Resale vs Direct

[Shagerman]

My wife and I are thinking of buying in to DVC in the near future but aren't sure what is the most cost effective route to go. We have 2 kids, and the 4 of us usually go once a year for 5 nights(5 days at parks). In addition my wife and I usually take 1-2 weekend trips per year(just the 2 of us for 2 or 3 nights).

When looking at the 2018-2019 point charts and the cost per night, I believe 200 points would work fine. Saratoga Springs seems like the best value.

So here's my question. The only value I see in purchasing direct is the annual pass discounts and the ability to buy the gold pass. If someone could use my situation to walk me through if it would be worth it to buy direct vs resale with our plans so I can see where the savings would be. Since my kids would only be going once per year I do not know if it would make sense to get them an annual pass anyway, but it may make sense for me and my wife to get one.

 

[chalee94]

I agree that the only real perk is the AP discount (which can go away at any time for both direct and resale owners).

If SSR works for you, you just have to ballpark how many thousands of dollars extra it would cost for a direct contract vs how many AP discounts it would take to pay that off.

I don't think you should bother with buying direct. You may need to do more research to make sure DVC works for you in other ways...like do you expect to book those weekend trips on short notice (as that can be difficult...)

 

[Deb & Bill]

Your weekend trips, especially if they fall from Sept through mid-Jan will need to be booked no later than seven months out. Figure out what you would save by getting a discounted AP versus the amount of money you pay extra per point by going direct over resale. That might make the determination for you.

 

[aoconnor]

Do you currently buy annual passes? If not, don't trick yourself into "savings" on something you didn't have to begin with. If you bought 125 points resale and the other 75 direct, you'd be paying around $5,625 extra vs going all resale (75 points x $75 incremental cost). Assuming you and your wife each bought AP's and "saved" $260 each, it'll take you 11 years just to break even.

Also remember that perks and discounts can and do change. The gold (DVC) AP didn't even exist until 2015 and may not be around 10 years from now.

 

[Shagerman]

If you bought 125 points resale and the other 75 direct, you'd be paying around $5,625 extra vs going all resale (75 points x $75 incremental cost).

What do you mean by $75 incremental cost? Are you saying it would cost me $5625 extra buying 125 resale and 75 direct vs buying 200 resale?

No we don't currently have annual passes but since me and the wife go 2-3 times per year I think it would be a tad cheaper to do an annual pass rather than pay by the day.

When comparing the renewal costs, each gold pass is $235 cheaper than the platinum.

 

[aoconnor]

What do you mean by $75 incremental cost? Are you saying it would cost me $5625 extra buying 125 resale and 75 direct vs buying 200 resale?

Yeah. You can get resale for around $100 per point (probably less) and direct is $176 per point. So the 75 direct points will cost you ~$5.6k extra compared to buying all 200 points resale. That's a lot of money to pay for $500 in discounts per year IMO.

 

[disneynutz]

At some point you may not even want to go into the parks and instead spend the weekend with the wife at the resort. We don't do the parks hardly at all anymore, been there, done that.

You need to select the best UY for your vacation patterns.
Buy where you love to stay.
Book at 11 months if you really want to guarantee the resort.
Buy resale if you can.
If you buy additional contracts, keep the same UY and names on deeds.
DVD/DVC marketing can change the perks at any time.
Perks and policies tend to change when management changes.
Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC.

Bill

 

[Shagerman]

Yeah. You can get resale for around $100 per point (probably less) and direct is $176 per point. So the 75 direct points will cost you ~$5.6k extra compared to buying all 200 points resale. That's a lot of money to pay for $500 in discounts per year IMO.

Ok I did some math. It seems that Saratoga is 151/pt now so if I bought 75 points direct that would be $11325. And lets say I bought 130 points resale(couldn't find any listings for 125 points) at $100/point. It looks like I would be paying about $4300 extra opposed to buying 200ish points resale. So since its a $235 savings per AP if were able to get the gold vs platinum, it looks like it would take 9-10 years to break even. Does that look correct?

 

[aoconnor]

Ok I did some math. It seems that Saratoga is 151/pt now so if I bought 75 points direct that would be $11325. And lets say I bought 130 points resale(couldn't find any listings for 125 points) at $100/point. It looks like I would be paying about $4300 extra opposed to buying 200ish points resale. So since its a $235 savings per AP if were able to get the gold vs platinum, it looks like it would take 9-10 years to break even. Does that look correct?

Ah, I forgot that Saratoga was cheaper direct. But yes the math is similar, probably 8-10 years to break even. And that's assuming zero opportunity cost... if you invested that $4-5k instead you're probably looking at nearly double the time to break even.

 

[Shagerman]

And that's assuming zero opportunity cost... if you invested that $4-5k instead you're probably looking at nearly double the time to break even.

Please explain haha. Sorry I don't mean to sound dumb, I'm not all that familiar with timeshares.

 

[aoconnor]

Please explain haha. Sorry I don't mean to sound dumb, I'm not all that familiar with timeshares.

No worries! The point is instead of paying the extra $5k to buy direct you could invest it instead. If you could make a 5% return for example, that's $250/ year. So if you bought direct to save $470/ year on AP's you're really only saving $220 because you 'gave up' the $250 in potential investment income.

 

[disneynutz]

I still think that you should think about where you are buying, do you expect to stay at SSR for the longer vacations?

Bill

 

[Shagerman]

I still think that you should think about where you are buying, do you expect to stay at SSR for the longer vacations?

Bill

Possibly. Are you saying I shouldn't consider SSR?

 

[disneynutz]

I think that you should buy where you love to stay, not where it's the least expensive. There is a reason that SSR costs less. Do you do the parks, DS, which park, what size room. Would you buy the least expensive car or the one that fills your needs and style?

Bill

 

[Hoosier John]

...If you bought 125 points resale and the other 75 direct, you'd be paying around $5,625 extra vs going all resale (75 points x $75 incremental cost). Assuming you and your wife each bought AP's and "saved" $260 each, It'll take you 11 years just to break even.

Ok I did some math. It seems that Saratoga is 151/pt now so if I bought 75 points direct that would be $11325. And lets say I bought 130 points resale(couldn't find any listings for 125 points) at $100/point. It looks like I would be paying about $4300 extra opposed to buying 200ish points resale. So since its a $235 savings per AP if were able to get the gold vs platinum, it looks like it would take 9-10 years to break even. Does that look correct?

I'm not crazy about basing break even on AP savings, but I've seen and done other calculations that break even around a dozen years (so we're in the same ballpark). Sounds kinda bad when you say it that way, but that's about 30 years of profit (which in my case of buying retail, new is over $50,000 profit over 50 years)

 

[LYSE]

Recently we almost bought ccv direct with incentives... since Disney was covering current UY maintenance the spread between direct and resale was pretty small considering.

Other resorts don't look so favorable though..the difference between resale and direct is just too much unless you have a large group that needs APs ...I would almost say if it takes more than 5 or so years to roi with AP discounts it doesn't count because betting on an AP discount for any longer than 5 years sounds pretty optimistic to me.

 

[skippytx]

Have you ever stayed at SSR? Rent a few points and stay for a weekend before you commit 20 to 35 thousand dollars buying there. (not to mention annual dues of about 1300 a year)

I bought 25 points direct back when that was the min for member benefits. The price difference was roughly 1000 bucks between resale and direct (I own at BLT), assuming I could find a 25 point resale contract, and I wanted another 25 points anyway. No way I'd buy 75 points direct for the benefits right now.

 

[Hoosier John]

I think buying new, direct is good if you like the resort and plan on staying at DVC for decades to come.

For reference here's what we paid new DVC direct, followed by some current resale numbers from others on DISboards:

Built   Purch.    DVC         $/pt     2019DVC    2019Resale
1996    1999      BWV          49        190        115
2007    2008      AKL          86        176        103-110
2009    2011      BLT          96        225        140-145

 

[Wakey]

I bought SSR. I like the resort, rooms need doing but the refurb looks superb (see photos in SSR Lovers Thread). So don't be put off SSR.

The price difference in a 160 point contract is around $50pp direct v resale, it's basically 50% more.

My advice:

1. Saving 'a tad' by buying APs is in no way worth the direct price if that is your saving. And can go away any time .
2. Buy a bit more than you think you'll need.
3. There is a huge (huge) difference in availibility at 7 months between studios and one beds. One beds also make for a much more pleasant vacation with a family. You can also save money elsewhere with the kitchen. Seriously consider buying enough points to do one beds. You can then stay at all the resorts most times, most views, no problem. Of course dues are higher, but if you can get a studio you can rent the excess points at twice dues.
In that respect you'd be much better off buying 50% more points resale than spending that money direct for a tad saving on park entry . Buying more so you could do some one bed stays and have a relatively stress free 7 month booking window at all resorts is a wonderful thing. I can actually get in VGF in a 1 bed at 7 months easier than owners can sometimes get a studio at 11. Also I'm staying in a one bed for less but in cost that they paid for a studio.
Do your research and be savvy.
Good luck.

 

[Dean]

Please explain haha. Sorry I don't mean to sound dumb, I'm not all that familiar with timeshares.

You need to understand DVC as a timeshare before you proceed including risks and possible changes. To me the questions to ask yourself in this order are:

1. Can you afford it (to me that's pay cash and really, no consumer debtJ)?
2. Will you use only at DVC resorts and for most, at WDW?
3. Is there really savings or real added value?
4. Do you understand what you're getting into including the risks and limitations?

IMO you need to be able to say yes to all before you purchase, the other options aren't important until you get past these. Then it's resale vs retail, home resort, UY & how many points. In general I'd suggest resale and the lowest resort you'd be happy staying at most trips if you couldn't get something else. I would not buy the top end unless you have experiences that you are CERTAIN you'd want then almost all of the time. The pass options are not guaranteed, I'd want anyone to break even with the passes in just a few years to make the higher prices reasonable. The difference on 200 points is going to be more than just the usual difference per point. 200 can be bought cheaper than 125 resale and is more likely to be stripped and less likely to be loaded with points. So the real difference beyond the base numbers is likely to add another roughly $10 a point to the 125. If I were going to buy retail and looking at SSR, I would buy SSR retail FIRST then the retail points second but I'd likely not do SSR for the retail to give myself options. One just has to look at the prices, options and benefits to compare. Make sure you look at the 2020 points tables and I'd want at least a 10% cushion in this situation or possibly a little more.