Which Contract Should I Purchase First: Resale Add On or Direct Buy Add On?

[cep101]

Okay so I need some opinions. We currently own 100 points at Saratoga Springs with a UY of October. I want to purchase on the resale market another 100 point contract, and I want to purchase a 25 direct buy contract for AP discounts.

Which would you buy first? My husband doesn't want me to purchase them at the same time, but I am concerned about different things for each contract. The 1st contract would be purchase now or as soon as it is found and the second one would be purchased sometime next spring or summer.

100 point resale contract -

• I am worried that prices on the resale market are going to go up due to all the upgrades happening at Disney World. As we get closer to Toy Story and Star Wars Land opening up I think people will be thinking about DVC more.
• Because we already have a contract (in a perfect world) I would want to get a loaded October contract. We will most likely be buying at Saratoga Springs again. This will be a waiting game, so I want to have the flexibility to purchase when the "right one" comes. If I buy the 25 point contract first I might not be able to purchase that contract when it comes along.
• The coming time frame is usually the best time to buy a contract due to upcoming dues. If I don't purchase this contract first then we would probably purchase it sometime next spring or summer. I am worried we will miss out on a lot of good contracts until that time. Plus, prices might have gone up.

25 point direct buy contract -

• I am concerned that Disney is going to close this 25 point loophole and knowing Disney they will not pre-announce it. Even if they just raised it to 50 points it would ruin buying direct for me because the discount doesn't give me more than the extra cost. Currently, we have two annual passes that we will be renewing in February and in a couple of years we will have a third. So, the savings is pretty substantial for us.

Which one would you try to purchase first?

 

[eyeshadow]

I would buy the direct contract first just so I know I had that.

 

[Ben E N]

I would also buy the direct sale first. If resale prices keep rising, as you are worried they will do, direct sales I am sure will also rise proportionally. The 'loophole' is likely to change for the worse sooner rather than later. Also, your odds of finding a 100 point SSR October contract are not very high. That is more of a "when it comes around" sort of specific purchase.

 

[Greg36]

I would also vote for the direct, but only if you are sure that is something you want. We were pretty sure we wanted to do the direct 25 add on at AKL, but have been having second thoughts about it when we really looked at the math on what we would be saving/gaining. We don't live in Orlando so really the most we would be saving would be on the annual passes for the four of us. We would only be using each annual pass for two trips (one at the start and one at the very end) so we would essentially be saving around $800 over our two annual trips (around $400 per trip). We figured we would need to buy a lot of annual passes over the years to make up the costs on a direct purchase. This also assumes DVD keeps offering the discount. I personally think the cost of resale is going to either start to go flat or start to decline. Contracts seem to be sitting longer then what they were even a few weeks ago and more seem to be showing up. If the right one came along it would be nice to be able to grab it when you can... Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[cep101]

I would also buy the direct sale first. If resale prices keep rising, as you are worried they will do, direct sales I am sure will also rise proportionally. The 'loophole' is likely to change for the worse sooner rather than later. Also, your odds of finding a 100 point SSR October contract are not very high. That is more of a "when it comes around" sort of specific purchase.

Good point. We might not get the 100 points at SSR. I am looking into BCV as well, so that is still somewhat up in the air.

 

[JETSDAD]

I would also vote for the direct, but only if you are sure that is something you want. We were pretty sure we wanted to do the direct 25 add on at AKL, but have been having second thoughts about it when we really looked at the math on what we would be saving/gaining. We don't live in Orlando so really the most we would be saving would be on the annual passes for the four of us. We would only be using each annual pass for two trips (one at the start and one at the very end) so we would essentially be saving around $800 over our two annual trips (around $400 per trip). We figured we would need to buy a lot of annual passes over the years to make up the costs on a direct purchase. This also assumes DVD keeps offering the discount. I personally think the cost of resale is going to either start to go flat or start to decline. Contracts seem to be sitting longer then what they were even a few weeks ago and more seem to be showing up. If the right one came along it would be nice to be able to grab it when you can... Good luck with whatever you decide.

It's not the total cost of the add on that you are really needing to make up for in the calculation, just the spread between resale and direct (assuming these points were planned or you've decided to add on regardless). Even if we use $90 as the resale price and I believe 165 is the direct price, you're looking at only needing to make up $1875 in discounts. With your AP savings alone you'll be near that in only 2 years.

 

[Greg36]

It's not the total cost of the add on that you are really needing to make up for in the calculation, just the spread between resale and direct (assuming these points were planned or you've decided to add on regardless). Even if we use $90 as the resale price and I believe 165 is the direct price, you're looking at only needing to make up $1875 in discounts. With your AP savings alone you'll be near that in only 2 years.

Not exactly though, as you have to subtract any savings from AP discounts from extra maintenance costs, unless you really do need the points. In our situation, that would be an extra $165 or so per year. We would be saving $800 or so on the annual pass discount over two years (or $400 or so per trip). That would be roughly an annual savings of $235 or so. So even if we go with your $1875 cost to make up, it would still take us about 8 years or 4 annual passes.

 

[JETSDAD]

Not exactly though, as you have to subtract any savings from AP discounts from extra maintenance costs, unless you really do need the points. In our situation, that would be an extra $165 or so per year. We would be saving $800 or so on the annual pass discount over two years (or $400 or so per trip). That would be roughly an annual savings of $235 or so. So even if we go with your $1875 cost to make up, it would still take us about 8 years or 4 annual passes.

I'd agree to not simply go out and buy only for the discounts...it's more for when those points are being purchased regardless that the plan to add a portion direct can make sense. If the points aren't needed it wouldn't be a consideration.

 

[BillPA]

Buy resale first, it's much easier to buy the same resort/UY direct than trying to find a resale that matches up.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

She already owns, though. Her concern is if she wants to do the direct first because that spigot may get cut off. There are guides spreading that rumor, apparently.

(OP did not mention this, but I have seen it mentioned elsewhere. Usually from the crowd who thinks anyone with any resale points should never be allowed anything nice.)

 

[Matty B13]

If the OP currently owns a contract that was bought before the 4/2016 restriction was implemented, she is already grandfathered in to the DVC discounts and can buy a discounted AP. There would be no need to buy any points direct.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

If the OP currently owns a contract that was bought before the 4/2016 restriction was implemented, she is already grandfathered in to the DVC discounts and can buy a discounted AP. There would be no need to buy any points direct.

The points are apparently post 4/2016, but there is already a contract with existing UY in play. So I think the 25 add-on is probably the next step, with a slow burn on another resale.

 

[Matty B13]

Oh, I thought they might have just assumed that all resale contracts now are restricted with all the rumors flying around the internet these day.

 

[cep101]

We bought our first contract last November, so unfortunately we missed 4/16.

This is why I am now interested in buying a 25 point contract directly from Disney. It makes sense financially because we would be buying for SSR.

 

[cep101]

I am concerned about the pricing on the secondhand market though. When we bought last year we paid $82 a point for a loaded contract. Contracts are not looking as good now.

 

[Matty B13]

Prices are starting to flatten out if not fall a little right now, but I wouldn't expect a huge drop in prices, especially with Disney raising the prices on every hotel and additional fees for extra adults in the rooms.

 

[disneynutz]

You may be too new to have enough info to make a decision. Have you stayed at all of the resorts? What happens when you find out that you like X resort better than SSR? Where will you need the most points, SSR or the new resort? Your direct add-on should be where you need the points. With two home resorts, one vacation at resort A, next vacation at resort B. Depending on how often you vacation, you can bank or borrow for double the points.

Bill