Are you aware of any restrictions buying from a private seller vs. the developer?

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

You see so many timeshare units available for resale on craigslist and eBay however some of these clubs (Diamond Resorts International in particular) have many restrictions and limitations when you buy from a private individual vs. buying from the developer.

Would you happen to know if Wyndam fall under this category too?

[funtime2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close funtime2]

I would think they would. I know FF had restrictions.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

No VIP benefits and $129 guest certificate fee to put a guest into your unit.

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

Within Wyndham there are levels of membership called VIP, VIP Gold and vip Platinum which are based on the number of points you own. These VIP levels include several benefits including, a certain number of free Guest Certs (which their latest announcement says will cost $129 otherwise), ability to reserve a specific unit, free reservation transactions, points discounts of 25% 35% or 50% within 60 days of check-in, unit size upgrades within 30 45 or 60 days, external exchange unit size upgrades for low & medium demand weeks, and some other addition smaller one.
A few years ago Wyndham (then Fairfield) announced a decision to enforce their rule that you could not reach VIP status via resale.
Some folks feel these benefits are worth it but most do not feel so. As you probably know there is a huge difference between developer prices and resale prices in buying Wyndham as well as most other TS companies.
We bought most of our points thru retail developer before we were part of this group and knew better. But, since we do own retail, and have VIP status we do use some of the benefits, like the points discounts when we can travel last minute, and the upgrades of RCI exchange deposits and now the free GC that we have will cover any units that we let others use and sometimes the unit size upgrades when we can get them.
So basically we find the benefits of VIP to be helpful at times but I like most will tell you that they are not worth the amount you pay to developer for getting that status. If I had it to do over I would buy resale and use a small portion of the monies I saved to pay for the equivalent of some of these benefits.
Hope this helps.

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

Gophish has given you good information about Wyndham's VIP but I feel has forgotten one very important aspect. The VIP program description states that the benefits are subject to change and/or elimination at any time. Changes made to the VIP program over the years bear this out: benefits have been reduced or eliminated.

[Bill4728 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Bill4728]

From what I've seen most people feel that paying 9-10 times more for developer points vs resell points make the few good things about VIP not worth the price.

Buy Wyndham resale!

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

VIP membership is reserved for those with 300,000 points or more, right? If so, that means that even if I bought in at 154,000 points from the developer, I would still have the same membership if I bought from resale? It seems to me that a large % of their members (even those who bought from the developer) would not be VIP members?

Also, please correct me if I'm wrong, but the points discount where you book a reservation within 30 or 60 days... is that reserved only for VIP members or for everyone?

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

... if I bought in at 154,000 points from the developer, I would still have the same membership if I bought from resale?

Correct! At 154K points you do not qualify for VIP either from developer or resale purchase. If you buy the 154K from Wyndham and then buy 154K (308K total), you do not qualify for VIP.

...the points discount where you book a reservation within 30 or 60 days... is that reserved only for VIP members or for everyone?

There is no discounts unless you are a VIP.

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

If you are VIP, you are guarantee to have discount if there is an availability. If you are not, sometimes, Wyndham will put some resort on discount. usually, it is very off season ones. But it is ot guaranteed.

Jya-Ning