For those of you that have added on recently do you do direct or resale?

[edk35]

We did add on at VGF direct but only because the deal at the time was almost the same as buying resale and it got us enough points to qualify for the blue card. If we were just adding 50 points I think we would probably just look resale unless we really needed extra points ASAP or were big RIV fans and wanted to make sure our points were good there.

That being said I do think it may be worth pricing out though especially if many of the resale contracts are stripped. Purchasing direct would likely get you both 2023 and 2024 points just for the cost of the 2024 points, which are going to be prorated for when you purchased. The value of those additional points may be a big offset.

One question- did you try to put an alert for any listings that match your criteria? Since those small contracts do go fast it probably doesnt hurt to ask some of the brokers about that particular one.

No but that is a good idea!!! Thanks!

 

[Lorana]

We did end up buying direct, because we wanted more VGC, got lucky that direct was available, and wanted the ability to use them at VDH if we desired.

Most of my add-one are resale, but we had wanted to continue adding on at AKV direct. But that was when prices were $186 direct. I’m not sure I want to keep adding with them at $210 and resale around $110.

 

[Jayunit09]

I just waited it out and kept an eye open for a 50 point September UY Copper Creek. One popped up after about 10 months.

I jumped on it immediately.

 

[Arguetafamily]

Three of our recent contracts have been direct for different reasons. We chose to sell the other three resale contracts.
We added direct the most recently with VDH because we live in Los Angeles. We will only use them here and if we do decide to use on another resort we can choose RIV or any other new construction. Don’t mind the resale restrictions, not planning on selling this contract anytime soon.

 

[Royal Consort]

I went to WDW for 10 years before buying DVC 'because it is a timeshare'. In that time I stayed at most resorts I had an interest in. From the experience of ten years I narrowed down where I like to stay and selected the three home resorts I want for my priority: Riviera (direct: pre-opening prices were about the same as VGF and BLT resale so I get blue card); VGF (resale, well before BPK, and added a small contract last year direct before they sold out); VGC (both resale contracts). I rarely use my points outside the home resort with the exception of Aulani (added an extra Riviera contract to my fixed week for Aulani SAP before the resort opened).

It honestly came down to price when I take time to think about it. The differential in price is substantially greater than when I first purchased direct. I did buy VGF because I waited for over a year to find a 25 point contract in my UY and it was just easier to buy from Disney. I would have liked to get in on the sales last year but since I'm international I cannot buy unless I'm physically in the US, plus they don't give me any of the promotions such as renting back points because of that. So the sale wouldn't have been as beneficial I suppose.

 

[DougEMG]

I have bought resale. Being from Canada, I can only buy direct when at WDW as Disney can't sell DVC in Canada. Even on my last trip (Oct 2023) I bought 2 more resale contract because of the large difference in price. Now I already have direct benefits grandfathered in from my resale purchases in 2010-2012.

 

[tx911]

We are direct because we don’t want points that can’t be used at RiV or future resorts.

Same for me.

I want maximum flexibility in my points. I couldn't bear adding resale at a restricted resort, because I want all my points to be able to pool at 7 months.

I plan on limiting my add-ons at restricted resorts to a small, direct contract, to limit my "exposure" to restrictions.

I would definitely consider resale on the original 14 resorts as they maintain quite a bit of flexibility.

Right now I'm considering a small direct contract at Riviera, and I'm always on the look out for a small resale VGC contract (isn't everyone )

 

[RichVIII]

Both.

For us it was several factors (and a few spreadsheets later). Direct pricing and delta between resell was probably the biggest factor. Direct pricing is silly high for sold out resorts and never any discounts for small point contracts (sold out or active). At the time the delta between direct and resale for our CCV, we went direct. Our next was resale since it was half the price of direct and we are just using them as SAP and have another direct or grandfathered to not let some restricted points slow us down.

I generally look at the total cost (excluding NPV of money) to see how much Per Point we are paying and started comparing resale and direct. Contract life certainly (even at a higher cost) can drive down the cost per point and when you see it in a spreadsheet it certainly helped informed us. One other thing on the scales of direct is paying with a credit card - great for getting bonuses or free flights to use your points. Ha ha ha.

Both were easy and this past time with resale, since I wasn’t in a rush and ROFR asleep it made it less stressful. Of course points loaded in a day and stretching a direct across three months was also insanely easy.

 

[davidhr]

I’m a big proponent of direct, and expect most of my future add ons to be direct because to me the unrestricted points are more valuable as I like to stay at new resorts.

Having said that, I just purchased a SSR resale for SAP at O14 and might add more in the future. For specific uses like that, resale makes more sense. Cheap and relatively shorter contract.

 

[Tatebeck]

We bought in heavy, 3 resorts, all resale. We may add some direct points somewhere like Riviera or Disneyland Hotel for member benefits and to be able to book at those newer resorts (and any more restricted ones that come after)

 

[Rex1993]

Bought VGC resale back in 2021 and paid too much. Got a great deal on VGF direct last summer and just added on VGC resale at a great price.

 

[Genie+]

Is this a common thing to not get with direct?

I wouldn’t say common though there were a few of us here on the DIS that waived title insurance while purchasing VGF direct last summer. It saved me about $200 on 150pts. Not much so I can understand why people pay it for peace of mind. I took the risk because what circumstances would title protection come in handy for DVD/Disney? Property lines, liens? Highly unlikely. We proofread our documents. Received exactly what we bought. Maybe I’m naive but just can’t think of or find a circumstance where it’s going to be useful. Has anybody actually needed to use it for their direct purchase?

Resale is a much different story. I don’t think anybody waives title insurance for resale.

 

[teamsamant]

The VGF sale last summer was the only time I considered buying direct. I didn't buy, but the deal has to be like it was or better at a resort I want for me to ever buy direct. Otherwise it will be resale. So 95% chance if I'm buying its going to be resale. The regular pricing at some of these resorts is ridiculous. Those cabins are a joke.

 

[kgou]

This was us, too. We first bought resale in April '23 and started with 150 points at SSR. Then shortly thereafter the VGF sale started and with magical beginnings plus the incentives plus the additional incentive for military the price per point for us worked out to around $156 for 150 points. When I first considered buying into DVC I never thought I'd go the direct route but getting the blue card plus unrestricted points for that price was too good to pass up. Already itching for more points but absolutely will do resale going forward, even though like OP ideally I want a 50-75 point contract that matches my Feb UY and since we don't NEED more points willing to wait to find the right deal.

The VGF sale last summer was the only time I considered buying direct. I didn't buy, but the deal has to be like it was or better at a resort I want for me to ever buy direct. Otherwise it will be resale. So 95% chance if I'm buying its going to be resale. The regular pricing at some of these resorts is ridiculous. Those cabins are a joke.