To buy direct or resale

[Stitch4]

I am planning on purchasing points in the DVC. I should have done it years ago with all of the money I spend there each year lol. I have been reading multiple posts on here And now I am having second thoughts about purchasing direct. Can anyone give me some advice on the pros and cons of purchasing direct? I have four children so our trips usually consist of 6 to 8 of us. I am going to finance most of it so that brings me to another question. Is it better to finance thru Disney or have most of you gone through your own personal banks?

 

[Ruttangel]

I would post this in the Purchasing DVC thread but Disney financing and direct purchase is the most expensive way to go about DVC ownership and may mean you would be better just to keep renting/cash stays.

 

[sethschroeder]

Most people will advise against financing. You could do the Disney Visa and get 6 months interest free if you choose. Financing through DVC is basically 10% or higher for the loan.

When going to Disney right now where do you stay? What do you do for tickets? Why do you want to purchase DVC?

 

[coasternut22]

Our first purchase was direct last month. For us it solely came down to the gold pass discount. We have two young kids. We plan to go twice per year. Platinum pass costs $1015, two separate tickets cost $500 each, gold costs $719. We would save $400 per person, $1600 per year in passes. For our 150 point contract, I’d say that the price we paid over resale is about $6000. So we figured after four years, this premium we paid would be paid off, and we would enjoy the discount for all of the remaining years thereafter. This was, in a sense, the only thing that made us buy direct. Nothing else was powerful enough to influence us. In our minds it was a short term cost that amounts to way longer term savings. Again, this was our thought process and each family is different. But in the big picture, the savings from the passes were just as important as the savings on the room.

 

[RoseGold]

This is a five figure discussion, and you really need to research if this is right for your family. For most, DVC is not. For even fewer, direct purchase is.

You need to compare to what you are actually booking. The math will rarely stack up to value resorts, and it's an even worse value with financing. I've seen a couple that make sense with financing, but not often.

You're probably better off renting points or just getting a Nemo suite, but we don't know how often you go or what you are booking or how much you are financing. This is math you absolutely need to know on a purchase of this size. If you plan to pay rack rate for bungalows, then maybe...

 

[CastAStone]

The con is $$$$$$$$$. It’s so expensive!

the pros are you get the direct benefits. Most are worthless or even of negative value (you can use points to book cruises if you want to set your money on fire!) so I’ll point to the few that have value:

• Discount on the Platinum AP for you and up to 7 other household members
• Access to the Gold AP (which has blockout dates) that is otherwise only available to Florida residents.
• Access to moonlight magic parties
• Assorted small discounts around WDW
• Access to the Epcot DVC lounge
• Points purchased direct can be used at Riviera and future properties. Resale points cannot.

None of these benefits are guaranteed to exist, they could all be canceled forever tomorrow, and indeed they currently aren’t selling APs at any price, they’ve canceled all the Moonlight Magics for 2020, and the Epcot DVC lounge is missing half its amenities.

Also note, the AP discount benefit changes every time they increase AP prices. Sometimes it gets better and sometimes it gets worse. You need to buy a LOT of discounted APs to make up the huge difference in direct pricing.

You won’t find many people here advocating a direct purchase

 

[davidl81]

Direct prices have really gotten high over the past 10 years or so and it has made resale much more attractive. That being said RIV direct if bought in a large enough contract (200 point +) is not a horrid price. But it still will be 33k and then there are Resale restrictions etc. But if you like RIV and plan on staying there a lot you can make the DVC math work out.

 

[Leahc117]

The con is $$$$$$$$$. It’s so expensive!

the pros are you get the direct benefits. Most are worthless or even of negative value (you can use points to book cruises if you want to set your money on fire!) so I’ll point to the few that have value:

• Discount on the Platinum AP for you and up to 7 other household members
• Access to the Gold AP (which has blockout dates) that is otherwise only available to Florida residents.
• Access to moonlight magic parties
• Assorted small discounts around WDW
• Access to the Epcot DVC lounge
• Points purchased direct can be used at Riviera and future properties. Resale points cannot.

None of these benefits are guaranteed to exist, they could all be canceled forever tomorrow, and indeed they currently aren’t selling APs at any price, they’ve canceled all the Moonlight Magics for 2020, and the Epcot DVC lounge is missing half its amenities.

Also note, the AP discount benefit changes every time they increase AP prices. Sometimes it gets better and sometimes it gets worse. You need to buy a LOT of discounted APs to make up the huge difference in direct pricing.

You won’t find many people here advocating a direct purchase

I am trying to figure out the same debate -direct vs resale - and thinking about doing both- for direct benefits and a resale purchase for what I believe are referred to as SAP (sleep around points??) Just out of curiosity how many of the people who don’t advocate for direct purchase already have a blue card from a resale or direct purchase back when it was a bit less pricey/less restrictive? Even if you don’t use all of the benefits would you choose to hang on to that blue card contract vs sell and buy something else resale? I hate to say that I’d feel like I would be missing something if I didn’t get one now. Is that just what Disney wants me to think?
It seems to me that restrictions are going to continue and prices are going to increase. I might decide next year or the year after that those benefits make sense for me and I am sure direct prices will continue to rise. So as much as I don’t want to admit it I don’t want to miss out on direct benefits for 100 pts and I don’t want to miss out on the incentives. And btw I would have never thought I could buy a vacation contract and use it and potentially sell for a profit- that’s just amazing! I am certainly wishing I knew about DVC years ago!!

 

[Marionnette]

I am trying to figure out the same debate -direct vs resale - and thinking about doing both- for direct benefits and a resale purchase for what I believe are referred to as SAP (sleep around points??) Just out of curiosity how many of the people who don’t advocate for direct purchase already have a blue card from a resale or direct purchase back when it was a bit less pricey/less restrictive? Even if you don’t use all of the benefits would you choose to hang on to that blue card contract vs sell and buy something else resale? I hate to say that I’d feel like I would be missing something if I didn’t get one now. Is that just what Disney wants me to think?
It seems to me that restrictions are going to continue and prices are going to increase. I might decide next year or the year after that those benefits make sense for me and I am sure direct prices will continue to rise. So as much as I don’t want to admit it I don’t want to miss out on direct benefits for 100 pts and I don’t want to miss out on the incentives. And btw I would have never thought I could buy a vacation contract and use it and potentially sell for a profit- that’s just amazing! I am certainly wishing I knew about DVC years ago!!

I have a blue card from prior to the time that DVC conferred 2nd class status on resale owners. The only benefit that I am not entitled to is being able to use my points for The Disney Collection. No great loss there.

As to the other benefits, I’ve only been to one Moonlight Magic event and we were staying on my brother’s points at the time so it was his membership that got us in. It was actually very nice. But given that MM very rarely happens to coincide with when we are traveling, it’s not a benefit that I would miss if it disappeared.

I have purchased APs but I never renew them. I get 3-4 trips in within a 365-day period and then I take a year off. I don’t get an AP for my husband because he doesn’t get full value from it. My children are grown and no longer live at home. They are not owners on the deed because they were minors when I purchased. They can’t get blue card benefits. It would take many years of membership for me to recover the difference between direct and resale if I were to buy in now.

I’ve been to the DVC lounge several times and TBH, it’s more of a exclusivity thing than it is of any true benefit. It is nice, I’ve found that it’s often more trouble than it’s worth. EPCOT has plenty of places to sit, cool off and have a snack.

I usually purchase a TiW card, which may or may not be a blue card benefit, depending on who you are talking to. It’s one “benefit” that I do enjoy and use often.

I use my blue card for merchandise, and dining discounts where TiW doesn’t apply. I do enjoy discounts, especially when I pay for the items using discounted Disney GCs.

I wouldn’t sell my qualified contracts to purchase another resale because it just wouldn’t be worth it. Most of those contracts were bought for under $60/point. One contract is all of 25 points and goes until long after I expect to be alive. Why trade that in for something with more years but greater restrictions?

 

[EM Lawrence]

I will add to the discussion that many of the discounts and perks you can get with DVC blue cards can be “recreated” on your own.

You can purchase tickets to after hours events anytime you want to, and they are much more likely to happen when you will actually be visiting WDW. You can pay cash to stay at RIV or any future resorts, or get a points transfer to stay there, or rent points to stay there. Many (not all) of the discounts that DVC gets are also given to Disney Visa holders and AP holders. In my opinion, the only benefit that has real value is the discount on Gold APs, and the only one that is really “exclusive” is the Epcot lounge.

You have to do the math for your family on whether the AP discount will pay off for you. For me, with two teenagers that will soon be out on their own, and a husband that does not want to visit multiple times a year, Direct is very hard to justify. I do not have a blue card. It’s possible that I will get one at some point in the future, I won’t rule that out because the future is uncertain. Maybe DVC will build a resort that I just can’t resist and offer amazing incentives on a direct purchase to have home resort advantage there. But that is not the case right now.

 

[MagicalAloha]

If you can afford direct then buy direct! .

 

[dvc lover 1970]

I am planning on purchasing points in the DVC. I should have done it years ago with all of the money I spend there each year lol. I have been reading multiple posts on here And now I am having second thoughts about purchasing direct. Can anyone give me some advice on the pros and cons of purchasing direct? I have four children so our trips usually consist of 6 to 8 of us. I am going to finance most of it so that brings me to another question. Is it better to finance thru Disney or have most of you gone through your own personal banks?

I am going to give two sides to think about. First question is how old are your kids if small then I would probably recommend BLT to be on teh MK side, if older then you could so SSR resale, AK resale, or consider RR direct. Do you think you will need or want AP's that is the only reason for blue card imho. If yes, then I would consider SSR or RR direct minimum purchase and teh rest resale. Now in terms of direct, DVC makes it too easy to finance - I never fianced a contract until my CCV contract and ... it was really easy - so easy that I purchased more points than I originally planned.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

I am trying to figure out the same debate -direct vs resale - and thinking about doing both- for direct benefits and a resale purchase for what I believe are referred to as SAP (sleep around points??) Just out of curiosity how many of the people who don’t advocate for direct purchase already have a blue card from a resale or direct purchase back when it was a bit less pricey/less restrictive? Even if you don’t use all of the benefits would you choose to hang on to that blue card contract vs sell and buy something else resale? I hate to say that I’d feel like I would be missing something if I didn’t get one now. Is that just what Disney wants me to think?
It seems to me that restrictions are going to continue and prices are going to increase. I might decide next year or the year after that those benefits make sense for me and I am sure direct prices will continue to rise. So as much as I don’t want to admit it I don’t want to miss out on direct benefits for 100 pts and I don’t want to miss out on the incentives. And btw I would have never thought I could buy a vacation contract and use it and potentially sell for a profit- that’s just amazing! I am certainly wishing I knew about DVC years ago!!

I am one of those people. I first bought in 2017 with a resale BLT contract & then as soon as I got my membership number I rushed to add on direct at the Poly (since at that time you only needed one direct contract -of any size- to be a blue card member)... I finished that purchase a mere 2 months before they upped the min to 100 points! The cost to buy that tiny contract direct was only ~$500 more than buying the same contract resale. At that time, DVC was also selling platinum APs for the gold AP price ...and there are 8 people in my family. It was a no-brainer and I’m glad I did it. I would not sell my blue card contract, nor would I sell my original resale because I must admit that I like to have the option of staying at ANY resort I’d like to.

All that said, I would not buy direct again. I’ve purchased 2 more contracts since then- both resale. Our savings have been huge! I would rather buy a resale contract of future resorts that I really like than to pay the huge prices direct is selling at currently. The benefits are not there like they used to be and the price gap is getting wider between them two.

 

[GivemetheDreamFinder]

I am one of those people. I first bought in 2017 with a resale BLT contract & then as soon as I got my membership number I rushed to add on direct at the Poly (since at that time you only needed one direct contract -of any size- to be a blue card member)... I finished that purchase a mere 2 months before they upped the min to 100 points! The cost to buy that tiny contract direct was only ~$500 more than buying the same contract resale. At that time, DVC was also selling platinum APs for the gold AP price ...and there are 8 people in my family. It was a no-brainer and I’m glad I did it. I would not sell my blue card contract, nor would I sell my original resale because I must admit that I like to have the option of staying at ANY resort I’d like to.

All that said, I would not buy direct again. I’ve purchased 2 more contracts since then- both resale. Our savings have been huge! I would rather buy a resale contract of future resorts that I really like than to pay the huge prices direct is selling at currently. The benefits are not there like they used to be and the price gap is getting wider between them two.

Also pro and con sheeting if thats a word, Resale vs direct. Would it bother you if it was resale ending in 2042 vs direct 2057? did the math and direct is like 150 dollars more a year for the life of it. we go to parks 5 days out of our time there. wed likely use remaining points for a second quick resort only stay, or do say a drive down and relax, next day shop the springs, hit a Christmas party, and drive home trip. I cant justify an AP at that point.... for us before any downpayment is 24000 vs maybe 16000 the only thing is 15 more years.....

 

[sethschroeder]

I cant justify an AP at that point

Except again think of it this way:

• Buy AP
• Trip 1: August 15th, 2021
• Trip 2: December, 2021 (was going to be resort only but now you have park options)
• Trip 3: July 30th, 2022
• AP Expires
• Trip 4: December, 2022 (resort only)
• Buy AP
• Trip 5: August 15th, 2023
• Trip 6: December, 2023
• Trip 7: July 15, 2024
• AP Expires

You have now gotten 6 trips with visiting parks out of the 2 APs over 4 years (1 trip without AP). During that time you would have purchased 4x 5 Day Passes.

5 Day Pass (2021 on August 15th) - $561.91
DVC Gold Pass (last price before stopped selling APs in 2020)- $765.74

5 Day Tickets for 4 years = $2,247.64
AP covering those 4 years = $1,531.48
Annual Savings Per Person = $179.04

 

[DVCsloth]

I recently added on direct, but it was a small contract and they matched my use year and got the previous years points. Larger contracts can be a pretty substantial savings over direct.

 

[sethschroeder]

I recently added on direct, but it was a small contract and they matched my use year and got the previous years points. Larger contracts can be a pretty substantial savings over direct.

I would say though as larger you go the more the price drops on direct as well so the math might change. I know many people talk about wanting a $25/point charge to upgrade their points as an example.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

Also pro and con sheeting if thats a word, Resale vs direct. Would it bother you if it was resale ending in 2042 vs direct 2057? did the math and direct is like 150 dollars more a year for the life of it. we go to parks 5 days out of our time there. wed likely use remaining points for a second quick resort only stay, or do say a drive down and relax, next day shop the springs, hit a Christmas party, and drive home trip. I cant justify an AP at that point.... for us before any downpayment is 24000 vs maybe 16000 the only thing is 15 more years.....

Everyone is different and it all comes down to personal preference... 2042 resale does bother me, but then again, if BCV had cost less with resale it may have stayed on my consideration list . 2057 direct would bother me too... and was never a consideration. But there are so many factors at play here!

For me, buying where I want to stay is a big deal... I won’t buy SAP because they’re cheap. Nothing Disney is cheap and I want booking privileges at my favorite resorts!! Other people feel differently and that’s fine!

So, what would make me change my mind and buy direct over resale??

• If I knew FOR CERTAIN that I would only buy ONE contract ... I would consider direct so I can stay at all properties- & for AP’s if we didn’t qualify for FL APs- but not for the come & go perks; and I would buy a resort I love with a long contract... but I would also still consider resale because I could get the most points that way!!

• If it cost significantly less than a $5K difference for a 200 point contract ... I’d really consider it then, but just because direct points are the easiest to buy & use.

But, again, that’s just me. We’ve all got our reasons. They’re all valid. You’ve got to know you and what you’re comfortable/happy with. Good luck!!

 

[suebeelin]

I prefer resale, but that's bc if you ever want to sell, then you do not lose as much, if at all. You still get rooms at a discount.

 

[suebeelin]

I'm a resale advocate-- if you ever resell, you really don't lose much, if at all.