wary of trying to meet that deadline.)
Here's a thread that has a lot of advice for prospective buyers that I thought had good advice:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=778634&page=1&pp=15
Back to your question: Basically, buying resale can save you some $$, but there are some things to look out for. I bought my SSR contract resale b/c Disney's minimum is 160 pts and I only wanted 100 pts. At most I saved $1000 (not chump change...but it wasn't so much that I wouldn't have bought through Disney if they'd have sold me 100pts.)
Here are some differences:
1.
ROFR=Uncertainty. If the price of your resale contract is too low, Disney will buy it out from under you using its ROFR (Right of First Refusal).
2.
Timing. It takes much longer to complete a resale purchase than one from Disney. Contracts have to get submitted to Disney and sometimes sellers are slow to return docs, etc. It didn't really impact me b/c I wasn't planning anything until next year...for many it's really an issue b/c they have things coming up much faster on the horizon.
3.
Stripped Contracts When looking at the multitudes of contracts on the market, many are "stripped" of points or come with various points missing, borrowed, etc. The first contract I tried to purchase had no pts. coming until Feb. 08. I thought I could buy it for less for that reason but it was ROFR'd. Ultimately a good thing, that contract was $2 less than market, but if I'd wanted to replace the stripped points it would have cost more like $10 per point. I landed up paying $2 pr pt more and getting Oct 06 and Oct 07 points as well. The point being...currently available points are the most valuable...they can be rented out for quite a bit of $$ and they would cost quite a bit to replace. Disney contracts always come with a full complement of points. When I compared stripped contracts with a full disney contract, the difference in replacing the stripped points often brings the cost of the contract up to the price of the disney contract. That said, there are plenty of resale contracts that come with currently available points that would cost less than a Disney contract.
4.
Financing Disney will provide access so semi-ok financing. I wasn't financing so it wasn't an issue for me. For some it is. If you finance a resale purchase it would likely cost more than Disney financing.
5.
Size of Contract. I almost forgot this one. Disney's minimum is 160 pts. That minimum doesn't apply resale. Size of Contract also effects your savings. When I was considering the price of my 100pt contract it struck me that a change of $2 per point meant an extra $200 to the purchase price. Not a lot of money in my book for this purchase. That said, if you are purchasing a larger contract the savings can add up by going resale. Larger contracts tend to have a lower price per point than smaller contract, multiply that by the larger number of points and the savings from purchasing direct from Disney can add up.
Good luck. Amy
