Idea About Allowing Resale DVC Contracts to Convert to Direct Contract

A similar question was recently asked on the DVC Fan Facebook page. The general consensus was that it is not in Disney's interest to do it because they want people to buy, and more importantly finance, through them. With being able to add on direct perks/"blue card" benefits there would be no incentive to buy direct.

Personally, I would be willing to go up to $35 - $40 per point based on 150 points. Anything more, you are probably better off just buying direct depending on current incentives.. I think the discount would have to be double or triple the $35-$40 for Disney to combat the delta between direct and indirect pricing.

In regards to Lauren's article about removing resale restrictions, I personally think that would be a wise decision. I think they are going to start to run into inventory issues within the 7 month window, especially once you get to the 2042 end dates.

Yeah, I thought of the competition part after I had asked. I just wonder if they did it as a limited time engagement for current resale members what kind of traction they might get? A random offer wouldn't necessarily hinder direct buying if you made for current resale owners. It would be pure profit for Disney to help make some money off of a market which they know exists. There are ways to do it without tanking the direct market, but I wouldn't be surprised if the juice isn't worth the squeeze for them.

I'm new to DVC; however, I had given it some thought. So, please forgive the novel. I understand this would hurt third-party marketplaces, but it would provide more options to both buyers and sellers.

Since Disney will never be able to stop the resale market, they might as well jump in and offer their own. It'll be more expensive for buyers than third-party markets, but it would retain the benefits of a direct purchase. Go so far as to set a price floor that would 100% guarantee ROFR isn't exercised, but it might also mean it doesn't sell as quickly. Limit purchasing to current direct owners. Non-direct owners would need to buy retail or through a third party.

For example, using no actual real-world factual basis: the retail price is $250 per point. The no-ROFR price per point is set to $200. The third-party marketplace average is $150 per point. You can list it at $225 and maybe get someone willing to grab it at a discount, but it might take a while to sell since it would be limited to current direct owners; or list it for less than $200 on Disney's marketplace or a third-party marketplace, and it might sell faster, with the risk that Disney activates ROFR.

For Disney, this keeps resale prices high, opens resales to its financing, and prevents a simple buyback offer by requiring buyer-seller price agreement. It offers sellers a premium, slower alternative to third-party sales, which remains an option for quick unloading. Buyers can choose to buy retail from Disney, resale at a premium with benefits, or buy cheaper on the open market, risking Disney's ROFR exercise.

Also, offer a one-time "buy-up" to current resale owners as long as they have an existing direct ownership stake in the same resort.

I can see how this would make sense to a seller as they could make more money off of their sale, but I don't see any advantage to Disney. In Disney's eyes there is no loss of value in the DVC, and there would be no incentive for them to broker a purchase of $200/pt. when they could buy it themselves, and then sell it for the full price of $250/pt, and make an easy $50/pt profit. From the buyer point of view, it would really depend on the person and price. Saving $25/point (using the Disney Direct and Disney Resale numbers in your post) would not be enough savings for me to look at buying resale.

I think we would have a better chance of Disney allowing people to upgrade their resale contract to direct through some sort of cost conversion, and that will likely never happen either.

One thing that would be difficult is events like Moonlight Magic. It’s difficult now getting tickets with only direct buyers, imagine if some resale were also in the mix.

I'd be interested to see what percentage of owners are direct compared to resale-only. Maybe Disney sees that there is a large enough resale contingent that restricting keeps some of the Magical Extras demand lower. For instance, if the lounge can only hold so many people and half of all DVC owners are resale-only, they can cut lounge demand by 50% simply by limiting it to direct purchasers.

Disney's desire for buyers to finance through them is an interesting point. On a recent cruise we talked to one of the sales reps because we wanted the free gift. It's probably the closest thing I have ever experienced to a DVC sales rep taking a hard sell approach. He made a big deal about the incentives we could only get while onboard the ship and all of the incentives that were going to disappear on 1 October (we talked to him on 28 September) and he dangled the extra incentive that since we are already members, if we bought direct and financed through Disney, the approval process for the loan was automatic.