Resale points not treated the same as Diamond Resort purchased points?

[rmkraj Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rmkraj]

I was told today that Resale points are not treated the same by resorts as points purchased from developers? I purchased $5,000 worth of points today, but I wonder is that true? If I cancel my purchase and buy resale points on line at say Redweeks.com will those points be "bastardized"?

Just curious?

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

As I understand it, and I'm in now way an expert on resale trust points, is that resale trust points can be used within the trust in which they are purchased but nothing else. Sometime back there was a person that posted they weren't even able to exchange their points via I.I. They never posted again how their complaint turned out.

So the salesman is correct in at least one respect. Resale points can not be part of DRI's THE Club without either the purchase of additional points or, at one time there was a joiner fee of $2,995 that could be paid without the need to buy new points. I have not heard anyone mention being able to just pay the joiner fee in several months and that option may no longer be open.

[Spence Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Spence]

I was told today that Resale points are not treated the same by resorts as points purchased from developers? I purchased $5,000 worth of points today, but I wonder is that true? If I cancel my purchase and buy resale points on line at say Redweeks.com will those points be "bastardized"?

Just curious?

There are many different experiences out there. You cannot blame DRI for trying to make the developer sales more attractive for a new buyer. If you know about resale, then you can be disappointed that they won't work as well as developer points but that's the way it is. You have to decide whether the extra money is worth the extra benefits. I've now seen instances where Trust members not in THE Club don't get as big a discount for last minute reservations!

The flip side is, what if DRI treated them all the same? I bet the resale market would shrivel and the price would rise (after we get out of this recession, maybe in 10 years.) People would love DRI and it would be great for THE Club.

They've probably had high price consultants do the math and decided the typical way is better, who knows, why be different?

[rmkraj Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rmkraj]

Both replies are intersting and seem to mesh with what the salesman shared with me. The salesman, by the way, was very candid and seemed to be a decent guy. He said the resale market is really hurting developer sales, and so they are trying to find ways of limiting people from utilizing them.

He had indicated that when you book using resale points that the resort actually can see that, and they give you less desireable rooms, etc...

He mentioned that they can only be used in the trust they were originally purchased from, and also mentioned that they are not elibible in I-I.

I was curious what experience others have had...part of me thinks there is some legality in treating the points different seeing as someone had purchased them at developers rates at one time. Basically, Diamond got paid for those points at one time.

Obviously, I don't begrudge Diamond for trying to promote sales through developers. Business is business. I just prefer resale point pricing to developer pricing...

[Spence Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Spence]

He had indicated that when you book using resale points that the resort actually can see that, and they give you less desireable rooms, etc...

I do not necessarily believe this one.

I was curious what experience others have had...part of me thinks there is some legality in treating the points different seeing as someone had purchased them at developers rates at one time. Basically, Diamond got paid for those points at one time.

That's exactly it, DRI has lawyers on staff, they know what they are doing. The points you buy are distinct from the club you join. Benefits of the points are distinct from benefits of THE Club.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

The key distinction between developer sold points and resale points is that, as mentioned above, resale points are not part of the Club.

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Inside the reservation system, at each resort the inventory is divided between inventory assigned to the Club and inventory assigned to non-Club owners. The inventory assigned to the Club is only available to Club members; the inventory that has not been assigned to the Club is only available to owners who are not part of the Club.

What the Club chooses to do with its inventory is the Club's business. For example, if the Club chooses to make its unbooked inventory available to its members at a discounted rate less than 45 days before check-in, the Club is free to do so. Similarly if the Club chooses to charge its members a premium cost for reservations during peak periods (which it does) even though the resort doesn't differentiate among peak weeks in its reservation program, the Club is free to do so.

Also if the Club wants to tack on an additional charge for its members, it is free to do so.

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So, in answer to your question ... Absolutely are developer sold points treated differently from resale points, because the developer points will be in the Club and the resale points will not.

Note that not being in the Club also confers benefits; Club membership is not better in all respects. Some of the advantages of not being in the Club include:

• Lower annual costs - no Club maintenance costs
• No premium "pricing" for peak demand periods (such as holidays). If you have a 52-week float week you can use that week at Christmas or New Years. If you have that week and you join the Club, you will likely find that the points given you for that week are no longer enough to book a week during peak periods.
• Ability to use any exchange company. Owners who are part of the Club can only exchange weeks through II.
• Ability to advertise and rent weeks regularly as a commercial activity. Commercial use of Club reservations is absolutely forbidden, whereas if you own privately you can advertise and rent weeks all you want unless such use is constrained by the timeshare program documents of the resort or trust.

[fnewman Member Find all posts View Profile Close fnewman]

Personally, I own some points purchased from the developers and some that are converted weeks that came through resale. However, they are all in The Club, so there does not appear to be any difference in their 'value' when I make reservations (or in determining my Platinum status).

The short answer is that no matter what you own or intend to buy, you need to negotiate a way to get them all into The Club. Despite the cost, there is some value to being inthat position.

[Carlos Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carlos]

If you're either in or you're not

Personally, I own some points purchased from the developers and some that are converted weeks that came through resale. However, they are all in The Club, so there does not appear to be any difference in their 'value' when I make reservations (or in determining my Platinum status).

The short answer is that no matter what you own or intend to buy, you need to negotiate a way to get them all into The Club. Despite the cost, there is some value to being inthat position.

I believe you are mistaken here. When you said all of your points were in the Club and you converted then you are only in one group. You converted points are now like developer points. That's why you have platinum status. If you were not in the Club, platinum would not be relevant. Thus, you cannot see any difference in value because all of your points have maximum value within the system. If you had not converted your resale weeks to the Club, you would not be able to receive free upgrades, our turn your points in for air miles, cruises, maintenance fees, etc.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

I believe you are mistaken here. When you said all of your points were in the Club and you converted then you are only in one group. You converted points are now like developer points. That's why you have platinum status. If you were not in the Club, platinum would not be relevant. Thus, you cannot see any difference in value because all of your points have maximum value within the system. If you had not converted your resale weeks to the Club, you would not be able to receive free upgrades, our turn your points in for air miles, cruises, maintenance fees, etc.

I'm probably taking letters from off of fnewman's keyboard, but I think that what he is referring to is that the holding he has attached to the Club include both developer purchases and resale purchases. And he sees no difference in treatment of them within the Club.

And I think the two or you are in total agreement on that point.

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And I would point that the obverse should also be true. If someone were to purchase from the developer, then remove those points from the Club, those points would operate the same as an identical resale purchase, unattached to the Club.

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I think that we are all in agreement that what counts is whether or not the points are attached to the Club, or are independent of the Club. Points within either of those groups are treated the same, regardless of whether they were bought developer or resale.