Buy from Disney or resale???

[terdferguson]

Howdy this my first thread in here. Was wondering is there any advantage/disadvantage of buying either straight from Disney or buy from a reseller. Besides the obvious pp from resale would there be anything else to know as in perks or discounts that you get from buying from Disney do you get those if you buy from a reseller.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

It is really about home resort. The primary thing you are buying is a real estate interest.

If you want Copper Creek or Poly, direct makes some sense. If you cannot book more than 7 months out, buy cheap points anywhere. You want home resort anywhere but CCV or Poly, buy resale.

If you need ephemeral dire t perks, get them via a 25 point direct add on.

 

[terdferguson]

I see so if I want the dining and merchandise discount or anything like that just add on points after. Nice thank you

 

[gharter]

I see so if I want the dining and merchandise discount or anything like that just add on points after. Nice thank you

Your other option for what you mentioned is buy resale. As a DVC owner you can buy an Annual Pass (Gold Pass or better) which currently has both of those discounts. You can also buy a TIW card for dining as a DVC member, even a newer one.

I would agree that if you want Copper Creek or Poly, then direct makes sense. If somewhere else, I would consider resale. I firmly believe in the buy where you want to stay approach.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

When I bought my first contract, the promises seemed almost too good to be true, so I really wanted Disney standing behind them. It was a lot of money for us and I wanted everything to go right. (It did)

For our second contract, I bought resale. I had a good understanding of the system and what I was getting, and I felt confident that I knew what I was doing.

Now, I look at buying direct vs resale as a trade off between time and money.

Buying direct costs more money, but you have your points available immediately, and you get some perks. The only perk which I use regularly is the ability to buy a discounted annual pass, and some shopping and restaurant discounts.

Buying resale takes time. You do not get your points immediately. It might take 3 months or more from when you start until you can start making reservations. But by doing it this way, you save money. It could be 30%, 40% or even more.

 

[TCRAIG]

I'd also add - that the smaller the number of points you want - the more buying direct makes sense - small resale contracts can be difficult to find and likely command a higher price!

 

[Dean]

Howdy this my first thread in here. Was wondering is there any advantage/disadvantage of buying either straight from Disney or buy from a reseller. Besides the obvious pp from resale would there be anything else to know as in perks or discounts that you get from buying from Disney do you get those if you buy from a reseller.

Buying retail makes no sense for most people and except for a few very experienced Disney/DVC regulars, makes no sense for first time buyers. IMO the best choice for most is resale with a 25 pt add on and where that doesn't make sense, like under 100 pts total, most should just forego the perks of retail.

 

[TexasChick123]

I honestly don't even understand adding on the 25 points directly from Disney for the perks which can be taken away, and many people think will be. I know a lot of people suggest that you buy whatever amount you want through resale and a small add-on directly from Disney for the perks, but that doesn't make a ton of sense for most people. The only "perk" we used this last trip was the merchandise discount when we were buying souvenirs which saved us $35. We don't go often enough for annual passes, and the TiW isn't as good of a deal when you go once a year or so. It is $150, and it only gives you 20% off at certain restaurants. That means you would have to spend $750 on dining at those restaurants to break even. It is worth it to some, but make sure you see what restaurants are included, know your spending habits in said restaurants, and know how much you plan to visit Disney. Let's be honest, EVERY Disney vacation is expensive. I would always buy resale, but that's just me. Good luck with your decision.

 

[KatiMouse]

I don't think I would ever buy resale. I use my points to travel the world, and often use my points for Disney cruises. The resale points are so restrictive that I would have to cut out over 75% of my vacations. If all you ever do is go to the DVC Resorts, then maybe it's worth it, but I prefer to keep the flexibility of direct purchase from DVC. I've been a member over 15 years, and I absolutely get the value from my points by going direct. I love my DVC membership!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

If you have been a member 15 years you didn't pay$174+ per point.

The economics are changing.

 

[mustinjourney]

I honestly don't even understand adding on the 25 points directly from Disney for the perks which can be taken away, and many people think will be. I know a lot of people suggest that you buy whatever amount you want through resale and a small add-on directly from Disney for the perks, but that doesn't make a ton of sense for most people. The only "perk" we used this last trip was the merchandise discount when we were buying souvenirs which saved us $35. We don't go often enough for annual passes, and the TiW isn't as good of a deal when you go once a year or so. It is $150, and it only gives you 20% off at certain restaurants. That means you would have to spend $750 on dining at those restaurants to break even. It is worth it to some, but make sure you see what restaurants are included, know your spending habits in said restaurants, and know how much you plan to visit Disney. Let's be honest, EVERY Disney vacation is expensive. I would always buy resale, but that's just me. Good luck with your decision.

It really only makes sense if you're going to buy APs.

I saved $200 a piece with being able to get the gold APs. Four tix per year yields an $800 savings per year.

That $800 savings for 25 point purchase means the points get an effective discount of $32 per point each year. So even paying $165 per point, it is really like paying $133 in year 1. If I get a second set of APs, then I've effectively paid $101 per point and so on. If they continue to give the discount, then the contract actually pays for itself.

 

[Dean]

I don't think I would ever buy resale. I use my points to travel the world, and often use my points for Disney cruises. The resale points are so restrictive that I would have to cut out over 75% of my vacations. If all you ever do is go to the DVC Resorts, then maybe it's worth it, but I prefer to keep the flexibility of direct purchase from DVC. I've been a member over 15 years, and I absolutely get the value from my points by going direct. I love my DVC membership!

This is in the context of buying new and starting from scratch. IMO it's about giving oneself options. The real cost to doing this is around $750-1500 depending on the home resort. Nothing to sneeze at but probably worth it for a new buyer who's buying a sufficient number of points even if the park passes aren't a benefit. It's a slam dunk if they can/will take advantage of the pass/ticket options.

 

[ELMC]

I don't think I would ever buy resale. I use my points to travel the world, and often use my points for Disney cruises. The resale points are so restrictive that I would have to cut out over 75% of my vacations. If all you ever do is go to the DVC Resorts, then maybe it's worth it, but I prefer to keep the flexibility of direct purchase from DVC. I've been a member over 15 years, and I absolutely get the value from my points by going direct. I love my DVC membership!

With the exception of member cruises, you do have the option of renting out your points (whether direct or resale) and then using the proceeds to pay for the vacation. In most cases you will actually come out ahead, financially speaking.

 

[zavandor]

With the exception of member cruises, you do have the option of renting out your points (whether direct or resale) and then using the proceeds to pay for the vacation. In most cases you will actually come out ahead, financially speaking.

Good point.
I have used my resale points for a trip to Japan and to book a stay onsite at Universal Orlando: I've rented the points and used the money to pay for most or all of those vacations.

 

[Dean]

With the exception of member cruises, you do have the option of renting out your points (whether direct or resale) and then using the proceeds to pay for the vacation. In most cases you will actually come out ahead, financially speaking.

I'd say it's as close to 100% as one can get. I have never seen a situation that would have been an exception. The highest I've seen is $10 pp on the first year of AK cruises, otherwise the max has been around $8 pp. Usually it's closer to $6.50-7.00 pp. I have seen one person quote a value of $18 pp on a transatlantic DCL cruise but I'm skeptical as to the true accuracy but even if so, there had to be more to the story and a ton of missed prior cash discounts as a minimum. I can understand that one may not want to rent and use the cash, that's their prerogative. But regardless the points have a defined and real value the floor of which would be renting them through a broker. Now some points may be restricted but they still have some underlying value one can presume. Other than possibly for Disney non DVC rooms for a night or 2, it's reasonable to assume the volume of points in question is of sufficient number as to matter.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

And you have to keep in mind that on even large purchases for Polyand CCV direct, your minimum cost per point per year right now is over $10. This will go up as dues increase.

 

[Dean]

And you have to keep in mind that on even large purchases for Polyand CCV direct, your minimum cost per point per year right now is over $10. This will go up as dues increase.

And you'd be buying a lot more points at the higher price so the actual cost is about 4 times give or take.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I just looked. In 2002-2003, cost per point was under $90.

It is far easier to make trade costs work out at that rate than at $170pp today. The trade options are increasingly legacy benefits for which new owners will not see good value.

 

[kboo]

This is a comment about exceptions:

A 30-something friend who grew up going to WDW just told me that her 23 yo sister just bought her own contract at Poly, direct. 50 points, and she definitely wanted Poly to stay at Poly. Paid cash as she'd saved it all, has a good job, no bf, kids or fiance on the horizon, and her parents own at BWV. She has the flexibility and ability to plan 7+ mo out and go at off times, and will only need studios for the next several years. So buying direct makes sense for her.

... We don't go often enough for annual passes, and the TiW isn't as good of a deal when you go once a year or so. It is $150, and it only gives you 20% off at certain restaurants. That means you would have to spend $750 on dining at those restaurants to break even. ....

I had to laugh when I got to that part... We get to $750 easily! The last time we got TiW, we did multiple character meals and signature restaurants, and we were always there at the same time as friends (sometimes planned, sometimes not). On our first trip out of 3 with TiW, we did a dinner at Akershus for 5 adults and 3 kids, add in the adult beverages and we were more than halfway there on one dinner alone. On our 2nd trip we did an adults only dinner for 6 at Cali Grill and ... you can do the math. DDP never made sense for us, because we usually average 1.5-2 TS meals a day, don't eat 3 meals a day, and don't do much CS or snacks. But it's definitely important to know your own travel preferences. We tend to do at least one TS meal a day, often character meals or signatures, and those are an integral part of our vacations.

 

[terdferguson]

For those who responded to my other thread thank you again and for those who did not thank you as well for all the great info, its taking so me time to get used to all the abbreviations and short hands you all use . . is there an index somewhere for that lol.