This bugs me for some reason...

[HeatherPage]

A few weeks ago I was talking with someone on the rent/trade board about renting out some of my points (I was willing to rent them out for $8/point because they were expiring in a couple of months). The person contacted me about transferring them as holding points to their account (they actually already were holding points) because they needed to add to an existing reservation. They wanted me to transfer the points and then pay me a week later (no thanks). I was curious and looked over other posts on the rent/trade board and noticed this person was trying to get other people to transfer to them at $8/point or less and then I saw this person advertising multiple reservations for rent at $11 to $12 per point, stating they could not take less than $11 per point. So this person has a nice little boiler room operation out of their house of getting members to transfer their holding points at $8 or less and trying to make a $3-$4 profit per point (though I've noticed they've not had any takers lately). Kind of makes me want to say ha-ha! While I guess there's nothing technically wrong with that (quite an industrious person I'd say-to time consuming for me to even try to do that), it still bugs me.

P.S. I needed a couple of points transferred a week or so later and got a pm from this person saying they'd do it for me for $11/point, how charitable of them

 

[pmcpmc]

now selling £20/pt.
nice earner if you can get it.

 

[Zimbubba]

Renting and selling points SHOULD be a violation of DVC contracts. Disney really messed up when they left this one out.

 

[pmcpmc]

We are all left at the end of the banking period at sometime or other with a small noof pts.
IT is good that you can Fairly trade them for what you want to sell them at.
A norm does naturally get set.
I believe Disney did forsee this

 

[Jimbo]

I'm renting out points for the first time myself. We're going to Fiji for our 25th in May. DVC points aren't good anywhere in Fiji, so I'm trying to unload about 700 points to pay for part of the trip. And one thing I quickly learned is that renting your points can be a lot of work! There's a lot of exchanging of emails, and then phone calls to MS to check availability, contracts to mail out, etc.

Plus I found that most people want a studio for Sunday through Thursday nights. That's about 60 points, on average, so I'll wind up with 10 or so transactions when all is said and done. I'll be glad when it's over.

So if someone can work a transfer into their account for $8, and rent the points back out for $11, they maybe net $180 in profit for their trouble. I'd say that this person we're talking about isn't getting rich, or even making much of an hourly rate.

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by Jimbo
...(snip)... I'd say that this person we're talking about isn't getting rich, or even making much of an hourly rate.

I tend to agree. Also, since availability is reported to be very limited between now and the end of the year, it's possible that there will be points lost.

I also agree that renting out points can be a lot of work if you aren't renting to family or friends. When I need a "break" from the mouse (and who knows when that will be, LOL), I suspect that using points for an exchange or a cruise will seem like a good deal to me as I would hate to have to hassle with renting to strangers. My limited free time is worth quite a bit to me!

 

[tiggerguy2000]

What's wrong with people? I have seen alot of crazy things but this wins the daily prize.Hey DVC are you watching or are you sleeping at the wheel on this one.

 

[jaysue]

Sorry, DVC point arbitrage is way way goofy to me

This person should be trading equities or something more prone to arbing

thanks
jaysue

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by Zimbubba
Renting and selling points SHOULD be a violation of DVC contracts. Disney really messed up when they left this one out.

DVC would not legally be able to prevent one renting what they own even if they wanted to. At least not as long as they were renting also.

 

[HeatherPage]

I don't have a problem with people renting THEIR points out, I've done it a couple of times. The two biggest things that bugged me were that this guy tried to pass it off as if he were actually going on a trip with the points when in fact he was just trying to rack up a few more stays to rent out himself. But the biggest thing that annoyed me was that I would have been willing to rent the points out for $8 to him (if he had paid up front that is) and when I posted that I needed a couple I'd be willing to rent, he had the gall (or replace that with a b) to email me asking me for $11/point. Hey it's a free country and you can ask that, but I can't believe he was actually surprised when I said no thanks. Also, I called him (when I originally was going to rent him the points) to get a feel for him (as far as his request to pay me after the transfer) and he was very dismissive when I talked to him. He answered with yep, uh-huh, yep like he was really wanting to get off the phone when all I was trying to do was make a friendly inquiry.

 

[disneycrazed139]

I still don't understand why so many people are offended by what others do with their points. If someone owns something, I believe it is theirs to do with as they will. If it is adversely affecting the rest of the members in some way, I would be interested in understanding how.

 

[lenshanem]

I guess they can do what they want as long as it is not illegal, but they seem to be misleading peopel. Perosnally, thsi sounds liek a lot of work for littel profit, plus they actually coudl end up losing if soemone renting from him cancelled last sec and then they coudln't rent the poinst out in tiem agagin.

 

[HeatherPage]

Once again, this guy doesn't own these points he's just renting them from someone else as well. This point keeps getting missed (or ignored). Anyways, I've had my say on the subject, I'll move on to something else now.

 

[dvcmember]

HeatherPage, This is sort of bothering me as well. It seems unfair in some way for someone to profit off of someone elses points.I had a very positive rental experience that allowed me to extend my stay but i am sure it would not have been appropriate to turn around and rent my reservation to someone else for more money. Barb

 

[jaysue]

Certainly legal but definitely not ethical

 

[lenshanem]

Originally posted by HeatherPage
Once again, this guy doesn't own these points he's just renting them from someone else as well. This point keeps getting missed (or ignored). Anyways, I've had my say on the subject, I'll move on to something else now.

OK...... I wasn't ignoring the point, but yes I did miss it.

Anyway......Yes, you are right. Thsi does seem wrong, but how creative of them. Wonder what ahppens when he can't rent it out again or soemone cancels on him? Does he then cancel on the actual member last sec? That isn't too cool.

 

[Doctor P]

I think that the bigger problem is the loophole in the transferring rules that creates an arbitrage opportunity. If one has points that are expiring and therefore is willing to rent them at a lower rate (say $8 per point) and "rents" them to another member via a transfer (yes, I know that transfers are not supposed to involve money according to the rules) the DVC computers cannot handle the complexity of keeping the use year and the person to whom they are transferred can have the points assume their own use year and therefore not have the points expire. Thus, the points, in some circumstances, can have an extended value and be rented at a rate higher than the "distressed rate" the original owner needed to accept because the points were expiring. There would appear to be some enterprising members who have figured this out and taken advantage of this. Frankly, I'm not sure I have as much of a problem with the members as I do with a system that creates this opportunity and adversely affects the original owner in this way.

 

[castleri]

Somewhere I thought I read you could only transfer in or out once a year. How many contracts can this person be transferring to if this is the case?

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by HeatherPage
Once again, this guy doesn't own these points he's just renting them from someone else as well. This point keeps getting missed (or ignored). Anyways, I've had my say on the subject, I'll move on to something else now.

It's between the two parties but it does feel sleazy. The only way DVC could actually police this would be to stop transfers altogether, which they could legally do. Still, I don't think the profit margin is unreasonable at all. Just like the local retail stores who buy for 50%, sometimes less, of what they sell to us for.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by castleri
Somewhere I thought I read you could only transfer in or out once a year. How many contracts can this person be transferring to if this is the case?

This rule has changed. It's now as many as you want but only one direction per year.