Rumor: Disney shutting down rental brokers

[Dean]

All those points being sold for the POLY bungalows and the new VWLII bungalows are just going to continue this problem if enough DVC members don't end up wanting to book there.

Doubtful it'll have any impact but I'm sure it'll happen some and mostly because they can't get what they want, not as a planned move like at SSR or AKV. And it will create some availability at the Poly in return. Sure will be expensive 7 month points though.

 

[a742246]

I would image if the rumor is true, Disney may be considering expanding their "DVC point renting business" from a fifteen dollar 24 point max into a complete reservation option. By allowing DVC members the option of renting their unused points back to Disney.

Disney would make money from it.
It would be a selling point for future DVC purchasers.
It would benefit existing DVC members.
They can regulate it better with better rules.

This is just a rumor but I can see this being a benefit!

 

[gdrj]

I would image if the rumor is true, Disney may be considering expanding their "DVC point renting business" from a fifteen dollar 24 point max into a complete reservation option. By allowing DVC members the option of renting their unused points back to Disney.

Disney would make money from it.
It would be a selling point for future DVC purchasers.
It would benefit existing DVC members.
They can regulate it better with better rules.

This is just a rumor but I can see this being a benefit!

Interesting. Not sure that would stop brokers, if that is the goal. Also it could create more demand (many people don't know about renting points) making it harder to book. Lastly Disney would need to price in a way that did not negatively impact the price paid for hotel rooms.

 

[DisDadDVC]

That's not being done by brokers. That's just owners. There are very few brokers who offer cancellation...

*snip*

Biggest multi-quote ever?

 

[SuperRob]

My guess is that this is a rumor Disney would like to have spread around to make it seem like they are trying to solve the problem of hard-to-get reservations. So they're villainizing the rental brokers, suggesting they are the problem. But as others have already said, they won't be able to stop rental brokers anyway, so if it's true, it's probably just bluster.

 

[jerseyduke]

I think it is a rumor.

However, I can see Disney doing something along the lines. In my eyes, Disney does have a problem posed by rentals. You can often rent a good number of studios, for the same price that you can get a moderate room for. Every additional point in the system is more potential renters, which could put strain on moderate resort occupancy.

That being said, i doubt there would ever be that much point renting going on to cause issues. I need accommodations for which I do not have points; if i rent, DIS loses out on a renting of a room.

 

[tjkraz]

Didn't we buy a timeshare like this to use *how we want to use it*??? Let's take rundisney. Princess weekend, I booked a 3 night stay. I'm still thinking about coming out for another race or two this year; that would be another short stay or two. I would look like an evil renter to you, wouldn't I? But the owner's family is using those points.

I'll assume context was lost during the extensive multi-quote. In the post quoted, I never suggested that renters were "evil." I was simply offering thoughts on the winners and losers if DVC introduced across-the-board reservation fees.

I would image if the rumor is true, Disney may be considering expanding their "DVC point renting business" from a fifteen dollar 24 point max into a complete reservation option. By allowing DVC members the option of renting their unused points back to Disney.

Disney would make money from it.
It would be a selling point for future DVC purchasers.
It would benefit existing DVC members.
They can regulate it better with better rules.

This is just a rumor but I can see this being a benefit!

A few problems:

1) It's unlikely Disney would compete with independent brokers on a financial level. They would never offer $11-13 per point to owners. DVC may earn some business from owners who would prefer to work directly with Disney, but this move alone isn't going to put the brokers out of business.

2) Disney already has its own extensive cache of points to rent. They have literally millions of unsold points at the Polynesian and Aulani to draw from whenever an owner wishes to buy One Time Use points. Acquiring more points by offering rental buy-backs doesn't really provide any financial benefit to Disney. They already have more excess points than they know what to do with.

3) If you're suggesting that Disney could start "renting" to non-members in the same way owners do, all that does is undercut their hotel business. Disney's objection to renting stems from the idea that non-members can "rent" a BoardWalk Studio villa for a fraction of the price of a BoardWalk Inn hotel room. Disney won't make any moves to encourage such practices, even if there is some modest financial benefit.

 

[DebbieB]

My guess is that this is a rumor Disney would like to have spread around to make it seem like they are trying to solve the problem of hard-to-get reservations. So they're villainizing the rental brokers, suggesting they are the problem. But as others have already said, they won't be able to stop rental brokers anyway, so if it's true, it's probably just bluster.

I don't think DVC is concerned about hard to get reservations, otherwise they would do something about walking or adjusting the points charts (for example, early December). They would be more concerned about less CRO reservations because of points rentals, including their own points they are renting through CRO.

Until a well known point broker comes out with this rumor as fact, I don't put much reliability to it. All we have right now is some unnamed broker.

 

[SuperRob]

I don't think DVC is concerned about hard to get reservations, otherwise they would do something about walking or adjusting the points charts (for example, early December). They would be more concerned about less CRO reservations because of points rentals, including their own points they are renting through CRO.

Right, but they don't want members to think there's anything wrong with any of those (particularly if they can't solve "problems" like walking without adversely affecting others), so they might like having the finger pointed elsewhere. Not saying this is what's happening, but I could see Disney not being too upset if this rumor made the rounds.

 

[malba2366]

I would image if the rumor is true, Disney may be considering expanding their "DVC point renting business" from a fifteen dollar 24 point max into a complete reservation option. By allowing DVC members the option of renting their unused points back to Disney.

Disney would make money from it.
It would be a selling point for future DVC purchasers.
It would benefit existing DVC members.
They can regulate it better with better rules.

This is just a rumor but I can see this being a benefit!

I doubt they would ever do that. Openly renting out $15 points to anyone who wants them would significantly decrease the nightly room rates at all the deluxe resorts, and it would also decrease their DVC sales as it would make the break even point to buying vs renting points so long that it would not make sense to buy.

 

[a742246]

I doubt they would ever do that. Openly renting out $15 points to anyone who wants them would significantly decrease the nightly room rates at all the deluxe resorts, and it would also decrease their DVC sales as it would make the break even point to buying vs renting points so long that it would not make sense to buy.

I doubt Disney would get into the point rental market too! But here on the disboards rumors get analyzed and ideas are tossed, that's the fun of disboards! I want to welcome you to these boards and hope you have a fun time here!

 

[gmboy95]

Rumor posted on Facebook today was that Disney will be putting rules in places to prevent brokers from renting points, instead requiring owners to do rentals privately. This is due to reservations being made during busy seasons and then being canceled.

The story I've heard is that this will go into effect in August.

Anyone else heard this or have an opinion on it?

anything to free up more availability....however we do try and utilize the wait list as much as possible to take advantage of these cancellations!

 

[tjkraz]

anything to free up more availability....however we do try and utilize the wait list as much as possible to take advantage of these cancellations!

Except it wouldn't magically create more availability.

If people are astute enough now to rent unneeded points through a broker, they wouldn't just start letting points expire unused if that option were no longer available. They'd rent independently, sell to a friend, give to a friend, sell the unneeded points (to a buyer who would use them) or simply find a way to use the points.

 

[suebeelin]

I doubt they would ever do that. Openly renting out $15 points to anyone who wants them would significantly decrease the nightly room rates at all the deluxe resorts, and it would also decrease their DVC sales as it would make the break even point to buying vs renting points so long that it would not make sense to buy.

Can you imagine renting a bwv studio on a wkday for $150? Lol. That's the std studio in sept, early December, and January. No one would ever buy dvc or even think of staying at bwi, or anywhere else!

 

[a742246]

Can you imagine renting a bwv studio on a wkday for $150? Lol. That's the std studio in sept, early December, and January. No one would ever buy dvc or even think of staying at bwi, or anywhere else!

People can do that today by renting thru brokers or other DVC members!

 

[tjkraz]

People can do that today by renting thru brokers or other DVC members!

Yes, but I think @suebeelin's point was that Disney would never create their own rental service, undercutting their own hotel rates and the most compelling reason to actually own DVC points.

 

[CarolMN]

This doesn't even sound like rental brokers in the sense that we know them. As stated they are not booking speculative reservations then cancelling later if they don't rent. They are simply helping a member do what they could do on their own but making the process easier.

This does however sound like the listings you see on Ebay where you can rent actual reservations for the hard to get times and resort locations. This is speculative booking.

What Facebook page, a personal one or business?

I agree, happened to me. Oh well so sad, too bad, lesson learned. The next time I want what I know is a very desirable time and specific unit I will take the time to learn the walking procedure. Doesn't mean I support or like the process but unless there is a way to stop it and that is applied you just got to roll with it. In the end it doesn't have anything to do with "Brokers" (as in the common use of the term here on the DIS). Maybe they really mean those owners that are really commercial renters/brokers selling/listing on eBay, where the listing is out there all year because they are asking too much and ends up back in inventory 31 days out. I wouldn't cry if that type of activity received more scrutiny.

If there's any substance behind this rumor, I tend to agree with Sammie and Alice Sr - it's based on the ebay offerings. AFAIK, Disney, RCI & EBAY could certainly shut these down by enforcing existing ebay rules more consistently.

 

[Brian Noble]

RCI deposits are MUCH less likely to be in-demand times/units/resorts than they have ever been---and they already weren't all that great. DVCMC is now depositing about 5 months prior to check-in, giving Members plenty of time to secure 7-month reservations. The vast majority of deposits to RCI these days are SSR 1BRs, and even those are rare in peak-DVC times like mid-October, early December, etc.

The days of finding DVC unicorns via RCI are in the past, at least for now. It's probably a long-overdue change, as well. Wyndham follows a similar pattern, giving preference to owners over exchange deposits. Strangely, Starwood and HGVC still do it the other way around.

 

[zavandor]

Great post but I do think that SSR not specifically, but generally DVC growth has had an impact.

As DVC grows, near park resorts during special times have higher competition at 7 months. That in turn, puts pressure on "buy where you want to stay".

Owners that years ago had more freedom at 7 months, because of the competition of growing points at that window, are now buying where they want to stay.

Once you buy where you want to stay, you can't be ignorant of the 11 month pressures. It's self-feeding.

Because of more demand at 7 months, more owners are buying specifically for the 11 month window and once you buy for that window, demand yields to the high priority times.

As a result, probably MOST of the BCV and BWV resale contracts are now going to owners looking to capitalize on the 11 month window. As DVC owners well know, that's for F&W and early Dec. There's an amplification effect of more owners specifically owning to book in those specific hard to get windows.

Indeed, this is EXACTLY why we say, buy where you want to stay.

I am ready to bet that this is the main reason for all the problems we are seeing for reservations at 11 months.
How many time we read on the DIS: if you want a room at some resorts between October and January you need to buy there. More and more people are doing it and the result is that some find there is too much competition at 11 months. At it can only get worse.
I think chances of a point reallocation for October and early December is getting bigger and bigger by the day. Anyone buying to use the 11 months window to book in the DVC madness quarter should be aware of the risk.

 

[jerseyduke]

I think chances of a point reallocation for October and early December is getting bigger and bigger by the day. Anyone buying to use the 11 months window to book in the DVC madness quarter should be aware of the risk.

I wonder about that. I understand the reasoning, and in part tend to agree. However, since i am a big week 48, week 49 type of person, if a reallocation caused me to not have enough points to stay at that time, I would simply add on. I am not going to not go at the time I love to go, unless there was a DRASTIC reallocation.

Another thing to realize is that one of DVC's goals is to get people on the property, particularly during the slower seasons. The operating costs of the parks (per person) decreases as the attendance increases. DVC is part of the Parks and Resorts business unit, and their main goal is to kill the slow season. Sure, some season will always be slower...they just don't want SLOW.

Another thing to consider is at the newer resorts, reallocation options are probably limited. I believe purchasers of a fixed week buy 10% more points than needed.
First full week of December, in a standard view studio at the VGF is 125 points, which I think means a Fixed week contract is 138 points (correct me if I am wrong). That is 13 points more, so not even 2 per night.
Wouldn't that make a significant reallocation at VGF and PVB almost impossible? Or is there some loop hole?

It would also be interesting, if they increased the points for these times, when they tend to be offering some of their biggest discounts on the cash side of things.