Better to Buy Into DVC Through Resale or Disney Directly?

[mjaclyn]

DH and I are thinking of buying a DVC membership. So far we've only looked into buying resale because the cost per point is cheaper than buying through Disney direct. My question is...does Disney have any incentives when you purchase through them or finance through them? Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!!

[DizneyRox]

I think the current promotion is a free cruise if you book through Disney. They change it often however.

Also, if you are financing, I know it's treated like a mortgage if you purchase through Disney and interest is tax deductible. You MAY NOT have this option if you go resale, it depends on the loan you get.

Buy where you want to stay!

[DVC Mike]

Here's a quick comparison:

Initial Purchase from DVC


You can get the exact number of points that you want (although you must buy a minimum of 160)
Faster than resale (you will be in the system and have your points and be able to make reservations much faster than resale)
No worries about the purchase if Disney executes ROFR, since that only applies to resale purchases
More expensive cost per point than the resale market
You can easily finance through DVC, and Disney doesn’t report the loan to credit reporting agencies; also, the interest on the loan will be tax-deductable (in most cases) since it’s a mortgage
You can pay with a Rewards credit card and get points/cash back
The full set of points you buy will be available immediately, versus a resale contract which may be “stripped” of points.
If you don’t want the resorts they are currently selling, you may have to do some firm talking to a guide to convince them you really want an older resort.
Disney offers incentives such as a free cruise, free vacations, or free developer points. The value of these incentives should be considered when comparing.
Initial Purchase via Resale


You may not get the exact number of points you want
You can purchase less than 160 points for your initial buy-in to DVC (Disney won’t let you buy less than 160 points).
It will take much longer to get into the DVC system and have your points (resales typically take 6-8 weeks)
Disney may exercise ROFR and you may loose the resale and have to start all over (When buying resale, one of the potential pitfalls to try to avoid is making an offer that will cause Disney to exercise it’s Right of First Refusal)
Resale is typically less expensive then buying from DVC
You can’t finance through DVC, although most resale brokers will recommend a finance company; also, the interest on the loan will not be tax deductible
A resale contract may be “stripped” of points where the user has used many of the current year’s points, and may have borrowed some or all of next year’s points. Just be aware of “stripped” contracts on the resale market.
Easier to pickup large point packages at any of the older DVC resorts.

[JPL]

I actually purchased resale and use a low interest Credit Card Offer to finanace since it was a way better rate than Disney or that the resale agent suggested. I was able to buy a starter package of about 100 points which allows me to use them for a few short trips in a studio which fits my travel style perfectly and I still have the option to add points through Disney if I want more.

[MidnTPK]

Here's a quick comparison:

Initial Purchase from DVC


If you don’t want the resorts they are currently selling, you may have to do some firm talking to a guide to convince them you really want an older resort.


My understanding was that Disney does not sell the BCVs AT ALL anymore. Are you saying if I only want to buy into the BCVs, they'll sell some of the inventory they have (if they have it)?

[DizneyRox]

I'm almost 100% sure they will! What they will do is either give you some they DO have, or pull a ROFR on a resale and sell you those points for a profit.

The cost of the points will be the same if you buy at a "current" property or one that's "sold out".

If you really want Beach Club, tell your salesman and tell him you're willing to wait. Disney doesn't like to turn down money. Since you are essentially an even swap, you need to be firm. They would rather you buy new and then they still have the old one collecting maintenance fees too. It was amazing. I called my guide to buy more points, and as soon as I mentioned we'd be selling our old contract, his attitude changed.

If it were me though, I'd go resale on BCV. I bet there's a clause in the current promotion that will exclude you from any incentives, so the best price will be resale.

[JMTStone]

Good info above!

We made an "add-on" purchase of AKV points through The Timeshare Store (an Intercot sponsor) and it went really well. I get regular updates via email too.

[Here we go again...]

Great info Mike.
I bought from Disney because of the incentives they offered. We got money off the cost of the points bringing the cost per point down to what I was seeing for resale PLUS we were offered developer points for both purchases.

So, for SSR we bought in January 2007. The made my use year August. We got our 210 points plus an additional 210 in Developer points.
For BLT we bought 100 points and kept the August use year. (it is easier if you have the same use year, you know when you can bank and borrow) and we got 100 developer points.

It just gave us the opportunity to take extra vacations or upgrade to 2 bedrooms.

If they are giving away a cruise I would jump on that!! I don't think Bobby will let me though... :(

[DVC Mike]

My understanding was that Disney does not sell the BCVs AT ALL anymore. Are you saying if I only want to buy into the BCVs, they'll sell some of the inventory they have (if they have it)?

Yep, you can buy into any DVC resort direct from Disney.

Current Cost per point:

VGC = $112 - $5 incentive = $107 (100 points min add-on)
BLT = $112 - $5 incentive = $107 (100 points min add-on for incentive)
AKV = $112 - $6.25 incentive = $105.75
SSR = $112 - $6.25 incentive = $105.75
BCV = $106
BWV = $106
VWL = $101
OKW = $101
HHI = $92 - $5 incentive = $87 (Min 50 points)
VB = $92 - $5 incentive = $87 (Min 50 points)

The minimum purchase will be 160 points for all new members.

[FiggyFan]

My guess is that Disney uses ROFR to fill requests from people who want to purchase the older, sold-out resorts. If they can pick up 300-500 BCV points at $85 or $90 (Timeshare store - an Intercot sponsor - has them listed) and sell them for $106, some DVC guide can pick up a quick commission and keep a few customers happy.

We made our last (so far :blush:) DVC purchase as a BCV add on direct from DVC, and were on a waiting list while they found some points for us. My guess is that they matched up several add on requests like mine and used ROFR to dip into the resale market once they had enough demand. Note that while a DVC owner cannot split up a large contract into smaller ones, DVC could buy a big contract and split it.

To me, the value of going to DVC for an add-on is that you can get exacly what you want, if you are wiling to wait. We were only looking for 50 points, and small contracts with the right use year are hard to find via resale.

[mjaclyn]

Great info Mike.
I bought from Disney because of the incentives they offered. We got money off the cost of the points bringing the cost per point down to what I was seeing for resale PLUS we were offered developer points for both purchases.

So, for SSR we bought in January 2007. The made my use year August. We got our 210 points plus an additional 210 in Developer points.
For BLT we bought 100 points and kept the August use year. (it is easier if you have the same use year, you know when you can bank and borrow) and we got 100 developer points.

Can someone tell me what developer points are? Can you use them the same as regular points? If Disney is currently offering an incentive for extra points, I would definitely go through them.

[DizneyRox]

Developer Points are one time only points. So, 200 Developer points would be just that. One time use of up to 200 points. They have most often been tied to SSR.

If that's the case, you must use them at SSR, BUT for purposes of home resort, they would be considered BLT, which means you could not use them until 7 months out. For SSR this normally isn't a problem, but as someone else said, they may need to be used by October 2009. There is a slightly different process in using them. You call member services, etc, but I was put on hold, and then they needed to check something, then they told me I was good, but I didn't get a confirmation number right away. I don't undestand why, or what pool of room they come out of, etc.

In terms of value, they are about $11 a point I think, if points are still going for that.

[Here we go again...]

The developer points are a 1 time thing, just to give you an extra vacation. They were tied to SSR even though I was buying from BLT.
The catch? They had to be used by September. No problem since we were going at Mardi Gras and staying at a 2 bedroom.
That saved my 2009 points for out August trip. We are staying at BLT for opening day! 4 nights at VWL and 4 nights at BLT.
I LOVE DVC! :cloud9:

Even in this economic crunch we are okay. Rooms are paid for... already have APs... all we need is gas and food money!

[dephenn]

I preferred buying from Disney because of the extra Developer points. Where most of the re-sales seem to have all the points for the current year all used up, putting you in an instant borrowing situation if you want to take a vacation. I recently read one that said no Points until 2011.

[DizneyRox]

I preferred buying from Disney because of the extra Developer points. Where most of the re-sales seem to have all the points for the current year all used up, putting you in an instant borrowing situation if you want to take a vacation. I recently read one that said no Points until 2011.
That one sounds odd, but I guess if they have a 2009 vacation booked using borrowed 2010 points, it's possible. The catch on that one is you also won't be able to close until that pending vacation is complete.

hehe I keep forgetting it's 2009 already, so it's possible that trip already took place. I suspect people are draining value out of their contracts before selling. It doesn't seem to impact the price too much either.

One thing to look at in the resale market is making sure that dues are paid for in the above case by the seller too! If they used the points, they should be covering the dues!