New Title --Members only board for DVC rentals and Trades ?

[icydog]

Okay here's a novel idea. Get Rid of the Rent and Trade Boards! The rent people charge is too cheap anyway. This just makes me believe that when Disney stops the practice of controlling the ROFR, that members will give their points away for pennies on the dollar.
This is the case with wonderful resorts like the Four Seasons Aviara, Hyatts, Hiltons and most Marriotts. If you devalue the cost of a point so much by renting so cheaply, then for sure when the controls are pulled off, members will undercut each other to sell points. I am in a quandry as to, if I should sell my points now while they are worth something or wait and see.

 

[CarolMN]

Okay here's a novel idea. Get Rid of the Rent and Trade Boards! The rent people charge is too cheap anyway. This just makes me believe that when Disney stops the practice of controlling the ROFR, that members will give their points away for pennies on the dollar.
This is the case with wonderful resorts like the Four Seasons Aviara, Hyatts, Hiltons and most Marriotts. If you devalue the cost of a point so much by renting so cheaply, then for sure when the controls are pulled off, members will undercut each other to sell points. I am in a quandry as to, if I should sell my points now while they are worth something or wait and see.

I don't think the Rent/Trade Forum shoudl be eliminated. However, I do think that the DIS should charge a fee for using it. Fees could help keep these boards free for us to use.

FWIW, I think the rental price per point is more related to the price Disney charges to rent a room than it is to the price DVC charges to buy a DVC membership.

Anyway, point rental is pretty much a supply and demand business - taking away one marketplace (there are many others) is not necessarily going to increase the price.

I didn't buy DVC to make a profit. I bought for personal use - I wanted to get nicer accomodations for less $$. If you bought DVC as an investment and expected to make a profit or even to get your original investment back, maybe you should sell sooner rather than later.

I fully expect the price per point to decline in the next few years and when it does, it will have nothing to do with how much people charge to rent their points - it will be because of the declining length of the lease and because Disney is not supporting the price.

Best wishes -

 

[DisFlan]

Why would you assume Disney is going to get rid of ROFR any time soon? ROFR is their assurance that DVC remains a cash cow for years to come. Keep your points and enjoy them.

Besides, I LIKE the Rent/Trade board. Where else could I quickly find a few extra points if I need them?

DisFlan

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Two points that you make that I'd like to address:

1. Don't get rid of the rent/trade board but make it so that you have to be a Dis-Board sponsor to rent out points there. Or as Carol said, just charge a fee.

2. I really don't care about ROFR or whether Disney keeps buying back contracts. We bought DVC for family vacations and plan on using our points for that purpose for a long time to come. Anyone who purchases a timeshare as an investment, needs a new financial advisor.

HBC

 

[JimC]

I don't see how the rent/trade board has anything to do with the price people charge or Disney's ROFR.

I don't see any reason to get rid of it or to charge for it. If it helps DIS DVC members make better use of their points, that it is fine with me.

 

[joepoe]

We bought DVC for family vacations and plan on using our points for that purpose for a long time to come. Anyone who purchases a timeshare as an investment, needs a new financial advisor.
HBC

Oh, I don't know. We bought an OKW resale in 2002 for 58 a point. They are now going for about 72 a point. Even if we pay a 15% commission to sell, we still come out ahead and have had 5 great vacatoins at OKW to show for it.

 

[CarolMN]

Oh, I don't know. We bought an OKW resale in 2002 for 58 a point. They are now going for about 72 a point. Even if we pay a 15% commission to sell, we still come out ahead and have had 5 great vacatoins at OKW to show for it.

Lucky you. Your timing was fortunate.

I still agree with HBC - there's no guarantee anyone who purchases now will have the same experience. IMHO, the odds are against it. (And based on your other posts, I don't think your main reasons for purchasing DVC included its value as an investment property, LOL).

Best wishes -

 

[Tamar]

I'm with Jim. Not sure what the rent/trade board has to do with the price of buying into DVC. And, it seems like as room rates go up for DVC resorts, the cost to rent points will lag a bit behind, but will rise, too.

The rent board is a great service, I hope it's available for many years to come! My husband and I were just talking about how we'd like to rent points and have them transferred into our account so we can afford a GV in a few years for his 50th birthday.

 

[Dean]

I always laugh when this comes up. It seems to me that those that people have the most problem with are usually renting other locations like ebay. All taking the BBS away would do is eliminate the options for those that want to do it easily and occasionally. Those that do it more regularly have other options that many do not or will not pursue.

 

[Beca]

I know I am in a minority here....but, I do not think DVC will EVER stop ROFR'ing. WDW is in a unique position here....these resorts are not ours, but theirs. There is NO way WDW will allow resorts to be sold at "pennies on the dollar" because those resorts would be competing with WDW hotels. Plus, DVC will never allow their resorts to be seen as "something cheap".

I have a sneaking suspicion that once DVC has built out all its resorts, they will start ROFR'ing even higher to keep their guides employed. DVC will make a "business" of re-selling what they have sold before. Either that, or DVC will make an offer to all interested sellers to "buy back" their points directly at any given time (and, certainly for a cheaper price).

I suspect that DVC points will only get more expensive over time, rather than cheaper (when you adapt for shorter contracts, that is). Of course, hurricanes and terrorist activities could affect this as well....but seriously...who has the time or energy to worry about that??!!!



Beca

 

[Deb & Bill]

Okay here's a novel idea. Get Rid of the Rent and Trade Boards! The rent people charge is too cheap anyway. This just makes me believe that when Disney stops the practice of controlling the ROFR, that members will give their points away for pennies on the dollar.
This is the case with wonderful resorts like the Four Seasons Aviara, Hyatts, Hiltons and most Marriotts. If you devalue the cost of a point so much by renting so cheaply, then for sure when the controls are pulled off, members will undercut each other to sell points. I am in a quandry as to, if I should sell my points now while they are worth something or wait and see.

I don't rent out any of my points; we use them up as soon as we get them. But it does bother me when I see requests for points less than $10/point. I've seen a lot of "all I can afford is $8.50/point" threads lately. If that's all the person can afford, let them stay at the Value resorts. To me it devalues my DVC points and my resort.

And for those owners who say that lots of the people they rent to have purchased their own contracts, those 8.50-ers won't ever do that.

I'd say, keep it a value so those people who need to rent out reservations (for emergencies) to others can do it, but not make it such a firesale bargain.

I do like the idea of making people who rent out reservations acquire a DIS sponsorship.

 

[DisNDat]

I don't rent out any of my points; we use them up as soon as we get them. But it does bother me when I see requests for points less than $10/point. I've seen a lot of "all I can afford is $8.50/point" threads lately. If that's all the person can afford, let them stay at the Value resorts. To me it devalues my DVC points and my resort.

And for those owners who say that lots of the people they rent to have purchased their own contracts, those 8.50-ers won't ever do that.

I'd say, keep it a value so those people who need to rent out reservations (for emergencies) to others can do it, but not make it such a firesale bargain.

I do like the idea of making people who rent out reservations acquire a DIS sponsorship.

I was going to say almost the same thing! The lowballers who say "I can't afford $10/pt, would you take $8.50" wouldn't want to be in the same boat if *they* were the ones selling. So I'm wondering...could the forum have an FAQ of sorts at the top of the page, stipulating that points offered for sale should be listed for a minimum price of $10 per point or risk having the listing removed? What people negotiate privately nobody can control, but at least a guideline/FAQ of one or two sentences atop the forum homepage could help the cause.

Thanks so much to all the folks who work diligently to make this site available to us all!

 

[Caskbill]

I was going to say almost the same thing! The lowballers who say "I can't afford $10/pt, would you take $8.50" wouldn't want to be in the same boat if *they* were the ones selling. So I'm wondering...could the forum have an FAQ of sorts at the top of the page, stipulating that points offered for sale should be listed for a minimum price of $10 per point or risk having the listing removed? What people negotiate privately nobody can control, but at least a guideline/FAQ of one or two sentences atop the forum homepage could help the cause.

Often those people trying to purchase points cheaply are not looking to use the points themselves, but merely want to resell them at a higher markup, either on the boards or through other avenues such as ebay.

As to the DIS having a policy as described, there are two issues involved.

1. The DIS never gets involved in any financial arrangements between posters. This is policy.

2. Setting a floor price could initiate an FTC inquiry- since that is a form of collusion for price fixing.

 

[simpilotswife]

I also disagree with setting a minimum rental price. Sometimes people are looking to let their points go for less, they should have that right. Just as people have the right to ask to pay less rent per point. Asking does not mean that they'll get it.

 

[icydog]

I was going to say almost the same thing! The lowballers who say "I can't afford $10/pt, would you take $8.50" wouldn't want to be in the same boat if *they* were the ones selling. So I'm wondering...could the forum have an FAQ of sorts at the top of the page, stipulating that points offered for sale should be listed for a minimum price of $10 per point or risk having the listing removed? What people negotiate privately nobody can control, but at least a guideline/FAQ of one or two sentences atop the forum homepage could help the cause.

Thanks so much to all the folks who work diligently to make this site available to us all!

I rent my points at a minimum of $13 a point but usually $14-$15 a point. I hate to see them devalued at $10 but I really get mad when I see someone renting to a "whiner" for $8.50 a point.When setting my rates I figure in my cost to own them. This includes the price to buy into DVC and to maintain the points I own. I also figure in my time in handling the rental. I think everyone should do the same. I am not making a huge profit doing this either.
I also agree, if they don't have the money for a deluxe resort, go to a value resort like All Stars.
What I do is rent my points, then use that money to rent in other timeshare resorts of my choice. I think DVC is too expensive to buy into and maintain to use as a trade out. I figure out the cost of a timeshare vacation and rent the number of points I need to pay for it. It almost always come out better than trading my points for say a Marriott or Hyatt. By the way, when figuring how many points I need to rent to pay for the rental of another timeshare I multiply by $10 since that is the least common denominator. So for example if I want to rent a nice 2 bdrm timeshare in Puerto Rico and the cost is $1000 for 7 days. I just rent out 100 points and I am sure I am getting a good deal. The least Disney can get me would be 124 points and that is for the low season, which means a time when I wouldn't travel. A high season one bdrm is 160 or $1600 for a one bdrm, and I am sure I can find something better by looking around on the boards and on ebay.

I know I will get a lot of feedback about my way of using my points. I have been a member since 1992 and I am at a point that I want to do something beside go to WDW ( I still love DVC, and go all the time, so I am not completly abandoning my first love). I am on a timesharing hunt right now and the prospects look good for a fun summer or fall vacation for us. Luclily I can travel in the off seasons which allows me to get some good buys for my points.

Marylyn

 

[DrBond007]

Keep the Rent / Trade boards. They aren't the issue, it's silly to think they are. We've seen plenty of examples of people auctioning of hard to get reservations on auction sites. Some people seem to have taken up this practice as a business enterprise.

The boards give you some comfort in who you are dealing with, especially if they have been posting here for a while. I've rented points when we wanted to extend our vacation beyond the points we had available, it's a wonderful option. It's supply and demand. As long as Disney keeps building more resorts and increasing the supply, price will stay low for renting.

 

[JoeThaNo1Stunna]

I am a future DVCer and I think the ideas of price collusion on this board to be ridiculous. The market and a plethora of issues related to DVC move prices up or down. To require everyone charge $10 a point is un-American to me.

As far as those people who want to only pay $8.50 pp, oh well. If you don't like it, don't rent to them. Most likely this is just a bargaining position, where they say $8.50 and you say $12, you may meet at $10 pp.

I think the board would die if you made it only available to sponsors, however the idea of charging a fee is not as ludicrous. I do believe that if we start charging for certain boards that we are headed down a slippery slope.

 

[PKS44]

Yes--we should do whatever we can to interfere with the free and unfettered exchange of goods, information and services on the free market...obviously the OP knows what is best for everyone else and we should bow down and do whatever he/she says --FREE MARKETS ARES SO BAD...

 

[Cruelladeville]

I LIKE the rent/trade board! I agree, however, that I would love to slap the person who whines about spending more than $8.50 a point! Let them stay off-property or stay home, but don't insult my intelligence! I rent at $10-$11 and that is a profit for me, since I bought at $54. I used those points to remodel my kitchen, and they are going to help me enlarge my bathroom eventually, if I ever stop using the points myself!

 

[icydog]

"The market and a plethora of issues related to DVC move prices up or down. To require everyone charge $10 a point is un-American to me. "

I disagree that the market drives the price of points rented. People who rent for $10 don't change in any market. The price has been $10 a point since I can remember. I have seen posts on other boards advising against owning DVC. Why own when you can rent for $10 or even less? It's way cheaper than an initial outlay of many thousands and no maintenance fees!

As far as un-American, you should look around. The prices of all goods and services fluctuate with inflation and demand. THIS IS NOT SO with the disboard rentals board. The prices remain constant even though the price of a single point has risen to over ninety dollars a point. I am so amazed at people who buy into SSR for $91 per point then rent their points for $10. I bought my points from Disney at $51.50-$75 a point and I still think $10 is too little compared to the value people are getting through us. Someone just sent me a PM asking me where I rent my points for more than $10 because they feel that even $12 a point for BCV is too low if you consider they aren't paying any taxes.

Okay, let the flack begin. I'm ready. But I know there are many closet renters who are not speaking out here. It's okay, you can send me PMs and I will post your thoughts here, so that others know I am not alone!
Begin the advance!

Marylyn