Why is renting points so "cheap"

[joksten2000]

Over invested in Disney. I have a 1,000 points and could use another 1,000. We mostly cruise and I like to go with the kids. 8 x 220 is a lot of points. If your going to vacation for a week at disney don't buy 500 points. I bought for myself, if the kids didn't want to go (Ha Ha) The wife and I would go on more cruise. She's retiring in Oct 06 so we will be sailing a lot more. There sould not be a rental market to outsiders, just to members only. We're going to stay 4 days at BCV before our Oct 28, 06 cruise and I bought points from another member from Florida who transfered the points the same day we talked and I mailed them a check, I used all my BCV points for Alaska Cruise, no problem paying $10 a point. I didn't buy my points to make money renting them I spent the money to buy memories, and I've gotten my money's worth.

 

[Jen D]

Jen D, how can you even compare a value room to a DVC studio? What value room has a queen sized bed (or two)? What value room has a microwave in the room? What value room has a balcony? What value resort has an undercounter refrigerator? Even the deluxes only have the dorm cube refrigerator which is about half the size of the undercounter refrigerator.

Okay, compare a DVC studio with a moderate. Oops, you still only have double beds, no balcony and no microwave or undercounter refrigerator. Move on up to the deluxes. And you still don't have the same kitchenette.

So, if a DVC at it's true value is too costly for you, stay in a value. I'm sure you'll love it. I hear most people only sleep in their rooms anyway, why bother with a little luxury?

Please re-read my posts. I never said an All-Star room was on par with a DVC studio. I can't find anywhere I compared them at all. Johnny stated that DVC studios routinely go for 60-80 dollars which I allowed was the price of an All Star room. (I misinterpreted his previous post as saying studios regularly go for the price of a campsite.) I maintain that at the weekly rate the price of $10 per point is more comparable to a moderate at rack rate or a discounted deluxe. When I brought up the All Stars it was to express skepticism that studios regularly go for the same price. (Although SonicLogic seems to be proving me wrong!)

Thank you for your helpful advice about my suitability for the values. Please don't take your hostility towards renters out on me; I have stated repeatedly I haven't rented in years and don't intend to. I was just expressing my opinion on why we haven't seen an regular increase in the $10 per point rate (my opinion was and still is that if you raise the price much higher than $12 or $13 more people will prefer the convenience of booking through CRO.) Cheers.

 

[kidskid]

I always thought I was getting a good deal at 10 a point. Now I see I have been over paying. I guess anything over the dues is profit so is this price realistic? How can I get these 6.70 points referenced in the above threads?

 

[pmcpmc]

I always thought I was getting a good deal at 10 a point. Now I see I have been over paying. I guess anything over the dues is profit so is this price realistic? How can I get these 6.70 points referenced in the above threads?

 

[qgallo]

I always thought I was getting a good deal at 10 a point. Now I see I have been over paying. I guess anything over the dues is profit so is this price realistic? How can I get these 6.70 points referenced in the above threads?

Anything over dues is profit. Get real.. What about the money we paid to buy into disney. Non - Disney owners should pay $15 a point, members that we can transfer into their account pay $10.

 

[kidskid]

The money you paid for DVC membership is not a concern to me. My concern is how "good" a deal I get. As long as I can cut the cost of my stay on-site there is no need for me to pay more. I am not trying to be mean but why pay more when you do not have too.
Sometime in the next few weeks I will be on the rental board asking for points 11 months out during prime season at 6.70. I will let everyone know how I make out.

 

[Jen D]

Sometime in the next few weeks I will be on the rental board asking for points 11 months out during prime season at 6.70. I will let everyone know how I make out.

Yeah, good luck with that kidskid!

 

[LordAthens]

Who started the $10\pp anyhow? I can only assume it was the owners. The fact that it's plastered all over that the average going rate for points (in the rent board, FAQ's, etc) is $10pp, it makes it very difficult for me to want to pay 11, 12, 13... Because I know there are other people out there selling at $10. Especially since I've now budgeted my trip and all my plans around $10pp. Yeah, we're only talking $1, but at 140pts, there just went the Backstage Magic tour i've been wanting to do.

As for being a phenomenal value, I wouldn't say that's it phenomenal, especially depending on the season. It's good, don't get me wrong, but let me explain some actual numbers that i've picked up since i'm actually in process of planning our trip right now.

To stay 7 nights, Feb. 8 - 15th at OKW Studio would cost us 98pts, or $980 at $10pp. Now, staying at CRS for the same timeframe would cost me $1085 booking direct through Disney with no discount codes! That's only a $105 difference.

Yes, I fully realize i'm not comparing apples to apples here when it comes to resorts. OKW is i'm sure a bit nicer and i'm well aware the rooms there are going to be quite a bit larger. The bar sink and microwave are nice, but I don't like to cook at home, i'm certainly not going to do it on vacation. However, for people like me, that doesn't matter a whole lot. We spend all day at the parks and hit DTD for most of the night. We're in the room to sleep for the most part. The main reason i'm looking at renting pointsis, for a little less money we can get nicer accomodations. Additionally, since we are looking at becoming DVC members ourselves, I thought it would be nice to actually stay in a DVC resort before I go throwing down a large sum of money. Who knows, maybe i'll like our moderates more than a DVC (slim chance I know, but hey, it could happen). However, i'm taking a substantial risk by renting compared to booking direct through Disney for ~$100 more, and i'm also losing my daily maid service! I actually possibly stand to lose more, as I lose my AAA benefits. The AAA Diamond Card is actually a pretty decent discount, even netting me 15% off of the $200 Backstage Magic tour.

What I think it comes down to is, I think a lot of people out there renting are like me. If they can rent for a few dollars less and get a nicer place, they will. However, it's not that important to some of us, so as soon as prices start going up, I think you'll see a lot less people renting points. That's good for some of you, not so good for others. I'm sure there are some people that bought into DVC just to rent points to make some profits. I would assume at that point (prices going up), there would be very few non-members renting, most of it being member to member transfers to get that stay a few days longer or to get the bigger room.

I myself can tell you that if I have to go to $11 or 12pp for my February trip, I won't be staying at a DVC, i'll simply "downgrade" to a moderate like we've done in the past. We've never had a bad time at a moderate and I don't see that changing.

 

[kidskid]

I agree with you. We need to stop taking 10 a point as a good deal. Lets all go back to CRO and show the owners that without us they will be lost. They need us more then we need them. Even better, Go to EBAYfor a while and really show them. Renters unit!

 

[Lewisc]

Whatever $49 postcard rate your talking about is not available to the masses and are not always available. Rack rate is paid by many, depending on season. Rack rate is the only benchmark that can be used when "talking discounts" for Disney accommodations.

Many of us don't pay rack rate for many of our trips. Sorry but the basis of comparison isn't rack rate but whatever discounted rate is available for the time we're booking. Discounts aren't available during holiday weeks. DVC rentals at $10/point probably aren't available during holiday weeks either.

You have a point regarding the resort tax but you have offset that against the extra charge for maid service.

I rented a few years ago. I decided not to insult the owners by trying to pay less than $10 and not to be "ripped off" by paying more than $10. I had no problems and everything worked out great. It made the process a lot easier when I decided not to negotiate price. Didn't bother trying to debate the price with members who wanted $11-$12 and didn't bother trying to hunt for a desperate owner.

 

[gppnj]

The money you paid for DVC membership is not a concern to me. My concern is how "good" a deal I get. As long as I can cut the cost of my stay on-site there is no need for me to pay more. I am not trying to be mean but why pay more when you do not have too.
Sometime in the next few weeks I will be on the rental board asking for points 11 months out during prime season at 6.70. I will let everyone know how I make out.

I'd lose the points before I rented them at that price.

 

[LordAthens]

I agree with you. We need to stop taking 10 a point as a good deal. Lets all go back to CRO and show the owners that without us they will be lost. They need us more then we need them. Even better, Go to EBAYfor a while and really show them. Renters unit!

"They" don't need "us". Only the handful of people that got into DVC to make a profit on renting, "need us". Of course, if people stopped renting, the people selling\renting the points would simply sell off their DVC points and go somewhere else, IMO.

Go to eBay? For what? I've not seen any point rentals on eBay and i've been looking. Now, if you want to buy into DVC, then that's a different story.

You really need to chill out...

 

[littlestar]

I personally wouldn't rent to somebody that wasn't already a member. I don't want the risk of them tearing up something and me being responsible. I would, however, transfer points to another DVC member if the need arose. My trouble is, I always end up needing more points so I'm on the other end. Always on the receiving end - hee hee

All these people that are always looking for a deal, do they travel last minute? They must to get points that cheap. Because most won't rent that cheap unless it's a distress situation. I guess if you can travel by the seat of your pants that might work. But most people with kids that need to travel in peak or busy times or have to schedule way ahead wouldn't be able to travel last minute to grab a deal.

Waiting until the last minute to try to get a deal would drive me crazy - my nerves couldn't stand it.

Also, if someone rents every year - why don't they just buy a small contract through resale and then they would be able to have DVC points transferred to them from other members. If they rent on a regular basis and know they will do it every year, it would be smart to be a member and have access to the discounts (AP) DVC cash room discounts, and no risk on showing up at the resort and not having your reservation when you get there. I think that's why small add-ons disappear very fast through resale. A lot of people must realize the advantages of owning a small package.

 

[crisi]

I agree with you. We need to stop taking 10 a point as a good deal. Lets all go back to CRO and show the owners that without us they will be lost. They need us more then we need them. Even better, Go to EBAYfor a while and really show them. Renters unit!

The demand works the other way as well. Right now there are plenty of posts on the rent trade board from renters looking for points - few from people looking to get rid of them. If you post looking for something unreasonable - points for $7 or a reservation for mid December now, people tend to just ignore your posts.

People getting the great deals are generally able to jump on situations which make the points distressed. This means existing reservations that are in the near future, points that have to be used at the non-DVC hotels (and therefore are a lot more points per night), or points where you can only book 60 days out.

I suspect few DVC members NEED to rent their points. Granted there are cases where a job is lost where point rental becomes important, but I know that for us, we have plenty of friends and relatives that will give us $6 or $7 without needing to rent to strangers for that. And for many DVCers, our preference is to transfer points to another member. I don't rent points, but I think I'd be willing to transfer points for a $1 less than I'd be willing to rent them for - much less hassle for me!

 

[Beca]

DVC rentals at $10/point probably aren't available during holiday weeks either.

For as long as I have owned DVC, rentals have been at $10 per point...year round.



Beca

 

[qgallo]

I agree with you. We need to stop taking 10 a point as a good deal. Lets all go back to CRO and show the owners that without us they will be lost. They need us more then we need them. Even better, Go to EBAYfor a while and really show them. Renters unit!

Why dont you go to EBAY !! The sellers sure dont need your money !!

 

[Johnnie Fedora]

Many of us don't pay rack rate for many of our trips. Sorry but the basis of comparison isn't rack rate but whatever discounted rate is available for the time we're booking. Discounts aren't available during holiday weeks. DVC rentals at $10/point probably aren't available during holiday weeks either.

You have a point regarding the resort tax but you have offset that against the extra charge for maid service.

I rented a few years ago. I decided not to insult the owners by trying to pay less than $10 and not to be "ripped off" by paying more than $10. I had no problems and everything worked out great. It made the process a lot easier when I decided not to negotiate price. Didn't bother trying to debate the price with members who wanted $11-$12 and didn't bother trying to hunt for a desperate owner.

Rack rate is the only way to make a comparision of a discount. That's how comparisions are made on the resorts board. Many posts describe how somebody got 20%, etc of their room rate.

I am not in the business of renting points, but I have chosen to go that route when we want to do other vacation options. Direct point exchanges with DVC are a rip-off. Sunday-Thurs. DVC stays priced at 50% off the Disney rack rate (including taxes) are a great deal that are unattainable through CRO.

At 50% off, the dollar amount per point averages between $12-15 depending on time of year and resort. I've never had to sell distressed points. I've only rented out current year points before the 100% banking window. That gives a renter the ability to cancel their trip and rebook it even into the following use year. That flexibilty is worth extra money for a DVC rental. Also, BCV points during F&W, VWL points at Xmas and HH points during summer are simply worth more than run-of-the-mill points at some of the other DVC resorts.

For me, I have always received more than $10/point, even here on the DIS. Pricing a little higher than the going rate also keeps me from having to make numerous availability calls to MS. Because I rent out early, the individual specifically wants what I have, and he/she is NOT just looking for the cheapest thing they can find to get onsite. I'd rather rent to someone who values what I value about my home resort and not just someone bottom feeding for points.

 

[keishashadow]

In reference to comments made by the few posters who would like to start a rental price-busting cartel:

Over the last 6 months, I've seen many point rentals listed on eBay. Additionally, there are a few sellers that seem to snag confirmed res @ popular times (i.e. holidays) & resale for profit. IMO, poor form but, certainly legit.

Not sure of the percentage of folks who bought into DVC with the intent of becoming a rental agent...think it's more a case of having extra/unused points in a particular year for any reason. If an owner decides he won't be utilzing his "home", I'm sure he'd rather sell than deal with the aggravation of disposing of points each year.

As for chilling out, what's with the 'tude...we own the points & will dispose of them in whatever manner we choose. Anyone with average intelligence would agree with the wisdom of a transfer between members before renting to the general public, if only not to be troubled w/a problem renter who wants filet for hamburger prices.

Good luck in your quest for fire-sale points...you've certainly made a stellar impression...sure you'll be duly recognized on the rental board.

 

[DrTomorrow]

I'd lose the points before I rented them at that price.

So, you suddenly (due to a cancelled trip caused my a major accident) have 78 points you can't bank, can't use, have no one to gift them to and that expire in 2 1/2 months - you'd forgo $780 dollars?

 

[DrTomorrow]

[...] Because I rent out early, the individual specifically wants what I have, and he/she is NOT just looking for the cheapest thing they can find to get onsite. [...]

This seems to imply that you rent reservations ("the individual wants what I have"), not simply points; is this correct?

Thanks.