Rumors put to rest, no changes in resales for now

[VWL Mom]

Do you think Claire will drop a bomb at the meeting tomorrow regarding resale bookings and if so which do you think it will be? I should add that it is also rumored that current resale owners will not be affected.

Is anyone attending?

UPDATE:

Meeting just adjourned and there was no mention of changes for resales. It was a rumor after all.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

I have no idea, but just reading those choices made me SOOOO happy I decided against purchasing DVC.

[Pirate Granny]

Buy where you want to stay...I'll be good with this change...if I want another resort, I'll rent out my points and rent some where I want to stay. It's that easy!

[Hammer]

Here is my thing with the "buy where you want to stay" argument. That really is not practical for me and my family. Our jobs will NEVER allow for us to book at 11 months out. Geez, 7 months out is tough for us. My sister is a corporate event planner and she sometimes is asked to take over planning large meetings on a few months notice for a number of reasons (someone leaves, new client, etc.). I am a software engineer and development schedules change. A lot of times one or both of us have our laptops with us at WDW and we have to work a little while we are there.

We bought into DVC to give us extra space so we weren't cramped in a hotel room. This became even more important when our Mom started to join us after my Dad passed. We (including Mom) bought add-on points via resale to allow for us to get even larger accommodations.

So, if this comes to pass, I'll be staying at SSR a lot. We also own at OKW, but we like there the least of all the places we have stayed. It was just nice to have choices as we don't like staying at the same place for most vacations (NYC is the exception). Hopefully, we will be grandfathered in, as has also been rumored.

[Aurora]

If rumors are true, it sounds like their sales are still being hugely affected by the resale market, despite earlier changes to resale points.

One way to add value to Disney-purchased points is to reduce the value of deeply reduced resale points. If they make either change, it will essentially pull the rug out from resale and create three tiers of ownership. And it won't cost them anything.

[azcavalier]

I can't imagine that any decisions they make would impact existing resale owners. There are many, many DVC owners that bought their points through the resale market that otherwise would never have joined. If they were going to make changes that specifically targeted those of us who have been members for years (albeit, resale members), taking away benefits that we bought in to, there are going to be a lot of unhappy DVC owners. I wouldn't even be surprised to see lawsuits (not from me, though...i'd just sell my contracts and get out).

Changing the rules for all future resale owners is one thing...they know what they're getting into. But giving those of us who bought resale with full DVC privileges and then trying to take those away would be really, really bad PR.

[VWL Mom]

If rumors are true, it sounds like their sales are still being hugely affected by the resale market, despite earlier changes to resale points.

One way to add value to Disney-purchased points is to reduce the value of deeply reduced resale points. If they make either change, it will essentially pull the rug out from resale and create three tiers of ownership. And it won't cost them anything.

I agree, their sales have to be down because of current resale prices, especially BLT and AKV. Current resale for AKV passing ROFR is mid $60's as opposed to $135 direct and BLT is passing mid $80's vs $165. With the upcoming GF villas and possible Poly, they need to be proactive to ensure sales IMO.

[DizneyRox]

They need to tread lightly on this...

It's obvious that resale is killing their sales. When you can pick up a property for 1/2 of what Disney is selling it for, there's no reason to go with Disney. None...

The problem is, reslaes is a good way for people to get rid of DVC if they can't make it work anymore (think financial hardship). Disney won't buy it back from a member, so they are all but forced to go to the resale market.

This could actually take value away from existing members in good standing.

Maybe they should look at lowering their prices. DVC is a lease, NOT a sale. The prices they are selling at are insane quite frankly. And that they can sell the some points over and over again, doesn't make any sense. I guess I was wrong in my assumption that the point costs were to cover the building of the resorts. Maintenance covers ongoing costs to keep it running. Once built the cost of building doesn't go up (or down) but the cost of those points just keeps on moving up.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Sales for Disney DVC aren't as robust as they like to make it sound... Resale is partially to blame (not that I blame someone from buying resale with the current costs of points purchased from Disney, and the prices are only going to skyrocket)... I'm thinking Grand Flo may push the $200 a point barrier... I wouldn't doubt if they try to put even more limits on the resale market...

DVC over saturation maybe????

Watch for more "member benefits" in the future...

[VWL Mom]

Changing the rules for all future resale owners is one thing...they know what they're getting into. But giving those of us who bought resale with full DVC privileges and then trying to take those away would be really, really bad PR.

If the change does come to be, I have to believe they would grandfather current owners just like the last change.

[Aurora]

It would depend on what's in the contract. Anything that's specified has to stay. Anything that isn't, is fair game for yanking. I can't imagine that these benefits are not spelled out in the contracts, but even if they aren't, past history leans toward them grandfathering in previous resales.

Of course that's assuming that any of this is true.

[MarkC]

Not sure either what they may do, but the current prices are getting out of hand for most people who can afford timeshares. We have 100 points but wouldn't consider buying new at these new prices. I agree with others on here they are starting to feel the pinch. But when you are struggling to sell something, raising prices to cover your losses is not exactly what you learn in Marketing 101.

[DizneyRox]

But when you are struggling to sell something, raising prices to cover your losses is not exactly what you learn in Marketing 101.
Actually, I think it is the current curriculum being taught in business school...

You see, on wall street, it's unacceptable to make less money (or even the same) than last year. You HAVE to make more. So, you need to take your increase costs, add to it the amount you need to make additional (Disney seems to like double digit percentage increases in profit) and price your stuff accordingly. If attendence is down, those that show up pay more. They can't addess the attendence down issue (that means spending more money to attract people), they only worry about the profit number.

That's what they teach these days...

[DizneyRox]

UPDATE:

Meeting just adjourned and there was no mention of changes for resales. It was a rumor after all.
In my experience, there's always a little bit of truth in any rumor.